Jordan and his wife, Laura, live in Greenville, S.C. I connected with Jordan shortly after I went full-time with Wordsky Designs. I remember Jordan reaching out to me through Instagram messages and saying something along the lines of..."Kyle, you are awesome and your work blows my mind! Teach me your ways and show me the way of the maker". Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was it. None the less, we developed a friendship. We had never met each other but we connected through our small businesses and our hobby of trying to make things as a living.
Before making killer abstract wooden art that is like a massage for your mind and brain, Jordan had a career in the restaurant industry. Jordan was the General Manager of Zoe's kitchen when it opened in Greenville in 2014..."After 2 years I switched jobs thinking that I could continue in the same field and further my career. After changing jobs I realized that I wasn’t pursuing a passion or making time for family and myself. So in mid 2016 I started building things in my backyard with a hand saw and drill. I realized after about a year of making random pieces of furniture that I could make art with wood and so in June 2017 I quit my salaried/FT job and pursued my artistic dream...if you could call it that." I'm sure Jordan was a great GM, but happy he decided to take a chance and pursue his passion to make some amazing pieces of art.
Jordan's work has always fascinated me due to the different combinations and patterns he can come up with. His vision is very unique to me and I don't see how he can take these scraps of wood and turn them into these abstract pieces of art. It's like that popular saying goes..."someone else's scraps is Jordan Bunces art". #truestory. I feel like he does a fantastic job of taking a "mosaic" look, but giving it his own unique style and touch to it. After meeting Jordan and working with him in his shop, I quickly learned he puts so much pride and passion into each individual piece and not one piece will ever be the same.
Below are just a few of his creations, but make sure to check his work out and give him a follow @buncedesignco.
September 1st: Road Trip Begins and shop time with Bunce
As if it were the night before Christmas, I woke up bright and early because I was so excited and ready go. I attempted my first shots at getting footage by recording myself leaving the house and packing up the car. Luckily it was early and none of my neighbors saw me because I wasn't prepared to explain why I was filming myself. It was too early for an awkward conversation about me driving across the country to meet these people I met on online. #catfished
I ended up driving out of the way to get a picture at Boylan Bridge to catch the sunrise behind the skyline. If you are not from Raleigh, Boylan Bridge is probably the most popular spot to Instagram. The iconic bridge has a very industrial view of the city. I arrived there and took the “appropriate” amount of selfies in order to get that one good selfie that was going to be Instagram worthy. After taking an un-disclosed amount of selfies on the bridge, I realized I forgot my pillow. Back to the house I went. Finally got on the road roughly around 9. I was headed to Greenville, S.C. to see Jordan and Laura Bunce…aka…@buncedesignco.
The drive from NC to SC wasn’t new to me, however, this road trip was going to be different and more time consuming than most. Since I was documenting everything I possibly could, it turned into a process. If I saw something on the side of the road…I stopped to take pictures and video. This might seem annoying, but it was actually quite nice and I enjoyed it. Even though it slowed me down, I was able to enjoy being in the moment.
One of several goals I had was to get a selfie with each state welcome sign. I started strong with South Carolina, fortunately, rest stops made it easy (I stopped at a lot of rest stops) and was able to take plenty of breaks and get a variety of shots.
The only thing real exciting about this stretch was seeing the big ass peach on the side of the road. I didn’t stop there because after taking the exit, you had to back track a mile down the road…which thinking about it now, probably wouldn’t of been that big of deal because what’s an extra mile on top of the massive road trip I was taking??
I got to Greenville around 2. I stopped to eat at a classic Greenville staple before I met Bunce…Panera Bread. As I was eating, I realized I’m in this now and there is no turning around….well, there was, but it wasn’t worth the 4.5 hour trip back to Raleigh. I started to think about what I was doing and how weird all of this was. I wondered if these people were going to be awkward to hang out with…or if I was going to be awkward around them (which if you know me, I’m never awkward). It really was a weird thing for me to do. I met these people through Instagram and now I’m driving across the country to meet them and film them?? Keep in mind, I’m not a videographer and neither are they. This was totally out of my comfort zone and mostly theirs too.
