Photo Friday: Works In Progress

Currently in the kiln:

Making frit balls, fusing to smooth edges on Scott's striped piece, and using some clear powder on a couple of my pieces in hopes of avoiding sandblasting and improving the glossy look.

Meanwhile, here are some other photos from the past week:

Scott does the cutting, but Ellie chose the glass, washed all 218 pieces and assembled it into a 7-inch round..

Hard to get the lighting just right, but here it is after fusing before the slump. The center is a deep royal purple (that unfortunately looks black unless you hold it up to the light), surrounded by petal pink, light cyan blue, and neo lavender.

The miracle here is that I broke the 6-inch circle of red glass while trying to cut it. A lot of colors of glass would show a line where the break had been, but the red healed like it had never been broken! The hearts and flower shapes are copper foil. In person, the copper foil turned a metallic blue. So cool looking! Scott coldworked the glass on a wet-belt sander to smooth the edges, and after it's sandblasted, we'll fire polish it and slump it. I think it will be pretty!  

Isn't Rosie pretty with her borders? Can't wait to see her slumped after sandblasting gets rid of the devit on the lavender.
 



That's all for today! Happy Friday, and l'shana tova to those who celebrate!

Notes From the Glass Studio: Making Glass Flow

This is a new piece that Scott launched into after last week's debacle.

Scott doesn't let anything slow him down for long, not even the disappointment of seeing one of his projects come out of the kiln broken. He immediately started cutting class to make three more similar projects.

Meanwhile, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to capture photos of his technique!

Scott starts out by cutting strips of glass and then tack-fusing them together into blocks.

These blocks are made of periwinkle, white and aventurine blue glass (the latter looks almost black in this photo), and were used to make the piece in the top photo on this blog post.

Scott brought a few of those blocks into the house, and they totally mystified Ellie, who wanted to know how he glued the glass together. But they weren't -- they were tack-fused, which means they were in the kiln at a high enough temperature to begin to make the glass soften but not so hot or long enough to make it completely molten.

It takes lots of those blocks of glass to make a 9-inch-diameter bowl.

These are enough for two separate projects.

Once those blocks of glass strips are ready, it's time to let them flow.

First, Scott had to find a way to contain the molten glass since he wants his piece to be about three layers of glass thick. There's something about the physics of glass that makes it want to be about 6mm (or two layers) thick and it will automagically either flow out or pull in to try to make itself 6mm. So if you want your glass to be thicker than 6mm, you have to dam it to keep it from flowing out and thinning out.

Some people use steel rings, but they're expensive and you're limited to the sizes that someone else thought were best. So Scott made his own out of vermiculite.

To keep the glass from sticking to the vermiculite, Scott uses a ring of fiber paper. The pink underneath it is kiln wash on the shelf, which serves the same purpose as the fiber paper. 

The vermiculite is bulkier than steel rings (and takes up more shelf space!), but it's more affordable and certainly far more customizable.

The blocks of glass are positioned on a circle of clear glass. 

After arranging the glass blocks on the kiln shelf, it was time to put it all in the kiln and turn up the heat.

It's flowing!  Note: If you have a kiln of your own, don't open it when the glass is molten like this unless you have eye protection!

And then it's done with its first step. Next will come adding a border, using a sandblaster to get rid of the devit, fire polishing and, finally, slumping it into a bowl.

So pretty, isn't it? Scott really achieved his goal of making something that looked like a rose. 

Which View Is Better?

This side was against the kiln shelf when originally fused, and therefore kept more straight lines. You can also see the points where some of the blocks of glass started out.

Scott has made another intricate piece of glass showcasing the way the colors flow. He just re-fused it after adding a very cool clear, black & white border using his segmented woodworking techniques. It looks awesome, whichever side you look at!

But now comes the tough part -- which side would be better as the inside of the bowl after it's slumped?

This side is more organic looking. It doesn't show well in the photos, but the dark color in the center part is aventurine blue, which sparkles. So this side is way more sparkly! :)

What do you think? Let me know in the comments, via email, or on our Facebook page. :)

Working Wednesday: A Peek Into The Woodshop At Works In Progress

Seems like every time I walk through our garage woodshop, there's something new to see.

This time, I marvelled over some "texturizing" Scott did to help make his solid wood bowls each one of a kind. (Of course, I'm convinced they're each unique simply because Mother Nature makes sure each tree's woodgrain is as individual as a fingerprint.)

Aren't they lovely?

A group shot of others in progress:

Meanwhile, Scott has started working with a slab of spalted maple burl, and we're hopeful that he will be able to stabilize the wood enough to turn it. He already turned a small (~4inch) bowl that is stunning:

Just look at that grain! Here's another view:

I'm tempted to tell Scott that we need to keep that one. Or at least one of the ones he makes from that gorgeous slab.

Here are the other bowl blanks he roughed out from that slab:

Scott has taught me that the messiest, nastiest looking pieces of wood are actually the most beautiful when they're cut, turned and sanded. By that standard, this is going to be GORGEOUS!

