Ferndale furniture
designers are
poised at the brink
of success,
but there's still the
chill of winter to
contend with.
FRANK PROVENZANO
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
arving Artists
n the midst of a sub-zero
spell in early February, the
entrepreneurs behind 34D
have settled on a modest
goal for their business: gen-
erating heat. That's not
meant metaphorically, as
in "raking in the profits," al-
' though after 18 months of
business, that's an image
they could embrace.
.
As specialists in func-
tional art and custom furniture,
Margo Delidow and Leslie Deny-
er have figured out how to make
the transition from art students
to marketeers. But they've yet to
transform their airy, uninsulat-
ed, concrete-slab garage work- tracts lined up to take- them
space into a comfy studio. With through the next two months.
their typical artists' mentality,
"We're a two-person opera-
the creative process has been re- tion," said Ms. Delidow, who
ward enough. Not any-
worked as a waitress
at Stewart's restau-
more.
With 34D, Ms. Delid- Margo Delidow and rant in Detroit before
re, Denyer with co-founding 34D. 'We
ow and Ms. Denyer, both Ltehti
`nude lady"
of Ferndale, have set out
design, research and
table.
to prove that starving
present our work.
There are natural
artists can be savvy at
business while not compromis- (time) limitations. And that's
been hard for some people to un-
ing their artistic integrity.
Nearly a year after making derstand."
34D their full-time jobs, Ms. Deli-
But the work does indeed get
dow and Ms. Denyer are encour- done. So far, 34D's output in-
aged. They point to last year's cludes two dozen tables, more
modest $30,000 revenue and con- than 30 barstools and a half-
dozen elaborately designed stor-
age units for a hair salon in Roy-
al Oak. Prices range from a few
hundred dollars to $5,000 per
item.
Since their "big break" de-
signing and fabricating furniture
and light fixtures for Royal Oak's
Fifth Avenue Billiards, they've
taken on a decidedly entrepre-
neurial mentality. The 1990 Cen-
ter for Creative Studies grads
have gone beyond the basics of
the business of art taught at
school and have set up account-
ing ledgers, contracts and war-
ranties.
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