Editor’s Note: In late 2022, we sent a team of writers and photographers to Mexico. The goal of their trip was unique—to visit artist and longtime Arhaus partner, Javier, and to capture the magic happening in his workshops. Rooted is a series that tells Javier’s story: his family, his process, and his passion for the trees. Discover more.

Uncommon in every instance is a pursuit of beauty that is felt, not followed. One born of passion, not pastime. It is this unconventional exploration that shapes our story. One told not in words, but in rough-hewn textures and sanded grain. In wild-found roots and windswept limbs.

In the art and craft we continually seek, we find experiences that shape us as storytellers. Studies in devotion that are nearly impossible to express. Our visits to these storied studios and workspaces in Mexico have forever altered our perceptions of makers and making.

Of these histories hidden, we are curious collectors. Gathering trees fallen and forgotten. Preserving their ancestry as carefully as we would our own. Listening. Considering character, vein, and voice. Observing. Admiring the influence cast by sun-soaked days and years. Seeing, in ways we haven’t before, the effects of fire and wind and water. Breathing in the energy that continues to fuel our craft.

Thoughtfully re-constructed pieces. Of nature. Of time. Of culture. Of commitment. These are what we’re here to gather. Pieces that transport you, that take you, and keep you.

Every day, the hum of practice and process guides our calling. Our collecting. Of nature, of pieces, of places capable and willing to create them. Just outside Mexico City, in a family of artisans, we find like minds, hearts.

Uncovering ways to honor the Earth and to make it accessibly smaller. That’s what fills us. Collecting curiosity. Awe. The energy of ideas. The whir of simple machines. The quiet gratitude of a forest restored. Then sharing, with each of these, the chance to feel things and think things. This is the kind of living that we want to build rooms around. And with.

And here, by the hands of many, we carry these seasons forward. Sustaining old and new. Together seeking the unexpected. And seeing, through new eyes, the beauty in imperfection and honor.