Straight sticks for some simple rustic artistry

Sunset, Dec, 1987

Straight sticks for some simple rustic artistry

Artistic bends are the usual hallmark of traditional twig furniture. Pieces made from rustic branches and shoots usually flow and twist with graceful lines that only a skilled artisan can achieve. But these three pictures show you how plain, straight sticks can be used to convey a similar impression of gently tamed nature. You may get all the raw materials you'll need just from this year's pruning.

Southern California garden designer Jack Catlin says, "You can use almost any plant that has whips and grows fast, fast, fast: bamboo, mulberry, plum, pomegranate, locust, anything. You can peel it, split it, or use it as is.'

Painted twigs from a California garden support the coffee table above. The branches were simply lashed into a stack with twine, then topped with a square of tempered glass.

Architect Adolf deRoy Mark used pieces of saguaro skeletons to form the doors of his kitchen cabinets in Cave Creek, Arizona. The pieces were mounted on plywood backing that holds the hinges.

Saguaro ribs set into alder shutter frames soften the light entering Ellen and Tony Lomonaco's Tucson dining room. Design was by Lee Bauerlein.

Photo: Stacked twigs form base for glass-topped coffee table. Found fallen, each was cut 3 feet long, painted white; lashing is heavy string

Photo: Freeform cabinet doors are bunched-together pieces of saguaro skeleton. To open doors, Calleen pulls on natural knobs

Photo: Saguaro ribs tuck into routed shutter frames; slight irregularity in each rib leaves shutters with plenty of gaps that let in diffused light