“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”-Rumi..... Virginia “Ginny” Blanchard was one of the Midcoast PechaKucha’s presenters Sept. 18. The event, which always highlights artists or creatives with an unusual skill or talent, was a perfect fit for Blanchard. And it’s always interesting to pluck these people from the PK event and get a deeper look into who they are and what they choose to do with their lives.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from New York University several years ago, she’d never done any woodworking and decided to try a two-week course at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport. That path led to more courses and a fellowship through the Center.

She now makes a living by making furniture on commission and is working on doing the trade show route. Just recently she made the transition to stay permanently in Maine.

Blanchard defines her style as “starting with circa 1900 French and Belgian Art Nouveau and veering toward a Viennese Secession.” 

Loosely translated for the layman, this means she digs making bygone era furniture with fanciful contemporary details.

She picked three pieces in her portfolio that she found to be the most fun to make. 

“Although, usually, I make fun of myself for making more impractical furniture,” she admitted.

Take her favorite piece — a vanity with a matching velvet covered stool.

“This piece I wanted to be a little more glamourous,” she said. “I asked myself how do I want to feel when I’m sitting down at this vanity?”

The tapered legs are feminine, complete with an inlay that blossoms into a garden. The stool that goes with it has the same tapered legs and is covered with gold velvet. Blanchard keeps this vanity at her house.

“It’s a little ostentatious, but it’s one of my favorites,” she said.

Another non-commissioned piece she created is a privacy screen made from framed mahogany with birch veneer with a haughty peacock motif.

“This was the first piece I did after my fellowship ended,” she said. 

The piece took about three months to construct and is currently stored in New York. You can just imagine one of those 1930s actresses standing behind it, changing her clothes while talking to a paramour in the room.

The gramophone stands are made to be a pair. Open them up and there is enough storage for record albums. Both made with mahogany, satinwood, holly and bloodwood veneer. “Somethings just look good as a pair, and I thought it would be fun to play with that floral frieze at the tops of the stands,” she said. As for the perfectly matched gramophone? She bought that at an auction selling around 400 gramophone and just happened to find one painted the same vivid red to match the bloodwood in the stands.

Besides finishing some commissions this winter, she plans to work on some other “fun” pieces this year such as whimsical boxes and stand alone small tables.

Check out more of her work in our small gallery or visit: virginiablanchardfurniture.com

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com