“Islander Alan Vogel is a modern Midas.In these days of environmental awareness, his ability to turn disused barns into tables pioneers the way for recycling as a kind of alchemy.I don’t do this for the money, says Vogel, although he admits that he makes gold enough to line a pocket-sized business. Stroking the uneven surface of a 64- by 80-inch table whose body came from a barn in Sequim and whose legs are made from Montana wood, he explains that his real ambition is to supply families with tables that will serve as heirlooms. I like family units, and I love the idea of people sitting around the same table for years to come, says the self-confessed home-body.For Vogel’s work is a labor of love. A beautiful but expensive antique table he saw in a flat in Cape Town seduced him eight years ago into learning how to restore tables, and he soon felt inspired to actually make them. He originally used boards from old stables in the coastal area of South Africa, but upon moving to the Northwest, has begun to salvage fir, cedar and white pine from nineteenth centuries barns whose obsolete function as granaries, poultry or dairy farms would otherwise mark them for the mush heap.And since settling on the island, Vogel has reincarnated his business as successfully as he has old wood. With sufficient commissions to keep him occupied a month in advance, and new orders pouring in daily from ‘Dana’s Showhouse’ where his tables are displayed, Vogel says his main difficulty is keeping his energy levels high enough to make supply meet demand. As the light catches the uneven surface of wood that ripples with a molten consistency, he explains that it is not simply the European charm of the old wood but the uniqueness of each table that appeals to his customers.Which is why Vogel is determined to keep his furniture custom-made and his work local.I wouldn’t want to ship mass-made tables halfway across the country, he says, and I don’t want to make a product that fuels consumerism and interferes with nature. Reclining chez Vogel in a room distinctively furnished with several of his own unpolished creations, he explains that he is using less and less of the polyurethane varnish because it is non-biodegradable.For coaxing people into accepting that a table will get marked is at the heart of this small-scale artist’s biggest dreams. Fondly imagining the table scratches made by a child eating their first meal, or the stains left on the wood from a messy party, Vogel says his greatest ambition is to make a family banquet table. There’s no end to the history a table can preserve, he says. * * * * *Vogel’s tables will be displayed during the Quarterly Arts Walk, Aug. 6 at Dana’s Showhouse on Winslow Way.”