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Doing and Being: Ten Years of Creative Collaboration at Grain

10/25/2018



This month marks our tenth year in business and we celebrated with our first solo show, Doing and Being: Ten Years of Creative Collaboration at Grain. The show welcomed visitors into the understated Grain aesthetic with select works from our current collection as well as a few pieces made specifically to shape the Colony space.

The title was a nod to the main motivation behind our business: finding a way to spend as much time together in creative pursuit as possible. Visitors had the chance to immerse themselves in the natural materials and smart sculptural forms that we have quietly championed from the start through tabletop objects to custom rugs.

To commemorate the ten year studio anniversary, we presented a ten piece limited edition run of our well known Dish Side Table made from twice reclaimed Northwest old growth fir.

Huge thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us and to our long time collaborator and friend, Charlie Schuck, for the installation photos above and below.

Save the Date: Doing and Being

9/28/2018



New York friends, please save the date for our upcoming solo show celebrating ten years of practice at Colony, 324 Canal Street, opening on October 11.

Thursday October 11, 6:00 - 9:00 pm opening night
Friday October 12, 12:00 - 6:00 pm
Saturday October 13, 11:00 - 12:00 pm yoga class
Saturday October 13, 12:00 - 6:00 pm
Monday October 15, 12:00 - 6:00 pm

In addition to the above, we will have a press preview Thursday October 11, 10:00 - 12:00 pm. We are also happy to make client appointments for anyone interested in a walkthrough with Chelsea or James Minola from Grain. Please contact shop@graindesign.com to make an appointment.

RSVP for the opening here. RSVP for the yoga class here.

Balance / Unblanced

5/21/2018



Our new Walling Rug made its debut in the Balance / Unblanced show at Colony last week. Colony is a community of independent furniture, lighting, textile and objects designers coming together on a New York City stage to celebrate American design with an international audience. The show is up May 17 - 24 at 324 Canal Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10013. All photos taken at Colony by Alan Tansey.

Grain x NYCxDESIGN

5/14/2018



As part of New York design week, Grain will present a new piece in Balance / Unbalanced at Colony along with 16 other American design studios. This show represents our first official design week as members of the Colony cooperative showroom where you can now find Grain represented year round. 

Colony
324 Canal Street, 2nd Floor, NYC
May 17 - 24, 2018
Opening: May 17, 7:00 - 10:00 pm
rsvp@goodcolony.com

In addition to our work at Colony, Grain will again participate in Sight Unseen OFFSITE with a new rug on view at Lauren Synder's stunning Manhattan store, The Primary Essentials. 

The Primary Essentials
3 Centre Market Place, NYC
May 16 - June 30, 2018

For more info on these events or any of our work, please email shop@graindesign.com. Hope to see you in New York!

Tour of Sight Unseen OFFSITE 2017

5/31/2017



We had a great time switching it up this year by showing at Sight Unseen OFFSITE instead of our annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair booth. OFFSITE 2017, curated by Jill Singer and Monica Khemsurov - the tireless editors of Sight Unseen, featured 25 up-and-coming designers in a 13,000 square foot space in Soho, May 19 - 22, as part of NYCxDESIGN.

Above is our booth with all new work inspired by a recent residency in The Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. It included our Lands Rug, Vale Sconce, Snake Screen, Duo Rug, Saddle Stools, Drift Side Table, and an updated custom composition of our Strung Chandelier.

Below are a few of our favorite booths from the show. All photos are thanks to Charlie Schuck. Check out the full tour on Sight Unseen.

The Jennings Hotel Residency

11/16/2016



Last month we had the incredible experience of traveling to Joseph, Oregon to attend an artist residency at The Jennings Hotel. We hiked through mountains, along rivers, and through prairies and later used the inspiration from our outings on a series of watercolors. Check out our photos above and below. Huge thanks to Greg Hennes for the invitation!  

