We just shipped our first orders for Grove.  Exciting times as we see 9 months of development finally come to fruition.  Joe took some great pics of the artist series and uploaded them to flickr.  

Great details of the laser engraving!  Simply amazing detail…

Just completed this hall table made from a nice salvaged maple slab.  Im doing a little bit of metalwork now.  Im into leaving metal looking raw like it just came from the mill.  In this case, I made the parts that I had to weld/grind match by using a metal blackening patina.

Fun design where its basically a tripod structure.  The weight of the steel leg helps stabilize this delicated looking structure.  I got nerdy and routed a pocket on the bottom so the metal leg sits flush with the bottom of the wood.  Stunning figure in the burl.

I love working with natural edge wood because every design is dependent on the material I have on hand.  Everything from material selection to design and fabrication feels more free-form like sculpture.  Also, I like the concept that these big slabs I get are all urban salvage meaning they are trees that are getting cut down for parking lots,road expansions, etc.  Usually the wood gets chopped into firewood.  Fires are nice but how bout some cool furniture instead?

Its true.  This is the view from my friend Ben Wood’s shop up on Skyline.  We were “working” on building some wardrobes together up there a few weeks ago.  More like vacation!

I sent this pic to my friend in LA with subject line: My view from work.

No better place than Oregon in the summer!

Countdown for Project Chaboo part 2 has begun.  I started planning it two weeks ago and we are a few weeks away from an official launch.

Here is a logo set that I am developing for Project Chaboo 2.  The skinny one could be a business card.  The bottom right I see as a sticker that we print 10,000 of and pepper the city with.

Ive shed the “project” from the original logo and changed the slogan from “collaboration and community” to “community design”.  You will see why…. stay tuned…

let the hype begin…..

Ryah Radomski is a cool cat doing lots of interesting stuff.  Hes been invited to the prestigious IDSA conference in the great NYC this year to present this bracelet he makes.  Congrats!

Ryah also wins the award for most individual parts in his chaboo. These bent aluminum forms are made by laminating approximately 150 aluminum blinds into a form, gluing each one individually. Yes- he is insane.

Ryah Radomski Interview from Ken Tomita on Vimeo.

I originally saw this piece in ShowPDX and invited him to take part in Project Chaboo.  What a badass.