Our Story
How Rare Canvas Came to Be
Saying yes to large and complex wood projects was just the beginning. Discovering an art form with unlimited creativity is where we ended up.
Meet the Artist
2018–2019 — Early Collaboration
A Meaningful Start
Matt Heim formed Heim Design Studio as a graphic design company, and began working with David Gosse and Tim Jorgensen, owners of WoodLab in Eagle, Idaho, focusing on new and highly creative wood projects. WoodLab had been making beautiful hardwood furniture for several years, but clients were starting to ask for much more complex custom art projects. Ambitious designs included a 36” diameter sphere made from solid Black Walnut logs [See project: Memorial Sphere], and a massive spiritual river staircase submission for Boise’s Parade of Homes. [See Eagle Magazine’s article: The River Winds Upward.] WoodLab and Heim Design Studio set out to develop an art department for these special projects, centered around WoodLab's already popular furniture medium of solid wood and epoxy resin.
We patiently worked through engineering and fabrication challenges that the team had not faced before.
2020 — Discovering Something Special
RMHC Boise
The Ronald McDonald House Charities® wall art commission in Boise was a special community project that really brought the teams together for the first time. RMHC had contracted with Matt's primary business, JOHN RALPH Furniture, for the property's new case furniture and seating, which lead to the addition of a large piece of art for their main lobby feature wall, to welcome residents. Matt designed, and WoodLab fabricated and installed this amazing art piece. At 14 ft long, 6 ft high and over 400 lbs., it immediately became a destination spot in the house for guests; for family photos, and a heart-warming reminder of their stay in Boise.
[See project: RMHC Boise]
We all decided that we wanted to do more art projects just like this.
2021 — Following the Grain
Designs and Practice
As clients visited the WoodLab showroom, they began to commission custom art pieces designed around family history and personal stories. Projects took on more detail and complexity, and following the live edge and grain became a key component of each composition. At this time, Matt was designing and carving the slabs, and the WoodLab team was doing the epoxy pours and finishing.
Each project pushed the team's capabilities a little further, and we were grateful for every opportunity.
2022 — Making a Fabrication Studio
Blue Cross of Idaho®
When Blue Cross commissioned an Idaho-themed wall art piece for their employee campus in Meridian, it was time to explore some new techniques to push details a little further. This piece attempted to add more perspective to a landscape scene, without forcing the wood away from its natural characteristics. A subtle Blue Cross logo in the distant mountains ties in the corporate branding for this employee headquarters location. This was the first project that Matt supplied design and fabrication; still working a full-time job, it took five months to complete.See project: The River's Edge
It was time to dedicate a separate fabrication studio specifically for the wall art, which is located in Star, Idaho.
2023 — Learning the Limits
After a Rain
By far, our most complicated design to execute, After a Rain was commissioned for a personal art collection, with a very unique challenge: the client is color blind. Influenced by one of the client's favorite artists, Phillis Schafer, more and more detail was added to the composition in an attempt to achieve expressions of color, through surrealism, line and texture. This piece took over a year for Matt to complete, and introduced many new materials and time-intensive techniques that had never been attempted.
[See project: After a Rain].
This piece won 1st place in the EcoPoxy® 2025 Calendar Contest!
2023 — Surprised by Traditional Landscape
Teton & River Views
A client came into WoodLab's Eagle showroom and asked if we could make a wall art piece from a collection of family photos of the Sawtooth Mountain range. Wanting a more traditional fine art approach, in a smaller overall layout, Teton & River Views introduced new challenges. This piece focused on capturing natural lighting and sky, and creating the illusion of depth of field in the composition, similar to a traditional landscape painting. Eagle Magazine covered this piece in 2024, you can read the article at: The Making of Art.
[See project: Teton & River Views].
We were all surprised at the amount of emotion that this little piece captured.
2025 — Going for More
Our View of the Sawtooths
For this private commission Our View of the Sawtooths, it was important to the client, WoodLab and Heim Design Studio to take the traditional landscape style to a higher level of detail, including using OLED electronics to dynamically control sky and reflection graphics. Every detail, from the carved mountain range and topography, to the extremely detailed appliqué trees was intended to push the medium, and bring this family's home view to a new level of realism. New techniques were used to create illusions of distance in the mountain ranges, valleys and fencing. Water reflections were achieved with a new reverse back appliqué technique. Hundreds of hours demonstrate what this medium is capable of.
[See project: Our View of the Sawtooths]
Refining everything that we had learned so far, we spared no expense for detail.
2026 — The Turning Point
Rare Canvas™
After completing custom commissions for over seven years, it became time to establish a brand for this unique art style, under its own trademark. Rare Canvas was formed with Matt operating as the lead artist. WoodLab continues to be a collaborative partner, facilitating residential and commercial projects, and has a showroom in Eagle, Idaho. JOHN RALPH Furniture brings the added capability to make Rare Canvas available for contract hospitality projects. This year, Rare Canvas was introduced to the hospitality market for the first time at HOTEC in Florida. Plans for 2027 include hospitality trade shows and local art exhibition entries.
What else can we create? We can’t wait to show you.
This art process has required creative patience and design compromise. An ever-changing canvas that produces truly one-of-a-kind works of art. I could never duplicate the wood’s natural detail, or the epoxy’s dynamic movement, even if I tried, and the outcome is stunning.
— Matthew Heim, Founder, Rare Canvas
About the Artist
Matthew Heim — Lead Artist
A graphic designer from the Art Institute of San Diego, Matt is an owner and in-house designer at his in-law’s custom furniture business, JOHN RALPH Commercial Furniture International. He started doing design and CAD plans for WoodLab, a custom furniture maker in Idaho, in 2018, as a way to partner locally on creative projects, and explore the potential for producing commercial furniture products in the US.
Design turned into a love for woodworking, with epoxy as an artistic medium, and by 2022, Matt was able to take custom art commissions from digital concept, all the way through CAD engineering and fabrication. He is currently the sole artist for what has become a new brand of high luxury wall art and sculpture. Each piece is made by hand, one at a time, in the Rare Canvas studio in Star, Idaho.
Be Part of the Next Chapter
Art enthusiasts, looking for their own rare canvas art story, can start it right here. Commission our artist and production teams to create an art piece that everyone will want to come and see.
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