When I was 20 or so (Over 20 years ago!), I inadvertently ended up working in a production embroidery shop. Big, computerized machines churning out a couple hundred of the same thing every day. We had an old Singer chain stitch machine, and while forever intrigued by it, I never gave it the proper go until I bought my own machine in 2021.

I restored, painted, and now maintain this 100-year-old machine by myself, which has been thrilling on its own! It is manually steered using a crank under the table, it’s like doodling or painting with thread.

A finished piece can take anywhere from an hour to a couple days, not including the time to do the initial drawing and mapping out the thread path. It’s a bit like holding onto a speeding train sometimes, but can be quite meditative once you get into it.

Always down to do custom work, just reach out!

I post my most recent work on my Instagram:
Jason Steady's Instagram

My Etsy shop always has some smaller items available:
Jason Steady's Etsy

Doodling! My one true calling. I’m told that when I was baby, I was given a crayon and immediately drew a “perfect circle.” My parents memories could be hazy, as it’s been 40+ years and I still can’t draw a perfect circle.

I’ve allowed my doodling to become illustration, and sharpened my design skills along the way. Physically printed goods you can hold in your hands or hang on the wall is always preferred, but in this day and age, digital works too.

Signage, retail fixtures, a sliding barn door, or even a big wooden cat. One-offs. Small production runs. I absolutely live for these sorts of projects.

Modern Love is Isa Chandra Moskowitz' swanky vegan comfort food restaurant with locations in both Omaha, NE and Brooklyn, NY.

I’ve had the pleasure of working on both Omaha locations (the original and the relocation) as well as installing a huge wooden zig zag focal wall at the Brooklyn spot.

The work has really run the gamut, from basic construction and repairs, to artistic and aesthetic improvements, to graphic design work! Heck, I even built a bunch of tables and a giant RESTROOMS arrow.

What a thrill to illustrate the lyric booklet for the vinyl release of “Remedy” by Azure Ray. I still remember their first show in Omaha (my jaw still hurts from it hitting the floor), and look at us now, making stuff together.

A truly beautiful album (their best?), but this is my website so check out these drawings.

Here’s Azure Ray’s musical home: Flower Moon Records

I had two huge sheets of cardboard sitting around that arrived wrapped around a giant sheet of plastic I had ordered online.

I was going to cut them up and throw them away, but then thought it might be more fun to cut them up and make a giant wearable head that looks like my friend’s dog, Grimm FInk.

I cast 29 human skulls out of concrete when I first arrived in Twentynine Palms. Here’s the first one, One of Twentynine.

The wood pedestal was from a large chunk of tree we found in the desert. I welded the dodecahedron together out in the yard. The eyes are rocks I found on a hike through the mountains.

Available for ownership

You know something needs to be done when a bar and music venue has an area with a pool table that is directly visible from the moment you walk in, and is known by staff and patron alike as "Bummer Corner." Inspired by some vintage postcard art, we came up with a great hand-painted mural and elevated the corner tremendously.

After that, we realized something needed to be done about the Bummer Door on the way in. I scratch-built and installed a two-way swinging, porthole door that gives a perfect peep of the mural before you even get inside.

When a new brunch spot wants to know if you can make them custom coat hooks that look like the stylized bacon from their branding, you say yes.

The aforementioned bacon coat hooks were created and used for wall hanging, a stand-alone coat rack, and individual coat racks for each booth.

An “Order Here” sign was also created for the front counter, and is my single most favorite example of how a client can provide even the most simple drawing, and we can work together to create something perfect for their space.

When the Omaha Chamber of Commerce needs something, it's just a given that they're going to need something cool, fun, and weird.

Most notably, I created a 12’x8’ “portable” wooden mural for their “We Don’t Coast” campaign, the pattern of which was then used as the basis for many other branding elements.

Every piece of the mural was hand cut, painted, and assembled in my old garage! It breaks down into 6 pieces for convenient’ish portability, and it's always an adventure taking it somewhere.

In 2018, I was honored to permanently hang the mural on a focal wall in their downtown Omaha headquarters.

This book shop was created for the Urban Outfitters store in Omaha, NE. Four floor fixtures (A table, two shelves, and a storage bench) rest on the floor, while framework versions of each fixture hang directly above, creating a “ghost” version of the bookshop in the ceiling. The upside-down room effect.

The fixtures were built from 3/4” birch plywood with 1/4” oak plywood accents. They each sit on an MDF floor panel. The ceiling pieces were built from dimensional pine, 1/4” oak plywood, wood dowels, and nylon string. They are carefully weighted and balanced so they would sway gently when the heating or air-conditioning would kick on. 

On and off, I’ve offered my own hand-made decorative items, home furnishings, and general art.

If you’ve thought up your own object you’d like to own, I can probably make it a real thing. If you can’t think up an object you’d like to own, I can usually help with that as well.

Click Music/Shop at the top of the site to go to my Bandcamp site, and then click the “Merch” tab to see what objects are currently being offered.

Contact me directly to work together on your own custom objects.