Collection by Jaime Gillin
Inside Woodshop
We trekked to San Francisco's foggy Outer Sunset neighborhood to check out Woodshop, a collective of four artist and designers who came together through a shared interest in craft, design, and surfing. The studio consists of Luke Bartels, who creates custom furniture from local hardwoods; wooden surfboard maker Danny Hess; Josh Duthie, who reinvents old chairs with new ideas; and the artist and sign painter Jeff Canham. After I poked around the front showroom (open by appointment only), Bartels took me around their 2,100-square foot woodshop and studio, one of the coolest workspaces I've seen.
Here's an 'after' photo: Duthie found this chair on the street, covered in paint. He sanded it down, replaced the back slats with walnut, added a walnut seat, and finished it with linseed oil. The inlay squares filled in former nail holes. "I call what I do refinishing," says Duthie, "but it's really redesigning and refurbishing while trying to keep the integrity of the chair intact."