Michael Gutierrez: Coming Together

I walk into Splinter Group in Southeast Austin around 10 am last Thursday and the place is a shell. Signs of tenuous tenant move-in gather in groups, as creators from carpenters to cobblers begin to build their respective spaces. Michael Gutierrez, the man behind the phenomenal furniture from Michael Maximo, walks me through the cavernous collective. The first thing he shows me is a 30 ft tall steel beam structure he’s building in his zone. I mockingly pigeonhole him right out of the gate, “Would you even call yourself a carpenter?” Michael laughs, “A craftsman, or an artisan. I’ve been called an artist..it feels weird calling myself an artist.”

However he feels about the nomenclature, Michael is an artist. From conception to execution, he breathes life into every piece of furniture he creates. The woodwork he produces is nothing less than visually mesmerizing, his meticulous attention to detail and painter’s eye emanating from every piece. I steal 30 minutes of his time as he prepares to launch Route Space, a dedicated CNC machine room behind Splinter Group available to the public beginning this week. We sit down inside the cozy new room and talk everything from post-college floundering and his foundation in framing, to furniture and unbreakable family ties.

CC: How did you get into furniture making?

MM: It all started when I walked into a shop over on South Lamar called the Mockingbird. I went to school for business and graduated in 2010 which was the middle of the recession. I couldn’t find a job, so I went out to Colorado with my brother who had just finished his residency. I just got to hang out with my brother with no job, no car. All I had was a bike. Being over there in Colorado, in Fort Collins, I got to reconnect with art. There was a lot of cool things to do and a beautiful town to see and I had a bunch of time on my hands. I ended up just painting a lot and drawing a lot.

CC: Is that something you practiced growing up?

MM: Uh-huh. My older brothers are pretty creative too. I found out, even after college, that was the route I needed to be taking in my life. After that was done, I ended up in Austin and I started finding myself very interested in furniture and tables

One day I walked into the Mockingbird and I just asked for an apprenticeship. They walked me to the back to their woodshop and said, ‘You can start tomorrow if you want to make picture frames.’ That was the first time I had seen a joiner or a planer or any of these wood tools. I was working at Lowes full time so I’d go to Lowes all day and go to Mockingbird at night. As everyone was leaving, I’d show up and be there until 2 o’clock in the morning just in there with all these tools. I don’t know, I just couldn’t get enough of it.

I turned in all these picture frames; obviously it took me forever, I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, and I was learning. They saw em and offered me a full time job. I was like, “Yea!” That was the try out! I dropped Lowes soon thereafter and was there full time. I did that for three years and then decided to go my own way.

CC: Your own way is the Michael Maximo brand. Where does that come from?

MM: Well Michael Maximo is my first and middle name. Maximo is my grandfathers name. He used to move houses and he was called Don Maximo. That’s where I learned the building part of it; the work ethic part of it. Moving houses is kinda similar to building furniture. Everything is a furniture piece but you gotta approach everything differently. Same with moving houses: it’s the same concept but each house is different. All house moving is, and a lot of what furniture is, is just problem solving.

CC: How does that problem solving factor into the challenges you run into building furniture?

MM: Once it’s time to start building something, I’ve already built it three or four times already. If I can start thinking about something enough, usually when it comes time to build it, it’s almost like a routine. I’m never not thinking about it and things come to me all the time, at random times.

CC: Do you think the painting you did growing up lent an artistic eye to your approach to furniture?

MM: Yea, I think... (pauses) My older brother passed away when he was 16 and I was 11, and he was way more talented than I was in every way. There was always this big old gap in my life- I always wanted his recognition for things cause I only did things to either be like him or beat him - and then all of a sudden that wasn’t there.

Something in the back of my mind was always pushing me to be better and better, but I never got that “ok” from him, and I never felt good enough, so I kept going. It wasn’t until I walked into the woodshop that I felt, ‘This is where I would’ve been if he was still around.’ It felt like I found my life, I found my thing again. That felt really good. It felt like I found my track again. I got derailed, but this was where I was supposed to end up.

CC: What’s something people don’t know about what you do?

MM: Man, the amount of hours I put in. (laughs) When somebody gets something that I make, I mean they’re getting a very picky guy over many hours. I give my best all the time and I don’t think people always realize what that really takes or what that really is. It’s hard to explain to them all that went into it, but there’s no other way for me to deliver something.

Sometimes I’ll deliver something to somebody in these big old houses and to them it’s just another piece. And then there are times when people seek me out..I delivered this table right before Thanksgiving and their daughters just got into town and I mean I felt like I could almost eat with them the next day! It felt so good. Other times it’s just like ‘Drop it off there and see you later.’ (laughs)

CC: I guess that’s the difference between someone looking for a product and somebody asking you for your art. Do you always maintain a lot of control in your design or are there times when people ask for something very specific?

MM: Yea, a lot of times people ask for something..like that table that you saw at EAST (pictured in full below). The inspiration that I got was this very ornate looking thing with all these claw feet and legs. I said, ‘That’s great but that’s just not my thing.’ I drew it up on paper, drew it up on the computer and said, ‘This is what I can do for you. This is me. This is leaning toward what you want.’ and they were like, ‘Done!’ Most of the time it happens like that.

CC: Alright, last question man. You’ve already answered this to a degree, but why do you do this?

MM: I don’t know man, sometimes I wonder with the problems I get myself into and the situations I find myself in, I’m like, ‘Dude, this is crazy! What am I doing?’ (laughs) ‘Normal people don’t have to deal with this thing, why can’t I go work for somebody who pays me by the hour and knock it out so I don’t have to worry about it.’

You know, I was putting the siding on this thing (gestures to the building) in the rain and the cold, at night, with my truck light looking at it, but I wouldn’t do it any other way. Growing up the way I did with my dad, it’s small business and it’s part of me. I like the challenge. It’s not a normal day but at the end of it all it’s a good way to live a life. I think I’m living a good life. I’m making the most of the talents I was given and I think I’m getting rewarded for doing that, cause I don’t know how the hell this shit comes together sometimes. It doesn’t make sense all the time, but it all comes together.

Check out Michael’s work on his site, IG, or in person at Splinter Group.