Day 232: Show prep

No photos tonight, just packing for Saturday's show.  Deciding what to take and what to leave behind.  Some of the decisions, like Christmas ornaments, are no brainers.  Others are a little more difficult requiring input from my wife.  Together we were able to reduce the stock I will be taking by about 1/3rd, mostly due to size constraints or to eliminate similar pieces.

I did take a few minutes to finish the Olive from yesterday.  They're now buffed out and signed.  I also signed the back of all of the pendants I've made lately. 

Bring on the show.

Day 231: Outstanding Olive

Welcome facebook friends.  I finally figured out how to link my blog to my facebook profile so that all of my posts here automatically update to facebook profile. 

Tonight I worked on finishing 3 olive bowls.  A pair of natural edge bowls made from 100 year old olive from Central Avenue in Phoenix and a utility bowl from some Olive I got from a friend who got it from California late last year.

 California Olive, Approx 10" X 3 1/2"

This one has a small raised foot to elevate the bowl slightly.  Under the foot is slightly recessed with a curve that matches the outside profile of the bowl.

Side view.  The rim has a slightly rounded profile that slopes to the outside of the bowl.

Central Avenue Olive wood.  This is from trees that were planted along Central Avenue in Phoenix back in 1905.

Both bottoms are rounded, the larger bowl has a slight depression in the bottom so that it can sit on a flat surface.

Profile view - I left the natural edge on both pieces so the dry rough surface contrasts with the finished and polished surfaces inside and out. 

Both pieces will get at least 1 more coat of oil and will be signed and ready for my show on Saturday.

Day 230: Magic in the air

I somehow managed to finish all 13 wands tonight.  I'm not quite sure how I did it but I was able to get them all turned, sanded, and finished in well under 2 hours.  With any luck I'll sell most of these at my show on Saturday. 

Day 229: Wands

Not much shop time today, we spent the morning with my parents before they headed to the airport this afternoon for their flight back home.  Tonight I elected to spend most of the evening with the kids, we went to a local park and had a picnic.  After everyone was in bed for the night I made my way out to the shop.  I started doing an inventory for my show on Saturday and found that I only had 1 magic wand left.  They're popular items with kids and parents at shows.  Tonight I cut and then rounded 13 wand blanks.  They're approx 12" long and 1" diameter and from left to right are Bocote, Ziricote, Bloodwood, and Curly Maple.  Tomorrow I plan to turn them down to size and if I have enough time to try and start to finish them.

Day 228: Fun with Mom and Dad

Today I finally got some shop time with my Mom and and Dad, they're returning to Idaho tomorrow morning and I wanted to make sure we got some turning in before they left town. 

My Mom and I turned these 3 pendants today, the outside 2 are Maple Burl with artificial stones inset.  The one on the middle is Buckeye Burl with black Onyx.

Dad and I turned a small bowl out of Jacaranda, my daughter has since drawn flowers all over the outside of it.  I'll be burning all of the flowers and eventually shipping it to my parents house in Idaho. 

I now have just 1 week to prepare for my next show, the Sunnyslope Art Walk from 5 - 9 PM on Saturday the 10th.   

Day 227: Know when to fold 'em

As Kenny Rogers said "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run.

I had more plans for tonight but after a problem drilling the hole in the smaller form and then cutting through the side on the larger one I had to just walk away. 

Day 226: Sketchbook

No actual shop time tonight, I spent the day working in the yard with my Mom and Dad, attending a Cub's spring training game, and then working in the yard some more. 

Tonight my Mom and I sat down and did a few sketches.  She has an idea for a hollow form that is cut into rings and then stacked offcenter and glued back together.  She also is thinking about carving a leaf into the piece before it's cut so the segments of the leaf on the different rings don't line up when reassembled. 

She also wants to embed some stone cabachons on the outside of a hollow form that I turned here a while back.  The last sketch on this page is s quick 3 sided box with a twist, I want to do some burning on just one of the 3 faces or possible on both sides of all 3 apexes that form the twist.

Another sketch showing he offset rings.  She's also thinking about possibly setting some stone cabachons on the outside of this piece.