go home and sit

santa fe

2010-11-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

i've had a few pieces in santa fe at victoria price art & design for 2 months or so and got an email yesterday informing me 2 pieces had sold. i felt a huge shot in the arm and very grateful.

dwell magazine

2009-09-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

yesterday i woke from a nap and went to my computer to check emails. i looked at my tweetdeck and saw a congrats from antonio garcia for the 'c' tables' appearance on dwell.com, the magazine's website. i couldn't believe it. i went frantically to the site at which point my internet was SLOW. i waited, waited, then BAM i saw the 'c' table on the homepage under 'product of the day'. i started crying.
this table is a design i created 2 years ago. i've done quite a few miniature pieces and they all sit in the shop on a piece of plywood.
i met mara from soma interiors last year. she knows CAD and offered to draw my table up. we both know tom sawyer enterprises, a solid surface company here and were aware they wanted to do furniture. let us come over with 3 sheets of 3'X 8' plywood and cut out the pieces for the table on their cnc table.
the next day the 'c' table was at scale, and beautiful i might add.
it was a great collaboration, and a joy to see a design of mine spring to life.
that week i emailed photos to a woman at dwell mag, heard nothing back...until last thursday. jordan, the furniture/product editor wanted more pics and a little info. i rushed out, borrowed a camera, went to the shop, took photos, came home, cooked them up in photoshop and sent the ditty/images off. heard nothing, then yesterday it all happened.
last week i went to seattle to visit my brother, his partner, and my nephew. i mentioned i hadn't taken a day off in 2 1/2 years. i go to the shop, even on sundays, if it is simply to tinker or think. i'm devoted to furniture.
i've had some triumphs and some gut wrenching disappointments, but kept at it. whenever i ask 'god', "ok, what do i do now?", the response i always get is 'keep doing what you're doing'.
the dwell event has been an accumulation of tons of bust-ass work
and i appreciate the help of mara and all the wonderful people at tom sawyer enterprises - chad, peter, patrick and others.
paz scott

rant

2009-08-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

it's monday close to 10 p.m. where the heck did this day go?
i made it home after sitting in a chair with my face in a computer for 8 hours, then went to the gym for a spinning class. my dog was levitating she was so amped and i hadn't eaten since 11.
all i want to do is design/make furniture. i keep thinking of the Isaac Mitzrahi's documentary called 'unzipped'. it's 1 of my fav's and such an authentic film covering his preparation for an upcoming show. the ups and downs.

i dunno, i'm not feeling a positive vibe. i continue to investigate myself, poke around at the dark places and see what response comes.

i read a short piece the other day on entrepreneurship, and it spoke of the 'syptoms'...feeling crazy a lot, not knowing anything(thinking it), feeling the world is conspiring vs. me etc. it's part of the game and when it comes up, i say gently 'scott stop it'

C table

2009-08-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

i've seen a design idea i had 2 years ago come into the physical in 1 week. wham...it happened. here it is, the 'C' table. mara at soma interiors and i got together and worked on the CAD. tom sawyer enterprises here in ABQ let us in their shop to use the CNC table. thanks to everybody involved. paz, scott

perserverence

2009-07-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

hey everyone. wow, 2 weeks since my last posting, seems like 2 days. i've been investigating and implementing social media. ok, albuquerque is not the biggest city and my vision since day 1 has been expansion....global. there i said it, international. i think that is where we are all headed. it is ONE world and that concept may just be an answer to many of our dilemmas. when will we recognize that the earth is a single planet/organism which we inhabit. it makes sense to me.
i have had some challenging experiences lately, one being taking 2 of my chairs 20 miles out of town to show a couple I met 4 days prior. I had the understanding if the chairs fit their dining table they would buy. turns out, money was the issue. no sale.
i'm determined however and when i ask myself 'ok scott, now what do i do?', the answer is always 'scott, keep doing what you're doing'.
paz, scott

blogging.....

