About seventeen years ago we seriously considered becoming a design studio and putting away the construction tools. The idea was short-lived because I didn’t know who could build what I designed. I didn’t want to simplify my designs and I loved working with my hands. So, instead of selling off the tools we built our new shop and we have never regretted our decision.

In the decade and a half since then I have sometimes wondered what it would be like to only design. In the last five months I have gotten a good feeling of that job with a steady diet of concept design work. Since the beginning of last December I have spent the bulk of my ‘working’ hours at my design table. I have churned out more than a hundred and fifty concept drawings (and counting) for a wide variety of very fun projects. Today’s design assignment was a waterwheel and a fancy deck for a restaurant. Another couple of hours at the design board will allow me to finish it before moving on to the next fun idea.

So far, only a handful of these ideas I’ve dreamed up and illustrated have made it to the shop for fabrication. There is still a backlog of designs I need to do and I suspect this long lasting drawing streak might stretch another month and possibly longer. The crew has been keeping busy in the shop on a variety of smaller projects and of course the Hazelnut Inn. I have no doubt, as it always seems to happen, all those concepts will get the green light at the very same time. Then it will be time to put down the pen for a while. Stay tuned…