The Best Easel in the World: Michael Georges' new Bingham-Barclay easel
 

Michael Georges owns the finest artist

Scott assembled the completed easel this morning, aided by Michael and my painter-intern Dan Murri.

Everything is beautifully finished, including the underside of the base and the inside of the side tilt adjustment housing.

The Barclay design has no high center canvas support post, instead the sliding riser raises and lowers to fit the size of the canvas. This is a great easel for rooms without high vault ceilings.

The easel can be tilted back of course, and it tilts forward for pastel painting. It will not tilt so far as to topple over though.

Even the canvas clamp is beautiful. The lip is a strip of ebony.

The easel doesn't yet have the wooden crank handle. Scott will receive it in a few days and send it to Michael.

Let us hope Michael can put it together!

Michael gave the easel a trial run before we loaded it in his wagon for a trip to its new home on the other side of the Colorado Rockies.

You can look forward to a much better report from Michael himself in the next few days.

Meanwhile, I'm saving up my paper route money so Scott can build me one.

Very nice!

Are they only available on a custom basis?

Jim,

Michael Georges will be able to answer any questions much better than I can. He should be back at his computer by Saturday.

These easels will be built one at a time by Scott Bingham. They are absolutely top of the line.

It is my great hope that I can get the money together so he can build two of them for me.


Bill

William,

This easel is so beautiful, it make my eyes water! I think I would find myself too much in awe of its beauty and craftsmanship to actually put it to use. How in the world does one avoid spotting it with paint?

Congratulations, Michael, on an absolutely fabulous acquisition! I won't even ask what it costs :o

Lovely
 

I think the maker said he could make them out of several nice hardwoods and the price is good for such a well made work of art. The metal trim is great.

Hello Folks! I am home and am awaiting help to get the easel unloaded and into my top floor studio. I will take some additional pics and post them today or tomorrow. I am just in LOVE with this amazingly wonderful easel!

If you are in need of a new easel, as Bill has said, this is the best on the planet! Scott Bingham is taking orders. You can contact Scott at:

ssbinghams@yahoo.com
or:
801-356-9611

Here is a detail shot of the back hardware.

I completely emptied the closet in my studio (which is a converted bedroom). I painted it the Leffel/Whitaker green and installed shelving. The easel sits just inside the right side - which will give my painting surface some additional distance from my window. I will empty out two taborets of supplies and stuff to go on the shelves and get rid of them completely.

Here is the easel installed in my studio.

Here is a closeup of the crank assembly with the custom made brass pillow blocks. The shape repeats itself in the design of the top canvas clamp and the other brass work on the back.

Here is the side slide assembly. This allows the easel to tilt forward or back.

And here it is with my drawing board attached. I am going to stain the drawing board to be similar to the mahogony of the easel.

Thanks, Michael and Bill for posting this. I just emailed the manufacturer to ask about pricing. I'll probably have to write a very, very nice letter to Santa this year if I have any hope of ever getting one!

(Michael, I'm not too worried about how you'll keep this easel paint-stain free -- I assume you can just wipe off any stray drips -- but I do want to know how you keep paint off that nice white carpet!)

Is there a price(s) that can be shared?

Jim:

Price depends on the wood you select and the fixtures. At this point, he is offering brass or aluminum fixtures and just about any type of wood you can imagine. I would just contact Scott for a quote. He is an affable fellow, not pushy at all, and completely willing to give a quote based on your specs.

Bingham's Barclay
 

Thanks Bill for telling me about Scott Bingham's Barclay. It is my most prized possesion. Every time I walk in my studio it makes me smile just to see it. It makes me want to paint better. This really is the best easel in the world

This is a beautiful piece of work. There is another really great set of easels for the professional. They are the Hughes counterbalanced easels and can be found at www.hugheseasels.com. I own the Hughes 4000 easel and can stand or sit and move any part of the painting up, down or sideways into my optimum working space at the touch of a finger. No cranking or adjusting needed. It is a bit pricey but it sure makes my life easier as I work in medium to large formats.