Working Wednesday: Kanzashi Flowers in Progress

Last week, I officially committed to a Mother's Day themed craft show (May 5 at the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego for any locals reading this!), and that got me cranking out things to sell. Especially since I signed up for twice the space we had at our Christmas show.

Since the show is aimed at folks buying gifts for Mother's Day, I'm focusing on brooch pins right now. (I also need to increase my dragonfly magnet inventory ...)

Above are small (~2.5-inch) Kanzashi flowers in progress. They still need felt backings, hardware and centers.

Last week, I worked on a whole bunch of organza and crepon flowers:

Wouldn't one (or more!) look great as a corsage, whether for a wedding, prom or just adding a little bling to an outfit?

I'm also playing with beaded centers for some of the flowers. I'm curious to see whether they attract more or less interest than my typical rhinestone or vintage button centers.

Which do you  like better -- the flat beading in the centers (bottom flowers) or the stacked bead centers (top flowers)?

 

Works In Progress

In my last post, From Board To Bowl, I showed you some of the steps Scott goes through starting with a piece of lumber and turning it into a series of bowls.

He's still working on that stack of bowl blanks he created from a couple beautiful pieces of Oregon black walnut, but I thought you might like to see some of the bowls that have reached finishing stages.

Do note that since I've been nagging him to create some solid wood bowl inventory, he also has a couple non-black walnut bowls that are also in finishing.

The five bowls at the bottom of the photo are all black walnut -- isn't it amazing how just some clear Salad Bowl Finish deepens the color so richly? The reddish-orange bowl is padauk and the light bowl with dark stripes is marblewood.

It just amazes me that even though the black walnut bowls all came from the same tree, the grains and even the colors vary so greatly. I guess Mother Nature knows what she's doing!

Just look at that gorgeous grain pattern!

Three bowls, all about the same size, with three different shapes to them.



Sadly, this pretty little marblewood bowl won't be going up for sale due to checks in the wood that make it too fragile. The upside is that means I get to keep it. :-)

 

From Board To Bowl

Being married to a woodworker has taught me to see the beauty in a raw piece of wood. I've learned that messy tearout on a board often means a beautiful curly or flamed figure. I've learned that (some) woods with blah color are totally transformed with a bit of finish that makes the grain pop.

I thought you might like to see part of the process from a board to a bowl.

The process starts, of course, with acquiring wood. In this case, the Oregon black walnut board came from Goby Walnut, one of Scott's favorite local suppliers.

As a first step to making solid wood bowls, after studying the board, Scott pencils out the rounds for bowls.



One of the things I like best about black walnut is the wide variation in coloring and grain pattern. They're beautiful as raw wood, but a little bit of finish makes them even more gorgeous.  

He tries to capture some of the color, grain and other features that make every board unique so that they're well placed for the bowls the board will become.

And they're quickly transformed from circles drawn on a board to roughed out bowls:

And just like that, they're ready for turning on the lathe. Below is one of the bowl blanks that's been shaped on both the outside and the inside, next to one that has been shaped on the outside and is ready for being hollowed out.

Next comes sanding, more sanding and then a little more sanding, and then some finish. Scott's been using Salad Bowl Finish lately on his solid bowls.

And here's one of his recently completed Oregon black walnut bowls, finished and ready for sale in our Etsy shop:

Keep an eye out for more to be available soon!
 

Stave Project Progress Report

Scott continues to make progress on his stave project. Last night, he got it fully assembled and glued together:

Isn't that grain gorgeous? Can't wait to see it when it has finish on it and the grain really pops!

Keep in mind that what you see on the very bottom and the disk at the top are not actually parts of the vessel.

Some alternate views so you can admire more of that beautiful wood grain on the Oregon black walnut:

This swirl is my favorite, I think ... although there really isn't a  view of this piece that isn't stunning.

Scott wasn't thrilled with my demands that he hold the piece. I guess the  clamp  plus the piece was pretty darn heavy. :)

Working Wednesday: Small Steps Add Up

Scott continues to make progress on his stave project. He has now joined the top and bottom sections, and is pondering going with a wenge base and top lip, or putting a thin layer of the pinkish-colored pear wood and then wenge.

Remember, the wood at the bottom is cherry and not actually part of the piece.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out a name for it. Aren't those whorls of wood grain on the Oregon black walnut gorgeous? I'm considering calling it Storm Front, but if you have other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

It's amazing to me how some of Scott's projects come together seemingly so quickly (although I'm still comparing turned pieces to the amount of time it took to make a single piece of furniture) so I can see the piece evolve.

Another view:

Ignore the messy glue on the joints -- that will all be turned or sanded off! But isn't it a neat interior view?

I can't wait to see how that grain is going to pop when it has finish on it!

Hope your week is going well!

On the Lathe

Scott called me down to the woodshop (aka garage) to check out his progress on the stave project. Luckily, I grabbed the camera on my way down so you can see what I saw!

I think it's so cool to see a piece while it's still on the lathe!

Here you can see the part above the ring of pear wood.

 

 

 

 

Scott points out where he had narrowed the lip to make it possible for the two pieces to join together.

