Daily Inspiration: Meet Brad Burleigh

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brad Burleigh.

Hi Brad, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Originally from the South East, I moved to California nine years ago after receiving a BFA from the College of Charleston. I settled in the mission district of San Francisco and began working in and out of furniture and cabinet shops throughout the Bay Area. It was the start of a largely transient lifestyle as I slowly honed in on carpentry skills while maintaining a large social network of designers and craftspeople. At the beginning, “design” was rarely used in my vocabulary and I struggled to define and separate it from my previous studio art practice. Fast forward to four years later and I found myself working up and down the California coast on large-scale hospitality furniture installations. I moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter in search of more space, opportunity, and a larger platform to create my own mixture of art and design within furniture making.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The main challenges have been affording space, slowly acquiring machines, and trying to remain consistent with original creative endeavors while still taking on custom work. I have remained “all in” in terms of figuring out how to make a living with my furniture and cabinet-making background. Oftentimes, the physical and mental toll of working on a project that is not connected to my own ideas can make it hard for me to still come into the shop and keep chipping away at the passion projects. Each job brings lessons learned and it is a long and laborious process – you really just start standing on a larger and larger pile of mistakes until things eventually start looking and functioning the way you think they should.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Since art and design exist all around us, my inspiration can come from looking at any mundane object around me. I don’t research art and design on a regular basis and most of my ideas are sliced into layers based upon the skills I have developed working in shops for ten years. Learning design has taught me to really value functionality in the objects I create. It is my previous experience in visual art that ignites a lot of larger conceptual ideas around furniture – everything from the aesthetics, composition, and the narrative behind the objects.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The pandemic has taught me the value and humbleness in learning how to pivot as a self-employed person. When covid first started, I had just moved into my first studio. I had to revert to taking on more debt and reaching out to past employers for work. Luckily my studio was part of a larger building full of business owners who were all trying to figure out how to navigate the same situation. It was comforting to talk and build relationships with those people. Looking back, the community I am a part of got stronger because of this.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bradburleigh.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_burleighs/

Image Credits
Brad Burleigh