Series 1 is about shifts in momentum. About finally striking out towards something I have always had inside myself. About shifting focus, about shifting philosophy, from learning how to build to actually building something from the ground up; something expandable and sustainable from the very beginning.

aéhkō is that something: built from the ground up, expandable and sustainable. From the very beginning. In this series, I hope to convey the elegance of live edge, balancing the natural lines of the Osage Orange and Cherry slabs against square/rectangular joinery, mating the two different feels with a contrasting dark wood for visual accent. The wood of choice for these accents, Padauk, is architecturally consistent in use case throughout the series to highlight themes of shifting momentum.

Series 1 serves as a lesson in growth. Shifts in momentum require change, not just in direction but in attitude. Organic or rigid? Combine them both and create something beautiful. Perhaps growth of mentality would be a better term to describe the direction aéhkō is moving in. Through these pieces, and through the launch of our company, we hope to build something new, something beautiful, something intentional.

The large desk from Series 1 is all about the slab. The end grain of this beautifully curled Cherry slab is protected on both sided with a large, rectangular breadboard end. The channel runs the entire width of the board, preventing cupping of the tabletop. The legs are also protected against warpage, with the bottoms of the feet treated the same way as the desktop, while the tops of the legs are secured straight and flat thanks to the wedged mortise-and-tenon joinery.

The mid-sized desk from Series 1 continues the architectural themes of the series, with the bent steel leg reminiscent of live edges seen on wooden slab surfaces, and Padauk again used as the accent wood, contrasting and defining the shape and tone of the desktop. With an intricate but nearly invisible connection from the wood to the steel, this piece aims to join both materials in a harmonious design.

The smallest desk, or table riser, consistently applies the themes from Series 1. The Cherry-wedged live edge matching on the desktop surface is a highly technical and unique feature, as live edge pieces rarely match in shape or width. The Padauk is again used for visual contrast, this time with rectangular bars continuing through the surface of the table, reminiscent of light-accentuating-walls, often used in architecture. The ski legs base helps control stability, and the interlocking joints supporting the cantilever reference angled box joints, although from the bottom they can be seen as an entirely different idea altogether.

Each of these pieces has their own interpretation and presentation of the theme “A Shift in Momentum,” from large desk combining live edge and square joints, midsize desk combining live edge steel shapes with angular inlays, to the table riser with the angled cantilever almost foreshadowing a gravitational shift in momentum. Each of these pieces helped me shift my momentum from the production shop I was affiliated with to my new creativity and artistry. This is the start of something worth tracking over a lifetime, and I am excited to be at the beginning of my journey.