Authentic Nautical Accessories, and Custom Furnishings
When I started seriously working as a marine woodcarver, I had a silly idea that I'd be concentrating on transom banners, billet heads, and quarterboards. It took a woman at a New Hampshire show who wanted me to carve a portrait of her husband's boat to show me that it was going to be much …
I am not advocating for everyone to follow a buttoned-down route to art or craft. Breaking the rules is an invigorating thing that can lead to valuable creative moments. Too rigid adherence to the rules can lead to boring work. No, you need to find an in-between, a balancing point.
Daily writing promptWhat could you do more of?View all responses It ain't tools. I recently swore off my long-lasting and habitual embrace of the Lee-Valley catalog, Highland Tools, and the web for tools. Yes, I know tool lust is addictive. Once you've embraced it, it is hard to deny it. But as anyone who has …
Daily writing promptWhich activities make you lose track of time?View all responses I've been a shop recluse recently. The sound of the fan running, the scroll saw, and the mallet hitting the back of the gouge handle are all you hear. Recently, it's been like the days before the pandemic—several projects in process, a few …
It will never be the studio beautiful
YouTube videos are great, but your library is still your best friend if you really need to dive deep.
Models and prototypes are important. They record what you like about a product, and offer a guide for improvement on the next iteration. When I did boat shows, most of my sales came from larger ticket items like eagles, transom banners, quarter boards, and boat portraits. But a significant amount also came from selling wooden …
Tool lust is a terrible thing to have.
Yes, my shop is not Instagram-ready. The basement shop where the bandsaws, table saw, planer, and such reside is OK. If you are interested in bare stone walls and equipment that everyone else has. The carving shop, where I do most of my work, is an eight-by-ten greenhouse. Part of it still serves as a …
Continue reading "Flashback Friday – from February 2019 – My shop is not Instagram Ready"
Iron ore as a carving material? That's what I've been told this is. As a portrait of a Native American, it's well done, detailed, and has a certain patina of age about it. Knowing that I was a carver, one of my wife's grandmothers gave it to me as a present. She and her husband …
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