Smoke By Shou Sugi Ban Gallery

Our New Facade

We had wonderful time and make happy friends. A huge thanks to all our friends we met at Smoke Signature Esplanade.
It's not goodbye, it's see you later!

https://bit.ly/3uG4SNk Learn about the history behind the sewing machines and how SMOKE help to preserve Singapore's heritage.

NOSTALGIA AND THE STORY OF A SEWING MACHINE This is the story of how an object that embodies the collective nostalgia of people from Singapore has such resonance in my own life.

Smoking Hot Coffee will be conducting a very special Easter Edition Art Workshop this coming weekend(03, 04 Apr). Let your kids experience the true Easter spirit and design their very own little bunny egg holder and an easter egg! Aren’t they cute? 💝🐰🥚

Also, be a part of sustainability as we use recycled materials to create the artwork. The art workshop is FREE with a min. spending of $18/pax at our cafe.

Come register your children now, limited slots available! Instructor and materials will be provided.

Sign up here: forms.gle/6tdtuAa7pTd4UAnN9

Let us share with you the importance of sustainability to SMOKE® and our vision as a sustainable bespoke furniture company.

Furniture is an important component of our lives. This is because furniture is an extension of your personality, an outlet to imbue your home with individuality and warmth. Wooden furniture, especially, is sustainable, durable, easy to maintain, versatile, and unique.

SMOKE® do not just harvest from sustainable wood sources and obtain wood from reclaiming and recycling old wood. We go the extra mile to nurture the sustainability culture and mindset through utilizing imperfect wood pieces and leftover end cuts which will normally be discarded by other crafters. These unwanted and "unusable" wood have always been abandoned and wasted in our industry. However, we are incorporating them in our creations to spread the agenda that no part of our precious wood should go to waste. This sustainability culture that we are trying to implement goes beyond just the wood sources and encompasses every single piece of wood. Utilizing creativity and ideas borne from our ingenious master artisan MW@SMOKE®, we were able to look beyond the size and state of the wood to incorporate design and give it a new lease of life and purpose. Each piece tells a different story with their grooves and scratches, making them excellent conversational pieces.

Having the right mindset in targeting sustainability is very important. Everyone has to go above and beyond to do their best for our planet earth. Traditionally, new sawn timber is used for crafting. However, instead of using newly sawn timber and contributing to deforestation, we are saving trees by utilizing reclaimed and recycled wood. Their odd shapes and sizes have been a turn off for many, but through the creative vision of our master artisan, he sees the potential in these discarded pieces and reinvents them into beautiful creations. One example is the use of end cuts to create our new line of accessories that include candle holders and potpourri holders. By reclaiming these wood and reinventing them into accessories, we will be able to save the amount of wood equivalent to one juvenile raintree with every 75 pieces made. Not only are we saving trees from getting felled, we are going one step further to ensure that we do not waste anything from trees that are already felled for other reasons. Through this creative and carefully conceptualised process, we are reclaiming and saving our precious Singapore raintree, one by one. We aim to influence more people to cultivate this sustainability mindset, and to let everyone know that with creativity, nothing is impossible!

Check out SMOKE®'s take on sustainability here.
https://youtu.be/-fpkqRrzS3U

In the past week we had the opportunity to open up a full week of art workshop classes exclusively for Le Bottin Singapour School holidays can be both exciting and enriching! The little ones had fun making their very own printmaking artwork while their parents got a chance to relax and enjoy what our café had to offer. 🎨✂️

Merci et à bientôt! Thank you and see you soon 😉

Do contact us if you are interested to collaborate with us for similar events.

Check out this mother and daughter pair having fun at our printmaking art workshop! Come join your kids for our children printmaking workshop! Free admission with a min. spending of $18 per pax. This is a great opportunity for family bonding and art expression.

What are you waiting for! Take the chance now to sign up for an exciting art workshop with your children and flout your creativity! Link in our bio.

