Stash Studios

Turn Around. Take a Step Forward

“The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. The solution for a lot of the world’s problems may be to turn around and take a forward step.”— Yvon Chouinard

There was some philosophical discussion over the winter break about my pattern of leaving the city to work. Something obvious and necessary to what I do. But words had never been put to the idea of it. I only knew that when I drove out through the open prairies and rice fields that separated my city home from my work that there was a shedding of a skin. An opening to a connection of something more elemental.

I find one is more mindful of resources when they are harder to come by. A stark difference from our flip a switch daily convenience. Ingenuity has more time and space to grow in places like these.

Physically things are harder here. There are no bots to automate repetitive tasks. Work is done by hand and many days blood is drawn and the first aid kit is mobilized.

There is no heat and thermostat controlled air. The roof leaks on one corner like a sieve. Bones creak when the wind blows. Roosters crow. But the place and the work plugs into a deep part of my soul.

Then a friend came to visit me working at the factory and suggested I watch 180º South.

And I did. You need not be a surfer or climber to appreciate this film. Beautifully rendered. Simply stated. It gave me pause to consider the year ahead of me. The idea that there is so much more out there than the postage stamp we call home and that sometimes our greatest potential lies beyond our front door and certainly beyond what we may have imagined for ourselves.

And I also started reading Let My People Go Surfing : The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Choinard. 

Last year was interesting. I had been seeking a space to expand to and I had a vision of what I hoped for, but I would never have dreamed that I'd have the opportunity to work in a century old mattress factory.

There was discussion about growth. I had some dreams of PR and expansion. I traveled. I was invited to wholesale market. I kicked myself because things didn't seem to be happening fast enough. I worked 7 days a week. I grew a list of potential wholesale vendors longer than my arm. I found and began to train a few folks to help. We launched headlong into production. But things weren't right. We'd begun to push the river.

There are thousands of people making millions of bags. I've always been clear about one thing. Though I dearly love what I do, I have no desire to be 1,001. Just making more stuff.

So I stopped. I turned around. I took a step that I realize now was a step forward for me. I pared back to just me building. Occasionally I bring back the people who I know love what and where we are creating as much as I do.

And I realized that maybe for now it is enough to work with a waiting list. To make elemental beautiful things for people who really plug in to who I am and what I do. To only use resources when they are certain to be used in a product that someone wants. Less speculation. No buy-backs. And that weekends are necessary to recharge. Because whatever you do, it is simply not worth it if you don't have time to live your life.

Oh, I still work weekends but fewer and usually only before our thrice yearly appearance at Urban Market. I'm not sure exactly where 2012 will take me but I am certain that I am looking forward to the journey.

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!

Far From Glamorous

Last Sunday afternoon we were on a concrete drive in 104 degrees, full sun, on hands and knees scrubbing old canvas and doubting our sanity and I remember saying that making things by hand without any import tags from absolutely scratch and nurturing the materials at every stage has gained quite a cool reputation of late but it is far from glamorous. 

Quoddy Workshop - Lewiston, Maine from Oliver Wilkins on Vimeo.

So, I was headed out to the factory this morning to see if the roof and buckets held through the night with the much-appreciated rain we've finally been receiving. Then this hit my inbox from my friend Sweeney via FREE/MAN. So I had to stop and share.

What I know is this. Despite the buckets holding raindrops waiting for me in a creaky dusty structure that was first dreamed up more than a century ago. Despite the fret and worry over the economy, the roof, personal investment and not enough time in a day. Despite the highs and lows of owning one's own business. Despite ending days covered in sweat and caked with leather dust. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have a good one,

Quench.

Utterly parched down here. This series of photos by Linda Troeller appeal to not only our simple need for rain but for me tap into that the deeper psyche renewal I find when given the chance to merge with bodies of water.

Oil + Water Do Not Mix

 

 

OIL & WATER DO NOT MIX from Happiness Brussels on Vimeo.

The publicity may be over but the work is not done. Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. Great project by graphic designer Anthony Burrill. What can you do?

Verde.

Future Stash conference table. Found CÔTÉ SUD.

Outstanding.

This strikes my heart on so many levels. Bringing real food, to real people, in a real place. Funny that this would be considered a novelty rather than a way of life. Outstanding indeed.

Layers | Moments

Fine layers and moments. A few things inspiring me lately.

via Lost and Found

Slowpoke.

Finding inspiration in the work of Sasufi, the French-born and Melbourne-based designer responsible for the design concept of Slowpoke Espresso in Fitzroy and an interesting build for the Fringe Festival.

[via Dezeen]

Sweet Summer.

[Erin Pata]

[above shots from find me at the beach]

[Ryan Tatar]