Colorful World Of Whimsy

“I’ve always had a thing for chairs and design,” says Chair Whimsy artist Wendy Conklin.

- Anne Brink

Her work creates a bold, joyful world where color and patterns surprise us, and we are emboldened to go with what we love instead of conventional design choices. Wendy’s chairs reflect and embody this vision. “More than 20 years ago, I studied to be a teacher,” she says. “And while I’ve enjoyed the journey of being an educator, author and trainer, I’ve never quite gotten over my first love.”

In 2012, while working in education, Wendy enrolled in several upholstery courses to take some steps toward her dream of designing chairs, and it changed her life. She found that each chair she worked on presented a unique challenge and multiple opportunities for problem solving. “To me, chairs have personalities that call for certain fabrics and paint treatments,” she says. Colors, in fabric and paint, are elements that really make chairs special and bring out their hidden beauty, Wendy believes.