Sam Maloof (1916 – 2009) was an artist that never created furniture to be placed in a gallery with a ‘do not touch’ sign attached. He created an immense body of work that begs to be touched, with its sinewy lines and understated elegance. Sam truly allowed the imago dei to move his hands to create something new and beautiful out of a primary medium that in itself is forever new and beautiful. He truly embraced God’s intention in creation and we are all better for it.
Maloof wrote,
Too often we who make objects – and I speak of all media – become quite taken with what we have done. We accept all credit, all praise. We become smug and conceited. I believe no man has ever designed anything that approaches the complexity of the simplest flower or the grandeur of a great redwood tree. God is the Creator of all things, and the beauty He has given us is awesome.
Make the effort to view any of the Maloof profiles and you will quickly discover two things, his humility and the natural way in which his hands guide the transformation process of the wood. He never forced the wood to conform to his will. Instead, as you see him sort through his piles of Walnut, his eyes and hands are searching for the boards that contain the piece of furniture that they were intended to be transformed into. We would all do well to view our own perspective on creation in the same way.
We’ll miss you Sam. God Bless.
LOVE | ACCEPT | FORGIVE 
Thanks for your remembrance of Sam Maloof. As a Christian and a furniture maker, he willingness to give God the glory very much resonated with me, too. I wrote about him also in my most recent blog post.
http://louisfrydesign.wordpress.com
I spent an evening with him a number of years ago and he mentioned that his wife, Frieda, would get irritated with him in church for making furniture doodles and designs on the church bulletin during the sermon.
Louis Fry
Hi Louis. After looking through your gallery I am going to remove all traces of my own projects! You do fantastic work. I have a walnut coffee table in my living room that I have never finished because it has just never felt right and when I saw your Egyptian (I can’t remember the name) table I found what I saw in my mind. Maybe it will go back in the shop soon. Meanwhile, you’ve been added to the blogroll.
Now Krenov has passed…so little time to work on our art.