Sad Brad Takes Up Woodworking To Mend His Broken Heart After Divorce
April 9 2018, Updated 1:12 p.m. ET
Brad Pitt is trying to mend his broken heart with wood and nails – pouring his efforts into a new furniture project, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively. The Fury star has been throwing himself into art since splitting from Angelina Jolie in 2016, holing up at painter friend Thomas Houseago's studio in Los Angeles to work on sculptures and art pieces. Since he got his creative juices flowing again, he's also reunited with longtime collaborator Frank Pollaro, to make a huge new one-of-a-kind high-end conference table - a special commission for a mystery buyer.
A source explained: "Brad has worked with Frank for over ten years, they met when he personally delivered a table to Chateau Miraval Brad and Angelina's French home. "Brad has recently been honing his artistic eye at the studio with Thomas, which has only made his skills better.
"The end of his marriage was a terrible tragedy for Brad, but also a huge wake-up call, and sobering up has helped him become sharper and have more focus to channel his energies into his art pieces. "This huge table is also a grand gesture, and many around him feel that – consciously or not – it is a bold and solid expression of his love, especially considering how his partnership with Frank all started with the delivery of a large table at the happy home where he married Angelina.
"He also loves having something to show the kids he is working on which isn't just another movie." Frank's Pollaro Custom Furniture Instagram account proudly displayed the Royal Ebony wood from West Africa which is being used for the table, with a caption saying: "A log of this beauty is found in one of 10,000 logs."
As well as working on his own art, Brad has also been visiting galleries for inspiration. He was snapped deep in conversation with aspiring artists at the Atelier gallery in Amsterdam recently, attending with Houseago - who was being honored for his work.
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Auteur Brad has long been a fan of furniture and design, working with Italian jeweler Damiani to create the wedding ring he gave to Jennifer Aniston when they married in 2000.
He also has a formidable collection of furniture and artifacts himself, regularly stopping by to visit his friend Bill Ketterer, who owns a huge warehouse of vintage furniture in Pomona, California. Bill previously said: "When Brad comes, I don't advise him. He usually has an interior designer or other people with him and he says to them, 'Hey, just wait in the car.'
"He's really normal. You catch yourself sometimes – I remember stopping in my tracks for a second, and it's like, 'Whoa, you're Brad Pitt!'. "Brad told me once, the reason he likes to come here is because it's really soulful."
Designing the furniture also gives Brad a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, which is also helping distract him from the complications of his divorce battle.
The source added: "Brad is glad he has another outlet in addition to as acting, and when he starts to take a back seat from that, he will devote even more of his time to art and furniture design.
"He wants to be remembered for his artistic skill and have a lasting impact on the world, which is something which is surely inspired by Angelina, with her tireless devotion to humanitarian causes outside of her acting career which will ensure she goes down in history for something meaningful."
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