OXALINO™
The evolution of pattern,
form and oxidation.
An evolving body of collectible furniture by Nicholas Holmes, developed through hand-painted oxidized patterning, traditional woodworking and an ongoing study of ornament.
OXALINO™
Pattern within the wood.
OXALINO™ is a decorative technique and evolving body of furniture developed by Nicholas Holmes of Hamilton Holmes.
The work began in 2019 with a straightforward experiment: applying oxidizing lines to furniture and seeing what happened as those lines travelled around three-dimensional forms. What began with simple stripes has since expanded through ornament, figurative studies, negative space and larger, more elemental compositions.
Each pattern is painted by hand using an oxidizing solution that reacts with the natural tannins in the wood. The marks become part of the material itself rather than sitting on top of it like conventional paint.
The name OXALINO™ combines oxidizing and line: oxidizing lines.
“OXALINO is an art form where the pattern lives within the wood, not on it, leaving a mark that feels closer to a tattoo than paint.”
Nicholas Holmes
Furniture & Cabinetmaking, Issue 332 →
THE EVOLUTION OF OXALINO™
From the first line to an expanding vocabulary.
OXALINO™ has developed through a series of connected movements rather than a sequence of closed collections.
Nicholas continues to return to earlier patterns, develop new ones and combine ideas across different periods. Linear, Ornament and the newer Elemental compositions remain part of the same growing visual language.
“We’re not bound to only go forward. We can go backwards, forwards, combine things, continue to build the collection of OXALINO with Hamilton Holmes.”
- Nicholas Holmes
MOVEMENT ONE
Linear
OXALINO™ began im 2019 with a simple alternating pattern: line on, line off.
On a flat sample, the idea was minimal. Once those lines began wrapping around legs, rails and curved forms, repetition created rhythm and the furniture took on a new sense of movement.
The first movement was restrained, linear and focused on the relationship between pattern and form.
Selected works
Captain’s Side Table · Captains Coffee Table · Thing #1 and Thing #2 · Offering Bowl · Wave Shelving · Ring Mirror · Desert Chair V1
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Early OXALINO™ work was presented with Sight Unseen and Lovehouse NYC.
The Evolution of OXALINO™ — Part One: Linear, Nicholas Holmes, 2026.
In this first chapter, Nicholas Holmes traces those early tests and the development of the original Linear collection.
OXALINO™ began in 2019 with a simple experiment: alternating oxidized lines across solid wood.
On a flat sample, the pattern was minimal. Once those lines wrapped around furniture, curves and rounded components began to change the way the pattern was perceived. Repetition created rhythm and gave otherwise static forms a sense of movement.
This first movement established a relationship that continues throughout OXALINO™: the decoration responds directly to the geometry of the object.
“Pretty simple, pretty minimal, but focusing on movement.”
— Nicholas Holmes
Featured Collection
OXALINO™
OXALINO™: An Evolving Journey in Pattern and Form
The Oxalino patterning began in 2020 as a meticulous spiral decoration, always hand-painted on tubular shapes. This initial phase was all about precision and consistency, ensuring each piece featured that signature spiral on its curved surfaces.
By 2022, Oxalino had moved into a new phase, exploring historical decorative patterns drawn from different eras and cultures. We introduced designs like the peacock feather table and experimented with ornamental trims and repeating motifs. Many of these patterns are still in the sketchbook stage, awaiting their debut on future commissioned pieces.
In 2025, we're introducing what we’re tentatively calling the "Hurricane" pattern— a geometric style that uses negative space to convey a sense of movement. This new pattern can be combined with the original spiral design, depending on the piece’s form and placement.
Featured In Stock
Dimensions
72" Length x 34" Height x 20" Depth
Materials
Solid White Oak
Hand-Painted OXALINO™
About
The OXALINO™ Cloud Drip Cabinet is a piece of Collectible Design featuring the maximally decorative OXALINO™ technique that is applied to all surfaces of the furniture, enhancing its physical forms and creating a mesmerizing visual experience.
Every piece of OXALINO™ furniture has unique decoration. The line-work is a combination of classical forms and rhythms, mixed with Hamilton Holmes’ own expressive designs.
The pattern is meticulously hand-painted with an oxidizing solution onto tannin-rich wood, causing a chemical reaction. Every line is drawn with a brush. The wood is then finished with a whitened oil that highlights the natural wood grain of the wood creating a moiré effect.
The Evolution
Each piece within this collection leverages the studio's ‘tubular design language’ of cylinders, spheres and rounded proportions, using solid wood joinery and traditional techniques for posterity.
While the hand painted patterning is esoteric and irregular, the woodwork pays homage to traditional craft forms. We have added the patterning method of hand painted oxidized finish to culminate in a collection with a unique decorative design language.
