Welcome to the Maker’s Quest Podcast. This is our first episode, so please join us to find out more about who we are, what we make, how we make, and our quest to make more.
We start off as an interview format interviewing each other about what we make and how we got started making.
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Highlights From The Show
Brian is a custom furniture maker where his goal is to create furniture that looks like art.
He found his style working for another contractor that was also an artist.
He talked about a timber frame project that was more than just a timber frame, it was highly decorative. The contractor hired him to design and build a front door that played off the design of the decorative timber frame style, and the decorative steel brackets that were used to mount the beams to the floor.
This was one of the first projects Brian did that helped him learn how to play off other designs to create his own.
Brian has found it important to have a jumping-off point or at least a design point to pull inspiration from. When Clients give him a blank slate and say “let the artist be the artist” he has found it hard to find a direction to take the project. You always need good inputs to be able to have good outputs.
Brian also talked about his YouTube channel, how it has evolved into a weekly vlog about what he has been building in his shop.
Above is Brian’s Studio backdrop for the podcast, and where he holds is client zoom meetings. The pencil drawing is done by a friend of his, and the shelves were carved out of Genuine Mahogany tree stumps imported from Saint Lucia by Elements wood Imports
Here is a link to Brian’s Channel. Brian Benham – Artist – Deisgner – Craftsman
Greg had a similar start working with his father building a treehouse. He realized at that point if he could draw it he could build it, or communicate how it needed to be built to others. A skill that he would take on with him into his Architecture career.
Greg started his youtube channel Greg’s Garage by rebuilding his VW Karmann Ghia
Greg attended the University of Kansas to study architecture where he studied under Dan Rockhill where he was inspired by the metalwork Dan did in his building which got him into metalworking as an art form and machinist.
After Greg learned how to use an English wheel to rebuild his car, coupled with building custom furniture he realized that he loved working with different materials. He then added the other love of his life, playing the guitar, and decided to start a guitar tool business creating his own line of tools to help people build their own guitars. His business is called Skyscraper Guitars. Check it out if you need some guitar tools to build your guitar.
Greg spent a few years away from his architecture practice working with various bands, as the Director of Video Productions. He told a few cool stories of epic backstage performances by some amazing artists, such as Brad Paisley. Hopefully, as the podcast progresses we will hear more of these stories. If only the green room walls could talk. He missed drawing and illustrating beautiful art so he came back to architecture where he now works as an architect by day and runs his guitar tool business at night.
Greg approaches making his custom tools as an opportunity to make it a better user experience, how can he a better quality tools as well as a tool that does its specific taste as good as it possibly can be done.
Brian and Greg came to the conclusion not to accept the statuesque as ok, always ask can it be better, for elegant, more interesting, more fun.
They also talked a bit about Frank Gehry architecture and how he finds inspiration in the scribbles
