Bringing a warm and gorgeous wooden aesthetic to lamp bases, Grigg’s work also offers a wonderful environmental element to the line: using responsibly harvested woods, sustainable materials and natural dies, you can be sure that these products are both good-looking and green. We asked Grigg some questions to help us explain the new line as well as to discover more about the other great woodwork Grigg creates:
Were you always creative?Pretty much always. I loved to draw and play with building toys even as a kid. I was a perfectionist from the start, coloring in the lines was an obsession and I would sort my Lite Bright, or Legos, or blocks into like color piles before using them. I have also always loved to be in the woods ever since I was young which connects me to the material on a deep level even today. My relationship with nature is the wellspring from which my passion for working with wood comes. When I first connected with wood as a medium it was more of an object with properties that needed to be learned. Wood was a raw material and I was eager to play with it without giving much thought to it's source.
Then as time went on and I got more into wood turning my relationship to the material totally shifted. Instead of buying lumber from a dealer , (which is still a lot of fun - like finding diamonds in the rough) - I could grab a log off the ground and make something out of it. Suddenly I could be making something out of the tree that my neighbor had felled the day before. A tree that I had enjoyed for its beauty, its shade, its changing colors. A tree that took in my out breath and gave back my in breath. We were one and using its wood, its body, was a continuation of the relationship. Woodworking has become a spiritual exercise for me, a meditation. There is a trinity at work at all times. There is the tool, the wood, and my influence. There are a seeming infinite number of relationships at work between these three at all times. (but that is a book unto itself). If I let an element of the trinity go without attention, danger ensues.
Are your parents creative?Growing up my mom liked to do needle point and crochet. My dad was more of the artist with his drawing and painting and woodworking and stained glass. I am much like him. He was very inspirational and supportive. I was so curious about what he was creating and he would let me make my own project even if it involved tools. He would teach me the rules of safety and then trust me. It gave me great confidence at a young age. There was never a question of me being a girl and not being able to use the tools. I still encounter people who are continually taken aback that, as a woman, I know what I am doing (I have some funny stories about this) but my dad gave me confidence from the start that I am no less than anyone else. That was a great gift.
When did you first realize you might want to do something creative for a living?That's hard to pin down. I have been very non-committal about future plans my whole life, still am. I suppose in high school when I had to make some kind of decision I chose art school. I was also fascinated by psychology, but that seemed too academic so I went with the only other interest I had and was good at. I know that sounds lame, but it's true.
I see you went to Paier College of Art, were you interested in woodworking then?At Paier I majored in Illustration. I was a realistic oil painter and had a brief run as an illustrator. I was quite successful there winning many awards both locally and nationally. Paier didn't offer wood work, or even sculpture. It is a very small school. I didn't know what I was missing. My focus was two dimensional, but looking back I always knew something was missing. There was so much effort put into something that at best would hang on a wall or be printed on a page. Later I would find out that I love having my senses engaged, and I love it when other people can interact with the finished product in a tactile way.
When did wood really become the medium you work in?Wood became a passion for me in 2001. I was asked to help out a local woodworker who needed a hand. He had heard that I had some basic skills (common sense carpentry I used to build loft beds, work benches, platforms, etc). I took a part time job with him that ended up lasting a few years. That was where I discovered exotic and domestic hardwoods. The mere introduction to this medium sparked a blaze in me that is still burning strong. I bought any book and magazine I could get a hold of to learn all about tools, techniques, you name it. I was constantly studying. It was as if I put myself through school. In 2003, I bought my own machinery and began selling my work---mainly jewelry boxes and cutting boards, selling wholesale to craft galleries throughout the US and Canada.
How would you describe your style?My style is plain to see. Weather I make a book, (I made hand bound books for a few years) a box or a painting. The style is the same: simple, clean, highly polished to a refined finish. Craftsmanship is paramount, and giving the natural material it's stage to shine. As far as interiors, art and fashion I will have to admit that none of the above are a main focus of mine. I keep my world small and simple—just the basics. If I were to choose a style from magazines I clearly am drawn again toward clean, simple, contemporary. I can appreciate people's love of ornate, but it is not my taste. Greene and Greene, Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mark Rothko come to mind initially.
Where do you come up with the ideas for your designs?
What's your creative process?The process will vary depending on the project. Sometimes it starts with a particular piece of lumber and the design is built to best display the wood. Sometimes I am in the mood to sketch and then with pen and paper I will use shapes and shading to bring forth the foundation of a design. Sometimes I revert back to playing with blocks and then some scraps off the shop floor will become ways of relating directly with proportion, contrast, color, size etc.
What's the hardest thing about woodworking?I suppose the dust and the noise are a bit of a drawback. Also it can be trying to be an artist. Making due financially and sticking to my guns creatively can be a trying exercise.
The most rewarding?
This answer is difficult. The way I feel about working with wood is intense. It is like asking what is most rewarding about being with the love of your life. I dream about wood nightly. No joke. It is more than what I do; it has become a part of who I am and how I relate to the world. Like I said above, it has become a spiritual practice for me. The reward is a constant. It is with me whether I am working or resting. The reward is the relationship itself. If I were unable to ever work wood again, the reward would still be there.
Talk a little bit about what you'll be doing for Swank Lighting.I am creating a line of wooden lamps for Swank. I am profoundly grateful for having been asked to work with Ed and Doug. They are selling lamps of an established style and quality that is the perfect complement to my work. I couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario. I am working out four basic designs to start. We will offer a variety of wood species within those designs. From there we will see what develops. To start we are producing simple, clean, elegant design of the highest quality work. I know that sounds general, but you will have to see what comes about. Heck, even I am curious.
There are a lot of great eco-friendly elements to your work, could you go into more detail?
As far as working with wood goes, considerations are made in the harvesting of the wood I use. Much of the wood I buy is from small local lumber dealers. With the exotic woods I use, the wood is harvested in a way that does least damage possible. Sustained yield harvesting is what I look for when I buy exotics. After the wood is here in my shop, nothing is wasted. What I can't manage to use is offered to woodworker friends or used as fuel for heat.
What are the other media you work in, and how do they affect your woodworking designs?Right now I am not actively working in other media. I am consumed. That which affects my wood working design is all around me. I don't know what doesn't affect my design. I am influenced by an old wooden fence and a shiny new sports car zooming by. I am influenced by all of life and I marvel at it all.
Lastly, what does the future hold for your art?
If I know anything it is that I don't know anything about what the future holds for my art or otherwise. I mean this is a positive way. It involves faith and willingness to adapt and change to what my curiosity brings. I am surrendered to what life brings. All I insist upon is that I enjoy my work and the people I work with. It is important to me to listen to the intuitive call that has lead me this far. Circumstances and people are swept out of my life as quickly as they come into it. I have today and so far, I am amazed.
Thanks Amy! Stay tuned to the blog in the very near future for more photos of this amazing upcoming line. We'll also post some more photos of the wood-turned lamps as soon as we get them! 
