Physics made fun. Micheal Gloor was a physicist in college who dropped it all to go to art school. Why? He took an elective in pottery and it blew him away. Years later, he has already had a commercial pottery studio and shop, worked as a cabinetmaker and boat carpenter, and now has settled down for good (?) as a furniture designer and founder of Gloor Design.
Recommended to us by a reader who calls Michael "a friend and fantastic furniture maker," we like his simpler furniture and sense that his website doesn't do justice to his handiwork. Combining the simplicity of Shaker design with the formality and asymmetry of Oriental design, Gloor goes nuts with the woods (Birdseye Maple, Mahogany, Wenge, Curly Sycamore, Mahogany, Koa, Birdseye Elm, Bubinga and Purpleheart), but keeps the overall design smooth and clean.
Our favorite is the writing desk and chair ($3,800) and the smooth bench ($1,800), which almost have a mid-century modern appeal to them. (Thanks, Martha!) MGR
