Engrave recently had our warehouse-wide open house night. It was a huge success; with over 1500 visitors through the building. We unveiled some new art pieces by Jacob Escobedo, Alisha Wessler, Michael Hsiung, and Dan Strong. Also on display, were a few pieces from Project Chaboo. Thanks to all who could make it, I look forward to our next open house!

Check out some photos from the evening:

I recently laser cut a few large format art pieces for local Portland artist, Stef Choi. The characters were cut from 1/2″ thick MDF ultralight and then shaped and painted by Stef. They are part of a group show hosted by Gallery Nucleus called “sweet streets”, which is a collection of art inspired by Japanese street fashion.

Her pieces are on display at Gallery Nucleus until September 14th. Check out the video below of the pieces being laser-cut by my large format Trotec speedy 500.

My new 120 Watt Trotec Speedy 500 laser engraver recently arrived from Austria. The machine can engrave intricate details on surfaces as large as 49″x28″, while also laser cutting 1/2″ thick wood cleanly. A Trotec laser guru was flown out for two intense days of one-on-one training. This machine is truly amazing, leaps and bounds beyond any offering from Epilog or Universal Laser.

scroll to see the view from my new shop…

For those of you in the Portland area, please feel free to visit my new laser studio in the Towne Storage building. It was a challenge getting my new Trotec Speedy 500 through the door of my new space; Vic and Kelly from NW Tech handled the 1200LB laser like a sleeping baby was inside.

The machine is calibrated and I’m excited to collaborate on large format art pieces, architectural models, and other custom projects.

Photos by Anna Campbell.

Recently, my friend Ken Tomita curated a furniture design show like no other called Project Chaboo. He brought together 50 of Portland’s finest industrial designers, architects, illustrators, inventors, engineers, and carpenters to reinterpret one of his signature designs. The design is based on a common Japanese low table, known as chabudai. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with one of the nicest illustrators in Portland, Amy Ruppel on her chaboo. I engraved her leaf design into the top surface, then laser cut felt to be infilled into the birch.

Here’s what Amy had to say about her chaboo:
“Since this chaboo is made of a green, solid material, I wanted an emblem of strength to come out of it. To me, that is a young stag in the woods. The felt helps to soften the piece and give it a sense of quiet and a tactile quality that longs to be touched. I like for my work to reflect nature and what inspires me about it. Catching a glimpse of birds or an animal in the woods is exciting to me, and I want to share that excitement.

Consistently, one of my favorite materials to laser engrave is wood. The endless variation of grain patterns makes every outcome unique. Each species reacts differently to the laser light; balsa engraves deep and cuts like butter, laser-cut Plyboo edges are turned a dark ebony, the varying grain density of Pine creates deep waves of grain. When Nemo Design asked me to engrave pine presentation boxes for them, I gladly agreed to the project. The designer took full advantage of the 3d nature of engraved wood with this letterpress motif -

Two passes were used, creating multiple levels of depth in the pieces to separate the blocks from the gutters. The art was bled over the edges of the boxes and tapered around the rounded edges perfectly. This close-up shows how the varying grain density of Pine accentuates the ridges -

Possibly the best aspect of engraving pine is the smell, which instantly reminded me of cold winter nights spent reading by the fireplace.

My mahogany Iphone case arrived the other day in a beautiful laser-cut package from the Dutch company, Miniot. The build quality of the case is astounding; the wood volume buttons, perforated speaker grills, and magnetic closure all functioned perfectly. The standard case is incredibly beautiful, but a little laser customization never hurt. I decided to laser engrave the silhouette of a tree into the rich brown mahogany. The warm nature of the wood and the deeply engraved tree have drastically improved the feel of this previously cold hunk of aluminum and glass.

New to the Artist series: RAZAUNO! on Vimeo.

I’d like to welcome Venezuelan artist Max Vogel aka RAZAUNO to the Engrave Your Book artist series. This isn’t the first time Max has experimented with laser art; he was featured in the February issue of Juxtapoz magazine for his laser engraved wood pieces.

The pictures below are from his recent solo show in Paris, “Better Known As Brooklyn”, which featured wall size hand-painted letter-forms, custom skateboard decks, and laser engraved wood panels. Be on the lookout for other laser collaborations with Razauno.

Now anyone can get a custom laser engraved Moleskine notebook! Upload a picture, scan a drawing, or submit vector art, and we’ll send you a notebook that is truly yours. Check out Engrave Your Book for more details.