Finally got to the Bunces sometime after my “you pick two” at Panera. As soon as I got there, any nervous or weird feelings I had quickly disappeared. They were very inviting and welcoming.
We chatted a bit, I took a shower and off to his shop we went. He had to work at Fire Forge Brewery later that evening so we only filmed a few things at his shop. I was still learning the camera, so it gave us some time to do just that. We even tried to film some “natural” looking introductions. It’s probably safe to say that the shots and footage we got that first day were slightly below professional.
We went to Forge Brewing Company where Jordan works part-time; got a little footage there as well. Had one beer with him and then walked around Downtown Greenville for a while looking for filler shots. It was later in evening at this point and I had been up since the sunrise, so I was pretty exhausted as you can imagine.
I finally took a break and got some food at The Coffee Underground. Food was good, but do not remember what I got to be honest. Very cool environment and highly recommend checking the place out if you find yourself in Greenville, S.C. I sat down to eat and then started to pull all the footage for that day and categorize it into my hard drive. As I was viewing the footage, I quickly realized just how little experience I had. Looking through everything, I wasn’t sure how much of this footage was going to be useable once it was time to edit. This was probably the closest “freak out” moment I had. I started to get in my head about how much I really don’t know what I was doing and this was going to be a complete waste of time and money. At the end of the day though, I really had nothing to lose and I wasn’t going to get frustrated and give up. Tomorrow was a new day.
Day 2 and 3: September 2nd-3rd:
The following day I woke up with more energy and excited to take on the day. We drove to his shop and proceeded to get as much footage as possible. The footage was getting better, but still learning. I still had a lot to learn on the Olympus camera.
These two days consisted of multiple interviews and production shots. It was fun learning the camera, but I had to make sure I was getting good enough shots that I could potentially do something with later on. Once I left Greenville, there wasn't going to be another chance to get footage.
On the second day Bunce and I tried to film a “show” like scenario. Not sure what that is? Well, neither did we but had fun doing it. It was definitely awkward at first, but we seemed to warm up pretty quickly and just had a good time with it all. We setup the camera where we would both be in the frame. The objective was to have Jordan show me his shop, talk about what he does and his process…and then eventually he would show me his process.
The goal for this was to eventually piece together a possible pilot episode. Wondering how that turned out? Well, if you are reading this and not watching me on HGTV, I think you know the answer.
The night ended with some chicken from Publix and a couple of cold beers. I was only in Greenville for 3 days, so the next day was my last chance to get everything I needed.
My last day with Bunce, I woke up early and did some camera research because I was still not entirely happy with the shots from the previous days. Luckily, YouTube came through and I got a little bit better grasp on working the camera…but still a newbie. I sat Jordan and Laura down on their couch and proceeded to interview them. I had a decent list of questions and topics I wanted each maker that I visited to talk about. This was to help piece together the story I eventually want to tell. After doing the last of the interview questions, Jordan and I went back to his shop to get some action shots and finish the piece we were working on.
Between shooting and messing around in the shop, Bunce was nice enough to show me around Greenville. Since this was my last night in Greenville, we planned on going back to the house to hang out and relax. Laura made tacos and they were fantastic. Thanks Laura!!
Overall, my time with Jordan and Laura was awesome. They are some amazing people and very welcoming. I was not expecting it, but Greenville is a pretty sweet town. Plenty to do and lots of places to have a good beer. If you are the artsy type, there are a bunch of awesome murals through out the city. Greenville is definitely a hidden gem that won't disappoint. So, if you are ever looking for a getaway, I highly recommend checking this city out.
Thanks for reading my blog. If you have enjoyed this so far and would like to help in anyway, I would love your help in sharing my story and this project. Also, feel free to leave me any comments or feedback. Make sure to follow me on social media @wordskydesigns. Thanks and stay tuned.
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