Fossicker, Carpenter, Creator, Admirer

I am Deane. I am passionate admirer and observer of everything around me. I am a carpenter, a curator and a collector. I find particular beauty in the old and the abandoned, the broken rejects. I re-purpose and rebuild and I am happiest when I create.

I have a particular fetish for the vintage, the industrial and appreciate mid-century furniture. I scour every second hand shop, antique store, garage and abandoned building to find that lost and forgotten piece and give it my home or find it one. I love antiques, bones, vintage prints, lapels, nature and the unusual.

Here I am, in my home away from home. The Factory Cafe in Durban. Conceptualized by my very good friend Kyle Fraser. The cafe is situated in Colombo Tea and Coffee Co. roasting factory. You can watch and smell the process of the green bean becoming a cup of South Africa's finest. Pop up stores are happening in this space. I will soon have my stuff up for sale here as well. So pull in...bru.

I may not have mentioned my fascination of insects and little creatures. This is a dead Cuckoo Wasp. This picture was taken using a business card for the background. The wasp measured about 5 millimeters from end to end. They seem to put pretty good cameras in phones these days. it was taken with my Galaxy SIII. I would really like to get a decent print made from this.

David Wrinch-Schulz helped me build this counter. There are two like this in a studio down the South Coast in Umtentwini. We used plywood for the front and sides of the counter and salvaged Oregon Pine for the counter top. Initially we were going to sand the timber down and remove the paint, but these kiff colours started to appear and decided to use it as a feature. The Pine is from a spot I do much of my salvaging from. I estimate the age of the pine to be about 100 years old.