CFA Serial # 025
78''L x ~33''W x30''H (~2'' Thick)
High-gloss Urethane Hardcoat Finish with UV protection
Hidden electrical wiring and Bronze Grommet
CLARKFunctionalArt designs and builds custom one-of-a-kind works of art including slab tables, tree trunk tables, and Nakashima inspired tables. Ancient and contemporary home furnishings are created from solid exotic woods including Teak, Makha, Rosewood, Acacia, and Ebony. The wood is inlay with re-enforcing butterfly joinery of brass, stainless steal, and other exotic woods to enhance beauty and strength. Master-craftsman detail and finish brings out brilliance and fire of the wood.
Walnut and Ebony Oak with Patina Iron
Large Dining, Cocktail, Sofa, and Side Tables
Custom Sizes Available

See all my works at the Yellowstone Club Ski Resort in the Warren Miller Dining Room
Yellowstone Club Walnut Cocktail Table with Japanese-Brown Patina Iron Base and Butterfly Inlays
CFA Serial # 56
42''L x 42''W x 22''H (~1.75'' Thick)
Satin Urethane Hardcoat Finish with UV protection
Available in any size.
Teak Tall Tree Cocktail Table with Polished Metal Mirror Legs
Natural Living
Published Thursday, September 24, 2009 10:17 PM PDT
Shopping
Checking in with...Tony Clark:
Furniture with Thai inspiration
By Imran Vittachi
Local artist Tony Clark owns and operates CLARK Functional Art in Costa Mesa. He designs and creates custom pieces of furniture, home decor and works of fine art from sections of old-growth trees that he’s found and reclaimed. Many of his pieces, he says, come from stumps of felled trees that were abandoned in northern Thailand. Clark, an avid
runner who lives in Newport Beach with his wife and toddler son, stumbled upon his first find in Chiang Mai, Thailand, several years ago, while running there with members of the local Hash Club chapter. Clark, 46, gave up a successful career as an executive at Northrop Grumman Corp. to pursue his love of woodworking and creating art full time. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA from UCLA, as well as a master’s in computer science from USC.
What is functional art?
Functional art is art for the home. It’s art that you place in your home and that you use everyday. It becomes a part of your life.
How is your business unique?
I custom-make pieces for clients. My art is unique in the fact that I import reclaimed exotic woods from Southeast Asia that would be lost, if not found. And I am rediscovering this wood and presenting it to people, so they can see the beauty; otherwise it would rot in the forest or just be lost forever.
How did the idea come to you?
I’ve always been in love with wood. And I saw the beauty in the wood and also in other types of material — like metal, resins and glass — and I wanted to bring them together in an art.
How did you find your first pieces of wood?
It was quasi-serendipitous.... We would drive out to the middle of Thailand, and there would be a big log in a lake. And it was a tree trunk. We would dig it out of the ground and clean it up. I didn’t really know at the time what it was, or how beautiful it would be. It was kind of like discovering a treasure....
And just being an opportunist when you see something. There was this huge tree trunk in the River Ping. It was a rosewood tree. (The trunk) was 9 feet in diameter at the narrow end, and at the roots it was, you know, maybe, 14 feet in diameter.
What type of wood was in the first trunk that you extracted?
It was an old teak tree. There’s many species of teak in Thailand. Most of the forest is teak.... There’s (also) many species of Thailand rosewood up there, and another wood called the East Indian walnut, and acacia, which they call monkey pod, of all things.
What are some of the oldest trees that you’ve worked with?
The oldest tree was the (Rosewood) tree that washed out of the River Ping. I estimated that it must be at least 2,000 years old.
How is your business friendly to the environment?
I’m not using any felled trees. These are all old stumps that have been reclaimed. The wood that I find is in barns. They’re in old restaurants. They’re part of bridges. They are just pieces sitting there, not being used.
It sounds like you had a prosperous career before as an engineer. Did you have any worries about becoming a full-time artist?
All the time. It’s a struggle, but I will persevere. Life is a journey, and it’s about the adventure that you have on your journey. And this is my journey.
CLARK Functional Art, Inc.
