Written By coWORKer Linda Jay 

Paul Boettiger is originally from Northampton, Massachusetts, but moved with his family when he was ten to Sebastopol, California.  “I grew up in a family of psychotherapists and artists and was most at home engaged in the arts and making things,” remarks Paul.  “I studied liberal arts at Simon’s Rock College of Bard, and furniture design at the Rhode Island School of Design.  Feeling most at home in the Northern California landscape, however, I returned to Sonoma County after graduating and settled in Petaluma for most of my twenties, working for architects and furniture designers in the Bay Area.  I recently returned to Petaluma following a three-year chapter in Ashland, Oregon.”  While he’s quite at home in the woodshop making things, most of Paul’s work these days is on the design end of the spectrum.  He operates a multidisciplinary design studio, focusing on residential architecture, custom and production furniture design.  “I’m grateful to be engaged in a creative profession, enhancing people’s homes and objects and, hopefully, bringing a little beauty into the world,” he observes.

Paul is quite close to his family, which is spread up and down the West Coast.  His mother and stepfather recently completed building a timber frame family compound on the island of Galiano, British Columbia. “We were all involved in the design and building of what turned into a much more involved endeavor than we had anticipated.”

In his early thirties, Paul became quite involved in Buddhist Vipassana meditation.  “I’m grateful for this practice, and spend much of my free time at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin.  My interest in meditation led me to serve as a hospice volunteer for four years at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco as well as serving on the board of Southern Oregon Friends of Hospice. There, I helped design and facilitate the renovation of a 1939 mansion that is currently being converted into a residential hospice home based on Zen Hospice’s philosophy of care.  Currently, I volunteer at the Marin Headlands Art Center.”

Paul also has a strong interest in drawing and abstract art.  A series of his graphite-and-pastel drawings is currently on display at The Passdoor Gallery in the Barlow, Sebastopol, until February 1, 2018.

As far as Paul’s impressions of WORK Petaluma, “It has been a real blessing in my life.  I’ve found the community-oriented spirit and downtown location to be inspiring, especially compared to the old home office.  Long-drawn-out Acre Coffee visits aside, I’m much more productive here and enjoy the collaboration with coWORKers.  Much gratitude to Natasha and her team!”