3 Rooms at King Street Station

8/2/2016



Come check out 3 Rooms at King Street Station in Seattle this weekend, August 4 -7, 2016. We'll be one of the 20 featured local designers in the JOIN market sponsored by Civilization. Designers include: Apartment on Belmont, Blk Pine Workshop, Bremelo Press, Brian Beck, Delgado House, Faris, Five Ply Design, Fruitsuper Design, Gabriel Stromberg, Grain, Jennifer Ament, Mavro/Tawny, Meg Callahan, Piano Nobile, Pine & Boon, Rachel Illingworth, Rachel Ravitch, Small Craft, Turnco Wood Goods and Urbancase. More info here. 

REFLECT

5/27/2016



During NYCxDESIGN we also had the chance to show at Sight Unseen's OFFSITE with 15 other studios from across the United States in REFLECT curated by JOIN Design. The designs centered around the common theme of reflection and were restricted by size and a single material.

Our contribution was our new Reflect bottle opener cast in solid bronze. Its overall shape is reflected on two planes. Its materiality shimmers warmly with reflected light. And its use as a bar tool aids in the often art of reflective drinking.

The amazing photos above and below were taken by Amanda Ringstad. Read more about the show at Fast Company, Design Milk and Core77 or by checking out the hashtag #reflect_SUO. Huge thanks to JOIN curators fruitsuper and Melanie Abrantes as well as Civilization who created all the graphic design.

International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2016

5/10/2016



We are proud to debut our latest collection of furniture, lighting and rugs at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Booth 803, May 14 - 17, at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York as part of NYCxDESIGN.

Our new collection includes a series of furniture and lighting utilizing large graphite cast glass elements (seen above) made with Seattle artist John Hogan and biomorphic braided wool rugs made in partnership with Colonial Mills in Rhode Island. In addition, we will be showing new lighting that explores layered texture, as well as new shapes and finishes of our popular Dish table series.

Along with ICFF, Grain is also showing a new piece in the REFLECT show curated by JOIN at Sight Unseen's OFFSITE at The Grace Building, May 13 - 16.

For more info on any of our work, please email Chelsea Minola at chelsea (at) graindesign.com. Hope to see you in New York!

Island Headquarters

12/9/2015



We're up and running in our new space! Above and below is a little tour around. We are so happy to be settling in here and have been having so much fun getting to know our new neighbors. Huge thanks to everyone who came out last weekend to celebrate with us! Follow us on Instagram for more scenes from the studio.

Grain Open Studio and Holiday Sale

11/18/2015



After seven years of operation from our home-based studio, we are thrilled to announce that Grain has moved into its very own headquarters. Our new studio finally has the room it needs in a three story space within the Island Craft community on Bainbridge Island. To celebrate, we're hosting an open studio and holiday sale on December 5, 10:00 - 4:00 pm, at our new address: 12935 Islandcraft Lane NE, Studio A3, on Bainbridge Island. 

Directions: To get to Islandcraft Lane from the ferry, drive north on Highway 305. Turn left at Day Road. Islandcraft Lane is just past Miller Road on the right. If you enter "7800 Day Road" in your GPS/Google Maps, it will get you pretty close.

Please stop by and celebrate with us! More info here. 

Maison de Luxe

11/7/2015



If you are in Los Angeles, don't miss the Maison de Luxe Designer Showcase at the Doheny Greystone Estate in Beverly Hills November 7 - 22, 2015. We were thrilled to be asked to participate in our dear friend Brit Kleinman's amazing kitchen redesign with our ceramics, candles, textiles, hooks and candle holders. Brit is the founder of AVO and she totally transformed the kitchen with her hand painted leather tiles. Also included in the space is work from Uhuru, Brendan Ravenhill and Heath Ceramics. Get tickets here and see images of the whole mansion in the Los Angeles Times here. 

Grain Moving Sale!

7/1/2015



We're moving our home and design studio!

Saturday July 11 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sunday July 12 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Find old stock, prototypes, seconds and materials from our product and furniture design studio as well as good condition housewares from our family moving sale. Will be posting a few previews on our Instagram: @grain_design #grainmovingsale.

