Sticks pieces are the epitome of utilitarian object art. Every piece of furniture that emerges from Sarah Grant’s Des Moines, Iowa studio is a one of a kind, handcrafted piece of usable art.  Fine wood craft and cabinetry skills combine with a colorful free flowing artistic style to turn what could be a mundane side board into a cherished heirloom. Embellished with words, phrases and icons each piece speaks to the individuals and families it comes to serve. One hundred percent scavenged, crafted, painted and made in the USA. Ms. Grant sums up her work simply “It’s all about storytelling.”

Sarah Grant-Hutchison took her first foray into wood crafting in 1985 when the editors of a popular wood crafting magazine asked her to create a nativity for their holiday edition. From there on out she was inundated with custom orders from friends and family, but only saw it as a side job to her career as an art professor. She didn’t officially form her company Sticks Inc. until 1992. The name “Sticks ” was chosen because of the company’s practice of incorporating fallen timber and driftwood into their designs. The company began by designing smaller items such as ornaments and candlesticks, and has evolved to feature larger items such as dining sets, beds and armoires. Each piece is handcrafted within Sticks’ award winning 28,000 sq foot studio. All pieces are finely crafted from birch, poplar and driftwood. The pieces are further designed with hand drawn imagery, etched contouring and vibrantly blended paint. Pieces can be embellished with 3-D wood components, metal, leather and fabric. Sticks Inc. currently employs 130 individuals who contribute on all levels of the design, crafting and distribution of the sticks pieces.

The completion of a piece of furniture involves many phases. Employees and family members are on a constant search for dried sticks and fallen timbers. Woodworkers then turn the sticks and milled lumber into furnishings and move them to the drawing department.  Employees draw and engrave the designs and stain the objects. Artists in the painting area hand paint every piece. Layered brush strokes, artists hands, rags, brushes, and scrapers make the unique hand made aspect of each piece readily apparent.  Workers in the finishing department add knobs, hinges and other hardware. As they work they are encouraged by Sarah’s simple yet profound guidelines. Follow your heart. Go slow. Take naps. Be in love.

 “We don’t do practice designs on paper first” says Sarah. “I train my artists to hold the idea in their heads and create as they go, which gives the finished product that energy.”  It is perhaps that energy that makes it impossible to pass a piece of  Sticks furniture without running your hand along it.    

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