And here's the other part ...

Scott demonstrates how the pieces fit together.

 Pretty cool, huh?

After Scott finishes shaping the two pieces inside and out, he will glue them together and do some final shaping before putting on finish. 

Stay tuned for more photos as the project progresses!

 

Working Wednesday: New Year, New Project

With a new year, there have to be new projects underway, right? I'm pretty sure that's Scott's attitude!

This one actually started a couple weeks ago and is only partly assembled, but I think its beauty is already showing. Scott put a small amount of finish on it just so we could see how the pinkish pear wood would contrast with the gorgeous Oregon black walnut in the final piece. I think he's got a winner in progress -- what do you think?

Ignore the wood at the bottom, which is simply helping hold the piece so it can be turned on the lathe and isn't part of the project.

Apologies for the photo quality -- it was one of those nights when Scott came in from the woodshop to show me something and I liked it so much I immediately reached for the camera.

The finish is definitely bringing out the color of the pear wood! And oh, that walnut grain is going to be just stunning! Scott did a great job of cutting it so you can see the grain move from one stave to its neighbors.

There is another section that will be added to the top of this one over the ring of pear wood with more of the alternating walnut and pear. Scott will turn the pieces separately to get their shapes the way he envisions, and then glue them together and probably do some final lathe work on the outsides.

Apparently doing stave projects is very tricky. This is the first time Scott has tackled stave construction, and I'm hoping to persuade him to write a blog post about what's involved in the near future.

I never get tired of Oregon black walnut. The colors and the grains vary so much from tree to tree. The wood Scott's using on this piece has some blue tinge in addition to the usual browns and reds

Happy new year!!

Working Wednesday: Notes From The Woodshop

I just love when I get to put a first coat of finish on a piece.  Up to this point the wood has been cut, assembled, shaped, and sanded.... and the colors have been getting nicer and the grain has been growing in depth.  But when that first coat of finish goes on, the colors and depth just pop.

It's been a while coming, but I recently got to move a few items forward in the queue to their first coat stages.  In addition to the latest batch of segmented bowls there are a few solid wood ones and one of a prior project that needed a little more work on it's bottom.  Most of the bowls here are getting coats of lacquer, but a handful are getting shellac and a couple will get 'Salad Bowl' finish.

It'll be a while longer before these are all completed.  It takes a few coats before the finish has enough depth to stay glossy.  Then they can be rubbed out on the lathe before I remove their base holders, brand them, sand the bottoms and add the finish. 

And of course, then comes the real photography work and listing them, although some of them will probably make their first appearance at a local craft show this holiday season.

In the Chai Variations, there are mostly two of each color combination, one with narrower triangles and one with broader triangles.  

 In some there is a variation in the combination or cutting of the zigzag in the center 'feature' ring.  And I made a conscious effort to vary how the base meets the table, with some having a broader squat curve, some having a single curve to the table, and some having a reverse curve.  Once they're all finished, I plan to do some photography and see which look is more frequently preferred. Maybe we'll have a poll here on the blog and you can vote for your favorite!

Meanwhile, if you have a favorite you want to be sure to be able to buy before someone else nabs it since, despite the similarities, they are each one-of-a-kind pieces of wood art, drop us an email and we'll be happy to reserve it for you! :)

Working Wednesday: Figuring Out Product Storage

I've been struggling to figure out how to best store my kanzashi dragonfly magnets.

Because the beaded-wire bodies are perched atop the fabric wings, I'm always a little worried about them. And their antennae and tail wire have a bad habit of getting twisted up together if I leave them in a jumble.

My latest batch of dragonflies, completed last week. See the set of wings without a body? I took a bunch of photos while these guys were in process, and somehow never noticed it, even though it was captured in all the pics. My 7-year-old, however, looked at them with a brief glance and said, "You missed one." :)

Scott's an engineer, and engineers are really good at figuring out design issues. So while I'd been imagining something along the lines of egg cartons (too small of cubbies) or Christmas ornament storage with little square places for each piece (way larger than I need so too much wasted space), Scott approached it from a completely different angle: The dragonflies are magnets, so if I store them in a metal container, they'll pretty much stay separate as long as I'm not juggling the container. Brilliant!

About 40 dragonflies fit into a huge holiday cookie tin that I saved years ago, sure that someday I'd find a use for it. Isn't it awesome?

I'm especially pleased that it will make it way easier to transport them to craft fairs with far less likelihood that I'll waste time having to untangle antennae during setup.

Meanwhile, Scott has been very busy in the woodshop, too. His batch of Chai Variations has officially entered finishing stages, as well as some other pieces. Check it out:

Aren't they gorgeous? And each of the eight Variations is different from the others, either in wood choices or tweaking dimensions of some of the design elements, like wider or narrower stripes.

And last but not least, apologies for last week's post's poor photographs. I was trying to get it posted before I headed out for a busy afternoon, and really should have figured out a better way to shoot my new mini-bolt organization system than shooting through the plastic containers. So here's a view inside the large box of felt:

It's so much easier to see at a glance what colors I have, both in regular felt and glitter felt!