Monthly Archives: April 2011

Shades of yellow…

Posted on by
4
 
At last my daffodils are starting to bloom, I picked these this afternoon. Feels like we may get snow but surely it will just be rain.
Loving these rustic bowls I have been making. These are sitting on an old pine work table that after I cut the damage off the end of the legs makes a great coffee table. It is a lttle high at 21 in but the labradors tails cannot wag stuff off it…Hazel’s NEVER stops.
The bowls look really great on my kitchen table, but my big Barn Quilt Block is there while I paint it, [very excited to get it finished and hung on my shop]. Too heavy and cumbersome to move…Sunday will be a good day to work on it seeing as we aren’t going to see the sun.
 Thinking I will paint more of the hollows in the rustic bowls..maybe red, aqua……….
Have a wonderful Sunday !!
Smiles,

Kauri Table

Posted on by
7

I am soooooo so loving this beautiful wonderful wood !! Also wishing it was going to grace my own kitchen ..sigh. Some pieces you make are really hard to part with……..I am glad it isn’t leaving just yet……and with the beautiful planks you can see beside it, something else will catch my fancy, I am sure.
 I did not want to show this table until the owner had taken a look. He came on the weekend to take a peek. I was nervous, I had free rein to do what I wanted, he had just told me what plank he wished for the top. You are never sure if you made the right decisions….
And he LIKED it !!
 Really hard to get a picture that does it justice, seeing as I couldn’t even be in the room to get a shot……Maybe before it leaves we can set it outside and take a few proper shots..
The thing weighs a ton…2 very able men to move the top…myself and an able man to lift the base.
There are still 3 very large planks waiting to be worked with ….just deciding what.
 It is made from Ancient Swamp Kauri, dated to be 30,000 years old, mined from the peat bogs in New Zealand. The gentleman who commissioned me to build some pieces out of it had a container shipped from NZ when he was there on vacation.
The wood is very resinous, accounts for the weight, but the figure and the colors in the wood are stunning. The top is 2.5 inches thick, 90 inches long and 40 inches wide…….the home where it will join a family is a post & beam open concept cedar house, overlooking the water..this should be spectacular in the space.
 Is this not fantastic, oh you just can’t imagine when it is flooded with light what happens……..looks like it is on fire !
 A couple of views of the through joinery and the ebony pegs to tighten the stretcher underneath.
With the thickness of the top, I kept the dimensions large for the legs and adjoining pieces….nothing fussy just timbers…..a rubbed oil finish, feels very soft with a wonderful lustre.
I have saved every off cut, Kauri is such a treasure waste is not part of the equation.
 It was somewhat scary every time you made a cut…you could NOT go get another piece if you made a mistake…I measured more than twice.))
I am hoping that I will be sent a picture of it when it is in its new home…………..Smiles,
Take a look at all the wonderful furniture projects at Primitive & Proper ‘s Piece of Work Furniture party !!

For the foodies

Posted on by
2
The wood is quite stunning, wonderful for summer entertaining
Things are busy in Hermitage these days, the sun has finally decided to share her warmth…….I have been working on things for my studio in between a couple of large projects and filling orders for shops. Since the theme with the large projects has been rustic, natural..it has spread into my other work.
Thick heavy blocks with walnut feet..beautiful for the counter.
So many things you can make for the kitchen, I love nice wood when I am feeding loved ones…seems to add some warmth to food ….even when not in use gives your kitchen a look that says “welcome, we live here.”

Twig & Pony

Posted on by
4
OK so yes I love Labradors, Cats, Hares …add to the list, last but by no means least…..Horses !!
My sister Cindy is a wonderful horsewoman, she trains and races a stable of Standardbreds, very good with the trotters…..she just won Horsewoman of the Year up here in the “Kentucky of Canada”…..got me thinking HORSE…haha
I had played with this horse head when I was carving my much missed Horse Bench to get the feel for the face before I carved the large plank for the bench……sooooo I thought he should be finished into something.
And well naturally being on the ‘place to hang theme’…and with some ideas of doing a series of full body horses……I was thinking of using wire for the manes but like the twigs…fun to collect, fun to whittle………….
 Not sure about the flowers on the knobs….may change to dapple, like the horse….what do you think??
The light in my back gallery is not great, but I wanted you to see him hanging on the wall…………….

Easter Hare??

Posted on by
5
I so like towel hangers, coat hangers…..also LOVE hares, have a hare art collection….I carved this maybe for Easter, but mostly because the hares the dogs and I see on our walks each day have just turned brown again. They are so kind eyed, remind me of does.
Digging into my vintage silver that I have been collecting for years..the ‘hooks’ are made from butter knives…I think this would be wonderful in a child’s room..not babyish and Sponge Bobish. Little coats and shirts would be so cute hanging on it.