How it all started

Studio rePly is the culmination of many years of creative pursuit. With a desire to create and a need to be a "part of the solution" Steve Lawler moved through several artistic mediums before reaching this stage, including building earth-friendly furniture from discarded plywood scraps.

He began working with wood as a child in his grandfather’s small garage shop in San Diego, California. He continued with this hobby into Junior high and on into High school. As time went on, though, working with wood would take a back seat to other creative pursuits such as photography and painting. He showed his work in various galleries in Virginia, Washington, California and Mexico.

While spending time in Mexico he continued to explore creatively and began experimenting with found object sculpture, often using old pieces of discarded wood and other detritus to create whimsical sculptures. Slowly, he found himself drawn back to the art of woodworking and in 2007, when he moved to Tacoma, WA, Steve made a conscious decision to begin a new chapter in his life. He applied for an apprentice cabinet maker's position at a local

custom furniture and cabinet shop and began his first venture into professional woodworking.

Within a few short months he was creating and building his own designs on the weekends and after-hours. Seeing how much waste there was in the industry led him to recovering and collecting large amounts of scrap plywood and hardwoods from the trash and burn pile. It wasn't long after this, in early 2008, that he created his first piece of "rePly" furniture.

Fast forward fourteen years and many, many pieces of plywood furniture later, Steve has returned to his roots of two dimensional art. During his years of making furniture he began to experiment with wall hangings using his salvaged plywood techniques. Using these techniques he has chosen to devote his energy to producing art full time.

More than fifteen years later Steve continues to discover new ways to use the plywood he salvages and is still excited about the possibilities.