Monkwood Studio Desks, Furniture, Artwork

Monkwood Studios

Made to last generations.

There is a workshop studio in downtown Fullerton, California where furniture, art, and a 25 year practice in craft share the same pair of hands. Brandon Monk Muñoz designs and builds every piece alongside his trained apprentices — his sons and daughters among them. His studio desks have held the work of Grammy and Oscar winners. He makes tables for Michelin-starred restaurants, Silicon Valley start-ups, and home dining rooms where they are the still center of a family's daily life.

Monk's paintings and sculptures are displayed in galleries and private collections.. The work has shipped all over the US as well as London and Tokyo. It all starts in a room with a twenty-foot great wood shark on the wall and some sawdust on the floor.

This is what Monkwood is.

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Two men working in a wood workshop, with one wearing an apron and the other assisting, surrounded by large stacks of raw wood planks.

The maker

Artist. Builder. Monk.

Artist. Builder. Monk.

Monk studied fine art at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, then spent time at Jim Henson's Creature Shop in Burbank — the studio behind some of film's most technically demanding characters. Building creatures that had to perform, not just exist, taught him early that craft is never the point in itself. It's what makes the vision survive.

Between 2003 and 2010 he served as a preacher, planting a church in Fullerton with his wife Pamela and spending time in the streets of Camden Town, London. Camden holds centuries in plain view — Victorian market halls, Georgian terraces, a canal running since 1816. Working among people from every walk of life, in a place where history was built into the walls, gave him a particular clarity: that what you make for someone can outlast the moment it was made. That it can become part of their story.

He came back to the studio and has not left. He works alongside his apprentices — men and women he has trained in his techniques and philosophy over the years, including his two sons, now grown and carrying the craft into their own creative fields. Pamela homeschools their four children down the street. He does this work for the glory of God and to express the beauty of creation. That is the honest answer to why.

I want to build things that stand the test of time — and become part of people's personal creative history.

Kids grew up around the shop
Kids grew up around the shop
Templates for some of our pieces
Templates for some of our pieces
Parable Dining Table in the works
Parable Dining Table in the works
Studio visit with SanjayC and Dharti
Studio visit with SanjayC and Dharti

The studio

An integrated Art Studio and Workshop

The Monkwood studio has been in the same building in downtown Fullerton since 2013 — a vintage industrial space that holds the memory of what it was and the energy of what it is. The tool wall is a twenty-foot great white shark built from reclaimed wood, every hand tool hung in its jaw. The workbenches are worn in. The floor is honest. It looks like a place where things get made because it is.

The studio sits in a community of builders and makers — an auto restoration shop next door, a furniture designer across the way, a welder who has been in the building since the early 2000s. The Magoski Arts Colony that once anchored this block ran its artwalk here from 2008 to 2018. Its spirit has not left. Monkwood carries it forward.

Monk's grandfather built things with more bolts than necessary and wood heavier than required — not out of excess, but out of love. That instinct runs through everything made here. Overbuilt. Considered. Made to outlast the people who made it.

Monk working on a batch of SD88's in Studio A
Monk working on a batch of SD88's in Studio A
Wood and Art supplies in Studio Y
Wood and Art supplies in Studio Y
Golden hour in Studio C
Golden hour in Studio C
Monk with sons - Jesse, Daniel and apprentice Noah. Just finished with an SR45 rack credenza6. Footer newsletter — "realeases"
Monk with sons - Jesse, Daniel and apprentice Noah. Just finished with an SR45 rack credenza6. Footer newsletter — "realeases"

The work, in the world

Built for the artists who create culture

The people Monk builds for are multi-disciplined makers. Grammy winners. Oscar-winning composers. Tony recipients. Actors. Filmmakers. Performers whose work will be here long after the trends around it have moved on. They come to Monkwood because they understand — the way makers always do — that the environment shapes the work. The desk you sit at every day is part of the process.

Some of the people Monk has built for

  • James Hetfield— Metallica
  • Mark Hoppus— Blink-182
  • Ryan Tedder— Songwriter & Producer | OneRepublic, Adele, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus
  • Tori Kelly— Singer, Songwriter & Producer
  • Andy Garcia— Actor & Musician | The Untouchables, Godfather 3, Ocean's Eleven - Cachao López, The CineSon Alllstars
  • Alex Lacamoire— Composer, Orchestrator, Music Director | Hamilton, In the Heights, Dear Evan Hansen, Greatest Showman
  • Justin Paul— Songwriter, Producer | La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman
  • Rob Simonsen— Film Composer | Deadpool & Wolverine, 500 Days of Summer, Elio, Ghostbusters: Afterlife
  • Tyler Strickland— Film Composer | John Candy: I Like Me, Chef's Table, Sly, John Wayne Gayce
  • Sid Khosla— Film Composer | This Is Us, Only Murders in the Building
  • Joseph Bishara— Film Composer | The Conjuring, Annabelle, Insidious, The Curse of La Llorona

Each one trusted Monk with the space where their best work happens.

Toast the first scratch. A little beeswax. It only gets better from here.

In their own words

Lived with, every day

I had Brandon build me a studio desk for my home studio. The whole process was terrific and he was extremely communicative. The end result was perfect, I could not be happier. Old school craftsmanship with terrific customer service. A+

Greg Marchese - PD88 // Denver, CO

Google Review

We have had two pieces custom made for us by Brandon, each to fit a particular space in our NYC apartment: a desk and a cabinet. Both have been beautiful and quite reasonably priced. Couldn't be happier.

Karl J. - Desk and Cabinet // Manhattan, NYC

Yelp Review

Brandon is amazing. He made a studio desk for me and I couldn't be happier. His craftsmanship is beyond compare. He is very focused on not only creating a unique piece of furniture that is beautiful and functional, but he engages with you (as the customer) every step of the way.

Eric A - SD88 // Bothell, WA

Google Review

We make art to serve the artists

Every piece is made to order. Designed by Monk. Built in Fullerton. Shipped anywhere.

Tell me about the room, the work, and the way you use it. I read every note myself.

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