About Me - punke.paul@gmail.com

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Oak Park (Chicago), Illinois, United States
I work with restaurateurs, designers, architects, businesses, construction companies and homeowners who need assistance turning ideas, visions, carefully thought out projects and sometimes even bewilderment into beautiful, well crafted finished products. I began doing paint finishes, murals, signage and building custom furniture and art pieces after graduating from art school in the early 80's and have been at it ever since. My largest project spanned almost ten years and began when a client needed help with a restaurant concept that he wanted to duplicate. After the second store came a third, a fourth,until I found myself responsible for creating and maintaining the "vibe" and the look of just over 200 stores in many different US markets along with a warehouse/furniture/artifact/signage production facility to support them! Now, I'm again spreading my talents around not knowing what new project or opportunity is around the corner and loving it. This blog/portfolio shows only some of the work I have produced over the years. I encourage you to dig back a ways. Some interesting things in here! Contact me at punke.paul@gmail.com with questions, comments and inquiries.

Jul 19, 2011

Nando's Peri-Peri, Gaithersburg, MD

http://www.nandosperiperi.com/

I just returned from working on my third Nando's in the DC area.  I had dinner at one of their other locations that I worked on last summer to see what it looked like finished.  Have to say, I was impressed.  I went back a second time before I came back just because of the food!  What a great concept. 

At this store I installed some cut wine bottle bottoms into two large windows with lights behind and installed bottles into a large curved wall inside the space.  The background of the windows and the wall were all textured with a rough plaster.  A large curved wall in the dining room and some areas not covered by tile in the restrooms were also textured with the same plaster. 



The bottle windows.






The bottle wall under construction.

Finished!


 




The walls.

 

Jul 4, 2011

Potbelly pictures, Part 2

As Creative Director at Potbelly Sandwich Works (as it was called then), I was entrusted with the awesome job of organizing the interiors of the stores starting at #2 in 1997 to just over the #200 mark in 2008.  I chose the wall colors, the finishes, the vintage wallpaper and which went where.  I chose what tables we used.  Many we made ourselves for specific locations and situations.  I created or purchased the artwork, purchased the artifacts, the inc-nacs,  location specific lighting and even the vintage wallpaper for each of the locations. 

As I was organizing pictures on my laptop today I found a few great little vignette shots that I took over the almost fifteen years I was involved with the stores.  I got a little nostalgic and sentimental I guess.  I see a chandelier I found at a 70's era -restaurant-gone-antique-mall in downstate IL. (A popular spot for Homecomings and proms when I was in high school, I might add.)  There's a latch-hook rug made by woman in Atlanta that I met through E bay.  She would only make rugs in the winter!  A great table from my alley and on and on.......


There is a previous post of my work at Potbelly posted in September '09.  Check those out too.  
                                                      Highland Village, TX

                                                     Highland Village, TX


                                                            Southfield, MI

                                                    17th and Pennsylvania, Washington, DC

                                                             ATT Building, Chicago. IL

Bollingbrook, IL 

                              NY Ave and 14th St, Washington, DC

                                       
                                                           NIU, DeKalb, IL
 

                                                 Midway Airport, Chicago, IL

                                              Highland, IN

                                            College Park, MD
 




                                               Houston,TX

                                                     Novi, MI

                                 DuPont Circle, Washington, DC

                                          Bollingbrook, IL

                           Warner Theater Building, Washington, DC

                                            Waukegan, IL 


                  And to close this July 4th post......

US States First Day Cover stamp flag.
                       Washington Design Center, Washington, DC