Address: 1630 Superior Ave, Building H
Costa Mesa, CA 92627 USA
Tel: (949) 375-1367
Website: www.clarkfunctionalart.com
Astoria Penthouse Living Room Cocktail Table


Showing at the ASID / Orange Coast Magazine Home Tour 2009 at the OC Astoria
The Burl of a tree trunk possesses a beautiful swirling grain that has movement similar to the flow of water in a fast moving creek.
This Makha Burl Dining Table and a matching Makha Burl Cocktail Tail were created for interior designer Tammy Dawson. Tammy has just completed the interior of a spectacular home in
Custom Makha Burl Tree Trunk Cocktail Table with scallop cut glass and high-polish metal legs. Designed for designer Tammy Dawson and client residence on Big Horn Golf Course in Palm Desert CA.
ASID Orange County Chairs for Charity, debuting September 2008
San Francisco Chronicle July 8, 2008
The brilliance and swirling intricacy of the burled wood grain is like fire. The old burl of this Burma Rosewood-Narra stump is called Amboyna; arguably the most coveted exotic wood in
down a long time ago, the tree trunk sat for a very long time lodged in the mud banks of the
Geometry is wonderful! It turns out that 7 disks of the same size can perfectly surround an 8th similar disk. Well that’s nice, but I only had 6 disks, so 5 had to go around 1; the result, a pentagon. I still think it looks good. This table is made of 5 Burma Rosewood crosscut disks surrounding a single disk. The Burma Rosewood crosscut disks have a star shaped hollow at their center filled with black high-gloss resin. The entire table is interconnected using the same high-gloss black resin. The base is inspired by the pentagon theme; it has a pentagon center structure that’s sides extends out forming a pentagon star. Ok enough of pentagons, take a look.
Burma Rosewood Hollows and Black High-gloss Resin
45''Diameter x 19''H
Serial # 96
How do you make a round cross-section of a tree square? This is the puzzle solved by this Book-match Rosewood Table. The tree center is at the table corners, the table center is the outside of tree. Light from beneath illuminates the ruby colored resin at the table center and natural occurring half-moon openings at the corners.
Burma Rosewood and Black Lacquer Geometric Base
28”W x 28’’W x 16''H x 1 1/2'' Thick
Sunset was inspired by the natural form of this teak hollow that has a burl that burst out from the center and flows outward in waves. The red center is a ruby colored resin that glows from back light. The rays emanating from the side are made of polished golden brass.
I have created a new "Home Accents" line of home furnishing. In this category are various art objects for the home such as bookends, bookshelf art sculptures, table top sculptures, and more. You can view these pieces along with pricing in the catalog on my website.
I created this Teak Burl Book-match Coffee Table from the crotch of a very large reclaimed teak tree stump. The crotch of a tree is the portion of the tree that divides the tree into two large branches or roots. It is very solid wood that possesses the "swirl-of-the-burl"; the dense burl growth that provides the immense strength required to support the tree's vertical growth.
s of wood with matching grain; the two pieces are then joined such that the wood grains mirror each other.
I make custom Burl Art Sculptures for a variety of clients. I use beautiful pieces of reclaimed exotic woods and salvaged metal. I have one client that uses custom Burl Art Sculptures to display jewelry. Each Burl Art Sculpture is individually sized to be framed by the display window as per the customer's specification. Jewelry is displayed on the wood sculpture hanging from various points.
I create a variety of aesthetic natural-form exotic wood sculpture constructed out of salvaged driftwood, tree trunk hollows, and recycled scrap metal. The wood is polished and finished to bring out the fire of the burl/grain. The metal is use to create a strong base and support. The metal is re-milled and polished to a brilliant shine.
This Old-Growth India Teak Coffee/Cocktail table was made on consignment for the 2008 OC Philharmonic House of Design April 22- May 18, 2008. It will be displayed in the Entry Loggia by Chameleon Designs of Newport Beach, CA.
Book-matching is a wood milling technique that produces two pieces of wood with matching grain; the two pieces are then joined such that the wood grains mirror each other.
