Coops

I love making objects that get used. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate my art school education and I enjoy making funky, sculptural pieces of work but nothing feels more satisfying than making an object that gets used and appreciated over and over.

I have made a few chicken coops. It feels awesome to build lodging for animals and birds. To me they are the ultimate functional piece of work and creating them fills me with that pioneer spirit. The first coop I made was an 'A' frame style coop made entirely out of scrap material that I salvaged, scrounged for or found. It had a door at the back that allowed me to collect the eggs from the nest box and a gate at the bottom that could lift up to let the chickens run.

Another coop I made was made out of commercial material I purchased but I made the run out of materials that I found and recycled and repurposed. I cut a PVC pipe in half to create a gutter to catch the rain. I used the rainwater to water our tomato plants that were at the end of the coop and for the birds to drink.

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Steve

The Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area

I was going through some old files on the computer today and found some great photos from my time in New Jersey.

In 2010, due to the economic down turn, I lost my job as the department head of the wood studio at Peters valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ. Peters Valley ( Now called Peters valley School of Craft ) is located in an area known as the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area. It is in the Northeast corner of New Jersey, bordering PA and NY, right on the Delaware River.

It is part of the department of interiors park system. This area is beautiful, rustic and rural and only an hour from New York City. Part of my stipend as department head was housing. We lived in the middle of the park. Our neighbors were the park rangers and the wildlife. There were many times when we would have to wait to go outside because a bear was using our driveway as a walkway. This is where my son was born. We spent four years at the Valley. Peters Valley is a multi - media craft school centered in the park offering workshops in ceramics, stained glass, textiles, blacksmithing, jewelry and woodworking.

Part of my responsibilities as department head were to program the summer workshops, hire guest instructors such as Ken Burton and to teach some workshops. Visit www.petersvalley.org to learn more about Peters Valley Craft School and the area.
The attached images were taken looking out our living room window.

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Steve

WSBE

WSBE Rhode Island PBS is available in CT, NH, MA and obviously Rhode Island. Please tune into Rhode island PBS and watch the show. It airs on Saturdays at 2PM. Tomorrows episode is episode nine, Red or White. I turn a wine box into an elegant side table, complete with a glass top and a suspended wine glass rack. The table holds six bottles of wine. This episode is also available on youtube. All projects are available to purchase with the proceeds going to the production of the show.

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Steve

More Cigar Box

I was doing a little research and found this great article.
Don't worry - It's not long winded.
In episode four of the show, available on youtube, I made a cigar box guitar. It was my first attempt at making one. A brave venture to do on a a TV show. It turn out to be not bad. I feel a little connected to the folks in the article.
Enjoy.'

'The humble cigar box guitar was a down-home source of uplifting music when times were tough. The earliest known picture of a cigar box instrument was copyrighted in 1876 by Civil War illustrator Edwin Forbes. It shows two soldiers at a campsite, one playing a Figaro cigar box fiddle. Like the banjo, the cigar box guitar’s origins can be traced to the African banjar, a stringed instrument with a gourd body. Banjars were played with a “diddly bow,” a device that some say provided the stage name for guitar master Bo Diddley.

Cigar Box Guitar Museum

Many early artists of rock, soul, and blues first learned to play music on a cigar box guitar. As blues giant Lightnin’ Hopkins relates, “I felt the blues was in me, so I went ahead and made me a guitar. I got me a cigar box, I cut me a round hole in the middle of it…and got me a tune out of it. I kept my tune and I
played from then on.” Rockabilly great Carl Perkins picked his first tunes on a cigar box guitar. Because his family could not afford a real guitar, Carl’s father built one for him from a cigar box and a broomstick.

Too poor to buy new strings, Carl tied his strings in knots when they broke. The knots cut his fingers, so he bent the strings rather than sliding his fingers along them while he played, inventing a twangy new “blue note” in the process.'

