Maize restaurant
The dining room is symbolic of its name, Maize, corn. It’s warm gold walls are the color of toasted corn. Chollo, cactus skeletons from the desert floor, surround lighting over tables in the center of the room drawing patrons in from the hallway of charred wood. Aspen branches framed in charred wood were gathered from 14,000 feet up the mountain. This is an interesting contrast of New Mexico within a one hundred-mile area. Serving Native American foods is a challenge. These foods are what was eaten by hunters and gatherers thousands of years ago to foods cultivated by Native American Indians in the late 1800’s. I carved the panel of petroglyphs on a board of mixed media. These petroglyphs are from my ranch in central New Mexico. The majority of these are archaic, dating to 10,000 BC. This is a reminder of the theme of the restaurant. I have also included my fiber art. Abuela is an image of a grandmother in a window of an old adobe building in New Mexico. She is completely covered by thread.
A hallway made of individual locks of wood, charred in the process of Shou-sugi-ban joining the bar and the dining room. I took a torch to each block of wood to create the texture in the wall. I chose to offset each block by ½-2” to create movement in the hallway between the two rooms. The restrooms are in the hallway drawing in patrons so that they see each part of the restaurant, inviting them to join new areas for future dining. The bar has prehistoric pottery dating from 950 AD behind 2 x 4 non-climb wire, a contemporary touch in a room lined with brick. The high beamed ceilings and contemporary art complete the space.