Cabinetmaker students craft chairs for graduation
6/1/2016 8:59:54 AM
Drawing on the extensive skills gained during their in the Cabinetmaker program, three students designed and hand-crafted four ceremonial chairs to be used during graduations at College of the North Atlantic.
The new ceremonial chairs designed and hand-crafted by students of the Cabinetmaker program were used during the Port aux Basques graduation ceremony on May 30.
The final project from three Cabinetmaker students before achieving journeyperson status is one that will be put to good use for years to come at College of the North Atlantic (CNA). Drawing on the extensive skills they gained in the Cabinetmaker program, the students designed and hand-crafted four ceremonial chairs to be used during graduations at the college.
Cabinetmaker Instructor Kelly Thompkins, along with student Stephanie Ciz, who also has a fine arts degree, developed the initial design for the chairs.
“Initially when you build a chair you have to take in ergonomics of how the chair is going to be,” Kelly said. “Style is one thing, but it has to be comfortable as well. We spent the first week building a prototype and trying it out for comfort and style.”
The project took Stephanie, Justin Bennett and Grant Strong approximately 900 hours to complete. Stephanie, who will be the first woman journeyperson from the Cabinetmaker program in the province, says they worked a lot of evenings to get the chairs completed by the deadline.
“It was tedious,” Stephanie said with a chuckle. “When you see a project for that long, you get tired of looking at it. There was so much to it that we kind of incorporated everything. There are so many different aspects for wood working. We machined parts, hand carved parts, we did everything we had to do to make it look good, but it was definitely challenging.”
The chairs were designed with cherry wood which she says will age well and the fabric used will compliment new and aged wood alike.
“Cherry is a good wood because it will age beautifully,” Stephanie said. “It is like a work of art and a lot skilled labour when into it, so I’m very proud of what we did. I wouldn’t have been able to do it by myself in that time frame. It took all three of us to put it all together in time. I feel like a proud mama bear right now to see (the chairs) come from a drawing I did a couple weeks before school. It evolved so much and to see those chairs at graduation ceremonies is just a very proud moment for me.”
Kelly says that the students were very dedicated to reaching their goal of unveiling the chairs at the Port aux Basques graduation on May 30, which is where the Cabinetmaker program is located.
“It was a labour of love the entire way,” Kelly said. “On the arms of the chairs, the scrolls that were on the top of the back and on the arms, most of that was carved by hand. I would say they did two solid weeks just sanding alone. It’s bloody incredible. As an instructor I was in my glee just to be able to be part of it with them, because they were students I had initially started with at the beginning and now they are journeypersons.”
Kelly adds that it is incredible to have the first group of journeypersons graduate from the program, and it means a lot to have them work on a project that will be used for years to come at CNA.
“For me the satisfaction is truly overwhelming,” Kelly said. “I never thought I would be a teacher, but to be able to teach and to have that quality of students at the end of the day, it’s is just the best feeling ever.”
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Media Contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca