Recently, the remote fob for my truck cracked. The plastic case lasted about 14 years, and gave out pretty catastrophically. So I took it apart and looked at how the case was constructed and figured I could make one out of wood that would probably outlast the truck, which is getting some rust spots from its time in Minnesota.
Every month, the Santa Fe Reporter has a drawing with a prize or prizes given to Friends of the Santa Fe Reporter (those who donate to help keep the paper running). I donate regularly, and often enter the drawings, but haven’t been a winner so far. But I decided it would be nice to give something, so I emailed Julie Ann Grimm and asked if she’d be interested in a pen and pencil set for a future giveaway at the Reporter. She thought that would be a great idea, and we tentatively settled on next January for when they’ll be given away.
I finished the juniper pen and pencil set a week ago, and just now finished this black acrylic pen with box.
Every month, the Santa Fe Reporter has a drawing with a prize or prizes given to Friends of the Santa Fe Reporter (those who donate to help keep the paper running). I donate regularly, and often enter the drawings, but haven’t been a winner so far. But I decided it would be nice to give something, so I emailed Julie Ann Grimm and asked if she’d be interested in a pen and pencil set for a future giveaway at the Reporter. She thought that would be a great idea, and we tentatively settled on next January for when they’ll be given away.
I spent part of August slowly carving a mouse. I wasn’t especially happy with it, but it was too good to throw away, so I gave the mouse a leather tail and stood him on a piece of cholla cane I mounted to a chunk of wood that I had quickly carved round-ish.
Over the past few months, I’ve been working on this plate. It’s made from sweet gum that a friend sent me. I started with a piece that was roughly 12 inches square (300mm) by 3 inches thick (75mm). I finished with a plate that is just under 12 inches in diameter, and about an inch thick, and which isn’t quite flat. Sweet gum moves a lot as it dries, and I didn’t account for this movement in my initial turning.
A friend of mine in Virginia sent me some wood recently, which included a blank of “definitely not mulberry,” which he had picked up somewhere. It had pretty grain, but he hasn’t been turning a lot of bowls lately, so he passed it along to me.
I had a few white oak offcuts (or off-turnings) from another project I'm working on. Was wondering what I could do with them when a friend of mine told a story about her sister (who was a little bit crazy) sending her a piece of cake from Japan to the US. Apparently it was intact when it arrived at her house, but a month in the mail had allowed time for some mold and such to grow.
My third bowl made from cholla and epoxy. I laid the cholla canes in flat, rather than standing on end, and poured multiple colors of epoxy, tilting the blank a different direction with each pour. The bowl is just over 9 inches in diameter, and just under 2 inches high (so it probably is more of a plate than a bowl).
My second bowl made from cholla wood and epoxy, with blue, green, yellow and red tints in the epoxy. The blue is darker than I intended, almost a black, but I think overall it works.
One afternoon we looked out the window to see a bunch of small birds feeding on the seeds of our Ravenna grass. This was the best photo of the bunch, I think.
Discuss... Or contact me in the fediverse @davepolaschek@writing.exchange