Popular Woodworking 2006-11 № 158, страница 62

Great Woodshops

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is known as our country's attic. When it comes to mid-20th century modern, however, the Modernica Props warehouse (left) is a viable contender. We might chuckle at some of the artifacts in hindsight, but they were the stuff of dreams to the designers. Modernica's Los Angeles showroom (above) displays the wide variety of skills needed to bring a complete line of furniture to market. The Novak's rainbow collection of glass objects lining the walls are the fortunate survivors of more than one earthquake.

We all come to woodworking from different directions. For me, it was drafting board architectural design followed by a longing to see parts come together in my own hands. The Novaks first set hands to hammer and circular saw building props and sets for the film industry. Additional "former lives" in acting, screen writing, painting and sculpture helped develop the artisan/craftsman/businessman skills needed to make their latest venture a success.

When I'm looking for inspiration for a Modern piece, I begin my search on the Internet. Not Frank and Jay. They run a ""small side business" with the name Modernica Props. It's not a stretch to say that they warehouse

at least one of every conceivable artifact that filled the childhood homes of baby boomers. I think I found my parents first 7" Philco television sitting happily below a starburst clock and flanked by a pair of black ceram ic panther lamps. Ah yes. (For the full nostalgic tour, check out modernicaprops.net .) In addition to the kitsch, the Novaks have assembled what must be the most extensive collection of classic Mid-Century Modern furniture on the planet. Their for-rent-to-the-film-indus-try library is housed in a multi-story building adjacent to the Modernica factory. When I asked Jay to name the film that best displayed their collection, he instantly responded, ""Men in Black." So the next time you see a rerun of

the movie, you can tell your friends that you read an article in Popular Woodworking by a guy who knows the guys who ....

Rather than the sylvan setting usually associated with woodworking enterprises, the Modernica workshops are located on an alley in what used to be a light-industrial and warehousing section of Los Angeles. The intimidating, intentionally rusted steel door that guards the entrance opens to a comfortable, airy interior. As I moved through various fabrication and shipping-and-receiving departments, I was surprised to find oases of outdoor space amid a series of buildings. One was the outdoor employee lunchroom, furnished with some of the company's classic fiberglass chairs. Another held a fenced area apparently guarded by their "junkyard dog." But it wasn't a guard dog after all; it was the matriarch of Modernica's Downtown Dog Rescue program. To date, Dog Rescue has adopted out hundreds of stray dogs and puppies, and more important, spayed and neutered hundreds of pets belonging to homeless and low-income people in the surrounding community. But what about cats? Frank's taken care of them too with his Kitty Couch - basically a chunk of laminated recycled cardboard with a wide groove down the middle. It looked a little too firm to be translated into a human-size version, but the office cats love it.

Like most successful workers of wood, the professional lives of Frank and Jay Novak are 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. Fortunately, for the lovers of ""Modern," they keep "keepin' on" for the magic in that 1 percent.

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78 Popular Woodworking November 2006