2009-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

is quite a discipline.
ok, i have 4 marvelous looking chairs. with 3 coats of a satin finish and a 600 grit light sand, they are handsome. in fact, hans from the A store here in ABQ was by the shop today and enjoyed them. i am deciding whether i want to place them in his shop since it has a much larger customer base and, i admit, better location. the glitch is if they sell, my cut will be minimal but these are tough times.
paz, scott

4 dana chairs

2009-07-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to apply a satin finish to the dana dining chairs I completed 2 months ago. My worries were that the application would darken the wood more than I cared for but it appears they are going to look great. I have a few spots of glue that were missed which isn't hard to fix, nor a big deal. These chairs, when juxtaposed create quite the narrative. Now all I need to do is start on a dining table that will be a nice accompaniment. Peace, scott

refab

2009-06-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

i'm obsessing lately, about furniture, my business, working w/others and the overall philosophy i want to adhere to. i thought of the 'word' refab, taking recycled materials and making them fabulous. injecting my design sense to come up with pieces for the home. the result, sustainability for interior spaces.
i think that found materials/objects can live many different lives and the less 'stuff' that ends up in a landfill, the better.
paz, scott

party

2009-06-12T04:51:00.000-07:00

i went to a nice little party at zinc wine cellar last night. after an indoor cycling class, i headed down at arrived slightly late, and hungry. the only letdown was they were practically out of hors d'oeuvres so i got finger veggies and scarfed off a plate. for abq it was ok, more of a networking gig. i met some architects and other designers as well as some people whose faces i knew but not who they were.
so, we are building for our opening and also canvased the place last night.
i wish everyone could attend.

progression

2009-06-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

ok, we are getting air under our wings. i feel some lift. yesterday the ABQ sunday journal came to 'element', interviewed us and took photos. we will be in the arts section this sunday, just in time for our soiree.

more on sustainability

2009-06-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

'it is too late to be pessimistic.'
'we don't want to believe what we know.'
yann arthus bertrand

this frenchman nails it. over the last month or so the terms 'green' and 'sustainability' have crept more and more into my thoughts. i am becoming more focused on something being sustainable. something that has longevity that can be passed down from generation to generation. i see that consumption is cut drastically when we design and build well thought out objects.

first grower's market

2009-06-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

today was the first downtown grower's market of the summer and the turnout was quite nice.
since the element store is 100 yards away all i did was drive down there with my canopy, grab some furniture and setup. pretty easy. i'd say 35 or so cards were taken and i got into an interesting discussion about sustainable vs. green. a guy named doug who said he sold office furniture came by and started talking about emissions/VOC. i told him my business philosophy leans towards sustainable furniture...that sustainability is less consumptive than the recycling process.
plus i use a lot of found material which, i believe is already charged with all this energy and history. if i get my hands on it, just a small addition can send it off in a different direction. stay tuned. peace, scott

element reception

2009-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

you are cordially invited to experience albuquerque’s newest, most provocative design store.
WE ARE OPEN and since we believe albuquerque is need of a store such as this, come down june 18 between 5-8 p.m. to see furnishings, art and a philosophy of lifestyle that is fresh and innovative.

paz, scott

element

2009-05-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

finally, the new design store 'element' will open this week at 709 central nw. as with most new beginnings there are some kinks but we are proceeding as the space looks awesome. i think albuquerque needs something like this; it is fresh. we have furniture in place as well as photographs and will put up skate decks painted by several local artists. there are a couple of california artists we are in talks with.
one mission we have is to bring on board out-of-state artists who do edgy/quality work.
we want to provoke and push. stay tuned. paz, scott

more chairs

2009-03-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today I finished 4 more of my dana chairs. I'm amazed how powerful they look as opposed to the previous 2. The statement and narrative created blows my mind as the negative spaces themselves speak volumes.
I am glad that I enjoy them from the back as much as from the front. After all, they will be pushed up to the table when not in use and if being used the backs will still be visible.
So I'll post photos to my website soon, stay tuned!
peace, scott

chairs

2009-01-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Emailed images of my chairs to dwell.com, the magazine's website. Looks like my chair are gonna be 'product of the day' soon. stoked!!!

wow!

2008-12-26T11:47:00.000-08:00

xmas has come and gone and white design stays afloat. I've had 2 sales at sumner & dene, a gallery downtown, and I started 2 more chairs. I thought I needed to 'improve my craft' and I believe 2 chairs that are identical take on a whole new narrative.
That said, I started yesterday, xmas evening at that.
Sometimes I'm miserable if I'm not making something. Starting is hard for me however I am shortening the gap between visualizing a project and starting it.
I think out as much as I can and begin. I made the seats, cut the legs, made the dados for the seat to accept the legs, cut the necks, the backs.
One thing I craved was to plan a subtle imperfection. Gary Bennett Knox made a 'nail cabinet'. He said the cabinet was finished and to make "the precious thing less precious", he drove a nail into it. As he put it, 'I took perfection, put it over my knee and spanked it'.
So what I did with these two chairs was to make the leg on the right slightly farther back from the opposite leg on the left, both front and back. The chairs will sit fine but it was the whole idea of imperfection I was going for.
This morning I began to put everything together and it was quite an undertaking.
I started screaming 'god, am I supposed to quit all this bullshit?' 4 hours later, everything seems to be going fine, and I am learning gobs. more later.
paz, scott

holiday shopping

2008-11-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

I thought about the old 90 days same as cash idea and it lasted about 2 seconds.
My white oak end tables sold last weekend at Sumner & Dene after sitting on the floor less than 24 hours. I wanted them to get a bit more exposure than that but such is things.

get in here!

