Since meeting Bryan Edwards at a friend's baby shower in Los Feliz years ago, we've continued to run into him around town. While we've known Bryan for his woodwork design company, Hummingbird + Hawk, it feels like we learn something new about him every time we see him! Recently, he showed us a new bamboo and brass tray he developed, and it sparked a conversation that led to us coming over for coffee. As it turns out, the timing was great, as Bryan, his wife Megan and their son Arlo were in the process of moving to Nashville!
Since meeting Bryan Edwards at a friend's baby shower in Los Feliz years ago, we've continued to run into him around town. While we've known Bryan for his woodwork design company, Hummingbird + Hawk, it feels like we learn something new about him every time we see him! Recently, he showed us a new bamboo and brass tray he developed, and it sparked a conversation that led to us coming over for coffee. As it turns out, the timing was great, as Bryan, his wife Megan and their son Arlo were in the process of moving to Nashville!
My morning ritual has for sure changed! The alarm is now my 3 year old son humming to himself when he wakes up—around 6am. From there, the family congregates in the kitchen to make oatmeal and toast and read some Calvin and Hobbes. We only started drinking coffee three years ago—right around the time we had Arlo :)—and were taught by a friend who makes it in a very traditional way. First we grind the beans and place them in the bamboo filter over the carafe. Next we pour a bit of (perfectly) hot water over the grounds to “wake up” the beans for 30 seconds. Then we slowly pour the rest of the water in slow circles in the middle of the grounds. It’s a lot more work than it probably needs to be, but we love it, and you can’t beat the smell of freshly ground beans to start your day.
It started 10 years ago with a quest to replace all of our Ikea furniture with handmade pieces. [No shame on Ikea! You were good to us!] I’ve always been a fan of Japanese design, having created origami since I was 6 years old. I discovered Japanese joinery and became fascinated with taking woodworking to the next level. Friends of ours would come over and see the progression and I started receiving commissions from them. Through this process I developed a look that I thought would work well as a cohesive line of furniture and products. So, at the start of 2019 I decided to make it official and started Hummingbird + Hawk.
Art and creativity have always been at the forefront in my life. In my early twenties I was a professional tap dancer and toured internationally for years. That’s where I met my wife, she was an Irish dancer in the show! After we “retired” as dancers and settled into life in LA, I started my own web design and marketing company, which is work I still do today. Every business I’ve formed has come out of a curious need. My mom, who is a costume maker, needed a website 15 years ago so I taught myself frontend development and my business grew from there. It’s not easy having two full time jobs (Design + Woodworking) but for all the late nights and hard work, I get to CREATE every day. As the Japanese say, I have found my “Ikigai."
My main focus and goal with H+H is sustainability. Respecting nature is respecting yourself. There is no reason we need to waste resources to have beautiful things. Bamboo is the foundation of the line. Most people don’t know this, but Bamboo is actually grass—not wood! Bamboo can reach harvest height in 1-5 years rather than 30-40 years, which is the typical time for most hardwood species. My metal of choice is brass, due to the fact that it can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing its properties.
A house made of Bamboo in the woods.
Land, lightning bugs, and thunderstorms!
The creative communities that I’ve found here in Los Angeles have been a constant source of inspiration. Seeing the different ways that people express their creativity and turn their passions into businesses helped give me the confidence to do the same. My wife Megan runs a photo agency, and I’ve had the pleasure of being surrounded by and working with some of the most iconic photographers in the industry. I’ve met some of my best friends through artistic projects here in LA, and am excited to explore the possibilities in Nashville.
For Mariah Nielson, the familiar is never static. Mornings begin inside the hand-built Inverness, CA home her father, sculptor JB Blunk, shaped from salvaged redwood in the 1950s. It’s where Mariah now lives, and is raising her own son amid the textures, tools, and stories of her childhood—alongside traded works from friends, artist-made artifacts, and her own growing contributions.
For painter Jereme Brian Mendez, mornings move at their own pace: ice water, meditation, and a walk through the quiet streets of the Berkeley Hills, where deer roam past and the fog hangs low. His studio hours don’t begin until the light shifts in the afternoon, but those early rituals—quiet, steady, tactile—form the architecture of his day.
Kassandra Thatcher is an LA-based artist specializing in ceramic lighting and sculpture. We recently paid a visit to her Arlington Heights studio to see her in action, and learn more about her story, life and work.