Makers Gotta Make: Bolster Furniture Company
Monday, November 09, 2015
Sellers didn’t start out thinking he would become a furniture maker. When he entered the Rhode Island School of Design it was with the idea of being an architect. Then he saw the presentation by the furniture design department and everything changed. “I realized what I really wanted was to use my hands and make things.”
In 2012, a friend suggested that Sellers come to Portland and split a small warehouse he had just moved his metal shop into. The timing couldn’t have been better: Sellers was ready to leave New England, and already had his sights set on Portland; not only because of the vibrant maker community and general appreciation for handmade goods that existed here, but also because he would have access to mountains and wilderness just outside the city.
He said from the moment he arrived “it felt like home.”
Sellers is committed to using reclaimed wood as much as possible, and he says that is part of the value of being on the west coast, where there is an awareness and effort to salvage and repurpose wood that would otherwise just end up in the landfill. The lowly pallet, for example: Sellers says it’s amazing what valuable and sometime exotic woods get turned into pallets. And over the years he has developed a keen eye for recognizing woods disguised in an unfinished, rough pallet. One advantage to him doing the pieced, butcher-block designs is that almost nothing goes to waste.
In the last couple years, Sellers has seen a growth in appreciation of good design and quality craftsmanship, and he likes the idea that he might be contributing to the creative culture of Portland.
In the spring of 2014, Sellers set up a communal wood and metal shop in a large warehouse in SE Portland to share with a handful of fellow makers who were also having trouble finding workspace in the face of redevelopment and rising rents. For the future, he’s aiming to open an attached gallery space to showcase the work of all the shop members, with rotating group and solo shows when possible.
For more stories about Portland Makers visit portlandmade.com
Portland Made is a digital storytelling platform and advocacy center for Portland's Maker Movement. We do 2 features a month on Portland Makers; connect makers with more local, national and international markets; connect makers with local professional and manufacturing resources; advocate for makers with politicians at all levels of government; work with PSU on an annual survey that captures the economic power of the Maker Movement; help makers find real estate; and promote Portland makers with local and national media.
Related Slideshow: Slideshow: PFW Oscar Lopez Designs
FIDM graduate and Oregon native Oscar Lopez, speaks with GoLocalPDX about his win for Portland Fashion Week’s Emerging Designer Contest, his creative process, and launching his OSCAR DOMINIK clothing line.
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