Rock legend commissions unique ‘piece of art' from small Calgary company
But it turn's out Paul Stanley, co-founder, rhythm guitarist and one of the lead singers of hard rock band KISS, is also lovin' the work being done by Black Forest Wood of Calgary — builders of custom furniture from rare pieces of wood sourced from around the world and commissioned by customers from around the globe.
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The General Manager of Black Forest Wood, Dylan Thomas, shows of some of the many unique pieces of wood the company sources from around the world to make its tables, doors and other pieces of furniture. Global News
The company's general manager, Dylan Thomas, said the rock star fell in love with woodworking a couple years ago and began following about a dozen different custom woodworking companies on social media about a year ago, including Black Forest Wood.
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'He just kind of sat there and lurked for about six months watching and seeing what he liked. And I knew he followed us. So I always had this dream, oh, maybe Paul Stanley is going to reach out one day,' said Thomas.
'And then it was about six months after he followed us, one of the girls who works at our front desk came and grabbed me. She's like, Dylan, there's a Paul Stanley on the phone looking for you. So I kind of am in shock, but I pick up the phone and sure enough, it's Paul.
'He's telling me how he's been watching all of our videos and something about our work just spoke to him and he ended up actually going through and commissioning a dining table from us.'
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The 'piece of artwork,' custom-made to Stanley's specifications — communicated by phone and social media — took several months to design and build.
'He wanted really nice wood, he wanted walnut, he wanted the resin, and he also wanted one of our signature X-Faces that we ended up doing for him. It's just this really nice pedestal base that supports the table,' said Thomas.
'We went through many options with him. It probably was like 10 or 12 different slabs until we found that perfect piece for him.'
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The table, when it was completed, was about five metres long, a metre and a half wide and weighed close to 500 kg.
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Rock-N-Roll legend Paul Stanley unwraps his new custom designed and built table after it was delivered to his home in Los Angeles. Black Forest Wood
On July 15, the company hand-delivered it to Stanley's home in Los Angeles and it took about 15 people to install.
Thomas said Stanley was 'truly over the moon' when he finally saw the table. 'He told us he had chills when he opened it and it was better than he could have ever expected,' Thomas said.
'It was such a humbling experience to get that level of appreciation from such a successful artist in his own right.'
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The table, custom made from walnut and resin is about 5 metres long, a metre and a half wide and weighs close to 500 kilograms. Black Forest Wood
But Black Forest also had a surprise for the rock star — that he had no idea he was getting.
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They presented Stanley with a custom-made electric guitar, part of a new product line that the company is introducing.
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Black Forest Wood, also surprised Paul Stanley of KISS, with a custom made electric guitar. Black Forest Wood
The gift of a guitar was inspired by the company's founder Brad Thomas — Dylan's father — who has over 45 years experience in custom woodworking and teaches a course that has, over the past decade, helped more than 100 students build their own custom acoustic guitar.
A KISS fan all his life, the elder Thomas describes Stanley's enthusiasm gratitude for both the table and the guitar as 'very humbling. It was unbelievable.'
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