The Story of the Aardvark and the Artist
The Story of the Aardvark and the Artist
How an Artist from Spain Ended Up in Ellicottville, Making Furniture
Photos Courtesy of Aardvark / Inigo
When you want plumbing supplies, you go to a hardware store. When you want a travel agent, you call Molly’s Travel. When you want to go on an exploration and behold things you don’t encounter in a normal gift shop environment, you come to Ellicottville and discover several such fantasy places that go beyond just a shopping experience once you cross through their portals. Today, you are invited to consider Aardvark, home of beautifully crafted furniture and eccentricities - some one-of-a-kind - many made from vintage reclaimed wood or imported from wonderful places around the globe.
This small (20’ x 60’) but interesting-at-every-nook-and-cranny shop is tastefully furnished, making one comfortable immediately. You feel like you have been invited into a welcoming home. (My husband says you feel the owner’s gracious soul.) When you enter, you will likely notice no one since Inigo de Orbe, the owner, would be at the back of the store at his desk. He’s an artist and a sketcher so he may well be working on an idea that popped into his head. He will see a photograph in a magazine of a woman in a beautiful dress and the lines might inspire him to sketch a drawing of a cabinet. Walking through the woods with his boys, Adrian and Iggy (Ignacio), they might ask what he is seeing when he spots a twist or a crook in a tree or a bird feather lying on the ground. He might see an interesting chair design or a way to integrate several woods together to create the layers of the feather.
He’s an artist, you see, come from a long line of family members who have the artistry DNA. He tells of a father in the Spanish military who designed things as a hobby, and his abuela (grandmother) who filled her home with beautiful paintings, sculptures, and whatnots. His brother is a director of art movies and has had them displayed at MOMA, London, Venice, and the film fest in Berlin, winning several awards. His youngest brother does unexpected and beautiful things with photography (including putting a photo of de Orbe skiing on a massive 30-inch preserved leaf). His work, mainly of people simply “doing life”, has been shown in Barcelona, Spain.
de Orbe says the urge to create is in his genes, having absorbed it over his growing-up years in Spain, without even realizing it. As a young kid in school his art teacher would ask him what project he would like to work on, rather than assigning one. In response at about age 8-9, he built a clipper ship, much like the ones you find for sale in his shop. The following year, he created a 6’ x 6’ hand carved, painted mural of Africa, complete with custom-made wooden animals. But he didn’t follow that inclination as he got older. When pressed, he spoke about an art teacher when he was about 15-years-old, who gave an assignment. Once he saw de Orbe’s work he was very impressed and must have figured his job was done with that student, so he dismissed him from class for the rest of the year. It was then that de Orbe lost interest and turned to biology because he loved nature.
Thankfully, he found his way back to art. In 1999, he married art teacher and Springville native, Elisa Hughey, raised a family and opened Aardvark for Elisa to express her artistic creativity when she found herself not able to continue teaching at ECS. Through her shop, she established a custom decorating and design business along with presenting beautiful things in Aardvark. Sadly, de Orbe lost his muse, Elisa, when she died of cancer after a courageous struggle in 2016.
So, how did this artist from Spain end up here in Ellicottville? Here’s a fun story. Miguel Azcarate, whom the ski industry knows as an amazing boot fitter and owner of Mud, Sweat n’ Gears (MSG) with his wife Kim, was raised and went to school in Spain (kindergarten and up) with Inigo de Orbe. As young adults, both were working to become more involved in the international pro-racing scene (de Orbe says, “ok, we were ski bums”) and Azcarate called him in Belgium, suggesting they go to Chili and race. One thing and place led to another and one day Scott Kent came into the picture. A friend of Dennis Eshbaugh’s, he suggested coming to Ellicottville to coach and teach. Now, these guys skied 270 days a year so coming to Ellicottville was a big decision. For two years or so, they followed the snow. After the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, de Orbe decided to stay put in Ellicottville for a while and take some marketing courses at JCC. He wanted courses in English to improve his use of the language since he knew he had to be bilingual to market to companies around the globe.
Long story short, the two young men formed the business, Azor Traders, while both were working at Holiday Valley. de Orbe did much of the cross-country driving/set-up to the merchandise shows while his partner continued to teach at Holiday Valley. He and Azcarate would tag-team, sometimes even meeting in gas stations to head to another show to make new marketing contacts. They sought to make connections between American businesses and those in Spain, Mexico and elsewhere. Everything was open game from ship models to dentistry tools. In 1994, they bought a beat-up old welding shop on Route 219/242, fixed it up and turned it into their International Headquarters for Azor Traders, continuing operations for about ten years. Eventually cheaper Chinese merchandise on the market helped them to decide to call it quits, and they sought other ventures. Azcarate had already purchased MSG and Aardvark was born. Steelbound came along, bought their building and now, you know the rest of the story!
Well, almost. You ask, how did de Orbe finally get into working Art? We’ll start with the Amish who provided him with wooden pieces to sell his store. Figuring school in America was too expensive and too prolonged, he approached his Amish friends/suppliers and asked if he could “intern” with them. Yes, they were taken aback, but slowly they warmed to the idea of an “English gofer” in their shops, and that’s how he started, always watching, always learning.
Eventually an Amish craftsman allowed him to do some hands-on work in his shop. Again, he paid close attention, especially to how they finished their beautiful pieces. Encouraged by people like Bob McCarthy and Michael Nickolson (both amazing woodworkers/craftsmen), de Orbe moved on to asking to use Nickolson’s shop to hone his skills. Of course, he was granted permission, Michael being Michael. de Orbe vows that if it were not for these people in his life, encouraging and pushing, he would not have pursued what is his natural talent.
Isn’t it amazing what happens when one person extends himself to encourage and help another? Life is filed with simple lessons, if only we pay attention. de Orbe, a man of many hats has a bit of philosopher in him. He told me that he asked his boys to take some time at the end of every week to sit back and review all the events that took place in their lives. As he puts it, if we keep running without looking back and intentionally put it into our memory, we forget the important things. Good advice.
Aardvark is open on weekdays by appointment and Saturday and Sundays from 11:00am and closing anywhere from 4:00-6:00pm, or thereabouts, so he says. If de Orbe is not there, call the phone number listed on the door. He is likely working in his shop around the corner. To glimpse a sneak peek at the furniture and designs you will find there, go to Facebook and search for Inigo de Orbe Custom Home Décor. He can be reached at aardvarkinfo@verizon.net or call 716-699-6092. Plan to spend some time enjoying the store and chatting with this very interesting guy.