Check out this picture of Santa Claus in his workshop at the North Pole…. NOT!  Its actually taken in my workshop by brilliant photographer Quavondo.

I built this set for him out of random stuff laying around the shop- windows, wine barrel, wood paneling, red fabric, workbench.  I borrowed a bunch of old hand tools from my friend Matty Sears.  Check out the huge 2 person saw in the background.

Crazy huh?  Quavondo is a photographer primarily focusing on celebrity and fashion photography.  While mostly working for clients, he shoots for stock photography on the side.  He had an idea to do vintage Santa pictures and contacted me out of the blue if he could use my work shop.

Pretty amazing work if you ask me.  Clearly he is a man of vision and inspired ideas.  Click on the images to go to his website.

Ya, Santa Claus and fashion have very little to do with furniture design…. or so it seems.  However, a common interest to create just because we want to brought us together.  Another fun day at TomitaDesigns!

Chaboo drop off party was this weekend.  Awesome to see everyone and their chaboos!  My dream team of photographers, Joe Mansfield, Anna Campbell, and Jamen Lee took over and did their thang.  I dont know what it does but you know when that umbrella thing comes out that its GO time!

Joel Wakeman was blessed with good weather for finishing his pieces early.  Take note procrastinating artists!

Thats Kelly Neidig on the floor posing for the cameras in my shop.

Jess Hirsch up in the storage racks.  She looks so comfortable she could build herself a little studio and live up there.

Thanks for finishing your pieces on time chaboo artists.  I hope you had fun at the party and photo shoot.  I know it was super exciting for me to see all the new chaboos.  Each piece is impressive but when you get all of them in a row and see the range its straight up amazing.

Pics from the “real” photographers coming soon….

Anna Campbell set up a full on photo studio in my shop to do the product shots.  Thanks Anna!

My friend Joe Mansfield runs a laser engraving company across the street from my shop.  Besides his mad skills with the laser he also has a great eye for photography.  He does the still photography for the Penny Jam project, a sweet video project featuring music videos of local bands in locales throughout portland.

Joe will be doing the portrait photography for us this weekend.  We will have portraits of the artists and their chaboos on the website and have them up at the show as well.  One of the Chaboo artists, Alisha Wessler came by the shop today to drop her chaboo off early.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures of her with her chaboo(s) outside the shop.  The chaboos she did were gorgeous and really interacted well with the original design.  Im very happy with the integration of my design and her style.  A great example of how succesful Project Chaboo can be!

Here are some pics of my shop mate, George Ramos who specializes in craftsman style cabinetry with his chaboo.  He is a bike fanatic and insisted that his bike be in the shot in the background.  Half joking I suggested he ride with it… and then we actually did it.  The setup was complicated: George rode at a slow speed and Alisha handed off the chaboo to him (like a baton relay) while he was in motion.  Then, he rode with the chaboo as Joe strafed taking pictures and i ran backwards with the mobile flash.  With four people’s coordinated movements we got some sweet action shots and managed to not get hit by any cars.  This is a great example how his style (craftsman) and person (bike freak) shine for Project Chaboo.

These portraits will feature the people behind the art.  I want this project to transcend the standard art show where we stand around and look at physical objects we have manipulated to create art.  Art to me is about the process, the journey, the people, just as much as the final result.  How each artist interacts with their chaboos and how they feel about the project will show in these portraits.  Not only will there be range in the artists styles of customizing the chaboo but there will be range in how they want to be portrayed with their creations.

The deeper i get into Project Chaboo I realize its all about the people.  The project involves collaboration, community, and collective energy but at the core its the participating artists.

There is a possibility that we will have Anna Campbell and Jamen Lee also photographing on Sunday.  Anna is doing the product shots for the project and Jamen likes to do experimental photographs with the many cameras he has in his vintage camera collection.  This weekend will be a lot of fun!

Attention artists

We are getting professional photos taken of our chaboos!  Anna Campbell will be taking photographs of the customized chaboos on December 8.  Anna does some of my local photography for Tomita Designs and she will do an excellent job of photographing your creations!

photograph by Anna Campbell

Please get your pieces done by this date for photos.   This project will be ongoing and the local show will be at a much later date so if you cant make round one you can still participate.  The photography will not be nearly as good when Im taking the pictures though…. trust me.

My vision for the website is to have a matrix of images on the main page displaying the whole series.  You click on one and it zooms up with a short description and bio of the artist.  Cant wait to line up all them Chaboos.  yeehaw!