Design studio items include: jewelry, textiles, rugs, furniture, mirrors and printed cards. Studio items will be 50% off or more. Family moving sale items include: furniture, kitchen items, textiles, books, clothing, ceramics, frames, pots and art. Family moving sale items will be priced to sell.

More info here. Hope to see you there!

ICFF 2015

5/20/2015



Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by our new booth at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Above and below are a few photos.

For our fifth year, we moved into a larger booth closer to the front where we were better able to show off our Momostenango, Zacapa and El Prado rugs, Circlet Chandelier with black gridded glass diffusers and our new Circlet Chair.

It was our best show to date and left us feeling so fortunate to be part of such an incredible American design community.

The New Frontier

4/6/2015



The New Frontier: Young Designer-Makers in the Pacific Northwest opens April 16 (6:00 pm - 9:00 pm) at the Bellevue Arts Museum and runs through August 16, 2015. Curated by Charlie Schuck and Jennifer Navva Milliken, the show includes the work of 28 local studios. We are so thrilled to be a part of this special time and place.

Participating studios:

Omer Arbel / Bocci, (BC)
Peter Bristol, (WA)
Chadhaus, (WA)
Landon Dix, (BC)
Aleph Geddis, (WA)
Free Time, (WA)
fruitsuper design, (WA)
Gamla Studio, (BC)
Erich Ginder, (WA)
Grain, (WA)
Graypants Studio, (WA)
Caine Heintzman / ANDLIGHT, (BC)
John Hogan, (WA)
Knauf and Brown, (BC)
Iacoli & McAllister, (WA)
Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, (WA)
Greg Papove, (BC)
Lukas Peet / ANDLIGHT, (BC)
Phloem Studio, (OR)
Aleksandra Pollner, (WA)
Rason Jens, (OR)
Joel Sayre, (WA)
Semigood, (WA)
Something Like This Design, (OR)
Standard Socket, (WA)
Studio Gorm, (OR)
urbancase, (WA)
Matthew Philip Williams, (OR)

SHOWCASE14

9/4/2014



The Seattle Design Festival starts tomorrow with a series of design related events across the city. As part of the festivities, we will be participating in an experimental marketplace featuring Northwest design called SHOWCASE14 from September 7th - 12th at 220 South Jackson Street in Pioneer Square. We'll be at the closing party on September 12th, 8:00 pm - 12:00 am, and hope to see you there!

NY NOW Recap

8/28/2014



Trade shows are hard, but they can also be fun if you show with a good group. Above and below is an Instagram round-up from the JOIN booth at NY NOW last week. It is good to be back in the studio, but I miss these guys!

Above is work from: Aleksandra Pollner, byAMT, Grain, Piano Nobile, History + Industry, Cofield, Nell & Mary, Pigeon Toe Ceramics, Mister McGinnis, Pat Kim Design, fruitsuper, Sarah Loertscher, Caravan Pacific and fleet objects. For more Instagram's from the booth search: #joindesign, #nynow and #nynow14, #3871.

Grain at NY NOW

8/14/2014



We're back in New York this week for NY NOW. Find us in the JOIN Booth 3871 along with 14 independent American design studios including: Aleksandra Pollner (first image below), byAMT (third image below), Grain (image above and fourth image below), Piano Nobile, History + Industry, Cofield, Nell & Mary, Pigeon Toe Ceramics, Mister McGinnis, Pat Kim Design (second image below), fruitsuper, Sarah Loertscher, Caravan Pacific and fleet objects!

Accent on Design is open August 17 - 19, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, and August 20, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. And, yes, our Totem Candles are now available for wholesale and will be at the show ready for holiday orders. We hope to see you there!

Inside: American Design in Paris

5/30/2014



While we were in New York last week, our Dish Side Table spent the week in Paris as part of the 5th edition of American Design in Paris organized by Jacques Barret of Triode.

