Meet Luke Rodies
I graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with honors in double-bass performance and was fortunate to spend the next 10 years as an orchestral bassist in the Orquestra Sinfônica do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, the resident orchestra of the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro. My sojourn as an ex-pat in Brazil introduced me to much beauty: the natural beauty of Rio de Janeiro, the beauty of the language, the people, the music, the food and the best coffee I had ever tasted!
In Rio, I would buy generic ground coffee from the corner bakery, and 'generic coffee' in Rio means the renowned 'Santos' coffee! I would make this in the traditional way, using a cloth filter inserted over a 'bule de cafe' (a metal pot with a tapered top). This is what I call the 'dip' method, where the coffee is allowed to steep in hot water before being removed.
Brazilian 'bule de café'
I moved back to the US many years ago and since then have had several 'mini-careers' including working as a carpenter, as a stained-glass glazier and, for 20 years, as a software developer.
Currently, inspired by the 'maker movement', I work with 3D modeling and craft CNC production. I have also started learning the violin as I finally got tired of carrying that double-bass around!
All my work is inspired by natural, organic shapes and relay a sense of peace, ease and comfort.
The Filter Angel Story
Filter Angel began as a project to learn 3D modeling and CNC production. Like in Brazil, I was making coffee using a cloth filter purchased from the local supermarket, but I no longer had a Brazilian 'bule' so I would just hold it up over a cup while pouring the water. I wanted a create a stand to hold the filters and make them more convenient to use.
Initially, I envisioned a stand in which filters weres supported by simply inserting the handle into a hole in the upright. However, I soon realized that handles are not standardized at all, and if I wanted to be able to use any cloth filter on the market, I needed to provide a hoop to hold it. I found a plain hoop was not satisfactory as it allowed the handle of the cloth filter to hang down, pulling the filter off-center.
The solution was to add integrated handle supports to the hoop which became the 'wings' of the novel 'winged hoop' design.
Hoop prototype
Winged prototype
Winged hoop
Marble engraving of winged angel
The final format of the winged hoop reminded me of the beautiful old marble angel carvings I remembered from Vermont and, from that association, Filter Angel was born!