The Ruppel Design Group: The Apex Rocking Chair

    Ross and Terry Ruppel, furnituremakers, are a father and son craftsmen, who share     a shop and a design tradition.

    The tradition of a father passing his skills on to his son is not a new idea. A father             teaches his child how to hunt or drive a car. A mother teaches her child how to             cook or sew. While many skills are learned from family members, some believe that a love of certain pass times is inborn. Many professions even seem to “run in the family”.

    This is the case in the Ruppel family. Creativity was never an option. Terry, the father, is the grandson of woodworkers, barn builders, wagon makers, house builders, etc., and Ross, on his mother’s side is the grandson of engineers, wood type cutters, and carvers. Maybe a love of wood and problem solving is in their genes.

    From the time he was very young, Ross loved to draw and build. He watched his father make furniture in his own wood shop from the time he was 6, where Dad ran a custom furniture design shop. Always talking about solutions to challenges came with the territory. Always talking about wood tools, finishes, colors and capabilities did, too.

Many craftsmen copy designs from the past, simply recreating techniques and copying plans or patterns.   A shaker style rocking chair or the Windsor chair is an example of this type of craftsmanship. Although the craftsman must be skilled, he need not be a designer.

    Not so with the Ruppel family. They always see a better way to build a piece or need to add their own visual or construction element to every piece. Ross and Terry Ruppel design each piece of furniture that they build.   They first draw never-before-seen plans, work out measurements, prototype the piece, redraw and rework the improved plans, and then rebuild subsequent pieces in a series. No two are the same. Each piece is a design and engineering feat.

    So if you own one of their pieces, are you an art collector or a craft collector or just a smart investor in future antiques? Probably all of the above.

    One collector has an entire house full of their furniture. “It makes a beautiful, warm environment and looks wonderful with our other collected furniture, which is generally made of stone and glass, “says Shawn Walsh. “It is very functional and we really use it, not like “art” furniture, which you can only talk about and show off.”

    Using American and southern native hardwoods like walnut, oak, cherry and maple, they build custom pieces for clients throughout the country.

    Like all fathers and sons, there are differences. Ross designs with a CAD system and graduated from Tennessee Tech University. Terry designs with a pencil and paper, and graduated from University of Illinois. Ross tends toward more bent wood designs, while Terry stays with rectilinear design. Both love inlay designs. They continue to push each other to higher challenges.

    Also exhibiting in the gallery will be Fred Behrens, Fine Arts professor at Columbia State Community College. Mr. Behrens will show his recent acrylic paintings. His show is entitled "Art Without Words".