It is a great pleasure to look back and then push forward— to take a traditional form and twist it using our own design language. Always paying respect to the work that brought us here and honouring those choices as we add to the canon of classic furniture forms.

Steady heart, steady breath and steady hand are the main tools required to apply our OXALINO finish to each piece. The work is done entirely without guides and demands hours of focus to wrap itself continuously around each limb of furniture. The process produces a hum of concentration; a meditation.

When seated and viewing the work, a similar meditative experience can be had. Attempt a steady breath while following the subtle individuality of one single line of OXALINO finish. Viewing the hand of the painter, the choices and mistakes made, you can appreciate the care and consideration of each item.

The way the dye bleeds in some sections of the OXALINO finish creates irregular patterns, like line work of an old tattoo. As the world of design and production becomes increasingly streamlined via automation, we gravitate towards organic patterns and irregularities. These irregularities express a central component of our humanity and the value of human hands working. Old rudimentary prison tattoos appeal to this sentiment. They confidently declare what they are and embrace the history of their creation.

During finish experiments with the OXALINO lines, the final blue and white finish appealed in a nostalgic sense of rural heritage—the old spoon, the hand finished cabinet door, the hand worn newel post—all authentic and modest items.

The use of solid wood allows for the organic connection that ‘country living’ gives to an interior. White oak is a course grained wood and when the oil is applied, the grain pops out in a celebration of natural texture.

Using an oxidizing solution is a time-tested technique and can be done a thousand different ways. What may have been previously lost or forgotten, is newly appreciated with simple tools and techniques that rely on the high fidelity of the painter to make the impression. OXALINO is clear and to the point—no post modern software, no industrial technique—just a steady hand and some vinegar.

Hand painting is a way to embellish furniture and reinvent it for the user. Historically folk artists as well as common people have taken a brush to their furniture to add personal value and creative expression. It is this spirit of freedom and the desire to embellish that OXALINO exhibits so whole heatedly.