Palomar instructor to have chairs on exhibit at Mingei

By JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:41 AM PDT ∞

It's not like Russ Filbeck hasn't seen his fine woodworking on exhibit before. The longtime Palomar College professor has had his award-winning ladderback chairs and other pieces of furniture on display at the San Diego County Fair, a now-closed woodworking gallery on Grand Avenue in Escondido and at the Carter Center in Atlanta (the foundation run by former President Jimmy Carter).

Still, he's never had his work included in a full-on museum before ---- so this weekend's opening of the "Forms in Wood and Fiber" exhibit at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park has Filbeck understandably excited.

"This is a first, so I consider it to be an exceptional honor to be able to represent San Diego woodworkers," he said in an interview at Palomar College last week. And he said the other local woodworkers (Wendy Maruyama, Patrick Edwards, Gene Blickenstaff and Del Cover) provide "exceptional" company.

"It's an opportunity to show off the tremendous talent in San Diego County," he said, pointing out that the area has an active woodworking community even though there are relatively few local sources of wood materials.

Part of the reason San Diego has such a robust community of fine woodworkers is the climate, Filbeck said. Wood naturally expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity. While woodworkers in the Pacific Northwest or New England will have abundant wood supplies, the number of days they can't work due to excess humidity or dryness is much higher than here in Southern California.

"The only time when climate is an issue is during the Santa Anas," Filbeck said, referring to this region's occasional heat waves spurred by hot desert winds.

Filbeck said his participation came about after local woodworkers Brett Hesser and Del Cover were approached by Mingei curators. "They wanted to do something on local craftsmen," Filbeck said. He described Hesser and Cover as "very, very artistic designers ---- they're the epitome of furniture designers."

At the end of last year, Filbeck said Hesser and Cover asked him and other local woodworkers to submit at least five pieces for consideration.

"I submitted probably seven or eight items, and they chose five chairs," he said.

Filbeck teaches a multi-semester course on making ladderback chairs by traditional means at Palomar, and gave Carter one of his handmade ladderback rocking chairs when he found out that Carter is also a woodworker.

Of the five chairs he'll have on exhibit at the Mingei, Filbeck said one is a fanback Windsor in walnut, two are ladderback chairs and two are ladderback rocking chairs. Also, he'll have a selection of his hand-made spokeshave handles on exhibit as well. A spokeshave is a tool used to hand-carve wooden rods and shafts ---- like the rods on a chair back, or even the legs of a chair. A spokeshave is composed of a handle for pulling the tool, plus a metal blade for shaping the wood. Filbeck makes his own handles out of wood.

Besides the woodworking displays, "Forms in Wood and Fiber" is also exhibiting samples from California Fibers, a San Diego-based artistic organization that specializes in textiles and mixed media. Participating artists from California Fibers are Charlotte Bird, Carrie Ann Burckle, Marilyn McKenzie Chaffee, Doshi, Jacy Diggins, Christie L. Dunning, Gail Fraser, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Susan Hart Henegar, Carol E. Lang, Carol Mckie Manning, Ellen Phillips, Michael Rohde, Valentyna Roenko Simpson, Cameron Taylor-Brown, Dave Weidig and Peggy Wiedemann.

While Filbeck's main professional focus is as a teacher at Palomar (he retired from the Navy after 23 years, mostly in the submarine service), he said for those who seek to make a living from making handcrafted fine furniture, it can be tough to find customers. The one gallery in North County that exhibited such pieces closed, and Filbeck said despite having several pieces in display, none of his sold.

"It's very difficult to find a venue to sell one-of-a-kind furniture," he said. "Word of mouth is the primary way of selling."

"Forms in Wood and Fiber"

When: Opens June 8 and runs through Jan. 9, 2009; hours, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays

Where: Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego

Admission: $7, adults; $5, seniors; $4, students and active-duty military

Phone: (619) 239-0003

Web: mingei.org

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