[stapler clicking]
[saw whirring]
ANNA BAILEY: So this morning, I thought
I would work on a bluff piece, which
is like a mountain range piece.
Sometimes it's the best thing ever
when you get out of the box and try a new kind of pattern
or design.
And then sometimes it's like--
I don't know.
It's not my thing.
ANNA BAILEY: But I like it.
I like this one.
NATHANAEL BAILEY: Yeah.
ANNA BAILEY: A lot.
[saw whirring]
My name is Nathanael Bailey.
Anna Bailey, and we are in Bailey Builds and Friends.
We make reclaimed wood mosaics inspired by all the scrap
pieces of wood that were on my garage floor
when I was building furniture.
That's how I first started, actually.
I was building furniture, and there was all this scrap wood
on the ground.
And I thought, I don't want to get rid of it,
so let's make it into something.
And so that's how we got started.
[music playing]
So do you want to just cut like this?
Yeah.
I'm just going to keep cutting--
And those?
--across it.
You're going to cut--
I'll just keep cutting all the way to here.
OK.
NATHANAEL BAILEY: That door, it's
cool because it's right out of the makers loft.
So it's an original part of this building
that was built in 1927.
And to know that we can actually take that
and we can turn into artwork, and just keep that story going
and keep a purpose for that wood,
but keep a different purpose for it.
Yeah.
These will be kind of cool.
That's cool.
Yeah.
ANNA BAILEY: A lot of times, my sweet spot
is just looking at the piece of lumber or the batch of lumber.
Like today, I had an old stud, which really grounds the wood.
It grounds the piece because it's got a lot of texture,
and I leave a nice, big, thick piece of wood
to start with just to kind of create
a base of warmth for the piece.
And then I can use the old door, and the funky
of the little dowels cut to kind of create the rest of it.
So I honestly like to create in the moment.
[music playing]
[saw whirring]
I have innovation, and he has quality.
And we both know that about each other, and we both
let them roll in their sweet spot
so that I can innovate in all forms.
As far as marketing, social media, big picture vision,
we do that together.
Artistic process, arts, anything innovative
is kind of my wheelhouse.
And then he takes that and he puts it in the best quality
that you can buy.
[saw whirring]
NATHANAEL BAILEY: Finish is when it's all set,
and it's straight, and clean, and ready to hang
on somebody's wall.
[tool buzzing]
I think, as far as any kind of business or artistic venture,
if we make something, or if I write something,
or create something that really isn't great, ,
well it's not really a failure in my book.
It's just a stepping stone to the next thing
that I'm going to create or make.
NATHANAEL BAILEY: Mhm.
[music playing]
The big thing for us having a storefront like this
is we have a place to sell.
For a while, we had everything stacked on a wall,
and we had a tarp over it.
And people would come in, and we'd just kind of
let them filter through it.
And you embrace it and you say, that's real dust.
That means that it came out of a real shop.
But at a certain point, it's nice to have a little bit more
of a gallery too.
And this has been great for us, to have a store.
A place that we can manufacture and create the product,
and then bring it in here and sell it is amazing.
And people love seeing a building,
where it's created, and then sold
in the front of the building.
That's really cool too.
ANNA BAILEY: We have over 40, 50 artists represented in here,
and around 20 of them are local.
So it's great for us to have a place to showcase
and give a platform to other local artisans.
And actually, handmade makers all across the country
we buy from them and we sell in our storefront, Bailey Builds
and Friends.
[music playing]
We still do a lot of art shows, which are great income,
but then people sometimes just need a certain size, or color,
or something that they need in their home.
And we're happy to make that for them.
One of our values, as a base business, is authenticity.
And so I think they really feel that.
And not only do they appreciate our work,
but honestly, we're really honored that they really
want to be invested in us.
NATHANAEL BAILEY: I wouldn't trade it for the world.
I think it's awesome.
We get to be together.
We're best friends, and we still like each other a lot.
[laughter]