Tea Box

Yesterday I started building a Tea box I designed and made years ago. The box is made out of Mahogany. The box is joined with dovetails and sits on a nest to elevate it in both stature and design. It has four compartments, one to hold a tea pot, two for the cups and a storage area for loose tea.

Here is a picture of the original box and the new in the process. I spent most of yesterday milling stock and cutting dovetails. It is always a humbling experience to chop out dovetails by hand.

more studio pics

Well- I added a new clamp rack and some well needed shelves to the walls of the studio. I feel much more comfortable and ready to create work. I have a few drawings to do for some potential clients and if I get the green light the next images will be of projects.

I have been approached by the local access cable channel to do a woodworking/furniture making show. The show will air in June. It will be a half hour show airing once a month. The show is titled " The Art of furniture making". The projects will include traditional work as well as some speculative contemporary work.

Completion

Well- the studio is finally ready. There is always things to do, building shop cabinets, fixtures, etc but for the most part it is ready. I have a few projects in the works and a lot of spec pieces to start.

My family came down from Toronto for a visit this past weekend. It was great to see them. We went to the Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester, Mass. The museum has four floors of armory, weapons and furniture from the medieval times to the present. Here is a early credencza, highly carved and beautiful.

Moving Day

On Wednesday Liesl, Quinn and I drove down to New Jersey to empty out my storage locker of my woodworking equipment and tools. We stayed the night and came back on Thursday, parked the truck for the night and unloaded it on Friday. Here are some before and after pictures of the storage locker, the truck and the new space. I can't wait to get everything set up and to get back to work, I have a few projects in the work.

On Saturday I was at the Worcester Art Museum. I was there attending an orientation session for the 2010 Art Allstate which happens in May. Scroll down " older post" on my blog to learn more about Art Allstate, it's an incredible event.

Walking through the museum I came upon this great 18Th century table. The table is a great example of pegged joinery, sturdy and still together today. It's beautiful.

These are the booths of Mark, Peter and Bonnie. Mark does great work with incised carving in the form of hieroglyphs, Peter works mostly with anodized aluminum and Bonnie does some amazing work with polymer clay.

Today Liesl, Quinn and I went into Boston to attend "Craft Boston" held at the Seaport Convention Center. This is a great event with many vendors selling their wares in all mediums. Liesl's old boss Judy Neugebaur had a booth there, It was great to see her again.
These events are always good to go to to catch up with some old friends and acquaintances.

Also in attendance at the show were furniture makers Mark Delguidice, Bonnie Bishoff and Peter Handler, all are Furniture Society members. I first met Peter and Bonnie 10 years ago in Tennessee at a furniture society conference, I briefly worked for Mark when I first moved to the States. Marks studio is located in Norwood, Massachusetts. It was great to be back in Boston again.

Keeseh Studio

Today I went to Pawtucket, RI and visited a furniture studio called Keeseh Studio. Keeseh is a co-op studio that teaches workshops in the evening on various woodworking topics. The studio is at 999 Main St. The studio is in a great, huge old mill building that has been completely converted into artist lofts and studios with a great restaurant next to the studio that has Jazz in the afternoons. The studio has great natural light, it's a very busy productive, creative place, as you can see, it needs a little tidying up before classes start.

The co-op is ran by Asher Dunn, a RISD ID grad. It's a great studio. The studio is only two years old and already they're looking to expand. I'll be teaching two classes there this summer,running through June, July and August. I'll be teaching a Table making class titled Table Manners" and a class called " We build what we eat" Check out Keeseh at http://www.keeseh.com/

Yesterday I walked into the living room

and saw my son Quinn with his toy hammer in his hand hammering his chair that he had turned over.

What more do I need to say? I'm a proud Papa.

Whitinsville Library

Today Quinn, Liesl and Myself went to our local library, the Whititnsville Social Library. The library is beautiful. It is covered wall - to- wall in raised wood panels with incredible ornate carvings everywhere. The panels are all mahogany, I tried to take more pictures but I didn't want to wig out any parents that were there.

