Today we’d like to introduce you to Cooper Meaders.
Hi Cooper, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Straight out of High School I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2003. I served 4 years and deployed to Iraq twice. During my second deployment I decided i was going to try out college. I got out of the Marine Corps August of 2007 and found myself sitting in college classes that same month at Sam Houston State University. I graduated in 2011 with a degree in Biology. I started applying to masters programs for prosthetics. During the application process i fell into a position at a company called New Living located in Houston, TX while waiting for the school to pick up. I accidentally discovered that i had the ability to create art and furniture. I ditched the Master’s program and went all in. Two years later i started my own business ReCoop Designs and I have been running with that ever since. Located in the Oak Forest area from 2013-2019 I had a showroom and custom fabrication shop. You could bring us your ideas and we would create them. I had the opportunity to work along side the many very talented people that i hired. In 2019 I gutted my business and moved to Round Top, TX to work solo and sell my work in a slower and more thoughtful manner.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting a business and leaping into the unknown was very stressful. Starting and operating a business was never something we were taught in school. I was firing from the hip the entire way hoping i was doing everything right. There were some periods of time especially once i hired employees that I personally had to miss pay checks to ensure i was taking care of my people. The responsibility and paradigm shifts once you become responsible for other souls. Things finally started to stream line but the business was always operating from one job to the next trying to stay afloat and keep my people paid. Things have since settled down from those endless early days. Now my art and furniture is continuing to evolve in Round Tops unique environment which has allowed me to be extremely exploratory in my creativity while being less worried about closing that next job to cover the bills. I have found extreme gratitude for all the people who continue to support me whether it be simply appreciating my work to those placing my pieces into play in their homes or commercial projects.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create custom works of functional art and furniture from raw materials and found or repurposed objects. My mediums include: steel, wood, concrete, zinc, copper, lead, glass/mirror, and more. I cut and dry all my own timber or i source reclaimed wood. I try to incorporated salvaged or repurposed steel where I can. I specialize in a variety of custom creations. I think the newest thing I have been excited to work with is the custom mirroring I’ve figured out how to do. I get reclaimed glass from estates and commercial projects and create customized heavily distressed mirrored pieces of art. It is extremely toxic to mirror glass, I look like I’m working in a chemical laboratory with a full plastic suit and taped up boots and gloves with an outside air mask. But the work creates very unique outcomes.
What makes you happy?
I find an immense amount of purpose in my work which makes me feel full of gratitude and accomplishment. Everyday is different and every challenge presents its own unique finish line. The problem solving creates a unique series of events that makes me feel extremely fulfilled when i get to look back at the finished piece and say “damn, I really want to keep this one”.
Pricing:
- My pricing is all over the place. I have items in the hundreds of dollars and then in the tens of thousands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.recoopdesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZphVguu8eI/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReCoopDesigns/
