How Russian Art & a Taos Wood Carver Unite to Hit All the Right Notes
Esteemed furniture makers Casa Marrón open their studio doors to detail two of their latest feats, the Nicolás Buffet and the Vicente Cabinet.
Jeannie Brown’s love affair with one-of-a-kind pieces began well over thirty years ago, long before her work found its way to other designers. Surrounded by Spanish architecture in her native California, her distinctive style combines her roots with the styles she discovered during frequent trips to New Mexico. Set against a stately backdrop of vivid blue skies and red-and-purple mesa mountaintops, she became familiar with the work of a Russian artist and carver, Nicolai Fechin, who had made his home in Taos in the 1920s. Unbeknownst to many, countless carving details and styles that are now considered native to New Mexico resulted from the carving done by Fechin.
While designing and manufacturing furniture in Los Angeles, Brown came across Fechin’s work on a trip to Santa Fe. The skilled artisans, whom she has known and worked with for years, began implementing inspired versions of his intricate carving details into her custom furniture pieces and collection, Casa Marrón.
