Custom table made for Cartograph Wines Seth’s son Milo helps out Light box made from former microscope case S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 4 51 industry, he has begun creating furniture and home accents not from new materials, but from things reclaimed, recycled, and repurposed. “I don’t like seeing good material go into landfills,” says Richardson, who frequently scours junkyards and landfills to find material for his creations. “I like to find things that have a story, then help those things retell their story, but with a happy ending.” In 2011 Richardson started Functional Art, Incorporated (FAI), and began putting his vision and artistry into unique creations, reclaiming discarded materials and turning them into things that are new, fresh, and most important, usable. His work is in homes, offices, restaurants, and tasting rooms throughout Napa and Sonoma Counties. Recently Richardson built a set of picnic tables using wood rescued from a set of bleachers at a Kansas City high school. Other pieces include lighted wall sconces fashioned from recycled oak barrel staves, and a stunning three-dimensional wall sculpture made up of beach rocks and reclaimed seasoned wood. A beautiful old bottle cast off from a laboratory was transformed in his hands into a flower vase suspended from a piece of lightly patinaed steel. A vintage wooden microscope box opens to reveal a soft light within, perfect for the corner of a room. Every turn in his studio reveals another surprise. “I don’t always plan before beginning a project,” says Richardson. “My creations come from my heart and imagination as I work. I take existing items and ask myself, what could I do with this—what could this become? To me, art shouldn’t be an intangible thing that you can’t touch or understand. It should be accessible, useful and blend seamlessly with peoples’ lives.” At Functional Art, Incorporated, Seth Richardson is busy putting the final touches to a new showroom to display his creations for the public. Everything he makes was once something else, and some of his designs use new material combined with cast-off items to create something original. “Sometimes,” says Richardson, “I think of that old wedding rhyme— something old, something new, something borrowed . . .” He laughs and adds, “I guess the ‘something blue’ part is how I feel when I let a piece go to its new home!” Interior designers and architects frequently select Seth’s creations for their clients because of their uniqueness and originality, and because they appreciate offering something that has been repurposed—something green—for their clients’ homes or offices. According to Seth, as awareness grows about our culture’s waste habits, more consumers are trying to incorporate reclaimed materials in their homes, materials that have been transformed into something new, beautiful, and functional. Doing this saves money, energy, and helps one become part of the solution. Local activist Lauren Shalaby is making plans with Richardson to create a non-profit in alignment with Functional Art, Incorporated, which will teach at-risk youth how to create new functional items from repurposed materials. “We throw so much away,” says Lauren, “and much of it goes into landfills or to foreign countries, where they recycle it and sell it back to us. This represents a huge waste of resources. Our plan is to come up with ways to keep those resources here while teaching a new generation about conservation and recycling. Children will have the opportunity to learn craft skills, art, welding, design, and carpentry, and see their efforts actually being used in their community. We want to teach kids that they can impart new life to old things. We want to build a bridge between the way things are and the way they can be.” Functional Art , Incorporated 707-820-1185 • www.functionalartincorporated.com september/ october 2 0 1 4 5 1
NVLife_SeptOct_2014
To see the actual publication please follow the link above