Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Monk Muñoz.
Hi Brandon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I began creating art as a young child after being inspired by a family trip to Sea World. I started drawing sharks and whales every day. This passion eventually gave way to spaceships and jet fighters, which share familiar lines and aesthetics… Much of these early inspirations find their way into my work in the way that sharp angles and subtle curves converge to create a pleasing interaction.
After high school, I attended Otis College to Art and Design in LA for a year. I left after I got a job at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in Burbank. It was a rare opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I worked in the mold department as a carpenter who created jigs and various apparatus that enabled the giant molds of the puppets we were making for film and TV… I learned so much there, but soon felt the call to start my own business.
I moved back to Orange County in my early twenties and started building furniture out of my parents’ garage. My neighbors provided my first custom orders, and I basically said ‘yes’ to every request. I was finding my own voice within the craft and making plenty of mistakes that would also provide insights into my own design process. My business was finally gaining momentum but would soon be interrupted another call.
I married my wife Pamela in 2003, and we became missionaries in London, England, for the next 7 years. We were church planting in an area called Camden Town. It’s like the Venice Beach of London, where tons of tourists and multiple creative cultures collide all at once. We learned so much from the people there as we ministered to our small and eclectic congregation. 3 of our children were born there, and we loved exploring the city with them.
In 2010, we moved back to Orange County to seek a new path forward. Pamela began homeschooling our children, and I began building furniture again out of the garage on my grandparents’ old home. I began listing photos pieces we made for ourselves on Etsy and soon started to attract interest outside of California for custom dining tables and desks. Instagram had just began and i was gaining a following among artist and musicians for my studio desk designs.
Over the last several years, I have made desks for hundreds of creative professionals, including multi-platinum artists like James Hetfield from Metallica and Ryan Tedder of One Direction. Google has ordered over of 20 desks for their video editing team in various campuses around the US. It has been a pleasure to get to know my clients on a personal level and continue to create new pieces for them as they grow and evolve in their work. Many new designs come out of client collaborations.
After over 25 years of creating for others, I am now shifting the focus of Monkwood Studios toward my first love of painting and sculpture. I will continue to create furniture, but more on intentional design basis. Rather than a client’s specific request, I now want to let the wood decide what it wants to become. It’s a scary step forward, but I believe it is the right one.
I look forward to continuing the quest of creativity and seeing where it takes me…
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The creators’ path is rarely ever smooth. The twist and turns are where you find the resilience to keep going. Wondering if you made a wrong turn somewhere and second-guessing your next steps. Overcoming self-doubt is a constant challenge of the artist.
On a more practical level, Pricing has always been a challenge. Learning not to let the value of your work reflect on how you value yourself.
Finding the balance of your passion to create while being present for others, especially those you love.
Using what you’ve learned and all you’ve endured to keep going in a new, fresh way, rather than just repeating the same old steps. It all goes back to keeping that child alive inside somehow as you brave grown-up things.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I call my medium “oil and water on wood.” It reflects the hybrid nature of each piece. I create bespoke furniture pieces and use the leftover material (even my workbench tops) to create art. The leftover shapes and materials become sculptures or relief paintings so that all the marks made in the building process are given a new context within the artwork.
I use a combination of water-based bases paints and oil finishes to create layers textures that can be felt without touching the piece. However, I encourage that my work be touched frequently the patina of time to adds to its beauty and value over the years. I believe that well-made items created by human hands that are old will have a
I play with the perception of value by presenting common or used materials in a bold and exclusive light while using ‘finer’ materials like walnut, copper, and bronze to support the lesser. My work is a juxtaposed dance between the old and new, the sacred and profane. It’s all to provoke a simple childlike sense of wonder, which is our natural reaction to beauty at any stage of life.
I am known for furniture that inspires people to create. My studio desk line has sold to clients all over the world. I am now focusing on making art from the materials and knowledge I’ve gained from the last 25 years of the craft. I will continue to work between the lines of design and art and see what new things I make out of oil, water, and wood…
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
“The risk of offense is the price of clarity” – Roy H. Williams
Any risk I’ve taken in life was made for the reward of the experience as well as the hope of finding a deeper understanding of myself and how this strange world works… I also retain the childlike hope of finding that buried treasure along the way under some mundane rock that nobody else notices or cares to look under.
I moved to London in my twenties with my wife Pamela only a few weeks after getting married to plant a church. We had no idea if it work or if anyone would even notice. We just served people and card for others. It never grew big, in a way that others would call an obvious success, even coming back may be seen as a failure, but we now see how many lives were affected, including ours.
When we moved back to start Monkwood, it was another huge risk as we now had 4 children. We knew we wanted to homeschool our kids, so there was a lot of pressure to make it work. I just kept building the best pieces I could, and they started to gain attention online. I remember shipping my first table out of state and having pictures of it damaged 2000 miles away. I’ve since learned about insurance and building solid crates.
Risks are where we grow by taking steps of faith. There is no easy way to obtain the same rewards.
Pricing:
- $50-100 // Coasters, Keyboard Shelves, Charcuterie Boards
- $100 – 300 // Small Artworks
- $500 – 1500 // Small Coffee Tables & Rack Cabinets
- $2000 – 3000 // Monk Desk (new streamlined studio desk)
- $4000 – 15k // Premium studio desks, dining tables and artwork
Contact Info:
- Website: monkwood.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/monkwood_
- Facebook: facebook.com/monkwoodstudios
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/brandonmunoz1/
- Twitter: twitter.com/monkwood
- Youtube: youtube.com/@Monkwood_
