HUMBOLDT PARK — To keep himself in business, carpenter Rob Christopher relies on his keen eye to spot buildings marked for demolition across the city.
"If you're lucky, a few weeks or months later you'll see a Dumpster out front ... everything they're taking out is at least 80 years old and it's stuff you can't buy anymore," said Christopher, 33, the founder of Emotive Reclaim, a custom furniture and art shop he runs from a Humboldt Park warehouse.
Christopher works almost exclusively in salvaged materials to make beautiful and functional furniture.
He'll exhibit some of his work Saturday at Bridgeport's Co-Prosperity Sphere, 3219 S. Morgan St., right along the same stretch of road where his reclaimed wood flower boxes have been installed by "guerrilla urbanists" in an effort to beautify the neighborhood.
Carpenter Rob Christopher explains the philosophy behind his furniture and art business:
The show, which includes food vending from the Rice Table and beers by Marz Brewing, will feature Christopher's custom furniture, like a handsome wood dining table and a pair of freshly stained side tables, as well as some of his ambitious freestanding art pieces.
The proud son of a suburban homebuilder, Christopher left remodeling work a few years back and set out on his own.
Since 2011, he's been busy building custom works for Chicagoans, everything from cutting boards and butcher blocks to dining tables and media cabinets. He's also made unique pieces for his sister Cammie's vintage shop in Pilsen.
"I get excited about it. I want to crank it out. I want people to be excited about what they're getting," Christopher said.
And when he's not working for clients, he's working to create bold pieces of art like the horse made entirely with wood taken from an old two-flat in Little Italy and a fierce-looking owl made from about 800 custom-cut circles of salvaged veneer.
The owl, with its exaggerated beak of painted pine, sits on a nest made from old lath and the entire piece is supported by a few beams of tattered oak fencing from a family friend's farm.
He said the artwork is mostly created during his downtime as sort of a therapeutic, creative way to keep his mind occupied until the next job comes along.
Shortly before firing up a scroll saw and getting back to work on a recent weekday, Christopher said the essence of his work is all about rescuing building materials and giving them a brand-new life in someone else's home.
One of his goals, he said, is to build using "every square inch of the city."
Christopher's work can be found at the Emotive Reclaim website and Facebook page, which also list his contact information. Saturday's event in Bridgeport is free.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
