During the ’80s and ’90s I did a lot of restaurant design and builds — everything from architectural drawings, structural work, permits, and consents to chairs, lamps, tables, urinals, benches, and textures and colours. There was an emphasis on hand-wrought bespoke design using primary materials: clay, black steel, copper, hardwoods, glass, cloth, oxides, stains, paints, and lacquers.
I had a small workshop turning out cabinetry and joinery in steel and timber, a spray booth, and a drawing board. This multifaceted workshop and studio allowed me to deliver virtually anything that the client and I drew or dreamed up — often on the back of a paper napkin.
My work nowadays has shifted more towards designing, building, and maintaining machines, and graphic design for my partner, Rebecca Hardie Boys, who makes…