Inspiration: “I try to stay away from getting inspired by woodworkers—if you start looking at what’s already out there, you can’t do anything new—so I turn to painting and architecture.”
Wood: “No matter what your design looks like on paper or in your mind, it’s going to change once you select the piece of wood, which really dictates what you can do with it.”
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Furniture: “Chairs and tables are like the little black dress of furniture design. Everyone has to do their own version and find a new way to do it.”
Lamp Bases: “There are a lot of items, like lamps, where I really want to make them but I don’t want to do it unless I can add something new to the mix. I’ve been working on that project for a year and a half now, but I have no intention of releasing lamps until I get it right.”
Art in Shop, Made by His Brother-in-Law: “It’s not what most people do in a wood shop, but if I want to have art, I don’t want to have it somewhere I’m not going to see it. I’m in here all day long.”
Bloodstained Clothes: “Any piece of wood has splinters. All my tools are really sharp. So all my clothes are work clothes.”
Watch: “I’m wearing a French watch that my sister gave me for Christmas that she bought for 2 euros; it stopped working, and the battery would cost $300, so I just wear it to events. But I finally ordered a real watch—I’ve been wanting one all my life—from this Chicago company called Le Coeur. It gets in today.”
Garrity’s work is locally available at East + West, Urban Matter, and Narrative Furniture. Visit collingarrity.com for more info.
