Local chiropractor known for creative woodworking talents 11/2/2008 11:24 PM
By RACHEL JOHNSON Staff writer
Crafting rustic furniture, building a fence and spinal adjustments are all in a day's work for one Aiken resident.
Driving along Park Avenue, the eye is drawn to the curious fenced front yard of a century-old blue house near York Street. Locked inside the open air deck and arbor are select pieces of rustic furniture handcrafted from a variety of wood and nearby a full-size wooden seesaw crafted for adults beckons passersby to play.
Wooden signs on the outside of the home read "Chiropractor," "Fleming Furniture" and the truck in the driveway advertises a fence building company.
Dr. David Fleming is a man of many talents, yet confesses he has but one passion: wood crafting. "I like to get up in the morning, look around and be inspired," he said as he put the finishing touches on a custom engraved cherry bench complete with horseshoes attached to the legs.
The bench, like many of his projects, is for a friend who gave Fleming a cherry tree. "Many of my clients only ask that I create a piece for them from a tree they give me," said Fleming.
Often Fleming obtains his wood from members of the community wanting to dispose of a tree.
He retrieves the tree from the owner's property, takes it to the saw mill where it is cut, and then brings it back to his Park Avenue home where he transforms the rustic lumber into a work of art displaying the natural beauty, strength and size of the wood. Fleming's creations are created from cedar, pecan, black walnut and cherry.
"My favorite wood to work with it black walnut because it is so rare and so hard," he said. He also enjoys working with cedar.
These days, Fleming is making hall stands by converting antique doors into functional and unusual shelving units. He is perhaps best known around Aiken for his unique benches found in many restaurants and businesses around town, as well as on farms across the state.
In addition to hall stands and benches - which may be shaped like porpoises or adorned with turquoise inlays and horseshoes - Fleming crafts butcher blocks, signs, cabinets, tables, bowls, trim, kitchen islands, bars, stools, tables, seesaws, gates, chairs, church pews, end tables, saddle racks, trash cans, office furniture and more. Often, pieces are custom ordered. However, Fleming enjoys letting his imagination and artistry run wild.
Fleming first began creating furniture out of necessity more than 30 years ago.
"At 22, I built my first log home in Tallahassee, Fla. When I was done, I needed furniture, so I built it," he said.
Dropping by 313 Park Ave, S.E. is like walking into an art gallery, except the pieces all weigh several hundred pounds. If the sounds of a table saw and the smell of a fire greet you, the artist is creating in his backyard studio.
For more information on Fleming and to see samples of his work, visit www.fleming-furniture.com, call 292-0298 or stop by in person.
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