Bryce Moulton

Model - Sailor "Skippy" the African Cat

A TRIP TO AFRICA: In December of 2014, I visited my sister and her husband who were teaching in Burkina Faso with the Peace Corps. This was my first travel to a developing nation and the experience was incredibly striking. I enjoyed the visual styles in particular, bright blues and yellows in contrast with the earthen landscape and structures. While there, I decided I would make a piece of furniture in the Burkinabe style as a gift to my sister and her husband upon their return to the states. Seemed like the best way for me to express my gratitude for their contribution to education, and to memorialize their time in Burkina Faso.

IDEATION: With sketching I played with the decorative elements found on gates, the lattice walls around the front of shops, the bright metal panels bent with an X for added strength, and even traditional clay structures for storing food. Once I settled on a three-door, creased sheet metal front credenza, I worked on making it flat packable. I wanted it to be easy for them to move, as well as for me to deliver. I considered making it from three modular cubes so the doors could be rearranged, but I realized it would be a lot easier with removable hinges. For cost savings I designed all the 3/4” panels to be cut from one 4’x8’ sheet, with a 1/4” piece for the back. Lastly, by controlling the dado depths, everything attaches together with one screw length.

MAKING IT: I chose an oak veneer plywood for the strong grain pattern and used scrap aluminum roofing for the door panels. I ripped a piece of hemlock into strips for the slatted door. For the legs I used small diameter maple tree with the bark on. I chose this material because I saw a lot of timber structures in Burkina Faso not made from lumber. I embedded a dowel screw into the leg and used a basic leg mounting plate to attach them to the bottom board of the case. This made them easily removable as they can just be unscrewed. Once I had all the parts, I painted the doors blue, yellow, and aqua, and gave the case a clay colored paint wash. Over the paint wash I did several coats of tung oil for durability. Since they are visible I chose brass flat head machine screws for the fasteners.