Stash Studios

Noir and Noir.

My preference for designers with a penchant for black shall remain unshaken in these technicolor times. founders & followers Atelier feature on Devastee (above) was the perfect new share for this All Hallows Eve.

And tomorrow, we celebrate All Hallows as we head out to Austin to see the latest designs of our favorite local Atelier, Blackmail by Gail Chovan.

Whatever you are doing this week, hope it's a scream!

Spaulted

The only person who can paint a Jasper Johns original is Jasper himself. In the very same way, Centro-Matic writes their own songs and plays their own music. With this idea of personal creation, we build our own bags and we design our own furniture and fixtures down to the raw material. 

Above is a Texas pecan tree that we've been curing in our wood storage container for more than a year. When we put it through our saw mill, we were delighted to find it had naturally spaulted which means that it is shot through with stunning zone lines, varying colors and patterns as a natural result of the decay process. 

A true family effort with help from friends, we have cut, cured, milled, planed, sanded, finished and crafted each piece to create an industrial meets wood table and two bookshelves. These pieces of very unique furniture will be available for viewing and purchase in our booth this weekend at Urban Market - Houston. Come see the result.

Wood Work.

Working to find a large slab out of a twisted multi-trunk 7x12 Bois d' arc tree, we got a jump on the heat to tackle this little project. 

The Bois d' arc is a hard hard Southern Plains tree introduced as pioneers moved west and needed fences to keep cattle. So before the invention of barbed wire in the late 1800s, landowners would grow hedges of Bois d' arc. Tolerant of hot summers and fast growers, the immature trees bear inch long spines making them well-suited for prairie windbreaks and fencing. Just 100 years after its introduction, nearly 100,000 miles of this living hedge were found in Kansas alone.

We collect trees. And much like any of the materials used around here, the Stash family spends a good deal of time with them trying to figure out the best, most creative use for each unique tree. Unlike our old canvas collections and accumulation of metalwork, cut trees have a bit of an internal clock. In particular, hardwood trees like the Bois d' arc must be cut fairly green or they harden to nearly impossible. This one cured a bit long and we busted a blade on the mill but this week we are designing a special sled to use with an extra-large chain saw so that we can finish the job. 

You will be able to see the fruits of these labors this October 22-23 at Urban Market in Houston.

 

Out of the Woods

If you know me, then you know that just as much as leather, the scent of sawdust sparks my creative fire. I've designed multiple pieces of furniture that the craftsmen in my life have realized. I spent a good deal of the summer designing wooden forms for use in Stash bag-building and spent the better portion of yesterday testing these forms for production.

There are stories of wood gathered, salvaged, and collected throughout our home and studio spaces. All of our guitar faces have some unique figure to them spalted and rare. In fact today we are setting up our mobile saw mill to slice into a salvaged tree to find a slab of wood for a piece that my partner and I have in mind.

So when I saw Herrlicht glasses, the perfect marriage between material and craftsmanship, well, heavy duty admiration ensued. Each pair is numbered. They are only available through two shops in New York and their demand well exceeds the rate at which Andres Licht can produce them. Expect to pay at least $1500 for his art.

Have a fantastic weekend!