Nicholas Bijan Pourfard got his feet wet building skate ramps for him and his friends. He went on to make a name for himself creating guitars and other instruments out of old skateboard decks. Over the last few years, he’s expanded his craft, evolving into a designer of beautiful furniture and lighting.These stories of creativity never cease to inspire us. Naturally, we were excited to share Nicholas’ story. We recently drove down to Escondido, CA, with our pal Justin Chung to hang with Nicholas, his partner Kelsey and their two pups Thurgood and Guapo.
Nicholas Bijan Pourfard got his feet wet building skate ramps for him and his friends. He went on to make a name for himself creating guitars and other instruments out of old skateboard decks. Over the last few years, he’s expanded his craft, evolving into a designer of beautiful furniture and lighting.These stories of creativity never cease to inspire us. Naturally, we were excited to share Nicholas’ story. We recently drove down to Escondido, CA, with our pal Justin Chung to hang with Nicholas, his partner Kelsey and their two pups Thurgood and Guapo.
Every morning I wake up and go into the yard to check on all of my trees. It's pretty amazing what can show growth in just a day. After I explore the property, my partner Kelsey and I walk our dogs at the park for a half hour before coming back and making breakfast and coffee.
I feel like my daily ritual has always been about the same since I was a kid because I grew up around farmland. My dad has four acres of fruit trees that I used to eat from and I am so excited to see these trees that I planted become stronger like his.
I grew up ten minutes from where I live now. It was all strawberry fields and horses around us. I remember going to college and coming back home and just being shocked every time at how developed and unrecognizable it was becoming.
I lived in San Francisco for around 8 years with a brief stay in NYC. I actually got into a bad woodworking accident that mangled my entire right hand and cut off two of my fingers. That sort of forced me to come back home because I couldn't work for so long. Even when I went back to work I was so limited in range of motion, that I had to build my strength back up.
I started building skateboard ramps. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I learned as I went on.
I eventually started building anything I could, which turned into me building electric guitars. One day I posted a video building my guitars on YouTube and a week later it had millions of views and I realized I had a business.
I was very deep into building guitars and the guitar world in general, but every weekend I designed lamps and chairs etc. I realized quickly that I had to share some of these pieces with everyone as well, because I always resonated with spaces and design.
I think cutting my fingers off was the catalyst to really pushing myself harder and starting my own design practice. I had all the tools and resources already, so that is what I did.
I honestly always wanted to be an architect. I was even enrolled in architecture school when I was 18, but I got really scared that I wasn't absolutely sure if that was my end goal. I think the way things worked out, I would have been happy if I stayed, but I am also very happy now.
I would definitely go back to school for environmental architecture or urban planning! I think public spaces are so valuable in how they impact the community.
Kelsey and I love our home so much.
The original late architect, Walter S. White, had so many amazing details put into this place. I hope I only accentuate them all further with my changes and pieces. I think it's important to consider everything while we live here, the people who were here before, and the overall initial visions as time goes on in this space. I think all of this is doable while weaving in our own personality.
I do hope to build a boat soon. I grew up near this huge lake and I always imagined going there. I think that will be a humbling process and the first voyage will be incredible.
I am sort of planning a map for use and reason to walk every inch of the land. Essentially, deciding where recreation areas will be while planting around that. It is a lot of work to do and probably a lifetime project, but it will ultimately look amazing.
Many of the plants are native, plus a lot of protea, and a lot of fruit. I am a fruit nerd and I obsess over what fruit can be grown here successfully. I have lychee, mango, avocado, peaches, persimmon, loquat, citrus, longan, mulberries, cherimoya and many types of guava. To top it off we have a bee box at the bottom of the hill with bees I pulled from our bathroom wall when we moved in. Come back in a couple years for the progress update!
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.