Not to mentions, I am a sucker for good infographics!

Read the full press release here

via . Houzz.com

5027 York Boulevard

They are celebrating their One Year Anniversary at Platform!

Drinks and the Komodo Food Truck will be on had to enhance the celebration.

Also there will be the show Paint and Clay, paintings by Kat Hutter, Ceramics by Roger Lee.

Ceramics are hand thrown by Lee, and the surfaces painted by Hutter. Both live in Highland Park.

Later this month, a special event:

“We just staged a house on Aldama Street in Highland Park.” Platform owner Sarah Brady tells Patch.“It should be going on the market this week and we will be having a Pop-up Shop event there later in April, around the week of the 23rd. We have collaborated with LA Box Collective and ArtCraft Homes on this project. All the furniture is for sale and provided by Platform in collaboration with LA Box Collective and ArtCraft Homes. Some of the furniture is Platform’s merchandise, some vintage pieces from ArtCraft Homes, some handcrafted by LA Box Collective with reclaimed wood.”

via Goodbye Rain, Hello Gallery Night – Highland Park-Mount Washington, CA Patch.

Also featuring wall art from local photographer,

Martin Rusch + artist, Laura Ricci.

Everything is for sale, including the house!

Please join us next Thursday for a wine-and-cheese

 

See you there!

1. The client loved an olive wood tree that they lost in the 1998 Malibu fires. It was planted by their grandfather, who bought the property in 1940, bare of any trees.

2. Our friend at Urban Logs to Lumber knew Cliff was nutty (I mean talented) enough to take this project on.

We started with a pile of slices of root ball that looked like this.

Olive wood is not typically used for dimensional projects (dimensional referring to clean straight edges) and root balls rarely provide dimensional pieces, regardless of the species.

First, Cliff created a jig saw puzzle, using the shapes in the pieces we had, and finessed on the band saw.

After piecing and piecing and piecing together. He routed the sides to join them together, and then began to fill and fill and fill…

After the top had a solid appearance, Cliff reinforced it from the bottom.

Since the wood was still wet, even after 15 years, a root ball holds its moisture, he added an edge to add some support and continuity.

Comments on Facebook have said it looks geographical… What do you think?

Add the first coat of oil…

And the finished product in it’s final home. We will miss having it in the shop, since everyone always wanted to hear the story – the LA Times missed photographing it for this story by a day, but we couldn’t have asked for happier clients.

Using urban salvage wood is challenging, but challenges often offer the most interesting results.

Last night, I went to the opening of  Andrew Riiska at Jai & Jai: WRONG SIDE UP

Thursday, March 15, 2012 to Sunday, April 15, 2012
Jai & Jai
648 N. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.jainjai.com

Have you ever seen Andy’s work. It’s just a delight. He has superior skill and attention to detail, of course, but his unique personal aesthetic just makes you smile. From his signature marshmallow boxes (with single marshmallow included) to the Pac Man table that perfectly chomps a corner of the gallery, to the Eames style cards that held the refreshments.

We have known Andy since we started the LA Box Collective. If you have time before taxes are due on April 15, I recommend you go!

Jai & Jai is a beautiful new gallery. Smells of Bar B Q wafting in from next door and the sounds of the record store, that seemed to open after 8 pm, all add to the classic Chinatown atmosphere in the back patio.

Here’s the Press Release:

Exhibition of Furniture by Andrew Riiska

Jai & Jai, a new studio and gallery in Chinatown, invites you to their grand opening where they present “Wrong side up”, a rare opportunity to see artistic furniture maker Andrew Riiska’s American Alligator inspired work displayed with its most vulnerable sides showing.

The American Alligator dates back 65 million years. Its skin is hard and tough, making it impenetrable to teeth and talons. Its bumpy, greenish and gray back mimics a floating log that makes the alligator undetectable to its prey in the early stages of its hunt. Hidden under the alligator’s tough skin is an underside that is soft and vulnerable.

The utilitarian nature of furniture offers the same protection for the carved bellies of Andrew Riiska’s designs as the skin of an alligator. Disguised as a common everyday object, the table offers its top as protection and usefulness as camouflage. The pioneered underside becomes a large canvas for designs to expand into and take over. Thus some of the most compelling features of Riiska’s work are purposefully hidden under the table so the viewers have no idea until they are prey to the joy of discovering it.

“Wrong Side Up” presented by Jai & Jai offers the rare chance to see Andrew Riiska’s designs displayed upside down.

The gig is up! Work to be shown includes “The Dragon Table,” “The Cloud Pony Bench,” “Pollywog Table,” “Cactus Coat Rack,” “The Old in Out Table,” “The Giant Squid,” “The 69 Leg Table” “The Pac Man Table and “The Spring Back Bankers Chair.

About Andrew Riiska
Los Angeles based woodworker and furniture designer Andrew Riiska handcrafts grand tables that refer to subjects as diverse as the body, mythical creatures, and ephemerality. He once hand-tooled hundreds of small wooden boxes – each one encapsulating a single marshmallow – for Los Angeles design store Ford & Ching. Using recycled wood, non-petrol-based finishing oils, and a whimsical sense of humor, these and other works, like the 69-leg Table and the Toad Table, elegantly combine the “green” awareness of natural and found materials with the playful sensibility of their designer. He is also a founding member of L.A. Box Collective organization who are a select group of professional Los Angeles based furniture makers, committed to environmentally conscious design and production. To view more of Andrew Riiska’s work please visit: www.riiskadesign.com

Here’s a little mention on the CustomMade.com blog. thanks!

Would you like a dark Pinot Noir or a light Pinot Grigio stain for your wine oak? For your custom project, Cliff and Leigh Spencer of Cliff Spencer Furniture Maker can use reclaimed white oak staves that were placed in steel vats to add flavor to wine. In turn, the wine has uniquely stained these staves. The Cliff Spencer Furniture Maker portfolio features a wide range of works made from wine wood, like the lattices on these reclaimed wine oak sconces with steel frames and antiqued amber glass. Contact Cliff and Leigh and ask about customization options for your wine wood sconces or other accessories. Reclaimed Wine Oak Sconces by Cliff Spencer Furniture Maker at CustomMade.com

via “What Once Embraced the Fruit of the Vine” – Reclaimed Wine Wood for Your Custom Home Accessories | CustomMade Blog.

“Why use white? “White appliances in a kitchen with white cabinetry can add to the flow of the space, which is particularly important in a small kitchen,” explains Susan Serra, a certified kitchen designer. Also, “white’s reflective properties, especially in large appliances such as a refrigerator, help make a space appear lighter in volume rather than heavier, such as a black refrigerator might.” Here are some ideas for using white appliances in all styles of kitchens.”

via White is becoming a clear star across a broad range of kitchen styles and with all manner of appliances.