2008-11-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

I placed some pieces in Sumner & Dene gallery yesterday. It's a whimsical place owned by Roy who loves everything from folksy to mod. It's spacious and cavernous and if you venture upstairs you'll find a chair of mine as well as the white oak end tables which are from approximately 95% renewable materials. My black walnut console table should arrive by the end of the week. Roy and Genie there seem to be delights.

IGI

2008-10-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

I participated in the international green ideas show at NM expo this past weekend(10/25,26). my gals from soma interiors invited me along after they saw my furniture and we clicked pretty well. it was a passion-filled weekend....i met some really awesome, inspirational people and learned gobs about what 'green' involves. i've come out of it believing a green lifestyle is one where i do my part, sometimes falling short but always with the intent of renewing.

major props to sophia & mara at soma interiors

simplicity sells

nothing is ‘Green’ if it eventually ends up in the landfill.......eric manigian

cool happenings

2008-10-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've been putting much energy and focus into my furniture. I love what I do, not every single aspect but this is all I want to do; design/build/collaborate/be socially responsible.
I met a woman who lives in NYC and has a place here in ABQ. She is an interior designer, loves furniture and digs my design sensibility. Long story short, she is going to represent me and help me bring some pieces to market. AND she introduced me to 2 women who own SOMA Interiors, an interior design firm in ABQ.
We are going to be in the International Green Ideas Show Oct. 25/26 at the NM Fairgrounds.
I am so excited for me!!!!!!!!!!!!

peace, scott

another chair

2008-07-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I recently completed work on my second dining chair, a beefier version of the first prototype.
I am calling it 'the dana dining chair', named for a friend of mine who was fatally injured in a car crash. Dana saw the first mini-prototype and flipped. Her death/transition is another prime example of how quickly life can and does change. She was hit head-on driving back from Denver by an oncoming car.
I took both chairs to the Albuquerque downtown grower's market this past weekend and go some varied feedback, mostly positive.
coming soon.....more photographs

a view of more work

2008-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

Check out some pieces at gohomeandsit.com

making a chair

2008-06-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

OK.
I must, first and foremost give huge props to Sam Maloof. If you have neared the perimeter of the furniture world his name rings clear.
Sam began his furniture career using old railroad pallets because he couldn't afford to buy nice hardwood. He lost money on his first few commissions and wanted to throw in the towel. His lovely wife Freda supported him 100% and today, nearly 5 decades later, Sam is considered to be the preeminent person in furniture.
I heard of Sam eight years ago, before I even started making my own pieces. I saw him and thought 'those chairs are the bomb, but I could never make something like that', even though I wanted to and LOVE chairs.
Then 3 weeks ago another special aired on PBS featuring Sam and his life. I went away from this viewing telling myself 'OK Scott, you must make a chair'.
Here's my thing about chairs. Chairs are special in that coming up with a good sitting chair which is well-designed, functional and comfy is like running a 4-minute mile. It's an alchemical thing where many different aspects come together, not to mention attention to detail.
So I began. I bought some cherry, made a few miniatures and jumped into the real deal. 2 weeks later, I have an awesome start. It was an incredible journey. I allowed the chair to evolve, to guide me.
One day I was baffled at where to go with it so I put it in front of me, sat down and studied it. I let it talk to me. Oh yea, I happened to be watching Charlie Rose and he was doing a retrospective on Sidney Pollack, who had died that week. Halfway through the program Charlie asked Sidney 'Do we deserve better ?' Sidney responded 'Of course we deserve better. We deserve better chairs.................things that are handmade'.
I was floored, almost weepy. Anyway, a chair is a beautiful thing and to create a well-made piece that has great utility is where I want to go.
I'll post photos of it soon and you can see for yourself.
peaceout, scott

2008-06-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

day one, the beginning

2008-06-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings all you interior design-loving people. I decided to begin this blog adventure out of, mainly, excitement and where it may lead. I am in the business of designing/constructing contemporary furniture and all types of accessories for the home, right down to cabinet hardware.
So, what better way to branch out and connect to people who thrill over such things than with a blog?