Built From Salvage / Juan Jimenez
I am a self-taught furniture designer/craftsman who began my career as an independent artisan and custom builder. I started Built from Salvage in 2005, with the purpose of engaging in a more environmentally sound way to serve my clients. I am a Bay Area resident and native of Venezuela, with over 20 years of building experience in residential and commercial jobs. I create unique furnishings that are built to last with the hope that reclaimed and salvaged building materials become more than an environmental statement: a logical approach to resource usage. I continue to expand my portfolio of high-quality and sustainably designed furnishings by always innovating with existing and new eco-engineered products.
What makes you unique?
We build custom furnishings with an emphasis on using salvaged, reclaimed, and ecologically engineered materials. Our designs reflect a fusion of skilled craftsmanship and sustainability, combined with the intention to gracefully transform space. We are committed to building sustainably and are passionate about our often labor-intensive practice. It is our mission to work diligently to deliver high-end furnishings built to last with close attention to every detail. We love to assist our clients with creative solutions, whether transforming a unique room with efficiency or designing a custom piece to fit a specific space. We provide original and practical ideas to customers who desire quality, enduring craftsmanship, and sustainable design. Bring us your ideas; we would love to explore design possibilities for your project.
What materials do you use?
Reclaimed and Salvaged Lumber
Reclaimed and salvaged wood from old trees is denser and more stable than younger wood. Reclaimed wood can provide the same benefits without the environmental cost. Though it generally requires more labor to shape, salvaged wood is definitely a material with a unique character that speaks of its past life in different forms. Salvaged wood resources will vary from deconstruction or remodeling sites, and other sources.
Bamboo Plywood
Bamboo is a beautiful, enduring, lightweight and rapidly renewable product. It is currently processed into plywood and veneers with amazing versatility in the building and furniture industry.
FSC Certified Plywood and Veneers (urea formaldehyde-free)
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging the responsible management of the world’s forest. The FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way. Landowners and companies that sell timber or forest products seek certification as a way to verify to consumers that they have practiced forestry consistent with FSC standards. For more info visit: www.fscus.org
Eco-engineered Materials
This list of materials keeps increasing as the industry develops more products. We are experienced in using:
● bamboo products
● recycled glass countertops
● recycled paper based countertops (Paperstone and Richlite)
● engineered resins (Chroma by 3Form)
● sorghum stalk board (Kirei)
Slow Burn Glass / Bryan Goldenberg
Slow Burn Glass founder Bryan Goldenberg
I was born in St. Louis, MO, and was originally a ceramic student when I discovered my true passion was in hand blown glass. It felt more natural to create with this soft glass, as the pieces come out cleaner. I have now been blowing glass since 1995.
In 2002 I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in glass concentration from California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, California. During the course of my training, I have toured the United States exploring glass studios. My experiences range from Inferno Glass Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana to Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle, Washington. Internationally, I had training in glass blowing in Murano, Italy. It has been my honor to have had the experience of blowing glass with the famous glass artists Dante Marioni, Lino Tagliapietra, Hank Adams, and Clifford Rainey.
Tell us about your work:
In 2006, I designed and built Slow Burn Glass, a 2300 square ft. glass studio, where I create my work. Here I have excelled in many forms and styles which include the use of clean lines and superior craftsmanship. Using my past experiences to influence these styles, I spend a lot of time developing my own colors that transform into one of a kind works of art!
Currently my work can be seen in premier glass art galleries and museums across America. I was the featured artist at a solo-show at the Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada in June 2007, and returned again for a solo shows in October 2008 & 2010. As an active member of the American Craft Council and featured in many newspapers and media shows, I have been called “One of the most up and coming contemporary artists of our time!”
There is nothing I enjoy more than blowing glass. The continuing emerging quality that occurs in my pieces is the use of color and clean lines. My designs now take form as functional vessels, such as bowls, vases and platters. Aesthetically each piece can stand alone or become part of a larger cluster of pieces. May each of my pieces give you as much pleasure as I have had in creating them for you.
Clayhaus Ceramics/ Jason and Megan Coleman
Our name derives from the Bauhaus movement and its influences on modernist architecture and modern design. First and foremost we are artisans. We take pride in our craft and strive each day to create new and lasting designs that will bring high quality beauty and functionality to our customers’ homes and commercial spaces.
We are a husband and wife team, and we each bring our own unique talents to the partnership. Our work is in our blood—Jason, our founding creative director, artist and craftsperson— is the son of renowned ceramicists Tom and Elaine Coleman. Like his parents, Jason brings creativity as well as dedication to the craft into all his designs. Megan, with a background in marketing and a strong business acumen, handles the sales, customer service and management. Together, we are proud to share our labor of love with you.
What makes you unique?
We care—not only about the beauty and quality of our products, but also about our impact on the world around us. We try to do what’s within our power to conserve resources and leave a lighter footprint. That’s why we’ve committed to using 100% renewable energy to run our studio and production facility. All our products are made with lead-free materials. Our shipping cartons and packing materials are made of recycled corrugated paper and cornstarch “peanuts”.
Of course we reuse clay and glaze when possible and we recycle everything we can. We donate our seconds and usable broken tiles to local schools’ art programs.
One hundred percent of our products are handcrafted and most are made to order. Each individual tile is unique—crafted one at a time by the touch of a human hand. Because they are not mass-produced, our tiles have what we like to think of as “perfect imperfections”—sizes are nominal and might not be exact from tile to tile, glazes are made from scratch and applied individually to each piece, resulting in very slight color variations from piece to piece. Ours is a labor of love that will bring unique beauty and functionality to your project.
Tell us about your studio
Our 3,000 sf tile studio is located in Milwaukie, OR (just 10 minutes South of Portland and minutes from the Willamette River) The building is divided into two main parts-The clay forming area and the finishing area. The clay forming area is the heart of the operation and where the raw clay blocks are turned into ceramic tile greenware. The finishing side is where we make the tiles look pretty and the magic happens. We make all our custom glazes by hand from scratch and then apply the glazes via a spray gun. All the steps in the process of our tile making are made in house. Nothing is purchased off the shelf. The building itself is wood with two garage style roll up doors that yields a ton of natural lighting for optimum color control.
What inspires you?
We are particularly fascinated with the pop art movement that emerged in the mid-1950's and are influenced by artists such as Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. A source of inspiration that we refer to as our "Bible" is a book by Lesley Jackson called, "The Sixties-Decade of Design Revolution." It is a fabulous reference with a broad overview with everything from clothing, textiles, lighting to furniture, ceramics and home decor, all with an emphasis on simple geometric form and bold colors. Most tile companies offer a line of "basic" field sizes that are commonly used in residential applications. i.e., subway tile. Creating something original and new in the tile industry is always a challenge since it often seems like everything has already been done. You can say the same thing about movies, music or pottery, but the true artist rises to this challenge to find a way to be innovative and unique.