Studio Time with Silas

It's summertime, which means that Silas is on break from school and I get to spend time with him at my studio. Yesterday, Silas and I finished a project that he had started last week. I try not to involve myself too much in his design process: I let him find his own materials in the studio, figure out how he wants the pieces to fit together, and how he wants the final piece to look and function. I let him do all of the work himself except for the bits that obviously require adult supervision (e.g., if a piece of steel or wood needs to be cut). Silas tells me exactly where he wants the cuts to be made by drawing on the wood with a pencil or on the metal with chalk.

Here's Silas' presentation of his first completed design. He did a great job!

Furniture Design by Silas on YouTube

Silas and I will be doing more projects over the next few weeks. We're having a lot of fun with this so we may even turn it into a weekly blog post.

Macassar Ebony Dining Table

For a long time now I have been promising Sara and Silas that I would bring home a new dining table. Well, I finally finished it and as soon as it was done it ended up in a store. Yes, the family is a little disappointed but happy to see it out in the world. Silas even helped Sara choose the backdrops for the photos.

The Macassar Ebony Dining Table is available through Michael Daniel Metal Design and at Voos Furniture in Williamsburg.

Front View

Side View

Leg Detail

Silas testing backdrops.

Luckey

We recently went to Boston to celebrate our friend Jess' 40th birthday, and while we were there we took Silas to the Boston Children's Museum.  The first thing you see after paying for admission is this giant, 3-story climbing structure.  It's really an amazing piece of sculpture that kids get to climb.

Silas on one of the many magic carpets.

Silas and Auntie Jess.

The week after we got back from Boston, I was flipping channels and came across this film on the Sundance Channel and was intrigued by the story line -- a father and son collaborating on a sculpture.  I didn't get to watch it for whatever reason, and then a week later I came across it again and started viewing it midway through.  As I was watching it, I saw some of the pieces of the work in progress and realized that the father and son, Tom and Spencer Luckey, were building the structure that Silas had enjoyed climbing at the Museum.

Definitely check out the amazing work of Tom and Spencer Luckey.  They build beautiful climbing structures for kids around the world.

http://www.luckeyclimbers.com/

Them Crooked Vultures

I've been listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin lately because my son Silas is fascinated with the song Dazed & Confused.  Specifically, he's obsessed with watching the footage of Zeppelin performing that song from the concert film Song Remains the Same.  We finally gave up and bought the DVD because we were afraid we were going to accidentally delete it from the DVR. I listen to 101.9 RXP at work and heard Matt Pinfield talking about John Paul Jones (a/k/a Silas' favorite bassist), Dave Grohl and Josh Homme forming a band called Them Crooked Vultures.  I just caught a sample of one of their songs and I'm looking forward to the release of the album.

Catskills Getaway

We spent Memorial Day weekend up in the Catskills and stayed at a great Bed & Breakfast in Phoenicia.  We're not usually the Bed & Breakfast types, but we really loved the Phoenicia Belle. 

The house is a beautiful Victorian that has been lovingly and artfully restored by its owners, Tom and Dana Fraser, who are also the most gracious and kind hosts you could ever hope to meet.  Tom and Dana are both very knowledgeable about the area and it was a real pleasure to make their acquaintance.

Silas loved Phoenicia as well.  He had a great time playing in the Esopus Creek, which runs through the town, and loved watching all the fire trucks in the Memorial Day parade.  He wasn't super fond of the caterpillars and other bugs in the great outdoors, but that's because he's a city kid and the only bugs he's seen are cockroaches.

Silas watching the Phoenicia Memorial Day Parade.

Colorful art by Keith Gamache

Skateboard by Keith Gamache

My friend Keith Gamache is selling framed inkjet prints of his popular connect-the-dots paintings on his website. His work is bold and colorful and looks especially great in kids' rooms, but hangs beautifully anywhere in your home. We are fortunate to have three of his paintings, all of which are hanging in Silas' room. If you're looking for a great original holiday gift, pick up one of his prints. Keith is offering free shipping on any item purchased between now and Christmas.

Halloween Harvest Festival

I've been working with my friend Igor on a large-scale project over the past several weeks, which have required a lot of extra hours and weekend work in order to meet the deadline. Unfortunately, I missed the Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Sculpture Park this past Saturday. Sara and Silas went on without me and had a great time. In addition to the make-your-own costume table and the dog halloween costume contest, there was also live music. Sara and Silas weren't expecting the musical stylings of Peelander-Z. Silas was completely mesmerized by the band and talked non-stop about them for the next three days.

This is why Queens can be an awesome place to live. You just never know what you're going to get.

Window Guard and Sign for Il Bambino

We started going to this great cafe in our neighborhood right after Silas was born. It had just opened a month or so before, so it was perfect timing. We were so happy to find a comfortable spot to go with the little man, where we could get really good food and coffee. Darren, the owner, is a really great chef and fun to chat with. I made a bench for Il Bambino last summer, and we sat there almost every evening and had coffee (well, not Silas).

Silas hanging out at Il Bambino

Darren is going to expand the restaurant with outdoor seating in the back garden, and asked me to make a window guard and sign for the back.

Cutout Pig and Letters

The Earthship

For our summer vacation this year we went to New Mexico and Colorado. Sara, Silas and I all agree that staying in the Earthship was the highlight of our trip. Sara and I became fascinated by this design of sustainable housing after seeing Garbage Warrior, the documentary about architect Michael Reynolds, creator of the Earthship. On our way to Colorado, we were lucky enough to be able to stay for a night at one of the Earthships at the Earthship World Headquarters in Taos.

We stayed in the Phoenix Design Earthship, which is still under construction (mostly just the greenhouse and outdoor yard), so we were able to talk to a couple of the workers that were on site in the morning before we left, and learned more about the Earthship design and sustainable housing in general. The atmosphere inside the Earthship is incredibly soothing, and the air is really clean, due to all the plants growing inside. It was amazing to have a mini-jungle growing near the foot of the bed! Silas had fun running through the entire house (almost 5,500 square feet of it), and talking to the birds that lived in the greenhouse. There were even banana trees growing next to the living room area.

Entrance to The Phoenix

Silas looking up at the jungle growing inside The Phoenix

Silas running along the path inside The Phoenix

Me and Silas, sitting next to the tilapia pond

The fireplace and television in the living room

Recycled colored bottles

A photo of The Phoenix from the road leading to the highway