Matt Baum

Studio vibes. Feeling grateful for this 10x10ft box where I spend so much of my time these days. I took a field trip to the art store and got a 50 yard roll of trace paper, and started drawing a lot more as a part of my design process. It has breathed new life into things 🌬️ @pastlivesllc

Bones

First proper road trip in the new rig - grateful for this veteran boondocker that can show me the ropes! After spending a couple nights in the salty towns of Port Townsend and Marrowstone Island we headed out to the remote coastlines on the NW tip of the Olympic Peninsula. Lots of history and wildness to explore on these lands that left us hungry to sink deeper in

SOUTHWEST Part 2 - Santa Fe We were welcomed into Santa Fe by music and mezcal at the El Rey After a trail ride through the painted hills of Ghost Ranch Where Georgia O’Keeffe walked with flowers, dust and bones. We fell quickly into step with the wanton ways of our hosts Women with hard earned desert grit But also the polish to put on a 3 leaf table dinner party. We walk the adobe streets There is art everywhere we go Green chile sauce on everything we eat Vestiges of the American West still very much alive Or at least making for very impressive costumes. Boots and spurs indeed. We hike along the arroyos And come back to an adobe homestead where our friends with hands and feet in dirt sing heart songs back into the earth And show us what a life lived close to this desert land can look like With no shortage of style and grace. I hear Ed Abbey’s words still being carried on the wind, “It seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered about in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.”

SOUTHWEST Part 1 - The Drive East, Taos I think I just fell in love with the southwest. At the very least I’ve been left with a beautiful if complicated longing. We spent a week sinking into its storied layers Driving through a vast panorama of 2 billion year old rocks and ancient red dirt Waves of stair-stepped ledges, cliffs, and buttes painted ochre, green, and gray. History made visible. Well, some of it that is. Signs are eager to tell us the story of these stones that have been carved by the ages But what of the stories of the people that walked these lands before us? Hualapai. Hopi. Navajo. Zuni. Apache. An abandoned motel - “the Gateway to the Grand Canyon” Now a canvas that makes these voices heard along the heavily trafficked Interstate 40. Cries for reparations and the reclamation of dreams that have been pushed aside “American Rent is Due.” We continue along the arteries of Development Begin to climb the 64 through pinyon pines, ponderosa, and juniper and are welcomed into the tender embrace of the people and places of Taos. We walk the adobe halls of a home that still holds the promise of a life lived close to the land Sit on the back porch and survey its overgrown beds before spreading ourselves on the banks of the Rio Grande. The next morning we are gifted stamped silver from an old friend Tour the garish visions of Earthship on the outskirts of town Take one last inhale of the slowness and memories that grace this high desert outpost. And hit the road for Santa Fe.

It’s been exciting to watch this attic transform over the past few months of renovation work with @mcfadindesignbuild . Our client wanted to bring the feeling of an A-frame cabin in the woods to his house in the city, and I think the skylights and pine ceiling cladding we put in got us pretty close! The built-in bookshelves and breakfast nook were both fun touches - but I think the bathroom’s my favorite part of the space.

You take my hand and dance with me across clumsily drawn lines and carefully guarded inhibitions. And then you smile at me as you let the juice run down your chin

Vision for this breakfast nook banquette and open staircase coming to life thanks to @rasonjens and @kellenperlberg . We sent the client’s old fir flooring planks through the planer and repurposed them to create this new space. Fun stuff happening in the field! @mcfadindesignbuild

Getting my coastal California ass out in the snow-covered landscapes of Oregon thanks to these two snow bunnies ❄️🎿 @ringringthingthing @theus_says

Just finished this entry staircase build. Got to learn some new carpentry tricks working with @kellenperlberg . We re-used the lumber from the clients’ original staircase but added a landing to make it safer for their young kids. Took a full day’s worth of elbow grease to sand new life into the old lumber - but worth it to repurpose that beautiful wood. This was the first project for @mcfadindesignbuild that I’ve gotten to design and take from start to finish.

Putting in some cedar wall cladding for a sauna install with @rasonjens for @mcfadindesignbuild 🛠🔥

Sea Textures Obstruction Pass, Orcas Island