I guess mine aren't that rough after all'
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Steve

A blank canvas

I love dumpster diving, wood piles and home centers.
I can't help myself. I just see all of the material and it's like a blank canvas. I get excited and inspired by all that can be'. I imagine what I can make with the materials. I'm like a kid in a candy store.
I hope I never lose that feeling. It's my sandbox, I'm playing, I'm creating, I'm feeling, I'm living.
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Steve

One thing leads to another

Last summer I made a sandbox for my son. He's a huge fan of knights and castles. I wanted to make him a special sandbox that he could use to play with his knights in. I had some material left over from the toddlers bed project I did for the show. I used the same joinery techniques I used to make the bed to make his sandbox.
The castle was born. Instead of buying dentil molding I made some out of plywood scraps I had and I used fence post caps for the tower tops. His castle needs a coat of paint and a little TLC, we put it to good use this year.
The idea for the sandbox came out of the bed project.

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Steve

Halving Twins

On Saturday episode eight of the show aired on WSBE Rhode Island PBS. The episode is called ' Halving Twins' because I make a toddlers twin size bed using off the shelf lumber. I added some colorful panels to the bed rails and painted the headboard with chalkboard paint to make it fun. You can see the bed on the 'Project Gallery' page of the shows website. www.thegaragewithstevebutler.com
This episode is available on youtube or on the website.

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Almost

We are almost there. I spent Friday working with UCTV production Assistant Cameron Clark editing the latest episode of the show.
Well - he actually did the editing and I sat there and watched and tried to learn. I owe a huge thank you to Cameron, he makes it look easy. I had a blast hanging out and being part of the process.
Stay tuned. I'll have a video clip of the episode up soon.

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Steve

Fine Furnishings

Last week I went to the Fine Furnishings Show at the Pawtucket Armory Arts Center in Pawtucket, RI. I love seeing the work of the exhibiting artist/craftspeople and speaking to them about their work. I get very inspired by them.
I love objects that have a sense of humour. Furniture maker Robbi Staples from Dartmouth, MA had a bench at the show that I really enjoyed. It was a conversation bench that held two wine glasses.
You can view more of Robbi's work at his website www.staplesfinefurniture.com
I also enjoyed the clean lines of Paul Hahn's Counter stool made of ash wood. Paul's stool is made by using CNC ( computer numerical control ) technology.
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Steve

Lights, Cameras, Action

I spent most of the day at Uxbridge TV helping out editing the show.
This is the first time I've been part of the process and I must say there's a lot that goes into it'. I had no idea. We have hours of footage to sift through. It took approximately 2 1/2 hours to get 9 minutes of an episode done. Each episode runs around 28 minutes long.
I am very appreciative of the work the editors do. They have the monumental task of trying to make me look good on camera.
Yikes'''' They deserve a raise.

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Steve

Looks Sketchy

Sketching and drawing are all part of the making process. Most projects I make start life as an idea that I sketch out in my sketchbook. I sketch and sketch, refining the idea. Once I have a solid design I then work out details by making a full scale drawing.

Making a full scale drawing really helps you get a sense of proportions and helps you foresee any construction problems. It also helps you price out materials you'll need. In the case of a tool box I don't need to go any further than a full scale drawing but if this was a piece of furniture of my own design I would make a model/ maquette out of cheaper materials as well. Building a model/maquette is the absolute best way to get a sense of proportion.and what the finish piece is going to look like.

Attached are images of a full scale drawing for the tool box episode.
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Steve

This lot is about six houses down the road from me. I hate spending money and I love to recycle/repurpose. It's amazing what you can find when you dig a little. I saw this pile of pallets laying there so I went in with my mallet handy and was able to take some of the pallets apart and salvage some beautiful lumber. I used similar salvaged pine boards for the bottom of the toy chest I just completed. The boards measure approximately seven inches wide by thirty inches long, they are 3/4 inch thick. I love the patina of the boards and the look of the nail and screw holes.