Held at the Mona Bismark American Center for Art & Culture May 19th - 25th, the show included work from other independent designers such as our friends from Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Iacoli & McAllister, and Fort Standard as well as established American brands such as Roll & Hill, Knoll, and Bernhardt. There was even a chair in the mix designed by Pharrell Williams!

The show was featured in the May issue of the French edition of Elle Decoration as well as online here, here, and here. Photos above and below from Alexis Toureau.

Update: The downloadable catalog is now available here. Walk through the show via video here. 

ICFF 2014

5/29/2014



Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair last week in New York. We are happy to report that we survived our fourth year! The best part of the week has always been getting to catch up with friends and clients that we may only see a few times a year. It feels like a big reunion. We are so grateful to be a part of this amazing American design community. 

Above and below are a few photos from the booth for those who couldn't make it. We were in the same spot, but the feel was quite different from 2013 and 2012. New pieces on display included: Our Circlet Chandelier, Circlet Single Sconce, Circlet Triple Sconce, Circlet Battuto Pendant, and Circlet Dish Pendant all made using UL Certified LED components. Also on display was our new Dish Desk and our made-on-Bainbridge Island Grail Pots and Grail Dishes. We also were excited to show off our Panajachel Pillow, Tikal Pillow, Comalapa Pillow Blue, Atitlan Pillow, and Huehuetenango Pillow which are handwoven by expert artisans in Guatemala using only naturally dyed cotton. 

The handwoven wool rugs and steam bent chair seen hiding in the background are so new that they aren't even up on our site yet. More on those soon!

NYCxDESIGN 2014

5/14/2014



It's that time of year again!

We have a ton of new work launching at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, Booth 850, May 17 - 20, 2014 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

As part of NYCxDESIGN, new colors of Grain’s lighting for Standard Socket will be presented at WantedDesign May 16 - 19. We will also be showing a mirror, recently licensed by Fab’s private label, at Happy Modern in the Fab New York Showroom, at 151 Wooster Street in SoHo, May 15 - 20.

See you in New York!

Seattle Preview

4/29/2014



If you are in Seattle Thursday, come see a sneak peek of new work from Seattle designers 16th Workshop, Chadhaus, Fruitsuper Design, Graypants, Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, Piano Nobile, Professional Associates, Seattle Design Bureau, Standard Socket, Urbancase, and Grain.

We'll be showing a one or two of the new items that we are taking to New York for ICFF in a couple weeks. Here is a link to to the Facebook invite for more info. Big thanks to Sallyann Corn of Fruitsuper Design for organizing and Greypants for hosting!

American Design in Paris

4/16/2014



We're excited to be participating in the 5th edition of American Design in Paris organized by Jacques Barret of the Left Bank gallery Triode. This year's show, held at the Mona Bismark American Center for Art & Culture May 19th - 25th, will highlight work from independent designers such as Grain, Bec Brittain, Fort Standard, and Chen Chen & Kai Williams as well as more established American brands such as Roll & Hill, Bernhardt, and Emeco.

We'll be showing our Dish Side Table (pictured below) and promise to post photos from the exhibition once we have some to share.

Storefronts Seattle

4/2/2014



This just in: A proposal from Grain was selected by Shunpike and the Storefronts program as one of seventeen new projects to take over a Seattle storefront sometime in the next 18 months.

Our creative enterprise proposal, called Grain Open Studio, will be a studio and gallery of our work in collaboration with selected Pacific Northwest artists and designers demonstrating social and environmental responsibility in design.

The location of the actual storefront and dates of the project are still to be determined. We'll let you know as soon as we know more!

Image above is from the 2013 Storefronts project Somewhere Out There by Ryan Everson at the former Publix Hotel on 5th Avenue South in Seattle.

Future This Now

3/11/2014



If you are in Seattle this weekend and looking for something great to check out, our friend Charlie Schuck has put together an amazing roster of Northwest talent for Future This Now at Love City Love. Below is a list of the line-up. The champagne opening is Friday March 15th, 8:00 pm - 11:30 pm. Come celebrate the future!
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