M A T E R I A L M A T T E R S
Top: Graff and Pouyat
arc always on the hunt
for new natural materi-
als to add to their tidily
organized collection.
Bottom: Translucent
pigmented wax poured
over hand-finished alu-
minum lends a lumines-
cence to the final work.
Below: Graff and
Pouyat have found bees
to be inspirational crea-
tures-and great produc-
tion partners.
H arvesting their own
w ax has brought G r a ff
a n d Pouyat even closer
to their creative work.
eucalyptus leaves. (A recent
trip to New Zealand was great
for relaxation but disappointing
for collection. “W e thought it
would be like Australia in terms
of flora, but it wasn’t,” Graff
says.)
A year ago, the two bur-
rowed even more deeply into
nature: They became beekeep-
ers, harvesting the wax to use
in their art. They’ve become as
enthralled with beekeeping as
they are with their creative
work, they say. The bees are
great production partners,
Graff explains—“perfect little
machines, unchanged for thou-
sands of years, models of dedi-
cation and focus.”
Harvesting their own wax
has paid emotional as well as
material dividends for the cou-
ple; it has deepened their artis-
tic experience, they say, bring-
ing them even closer to their
source materials.
Doing business as Natura-
Designs, Graff and Pouyat have
made their living as artists for
20 years, and they collaborate
on every design. Six-inch pieces
start at $300; 18-inch pieces are
priced as high as $4,500. Archi-
tects, designers and others who
appreciate nature’s patterns and
textures are frequent clients.
About 20 percent of their
business is custom, but only
once has a client provided natu-
ral materials for the couple to
work with. “I’d love for that to
happen more,” Graff says.
+
naturadesigns.com
028 american craft dec/jann
