Creative minds don’t rest
What do creative types do to keep themselves busy, you know, weekend stuff. Well for us, this is often the experimental or leading edge that we would love to apply to our day jobs but the day job isn’t ready for it. Eventually though, we find that it often filters into the work we do. Sometimes this is a hobby, some research or a project for a friend. In this section we’ll throw down some images of what we’ve been excited about recently.
Hand Made
In my field of design, there’s a funny relationship between how long you’ve been at it — the refinement of one’s craft versus the quantity or I guess commodity of what you design and produce. I used to design for clients that needed volume and as such there was very little value associated with the final product. Now quite often I find myself designing things that result in one, or at least very few, resulting in a much higher perceived intrinsic value of the end product.
In the case of ultra small volumes such as one off design, we take much pride in executing the work by hand, ourselves. Such is the case with Centro Garden in Burlington where myself and the owner Jason Pepetone meticulously crafted the interior elements, fixtures and shelves to ensure we got it right. Even the signs were hand made. I painted the facade sign by hand applying layers of silver, orange, pink and red repeated several times to C&C sign foam and then finished them off with a layer of illustrated silver streaks to emulate aging and wear. — B
Late Harvest
One of the most enjoyable things of working with wineries is participating in the lifestyle and experiences of those who live it every day. In particular when the going is good, because after all, we are fair weather friends. We recently hooked up with the Lowrey Family of Five Rows Craft Wine in St. David’s Niagara during a very late fall harvest — November 8th. The day was exceptional: dry, clear and 18ºC which made it ideal for quickly clipping this wonderfully ripened Syrah off the vine before enjoying family hospitality. — B
Hand Drawn
Remember those kids that were always doodling in the textbooks in class. Well, those kids are us. Our very own Dan Brandon still doodles a lot and occasionally he ends up doing skateboard decks, illustrations for SBC Magazine, or, even some of our stuff when he can fit us in. For the last 2 years he’s won prized swag and had boards produced in Ride’s Snowboard design competition. — B
Imber Akse House
Oh yah, we’ve been kinda building a house. Designed it really and Branthaven Custom Homes is building it. It’s not just any home, Leslie and I are big believers in sustainability and so it made sense that when we wanted to design our own home, we would do it with sustainable sensitivities in mind. Years of research and hard work later and boom – it’s almost done and we’ll be in soon. With a little luck and a touch more hard work, our home may be the first LEED custom home certified under the new CaGBC LEED For Homes Canada pilot program.
The design work was intensive and involved almost every detail, material and technology. We also designed all the cabinetry and some of the furniture. Friends ask, what’s next and we say, shut up.
See our site for the house: www.imberaksehouse.ca
Custom modern stairs fabricated by Clover Valley Ironworks in Burlington www.clovervalleyironworks.com
Custom sustainable cabinets and furniture made by Creative Woodworks in Freelton www.creativewoodworks.ca
— B