I’m frequently asked “what kind of furniture” do I design and build. I always stumble over the answer as there are several answers and more accurately ways to answer that question. I’ll run through some of my background and then how I distill those influences down into a workable design.

I’m a west coast native – born in Northern California, but I only lived there until I was 8. Then, along with my family we moved to the East Coast – Wilmington Delaware to be exact. Little did I know that this would be a major guiding factor in my developing my own aesthetic. Wilmington is home to to numerous DuPont estates, museums & hotels. I began absorbing a very traditional background that would one day form my own foundation of design. We had family living in Massachusetts and New York so I was able to travel up and down the eastern seaboard frequently. I spent summers on the coast of Maine and had friends in northern New York state and Michigan, so I visited those regions, as well as Canada. The only direction I did not travel much as a kid is south.  I spent a summer internship in a traditional wooden boat shop. That was a real eye opener. Curving lines intersecting in space – you can leave your square at home to build a boat… In spite of my years growing up in the east, my real home has always been the west. So, when I finished high school I packed up and returned to California.

I’ve been fortunate to travel to many places in the world and have brought influences home from all of them. I’ve been particularly inspired by the collection of Art Nouveau furniture in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Italy is also a favored stop for education and inspiration. There are few places on earth like Florence or Rome where simply walking down a street you can see several centuries of design evolution in a single city block.

How do I distill all of those experiences and influences down to a workable design for you? Well that’s where things get interesting. There is no set process or procedure. If there was it wouldn’t be an organic process. I also don’t wave a magic wand or go into a meditative trance with incense burning and sacrifices to the muses. If I’m designing something original I’ve usually had a burr under my saddle to explore and idea. Maybe it’s something that I dreamed up out of thin air. Maybe it’s something that I’ve gotten an idea from in my travels near or far. Either way, what I do is go about my day. I work in my shop, or row my shell and when a thought occurs I sketch it out on the first pieces of paper I can find. As those sketches pile up I begin the editing process. I once read a songwriters description of her method. She called it “spew and edit”… I suppose that’s about how I do it too. Sometimes I use those ideas directly. Other times they get warehoused in a sketch book or on a hard drive for a future project.

If It’s a custom commission I begin by listening to you, the customer. I try to put myself into your perspective, see the world through your eyes. We’ll look at existing designs, both mine and others, and we’ll begin to form an idea. From those ideas I’ll begin sketching, then 3-d modeling on a computer, and if necessary making full sized mock ups of the piece that we can all touch, feel & sit in or at. We’ll refine the ideas until we’ve got something unique, practical and timeless.

Then I’ll start in building. Almost as frequently as not what I imagined in my minds – eye or on paper doesn’t translate into the real world so I’ll constantly re-visit the concept until it’s reality and our visions align. Pretty simple, actually…