In recent devastating news, a forest parcel in Kranji was ‘erroneously’ deforested. This forest parcel is home to many of Singapore’s wildlife. As quoted from the todayonline article, “A rapid survey by the society found that there are around 47 species of birds within the area, which accounts for about 12 per cent of Singapore’s total records”. This error have very real direct impact on our biodiversity. Furthermore, an environmental specialist was to carry out a “biodiversity baseline to work out an environmental monitoring and management plan (EMMP) for specified plots of land within the area”, to be completed around April this year. However, on 13 January, some of these specified plots of land was found to be already erroneously cleared. In this case, whatever biodiversity we have in those spots are gone, and without any record. It is really a saddening situation.

Do you know what is the importance of trees in Singapore? There are a lot of factors as to why Singapore needs to plant and care for trees. These trees provide a home for our biodiversity and also help to fight climate change. They also produce oxygen for us and help avert soil erosion among many other benefits.

However, our small island is always in need of more space for development. This led to the destruction of frosted areas and felling of our precious Singapore trees. These felled trees will most likely end up being discarded or pulped. It is imperative that we do not waste these felled trees but reclaim these precious wood sources and give them a second life they deserve. By reclaiming our felled Singapore trees, we are essentially helping to preserve the heritage that is embedded in these trees, while also contributing to making Singapore and our planet more eco-friendly. Sustainability is getting more and more important to ensure that develop our nation without compromising with the needs of future generations.

Check out a few of our reclaimed wood pieces – filled with personality and to spread the narrative – that are handcrafted by our master craftsman!

Link to the news article: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/kranji-forest-parcel-erroneously-cleared-contractors-firm-given-stern-warning-jtc

Let me introduce you to our Cave sewing machine bookend. Again, we intentionally reinvented the sewing machine into an Ox head bookend in conjunction with this Lunar new year. However, this design is much deeper than that.

Carl Sagan once said, “To read is to voyage through time.” This bookend set design was inspired by the Lascaux cave paintings discovered in the 1940s, where evidence of a time when humans were first able to etch their thoughts in stone may have been presented. The back half resembles a futuristic machine drilling into the cave, revealing the cave art. While our message is not to destroy the caves and its art in it, the machine is a symbol of an avid reader “voyaging” through the books.

The front half represents the inside of the Lascaux cave with its cave art. Fun fact, the largest painting in the cave is a bull that measures 16 feet from top of the horn, to tip of the tail. We've decided to create something in conjunction with the year of the ox, but also have it go well with your taste even when it's not CNY. We also recreated the ox by welding on metal horns onto the sewing machine to signify an ox head.

We’ve created a story, out of vintage sewing machines (which hold stories of their own in the past) to hold stories told by people in your (story)bookend.

Continue to follow us and see what other exciting projects are coming up next!

It's time for the first big reveal of our sewing machine project!

This CNY, we intentionally reinvented this vintage sewing machine into an Ox Zodiac sewing machine bookend to celebrate this Spring festival.

Its red and gold body is reminiscent of the traditional colors displayed during Chinese New Year festivities. In Chinese culture, red signifies fire, joy, and good fortune. It is the color of happiness and is strictly used for celebrations. Gold represents wealth and prosperity. Together, they help to convey the meaning of good fortune and prosperity in the coming new year.

The sewing machine is decorated with the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. This is the year of the ox and we represented it by welding on bullhorns onto the sewing machine to replicate the ox head. Furthermore, we decorated the bookends with paintings of rocks and earth as the Ox zodiac is associated with the earth element.

Lastly, we have the dragon zodiac painted on the handwheel represents 舞龙(Dragon dance). Dragon dance has been significant in Chinese festivities since ancient times. It symbolizes wisdom, power and wealth. The dance scares away evil spirits and bad luck, to bring in good luck and wealth instead.

With this, we would like to wish everyone a Happy CNY! 新年快乐!
Are you excited for the reveal of our second sewing machine bookend?

Are you ready for this Lunar New Year?
We prepared something special this CNY – something reinvented, something 牛 Niú (new 🌝), and something meaningful!