New Space

The new space is ready, all I have to do now is go to New Jersey and move all of my eqipment and tools out of storage and into the new space. Once organized I'll be taking on commissions and making speculative work as well as teaching workshops out of the space. Please get in touch if interested in taking a class, I can personalize a class to suit your needs.

Ted

Liesls' Dad, Ted Carlson, has graciously donated his space for us to use. Here he is turning a bowl on his new Robust lathe.

Liesls Studio

We finally got Liesls studio space set up. As you can see she has great natural light coming into the space. The wood stove will keep the area cozy in the winter. Liesl is featured in Lark books " 30 minute earrings" due out this June.

From Mobile to Studio

Liesl , Quinn and I have finally settled in in Massachusetts. We have moved to Whitinsville, Mass and have studios in Mendon , Mass, only a ten minute drive away from the house. Whitinsville is around 25 miles from Providence, RI.

Liesls' dad owns an old Mobile gas station that rests on 17 acres of wooded land full of maple trees that he taps for syrup.

We have moved our studios into the space. It is a large three bay garage with an office, two bathrooms and a front space that is now Liesls' jewelry studio. We are very excited to be in this space, it is in a large traffic area that should be good for business. It feels good to be back making full time.

Hunterdon Art Museum

On Sunday Liesl, Quinn and I went to the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, NJ for the opening reception of an exhibition titled " Uplifting Sound: Interactive Sculpture " by artist Gary DiBenedetto. Gary is a friend of mine and was an artist - in- residence at Peters Valley Craft Center.

I enjoyed working next to Gary in the wood studio for a couple of months, it was inspiring and motivating.

Garys' sculptures are awesome, they fit very well within the walls and space of the museum. Gary uses everyday objects, such as an old woodworking bench and vise and utilizes their moving parts to generate sound. Garys pieces are truley interactive, you have to turn the wheel in order to hear the sound generated through the headphones.

The exhibition runs through to May 12. I highly suggest seeing the exhibition, it is very inspiring.

To learn more about Gary and to view more of his work visit his web site at http://www.garydibenedetto.com./

Our friend Andy Dalpe, who lives nearby, met us at the gallery. Andy, with his late partner Wally Barnette, owned and operated " Gallery 31" in Glen Gardner, NJ. Wally believed enough in me to give me the opportunity to currate an exhibition on studio furniture. That is how the exhibition " Not Your Father's Furniture " was born

Tired

I have been invited to participate in an exhibition to be held at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, MA durring their 2010 Art Allstate event. The piece I am submitting for inclusion in the exhibition is a collaborative piece between myself, furniture makers Jo Stone and Lynn Szymanski. The piece is titled " Tired" A chair you sit on to take off your boots after a long, hard days work out in the fields.

Tables Delivered

Last Sunday I delivered the two side tables to Fiona. She loved them, they worked very well in her space. It is always a great pleasure when you become a member of some on'es family. That's how I feel when I do comissioned work, I become a member of the family, part of their history. It's awesome. Thanks Fiona.

The road to the wood shop

Last Saturday I drove up to the Peters Valley Wood Studio to assemble Fionas tables and to get them ready for delivery. The area had just had a dusting of snow. I don't agree with the politics that is Peters Valley but for the last three and a half years this has been my commute to work'
Not a bad drive to work at all.

I've enjoyed my time here immensly and have made a lot of good friends, who I know will be my friends through life. I have had the pleasure of working next to such notable makers such as Jere Osgood. Stephen Proctor, Peter Galbert and Chris Beecksvoort, just to name a few. I will miss the commute to work.

Fionas' Tables

Fionas tables turned out well. The contrast between the walnut and the curly maple looks terrific. The brass drawer pulls add to the warm hue of the wood and the finish. These are an example of the type of tables we will be making in my " Table manners" workshop I'll be teaching this summer at Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ and at Arrowmont School of Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN.

Finishing the tops

A product I use frequently is an oil based finishing product manufactured by Sterling, a min-wax commercial product. The product is

used for finishing hardwood floors. It is much like a Watco product and comes in various tints.

I use the Neutral tint based product. It is very easy to use, two coats is sufficient. You simply wipe it on, wait 10 minutes and then wipe off the excess. This is what I used on Fionas tables. I used two coats of Duraseal and then a coat of wax.