Did you know? Peter Harrison builds art-inspired furniture out of concrete, metal and wood in his studio a few miles outside of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. His Lavassa Line has been his business since he graduated from RIT with a degree in woodworking and furniture design in 1996. Peter is a daily Uncommon Grounds home-brewer who claims he’s a “House (Blend) Man” – starting every day off with a couple of cups of our coffee at home. We recently visited his impressive work-studio to find out about his work, what it was like to build his studio from ground up, and how he finds customers in a sea of over-exposure to media and advertising.

Uncommon Grounds (UG) : Tell us about the inspiration behind your work.

Peter Harrison (PH) : I am inspired by modern materials and have developed a language of construction based on the materials. I use this language to push the limits of furniture. My goal is to create a beautiful piece of furniture which is fresh and intriguing.

UG : What brought you to Saratoga Springs?

PH : My wife and I love the town and it is almost perfectly between our families who live in New York City and Potsdam.

UG : When did you end up in this particular location?

PH : We closed on this place in January 2007. The week we closed we got 30 inches of snow. I didn’t know how much oil was in the oil tank so it was like “Okay, let’s figure out how to do this!”, searching frantically to get someone to snow plow – worried that the house was going to freeze up. We broke ground that April for the studio which was crucial because for me to live here I need to be able to build my work. So I spent 2007 commuting to my old shop in the Hudson Valley and building the studio here. I did most of the construction on the building myself save for excavation, concrete, insulation and drywall but everything else was pretty much me. I got my Certificate of Occupancy in January 2008 and moved February 1st, 2008. In two-and-a-half days we moved 40,000 pounds of equipment. It was pretty brutal; tough days. So by April 1st I was set up and building work.

Peter assembling prototype new work.

UG : How do you sell your work? Is it in stores anywhere?

PH : I’m generally represented by about ten stores and galleries across the country, including Sundari Fine Art in Saratoga Springs. I do high-end craft shows where you rent space at a convention center for three or four days. I do about four of those per year. Upcoming this spring I have one in Baltimore, MD which is the American Craft Council show. Then I have one in (Washington) DC which is the Smithsonian Craft Show which is a hard one to get in to but I’ve been fortunate to get in the last two years.

UG : What is difficult about getting into the Smithsonian show? Is it a crazy application process?

PH : It’s very competitive, same old application but a lot of people apply to it and it is only 100 or so exhibitors.

UG : That sounds like great exposure for your work. What are your ideal customers like?

PH : I need two things to find clients. I need people who love the work and people who can afford to pay a couple thousand dollars for a piece of furniture. Finding them both together has always been a difficult thing, so selling nationally has been important.

UG : I can imagine. What other ways do you connect with customers and potential customers?

PH : I do a design show in New York City called the ICFF, which is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. This one happens every May. I’ve also been advertising in the back of Dwell Magazine.

UG : Oh, wow! How has that been for you since magazines have been seemingly going the way of the dinosaur?

PH : It was really good my first couple of years, and then last year it wasn’t as good. I think it might have crested. I don’t think it’s all about the (bad) economy. It’s definitely a changing world on a lot of levels right now. For me it’s really important to be riding the wave and not being washed by the wave. I’m into looking to see the new directions and bringing my work along for the ride.

Kristen sporting one of her necklaces!

Uncommon Grounds (UG): So when exactly did you work here? I feel like it was a long time ago…

Kristen Barrows (KB): I started in the fall of 1993 and worked full-time for about two full years. I think I went away to teach for a bit but then came back to work just one or two days a week for another two years.

UG: Wow! That is old-school! What was it like back then?

KB: Well, 1993 was pre-bagels! We used to have to run down to Bruegger’s to get bagels for ourselves to eat. Then when we finally started serving them, it wasn’t even the full bagel bar. We just had little sides of cream cheese we gave out to people.

UG: Oh, right! Didn’t Dan (Murphy, owner) drive down to New York City to get the bagels back then?

KB: Right, exactly!

UG: So how many employees would work a shift back then?

KB: When I first started there were two or three on in the morning. At one point there was just two of us but he hired one more. At night there would be a few more people for closing chores or whatever. For awhile, there was only one guy who worked here so we told Dan that he had to hire more men. *Laughs*

UG: *Laughs* Sounds like a nightmare to me! Anyway, so was this before or after college for you?

KB: This was after. My first job out of college, in fact. I designed my own major at Skidmore; a combination of art, education and psychology. At one point I moved away from Saratoga to go teach but then figured that I was going to burn out really fast on that. So I’m falling back on my arts degree, ironically.

UG: In knowing you as an artist, I can’t seem to pin down a specific medium that you work with. I can’t seem to say “Kristen is a painter” or “Kristen is a sculptor.” Do you have any specific materials or styles you prefer to work with?

KB: That’s the thing. I work in every medium I can. I just love working with material. No matter what it is. Anything I can do with my hands I will, I’ll try it at least once. With the holidays, I always try and make all my gifts and I always try and teach myself something new each year. Sometimes I take classes; two summers ago I took a welding course. I have more tools than most guys I know!

UG: Are you selling or showing any work right now?

KB: Most of the stuff I am actively selling is the jewelery I have down at Symmetry Gallery where I work. It’s been a little quiet due to the economy. It’s not a necessity item, so it’s a little quiet but there’s still people out there that want to buy handmade things. They want to be able to attribute the work to a human being.

UG: Tell us about Symmetry Gallery; what is your role there? How long have you worked there?

KB: Well, I’ve been there for ten years. It’s kind of a collaborative working environment between a few artists. We all pitch-in many ways. The shop has been open on Broadway since May of 1990 and it was started by local couple, Dianne and Gary Zack who are both glass artists. We carry handmade American glass art from about 150 artists from around the U.S. We always include information about the artists with each piece that we sell. Our specialty is glass because in one form or another Dianne and Gary have over 30 years of experience working with and collecting the medium.

Kristen's handmade glass bead jewelery at Symmetry Gallery

UG: So the work you have at Symmetry is…?

KB: Jewelery that combines semiprecious stones and glass beads that I make in my home studio. Using a technique called lampworking, I use a torch flame to melt glass around a thin steel rod which when removed creates the hole of the bead. Before working at Symmetry, I really knew nothing about glass. But it didn’t take long before I had to get my hands on it, and see for myself what I could make it do!

UG: That was one of your Christmas challenges?

KB: Yeah pretty much!

UG: How long have you been making glass beads?

KB: I’d say about seven years? I love it.

UG: So what do you see for the future?

KB: Right now, I’m trying to get back into silversmithing which is something I started working on at classes at Skidmore. I just recently set up all of that equipment next to the glass equipment so I can start combining the two. Trying to figure out a way to do it so that it’s not arbitrary. *Laughs* I just really like working with stuff!

UG: A-ha! Yes, you do. Well, we look forward to seeing which new art discipline you find next! OK, to close it out, can you share a memory or some sort of personal anecdote about your time working at Uncommon Grounds?

KB: The one thing I remember about working here is that it forced me to get over my shyness. I was big-time shy.

UG: Really? Hard to believe!

KB: Oh, definitely. I was painfully shy. This working environment just forces you to come out from behind your shell. In a way, you have to take charge behind the counter, especially dealing with new people every five minutes. I had to come out of my shell in a big way so that was a huge bonus to working Uncommon.