Today we’d like to introduce you to Mejay Gula.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The act of making meaningful objects started 11 years ago as a means of finding a new form of meditation in my practice. After getting my degree in Architecture, I studied at the Bauhaus School of Woodworking in Chicago in 2006. In the following year, I embarked a long journey of renovating my own home and from there grew a love and independence through building and making things.
Through my work in architecture, I quite often come across building waste through the construction and demo processes. I’ve adopted a habit of salvaging discarded building material and old objects in hopes that one day I would give them another life. Most of these materials have been incorporated into building out my home, but now that it’s complete, I began to rethink them into new forms of beautiful and functional objects. Lately, I’ve honed in on making obscure cutting boards inspired by old farming spades and shovels, and spoons intuitively shaped by fire and embers. Over the years, the practice of making has served as the meditation I originally sought and has fueled my profession in so many ways as it is the balance between design and craftsmanship.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest challenge I had in this process was the initial step of putting my work out there. These objects are made with play and passion and were originally not intended for commerce. Making the decision to sell and display these works put me outside of my comfort zone. However, through love and support of friends and other makers, I was able to take the first step and start a website.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Mejay Gula is an architect and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, her work specializes in the adaptive reuse of closed buildings in Chicago. In addition to her practice, she makes beautiful home wares out of salvaged materials often found in the places she renovates. Her work has a deep appreciation of the organic nature of materials, discovering beauty and order through uncontrollable growth, use, and wear. The practice of making becomes a celebration of history, memory, environment, and interpretation. Her hand built work is a connection with design using perception and hand building that pulls her out of conventional architecture. All Shelter Made objects are made with deep love and respect for craft at her design studio in Logan Square, Chicago.
What were you like growing up?
I fondly remember reading and reenacting my one favorite children’s novel, the Boxcar Children. My cousins and I would explore abandoned sheds and shelters under bridges. We’d clean them out and spruce them into cozy homes or forts. We’d hunt for debris that we could reuse, pick flowers, and set a table for a lunch. We’d build these shelters all day until the sun set and would leave them for others to discover another day. There was always this mysterious intrigue in creating something meaningful and beautiful and setting it out into the world to be discovered by someone who isn’t expecting it.
Contact Info:
- Website: sheltermade.com
Image Credit:
kayveephoto.com
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