The combination of traditional woodwork and unique decorative process creates furniture fit for collection.
The Hamilton Holmes studio is founded on the concept of pairing culturally relevant and classic pieces with trusted woodworking techniques. This ensures that future generations will have beautiful furniture that is built to last.
INCLUDING…
Captain’s Side Table, a special edition of the Captain’s Side Table
Captains Coffee Table, a special edition of the Captain’s Coffee Table
Thing #1 and Thing #2, One of a Kind unique piece
Offering Bowl, One of a Kind unique piece
Wave Shelving, a special edition of the Wave Shelving
Ring Mirror, A Special edition of the Ring Mirror
Desert Chair V1, A special edition of the Desert Chair V1
Exhibited with Sight Unseen and Lovehouse NYC
The 2022 Peacock Table presents a piece of Collectible Design featuring the ‘OXALINO’ technique applied to all surfaces of the furniture. This patterning enhances the physical forms and creates a mesmerizing visual experience. The line-work is a combination of classical forms and rhythms, mixed with Hamilton Holmes’ own expressive designs.
The new Peacock Table evolves the technique to include more developed patterns inspired by the history of ornament.
The artist’s research included a review of the physical ornamentation of different cultures and periods from the ancient Aztecs, to the Byzantine Empire. Holmes then recreated the patterns in his own way and transformed them into a meta-pattern based in pure geometry.
'OXALINO Peacock Table' Inspirations include--the history of ornament, natural forms, old tattoos, painted furniture, the practise of meditation, geometry and harmony.
INCLUDING…
The Peacock Table, a special edition of the Lakeside Table
Exhibited at Salon Gallery
2025 saw multiple pieces exhibited in different galleries and exploring new patterns and old patterns alike.
ICFF 2025
The reimagined Desert Chair V3 was painted with the original spiral patterning applied to the whole surface of the chairs.
The new studio Milking Stools were painted with a progressive ‘Hurricane’ Pattern
LOVEHOUSE NYC–The Family show
The FAT COWBOY table was painted in a evolved peacock feather pattern with a rose motif medallion in it’s centre
COLLECTIVE NYC – DUDD HAUS Presentation
The 42” Captain’s Table was painted in the new hurricane pattern
The Inspirations
Classical Forms
It is a great pleasure to look back and then push forward— to take a traditional form and twist it using our own design language. Always paying respect to the work that brought us here and honouring those choices as we add to the canon of classic furniture forms.
Meditation
Steady heart, steady breath and steady hand are the main tools required to apply our OXALINO finish to each piece. The work is done entirely without guides and demands hours of focus to wrap itself continuously around each limb of furniture. The process produces a hum of concentration; a meditation.
When seated and viewing the work, a similar meditative experience can be had. Attempt a steady breath while following the subtle individuality of one single line of OXALINO finish. Viewing the hand of the painter, the choices and mistakes made, you can appreciate the care and consideration of each item.
In 2025, we're introducing what we’re tentatively calling the "Hurricane" pattern— a geometric style that uses negative space to convey a sense of movement. This new pattern can be combined with the original spiral design, depending on the piece’s form and placement.
Old Tattoos
The way the dye bleeds in some sections of the OXALINO finish creates irregular patterns, like line work of an old tattoo. As the world of design and production becomes increasingly streamlined via automation, we gravitate towards organic patterns and irregularities. These irregularities express a central component of our humanity and the value of human hands working. Old rudimentary prison tattoos appeal to this sentiment. They confidently declare what they are and embrace the history of their creation.
Primitive Detailing
Using an oxidizing solution is a time-tested technique and can be done a thousand different ways. What may have been previously lost or forgotten, is newly appreciated with simple tools and techniques that rely on the high fidelity of the painter to make the impression. OXALINO is clear and to the point—no post modern software, no industrial technique—just a steady hand and some vinegar.
Folk Traditions
Hand-painting is a way to embellish furniture and reinvent it for the user. Historically, folk artists as well as common people have taken a brush to their furniture to add personal value and creative expression. It is this spirit of freedom and the desire to embellish that OXALINO exhibits so wholeheartedly.
Unique Colour Ways– Exploration
INDIGO HAZE
During finish experiments with the OXALINO lines, the final blue and white finish appealed in a nostalgic sense of rural heritage—the old spoon, the hand finished cabinet door, the hand worn newel post—all authentic and modest items.
The use of solid wood allows for the organic connection that ‘country living’ gives to an interior. White oak is a course grained wood and when the oil is applied, the grain pops out in a celebration of natural texture.
WALNUT/ BLACK
We want to make new colour ways– open to collaboration.
