the history of the river table

an Original design

After studying at the prestigious College of the Redwoods (California) Fine Woodworking program and the Capellagården School of Craft & Design (Sweden) between 2006-2008, I began working as a full-time studio furniture maker in the summer of 2008.  My early influences in the world of furniture design were Sam Maloof, James Krenov, George Nakashima and various Danish masters.  At the start of my business, I committed to the pursuit of discovering my artistic voice and creating original work.  During my first few years of building up my portfolio, my work could be described as quiet, clean-lined and lightly sculpted, as evidenced in my award-winning Mendo Bench and Chocolate Chair designs.  In addition to a series of chair designs, I also explored new designs in lighting, cabinetry and other objects .  In 2010, a serendipitous introduction to a local sawyer and his barn, full of live edge slabs, led me to discover an inspiring new expression of my favorite material (wood), and changed the course of my work almost overnight.  Much like George Nakashima before me, I was immediately drawn to the wild, unpredictable qualities of wood slabs with their natural, outside edges.  Through experimentation and play, I made the novel choice to turn the live edges inward and highlighted the void between the curvy edged slabs with vibrant blue glass, evoking the spirit of rivers, lakes and waterfalls.  An entirely innovative concept was born and I had created the world’s very first River Table.  Subsequently, by 2011, I had begun to develop this idea into a trailblazing series of furniture and art pieces that would soon become known as the River Collection.  At the time, I was a relatively unknown furniture maker and artist selling my work through juried arts festival around the country. But that was all about to change.  On July 1, 2014 a story about my River Collection was published by Colossal and went viral online and on social media. Overnight my work was discovered by tens of millions of new people; the world had now been introduced to the River Table and I immediately began receiving a cascade of interest in my work.   I was recruited to be on various design TV shows (I turned them down in the interest of remaining at home with my family), my tables were gracing the covers of magazines around the world, I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and more. Within a short period of time, I had sold out of all my inventory and amassed a 2-year waiting list for commissions. Over the ensuing years, I began shipping my work all around the USA, and in fact, the work from my little one-man studio was reaching every corner of the globe, being sent to fans in the UK, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and beyond.  With all of the attention that my work had garnered, I also began seeing imitations appear.  This unfortunate trend has continued and has led to what is now countless imitations being made in both glass and epoxy resin.  While my work has inspired the biggest woodworking trend of my generation, and some might suggest this as a form of flattery, I feel differently.  While I am grateful for the success I’ve found, it has been disheartening to see my work imitated without attribution.  Furthermore, having a reverence for the natural beauty of live edge slabs, it’s sad to see DIYers pouring buckets of plastic epoxy resin onto beautiful wood slabs.  You can read more about the issues of epoxy and wood here.

Over the years, my River Collection has expanded beyond tables to wall-hung art and more recently my Archipelago Series and Meander Series, exploring an exciting new side of this concept. My customers often remark on how much prettier their pieces are in person and many of them have returned again and again, growing from customers into collectors. This gives me great joy because my simple desire is to just keep creating.  It’s what I was made to do. If my work has been on your bucket list or you’ve been wishing to buy your first piece, you can purchase with confidence, knowing that you are acquiring an Original.  Each purchase from the River Collection includes an Official Greg Klassen Certificate of Authenticity and your purchase is recorded in my Official Digital Archives.  This protects the value of your investment. And as always, each piece is of course signed & dated.  To see my latest work, you can stay updated on social media and continue to visit my website.

Interested in a commission? 

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