M.B. Parks

Maximalist Misfit Maker

Click to explore. Hold + drag to make room. Scroll on the wood.

Click or press Enter to open. Drag to move. With a tool focused, hold Shift and use the arrow keys to move it. Escape cancels a move.

The maker’s notebook

maker's statement

I'm Mike and I make.

I make objects that are whimsical. I make objects that are functional. I make objects that are both. I build with wood. I make with metal. I design software. I engineer electronic circuits. I also create with clay, glass, plastic, cloth, foam, paper, and any other material that strikes my fancy.

I am an engineer by day, and an artist in my dreams.

I believe everyone is creative. Indeed, it is core to the human experience. To make, to explore, to experiment. These are fundamental to our being. I reject professional priesthoods.

I make with

I make.

I make with my hands. I make with my brain. I belong to the analog and the digital, the handmade and the machined. I am a tradigital craftsman. If we can hunt for tupperware in the woods with billion dollar satellites, we can make the practical and whimsical with any tool we wish, no matter how seemingly absurd it may be. We make to make. The idea is what matters, everything else is secondary.

I make not to become rich or famous. I make because it is as critical and intrinsic to my person as breathing.

I believe beauty lies in the imperfect, the impermanent, and the incomplete. I believe in sustainable and responsible design.

I am maximalist not to be flashy, but because it's necessary to experience and share with the universe in my tiny blip of an existence.

I'm Mike and I make. Welcome.

Michael Parks

Links open in a new tab. Email opens your mail app.

discord: @mbparks

Make yourself at home

Every tool is a doorway into something I make, share, or explore. The green notebook holds my maker’s statement.

Open a link
Click a tool once. On a phone, give it a quick tap. Web links open in a new tab; the envelope opens your email app.
Rearrange the bench
Press, hold, and drag a tool. Let go to set it down. Your arrangement stays on this device. Phones and larger screens keep separate arrangements.
Use the keyboard
Tab to a tool and press Enter to open it. Hold Shift and press an arrow key to move it, or add Alt for a smaller movement. Press Escape during a drag to put the tool back.
Find your way
Use All links for a text list. Turn labels off for a cleaner bench; they still appear when you point to a tool. Reset tools restores the starting arrangement for this screen size.
On a phone
Swipe on the bare wood to scroll. Drag a tool near the top or bottom edge to move it farther along the bench.