Surface Furniture

there is no off-season for a fire.  or cool places to have one.  arguably, one of the best is in the La Jolla hills overlooking the beautiful Pacific.  these gracious homeowners allowed me freedom to design this piece for them, for their family and friends, for their home.  the culmination of this exercize in context is a coffee table height, gas burning fireplace of wenge wood and stainless steel to compliment their modern/contemporary taste, their simple, sophisticated outdoor space, and their social lifestyle.

db-23 – sold, private residence – la jolla, ca

there are many well-designed off-the-shelf options including EcoSmart Fire that burn clean with ethanol, but custom made is always the best way to ensure you get exactly what you want that works best for your space.  looking for inspiration?  summer is right around the corner – find or have designed the fireplace furniture thats right for you, and enjoy the warmth and enlivened environment that a beautiful fire brings.

Surface has made many great strides so far this year including the biggest yet:  the jump away from fabrication to focus solely on design.  I’ve bid adieu to the beautiful space of the Glashaus and the tremendous people that accompany it to cultivate new opportunities to grow the business, and increase exposure to my work.

The last three years at the Glashaus has proven invaluable.  Never could I have imagined a better place to launch a design/fab studio, and I am grateful to the fellow artist residents and friends that I have worked with and learned from along the way.  Thank you, Greg Brotherton and Matt Devine for creating this space.

As I resource new and familiar makers for the production of my designs I will continue to prototype and test every piece that leaves my sketchbook to ensure that the level of craftsmanship and durability is maintained.  Watch for new lines of furniture and home wares as these relationships allow for more fabrication options, and facilitate a greater understanding  of how I can better design for you.

Please continue to follow me and my work.  I’ll keep you informed of all of the new designs, retailers, and news as Surface forges ahead.

today, the replica 1946 Kit Co. teardrop trailer that found life in my garage over four years ago, ventures out into new horizons at the capable and adventurous hands of new friends, Micha and Andrew.  the newlyweds have pulled up stakes from Southern
California, and are traveling the country in their new home on wheels to experience the next thing that life has to offer.  I asked them how long they’d be on the road as we hitched the trailer to their truck.  ”We have to be back by Thanksgiving,” was the reply.

good for you.  enjoy what comes your way, and the time together.  I’m honored that you’ve chosen the teardrop to be your vessel.

After applying their own personal touches to make the their new home feel like home they set out.  I encourage everyone to follow the adventures of Micha and Andrew and their hand-crafted trailer at Micha’s blog Bright Ide and Bushy Tailed.  bon voyage!

a recent collaboration with architect Jimmy Sullivan, principal at CitiZen Design Studio, for client whose business allows working remotely, and demands a clean, sophisticated presence…even at home.

project details:  white conversion varnish and walnut cabinetry, back-painted glass and powder-coated steel desk, stainless steel worktop, walnut and acrylic bench seat.

This year has been one of many challenges and as many successes.  Due in part, I’ve experienced growth and development like never before; both personally and as a company.  Weary at times, I’ve depended on God’s grace and your support and encouragement, and with hard work and determination we continue to prosper.  And life and business are good.

My sincerest thanks.

I am truly excited about the upcoming year with many great ideas, endeavors, and relationships to look forward to.  Stay with me as Surface continues to grow, explore, innovate, make, and design.

From Sioux and I to you and yours – Peace, Love, and Joy this season!

my good friend and dj, Michael Murdoch (aka DJ Lurk), has been a literal soundwave of support emphasizing the importance, no, necessity of action and concrete output in life prompting me to “press record.”  in a lull?  press record.  designer’s block?  press record.  anything.  just do it without any preconceptions or expectations about the result(s).

i remind myself of this as a mantra, no matter my state of design, and put the pen to the paper.  what i find is that as i conceive, write, sketch, the ideas become fluid and dynamic, the process is organic, and the output is invariably solid .  my recent “recordings” have culminated into a new piece i call the Smith chair.

this first iteration of the Smith is an outdoor lounge chair of reclaimed, and milled doug fir wood beams composing the seat and back, and steel legs and back support.  there will be more material options available, and the single chair will soon be available as a set with an accompanying side table.  the Smith is debuting at the Forterre display at the San Diego Home and Garden Show this weekend at the San Diego Convention Center.

same dream, new clarity:  the American Dream, our individual dreams realized and (re)realized as we grow and change, as we live and understand who we are and where we are at any given moment.

the first in a series of three.

private residence - la jolla, ca

in the three years i’ve been at it with Surface in southern california i’ve been blessed to design and build for some incredible people, but this week marked the completion and installation of a project a year-and-a-half in the making for arguably the perfect client.  from the get-go the husband and wife team new what they wanted, and how to get it.  what they wanted was thoughtfully designed, and highly functional furniture/sculpture for their new Safdie Rabines home in la jolla, ca.  how they got it?  communication, trust, patience, and support; to allow me, their designer, to do what i do best with their intentions as my lens.

"piq" dining table

the outcome, alongside a stunning new home, specially commissioned artwork, and custom architectural metalwork, is a tailored ”piq” dining room table, bedside tables, and an “in&out” bioethanol fireplace arrangement that they couldn’t be more excited show and use.  i couldn’t be more excited either.  not just to be included in such a brilliant project, but to know that my clients are true patrons of the arts, that they support local (artists, designers, builders, and suppliers), and that they genuinely appreciate the work they have commissioned and received with joy and gratitude.

"in&out" ethanol fireplaces

thank you, and those like you.

Surface and start-up home improvement and sustainability solutions contractor, Forterre, have teamed up to provide San Diego residents alternatives to the standard offering sustainable and responsibly designed outdoor patio furniture, and travel trailers built for exploring Southern California.  see examples of some of the options available alongside Forterre’s brilliant collection of products and services at their exterior exhibit in the Flower and Garden Show at the San Diego Fair in Del Mar.

in celebration of our collaboration, Forterre’s introduction to Southern California at the San Diego Fair, and their encouragement of food, water, energy, and shelter independence, i am offering free design furniture consultations, and 10% off of one-of-a-kind display and show pieces marked “SDFAIR” here on the site through the end of the fair.  hurry though, the festivities end with a bang July 4, 2011.

at one point in the build process my client told me i had nice legs.  odd, i thought, but a kind gesture encouraging client/customer relations for sure.  then i realized he was referring to the table.  the “piq” dining table is a custom piece designed to compliment my clients minimalist, mid-century taste, and their beautiful Safdie Rabines designed home.  this table design is a nod to Seven by Jean Marie Massaud, and mid-century danish lines.  it accommodates ten around the figured marble slab, but the open, seam-welded steel legs will easily allow for a party of twelve.