MORRIS SHEPPARD DESIGNS
ABOUT US
Morris J.
Sheppard
Morris
Sheppard has been designing and making furniture for over 25 years. He is a
graduate of Pratt Institute with a degree in Industrial Design. His work, which
brings the sculptor's mastery of form to furniture, is held in many public and
private collections, including The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Harvey
Mudd College, and has been exhibited at The Oakland Museum, The Monterey
Peninsula Museum of Art, Richmond Museum, Kohler Art Center, Pasadena Museum,
and The California Museum of Science and Industry. Private collectors
include Jerry Leiber, Neil Young, Warren Beatty, Bert Schneider, Del Chase,
Herb Alpert and recently Barbra Streisand.
He has written and lectured extensively in the United States and Europe and
has taught in the California Community College System. He was the fourth
American furniture artist, and the youngest, to receive a fellowship from The
National Endowment for the Arts. Sheppard is recognized as an expert on the
work of Charles and Henry Greene, whose premier work is the Gamble House in
Pasadena, California. Restoration of the Gamble House was conducted with his
participation and he is the only person the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
permits to measure and duplicate the Greene brothers' chairs in their
collection. In recognition of Sheppard's contemporary work, he received the
1999 American Design Exhibition (ADEX) Award for Design Excellence. His
lighting fixture designs have been placed into production, notably in work done
for Robert Long, Inc. Sheppard has a scholarly knowledge of furniture
design and classical techniques of furniture manufacturing. He has carried
these into the twenty-first century through his extensive experience with
traditional hand tools for woodworking and efficient modern machinery.
The majority of our work is done on commission and includes all types of residential
furniture, entertainment centers and special interior installations. We
have also done several commercial installations and major conference
tables. Interior design service is also available as an adjunct to our
craft. We work directly with clients and through architects and interior
designers. Please contact
us for more information.
Everything begins with the design process, taking into regard both the
functional and aesthetic considerations of the piece at hand. The design
process does not stop at the drawing board, but continues right up until the
final decisions are made in the wood itself. Each piece is made with as
much care and technical integrity as possible. It is the nature of wood
to be responsive to changes in atmospheric moisture and hence constantly in
motion. This must be accounted for.
All
detail work is carved by hand, using both power carving tools and traditional
gouges and rifflers. Even though utmost care is taken to "find the
line" pieces will vary slightly from one side to the other and no two
pieces - even chairs in a set - are exactly identical. This adds a warmth
and variety otherwise impossible to obtain.
Our workshop, while compact enough to give
everything we make individual attention, has the space and facilities to handle
projects of any scope.
Awards &
Distinctions:
_ Recognized by the National Endowment
of the Arts
(Craftsmen Fellowship-- 1977)
_ National Merit Scholar
_
Richmond Art Center Contemporary Crafts (First prize)
_ ADEX
Award for Design Excellence 1998 Trapozoid Stool
ADEX Award for
Design Excellence 2001 Raffles Indochine
ADEX Award for
Design Execellence 2002 Pasadena Classics
Museums and galleries
exhibitions include :
_ Los Angeles County Museum of
Art
_ Pasadena Museum of Art
_ Monterey Peninsula Museum of
Art
_ Oakland Museum,
_ Harvey
Mudd College
_ Kohler Art Center, Kohler WI
_ Landau Gallery, Los Angeles,
CA
Publications and
Lectures:
_ Fine Woodworking
Magazine (numerous articles both by and about)
_ Los Angeles Times Home
Magazine
_ Monterey Peninsula Herald
_ Architectural Digest
_ Interior Design
_ Woodworker West
_ Brntwd Magazine
_ Fine Woodworking's Biennial
Design Books
_ Los Angeles Magazine
_ Design Journal
Strings Magazine
Orange
County Woodworking Show, Understanding wood lecture
Morris has lectured at many colleges, museums and universities, including
Boston College, San Diego State University, UC Riverside, Long Beach State
College, London Crafts Guild, Malmstens Verkstatdscoler, Stockholm, Sweden, and
the Philadelphia College of Art.
They enjoy sailing and living in Marina del Rey, California.
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