We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Peter St.Lawrence a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

…It’s hard to commit to a single most meaningful project, but what I am moved to talk about is a series of restaurants I had the opportunity to work on with Chef Paul Canales.

He knew me through my art and floral design, but when he opened his first restaurant, “Duende” in downtown Oakland, I was invited to collaborate with artist and designer Sam Strand in designing the interior. Neither of us had ever done anything like that and so we had to learn everything as we went: How to source finishes, materials, and furniture, how to have lighting fabricated and UL listed, not to mention wrestling with the design of it all. What would be good, and lasting, and fit the vibe of the client while being true to our own aesthetic? We focussed on what was true and authentic about ourselves and avoided trends that were happening in the environment around us.

It introduced me to the process of collaborating with a team of architects at Arcsine and their structural engineer. It taught me the power of having to redesign under the needs of the bigger picture. And, even though it was uncomfortable, when I had to scrap my favorite ideas and work under new constraints and deadlines, the results were even better than my original idea. It taught me the power of trusting your collaborators and leaning on their strengths to achieve an environment more moving and powerful than the sum of it’s parts.

There was meaning in having work open to the public on a regular basis and watching strangers inhabit the space and own it. People would dress for the interior, looking more amazing than we could have imagined, and you could tell they felt amazing.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am an Art Director, Production Designer, and Sculptor. My career working in Art Department on sets for commercials and catalogs evolved out of a life long obsession with spatial problem solving as a sculptor and floral designer. I provide visual cues that tell a story in a short amount of time while staying true to the authenticity of the brand with a specialty in florals and fabrication. An example would be knowing what branches and flowers I can use to signal Autumn when we are actually shooting in Spring. A lifetime of being in art studios has put me in touch with carpenters, welders, plasterers, and painters etc. So when something needs to be custom built for a shoot or a permanent interior, I can always find a way to get it done on time and within budget. I will always go an extra length to make the project sing; it’s what I enjoy about this career.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When Canales had an opportunity to open to open a second restaurant in Oakland, I was tapped to create site specific sculptural elements throughout the space. In a moment of optimism post pandemic, Creating work for this interior was an incredible opportunity for growth. The creative team that had bonded over the creation of several restaurants years earlier reunited to focus on Occitania with the beauty of resilience becoming a central part of our ethos.

“New life has come to the valley, and with it a comforting stability of the sort that villagers also draw from the gnarled olive trees that defy the seasons and the clear edge of the unchanging mountain ridge at dawn.”
-from an article used as inspiration by the design team

In the Occitan region of France there is a phenomena known as the Mistral winds. They blow cold,
dry, and strong from the north along the Rhône Valley to the Gulf of Lion for sustained periods of time in
the season between Winter and Spring. They are characteristic of the region and even shape the
landscape, sculpting oak trees permanently bent against the wind, much like the California Junipers found
along the coast of the Pacific northwest.

The Mistral winds were the jumping off point for the creation of a 60-foot hanging sculpture winding through the restaurant, as well as sculptures in the back bar, and private dining room. They came to be very much about the gilded negative space contained within. The way old friends can carry each other through dark times by holding space for one another’s true nature and the way landscapes can be refined and beautified by erosion; The way survival and wisdom can add to the depth and richness of character

The culinary world we inherited when the economy opened back up was not exactly what everyone was expecting. People just weren’t eating out as much and staffing wasn’t coming together like it had in the past. The doors were shuttered less than a year after they opened, imprisoning all of that work in darkness away from the public eye, and devastating everyone who worked so hard to make it happen.

Several years later the space was occupied by new chef, Paul Iglesias of Jaji. He and his creative team decided to leave the hanging installation up, adding their own colorful elements and materials to reflect their aesthetic. It felt good to see my work in a new context playfully dipping in and out sunset colored banners that reflected on the gold leaf and added a depth that was surprising and delightful. Most of all it felt amazing to have the work open to the public again, living and breathing and connecting with individuals in ways I could have never imagined.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is accessing an ancient river of universal consciousness through intuitive insight and achieving human connection more direct than what is unambiguously clear.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.peterstlawrence.work/
• Instagram: @peterstlawrence

Image Credits

The personal photo, 3) “What Cannot Be Seen But Is Nonetheless Known”, 5) “Silences and Notes”, and 8) “Wild Silky Side” were photographed by Hannah Franco.

All other photographs by me