This cocktail table is made from a very old slab of East Indian Walnut. This particular piece casts off a natural dark green tone. It has beautiful live-edge sides; the cambium which is the light part of the wood between the tree bark and central hardwood provides a beautiful contrast to the dark green center. The legs are made of old-growth India Teak and also have a live-edge and contrasting cambium.
Table Top 67 inches L x 25 inches W x 4 1/4 inches Thick
Table Height 20 inches (Can be customized to any height)
I made this large Burma Rosewood table using Ebony wood butterfly inlays to provide a beautiful accent and additional strength. The legs are constructed of Acacia wood: a very popular and beautiful wood used in Hawaiian wood carvings.
Could you envision this magnificent piece in the middle of a grand hotel lobby?
Rounds
Here is a Makha Burl Tree Trunk Table base I found near the upper part of the river Ping. The Makha tree is an exotic hard wood from the old Makha Burl
Table Base -- 41 to 34 inches Diameter x 28 inches Height
Custom Glass Table Top
This cocktail table is very cool. I enjoy incorporating all types of inlay work into my pieces such as wood burl, metals, and glass. The inlays are beautiful as well as functional; they hide defects in the reclaimed wood such as natural/man-made holes, burnt sections, and dents.
CLARK Functional Art creates works of functional art from ancient fallen trees and reclaimed woods of
Ancient and contemporary home furnishings are created from solid exotic woods including Teak, Makha, Rosewood, Acacia, and Ebony. The wood is inlay with re-enforcing “butterfly” joinery of brass, stainless steel, and other exotic woods to enhance beauty and strength. Master-craftsman detail and finish brings out brilliance and fire of the wood.
All CLARKFunctionalArt wood is reclaimed. Fallen long ago and found washed up on the sides of rivers, along old forgotten roads, or part of an old barn. I travel the countryside looking for old muddy tree trunks and reclaimed wood from abandon buildings. The locals are glad to find a buyer, someone to haul an old tree off their farm or road. Rough cut and washed of mud the wood is shipped to
Custom Designs
Having difficulty finding the perfect piece to fit into your dining, living, or conference room? Have a custom piece of art created to your specification. CLARKFunctionalArt designs and builds custom works including conference tables, dining tables, coffee tables, entryway tables, outdoor tables, and art displays.
Come visit my studio on the border of
CLARKFunctionalArt
(2 doors down
from
Telephone: +1 949 375-1367
FAX: +1 949 209-1947
email: info@CLARKFunctionalArt.com
www.CLARKFunctionalArt.com
Found this very large Makha wood tree trunk in central Thailand along the River Ping. The stump was approximately 6ft Diameter x 6ft Tall (see picture below). This piece is approx. 350 yrs old; it was reclaimed after the 2006 seasonal floods from the river The Makha tree is an exotic hard wood from the old
The tables I have made from this magnificent tree trunk range in size down from the piece being used in the table above 74''L x 44''W x 8'' Thick. The table is designed to accommodate a custom glass top of various size and shape.
I found this Old Teak Burl washed up on the River Ping in
Other wood types and sizes available

OC artist Tony Clark creates works of functional art from old fallen trees of
Call (949) 375-1367; www.CLARKFunctionalArt.com

What is it to be Environmentally Responsible, Eco-friendly, and Green? For me it is only using reclaimed and recycled wood. All the wood I use was cut down a long time ago, reclaimed from a previous use, blown-over by a storm, or washed up by a flood. Further all my wood is certified by the Government of Thailand for export .
Fallen long ago and found washed up on the sides of rivers, along old forgotten roads, or part of an old barn. I travel the countryside looking for old muddy tree trunks and reclaimed wood from abandon buildings. Reclaimed wood is wood previously milled and used in the past for things such bridges, piers, barns, houses, and furniture. In actuality, there is much reclaimed wood; the difficulty is in identifying and retrieving the wood. Once found, the locals are glad to have found a buyer, someone to haul an old tree off their farm or road.
A Thai Government Trade Certificate must be obtained for possession and transportation of all exotic hardwood. Exotic hardwoods from Thailand are tightly control by the Thai Government Trade and Export Ministry. Government check points along all trade routes and ports inspect all certificates and accompanying cargo. The Thai people care for and protect their forests very responsibly, I maintain the same ethic.