Cimarron is an artisan studio dedicated to designing and creating unique furniture and architectural elements.
I consider the furniture I design and create to be functional sculpture. Being both the designer and craftsman of my work I understand what I can create as an artist. My art is informed by my own aesthetic sense, the materials and techniques I work with, and the intended function and placement of the pieces I create. For me design is not a formulaic process but rather a fluid and interactive one. When designing I use a drafting technique I learned from boatbuilding. This technique allows me to work with complex irregular curved shapes as well as more traditional lines and angles. This drafting technique also allows me to design in full scale, giving me the ability to see and interact with the dimensions and proportions of my designs throughout the process. My training in boatbuilding also gives me the ability to produce the complex shapes I design accurately and precisely. The techniques I learned from boatbuilding give me the ability as an artist to create shapes that most furniture makers can not and that are more sculpture than construction.
I studied Environmental Science and Chemistry at Virginia Tech, Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding at the Arques School in Sausalito CA, Concrete Casting at The Concrete Countertop Institute in Raleigh NC, and Fabric Forming at Gore Design Company in Tempe, AZ. This formal education is a foundation that I rely on to understand and work competently with the materials I use in my furniture.
Natural Wood:
Wood has been one of the most important and most used building materials in human history. Each tree is a unique individual and so the wood from each tree is in some way unique. No two pieces of wood have the exact same grain, color, figure, or texture. We are used to talking about wood simply by species (pine, oak, walnut, etc.), but this simple way of categorizing completely undervalues its functional and aesthetic possibility. There are certain properties that are generally similar to a particular species or growing condition or location, but in reality each piece of wood has unique characteristics that can be taken advantage of or ignored. Wood is a dynamic material that moves and changes dimension with changes in humidity. Understanding how wood moves in relation to its grain is critical to ensuring the lasting integrity of the joinery of a piece of furniture. I evaluate and select each piece of wood I use, intentionally orienting the grain for strength and the figure for aesthetic quality. I am lucky enough to be able to mill much of my own wood. I only seek out more exotic species of wood for special purposes or to meet specific client desires. I have a partnership in a small milling operation with two mills and a kiln. This allows me great control over the wood that I use in my furniture. It also allows me not to be a part of the sad depletion of a precious and vital part of our world. I almost exclusively use wood that is native to California and that has fallen naturally, or has been cut by arborists out of necessity (for example because the tree puts a home in danger, or crowds other more important trees). In this way, I do my part to reduce the environmental cost of trucking and of felling trees, which for all our sakes should be left to flourish.
Sculpting Concrete:
I love working with Concrete. While most people think of it primarily as a material used to make sidewalks, buildings, bridges, and parking garages it is actually a far more versatile material if one understands its chemistry and structural properties. It can be pigmented to almost any color and can contain a wide variety of aggregates like colored glass, metal shavings, mother of pearl, and broken stone, to name a few. It can be polished to a high sheen or textured to a dull matte finish. In addition there are many products that have been developed to alter and enhance concrete. Understanding the basic chemistry of concrete and how these products affect it allows me to effectively use concrete to achieve many different looks and purposes. Equally important to understanding its chemistry is knowing how to properly reinforce it. Concrete can be a very strong, durable material but only if it is property reinforced for a particular situation. Modern advancements in reinforcing concrete with carbon and glass fiber allow concrete to be cast into an endless variety of shapes that would not be possible or practical with traditional steel reinforcement. Cast concrete allows for the creation of a wide range of shapes and appearances that are limited only by imagination and an understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the material.
Furniture
