artist in residence
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP John Furniss uses a table saw at his workshop in Washougal to cut the corners off a large block of wood—the beginning of a future bowl—made of black walnut, sapele and African padauk. A few of Furniss’ finished pieces. Furniss was blinded in a suicide attempt. Furniss places his hand on a piece of wood spinning on a lathe. “I have to feel the piece as it changes,” he said. “You are not supposed to put your hand on the lathe, but if I didn’t, it would look like a blind guy made it.”
The Blind Woodsman Sightlessness doesn’t stop John Furniss from carving his own future written by Viki Eierdam photography by Ingrid McQuivey
