Measure Cut Cut Studio

Patrick's & Amy's dining table

2010-08-31T18:24:00.001-05:00

Oh, man, I've been waiting for a project like this to come my way for a long time. Can you guess why?

A. I get to use some beautiful, rare and locally significant wood that I've been hoarding for a long time.
B. The design tells a story about the people it is for.
C. Both A & B

If you guessed A & B, you are correct.

A few weeks ago I received an email from my clients Patrick and Amy, who were referred to me by their friend... Patrick, a former client and fellow record collector.

Patrick and Amy were looking for a simple dining table, so we met and drank some fancy beer, talked about vinyl records, maple trees, the Redwood Forest, conservation and lots of other stuff that helped me learn a little more about what was important for their space. A few days later, I came up with a design that combines maple with reclaimed redwood originally used in the casks of the now defunct Falstaff Brewery (check out this passionately put together, yet terrible geocities-like fansite for more info. about Falstaff). Even though I've never had Falstaff beer, I do like beer; that's just a fact. I also like Omaha-related history, so I guess I'm 2-for-2 with this one.

There isn't much of this redwood floating around the area anymore, so it's going to be a special opportunity to make a piece that will hopefully be a significant part of Patrick's and Amy's home life for a very long time. I'll be balancing time on this project with another project utilizing reclaimed wood, while finishing up a trio of cherry bar stools for my aunt and uncle. I guess all in all, life it pretty good.

An altar

2010-08-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'm back from a brief vacation with friends on coastal North Carolina. Tomorrow I'll get started on two brand new commissions.

The first is a small altar for my client and former classmate, Andrea. An altar is not exactly a common piece of furniture. I doubt you'll find anything like it at NFM or Ikea. So it's the type of one-of-a-kind object I love to have a chance to make. I'm also honored to have been asked to make a piece that will fill such a central role in someone's life. I've designed a few chairs for specific individuals. Doing so is like creating a tiny building for that person - something that is sort of an extension of their body. It seems that an altar might play a similar role for a person, though more metaphysically.

The project will also use all reclaimed wood and natural pigment, water-based milk paint. The color in the picture below is a little off; it'll actually be a little greener and a little brighter, or so that's the plan anyway.

Speaking of color, if you've been at any of the several events at CAMP lately (or just dropped in to hang out or do some work) you might have seen this massive tabletop I made for them. Like Andrea's altar will be, it's also colored with milk paint. The metal base was apparently leftover from the old Mastercraft Furniture company, so it was compelling that we got to repurpose something that had a connection to the old space. And in case you were wondering, that dude in the photo is Stevie "RDQLUS" Gordon, who I'd followed with some interest on Twitter for several months, but had never had a chance to meet until I stopped by to take this picture. Be sure to check out his RDQLUS portfolio of design work at RDQLUS Creative.

Habitat in a Birdhouse

2010-08-13T22:44:00.002-05:00

Usually when I finish a project, regardless of what it is, the flaws - real or perceived - are what I most notice. Maybe it's because I've been looking at the same piece for so long; or maybe I'm too hard on myself. But when I delivered a table to my client Jessica at her new Birdhouse Collectible space in the Mastercraft building (1111 N. 13th St.), I had a different feeling: I felt confident and inspired.

Jessica's table started with a few ideas. She wanted a piece that had a modern, feminine quality. She also talked about how much she liked zebrawood, which besides being prohibitively expensive, is also kind of on my environmentally unfriendly list. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's grown in a rain forest or similarly deforested, tropical area. Ultimately, I came up with a curvy cornered, spalted hackberry top with planks joined at irregular angles. The walnut legs curved at each outside corner and slightly tapered and angled out as they approached the floor. As you can see when comparing the original drawing to the the finished photos, I stayed pretty true to the design... with one major exception. What's that red stuff, you ask? No, I didn't hit an artery on the table saw; and the table was not a prop in "Resovoir Dogs". The red splatters and rivulets red marks are resin cast into the surface of the wood. They were also a solution to an unexpected problem with the material.

I bought the hackberry for Jessica's table at a sawmill in Silver City, IA. Most of it was rough cut, meaning the boards hadn't yet been run through a thickness planer to make their surfaces smooth and uniform. To my chagrin, there were wormholes winding across and straight through every board, the remnants of a society of bugs that apparently had once inhabited a stack of boards. I had run across this problem in the past, and had thought of using resin to fill the flawed faces of the boards. This time, it created an opportunity to pull the design together and make the piece more strongly connected to Jessica's business and space. I don't use esoteric titles very often, but in this case, I called the table "Habitat". I'm making more objects - furniture pieces and sculptural forms - that use resin casting while simultaneously casting a spotlight on the complex life of raw materials.

Did I mention that Birdhouse Collectible is a sort of showroom and gallery? It just so happens that I have a few other pieces for sale in the space. If you're interested in seeing those pieces, checking out the Habitat table and more, the Birdhouse Collectible Open House is a perfect opportunity. Come by next Saturday, August 21 from 6 - . I hope to see you there.

Summer CAMP

2010-07-16T23:06:00.001-05:00

The other day I got a phone call from Eric Downs of Downs Design, asking if I could make a simple, affordable conference table top for the new CAMP grounds in the Mastercraft building. Eric, and Megan of Princess Lasertron fame just started CAMP. They have some seriously talented neighbors, including Birdhouse Interior Design, Secret Penguin, What Cheer and minor white studio. I'm privileged to contribute a little something to another of these energized spaces. Here's a simple version of what I came up with:

Eric procured a metal frame, so I decided to add a series of boards milled at different widths and joined together as a surface would add some texture and depth to the piece. I'll use milk paint - a forgotten product made widely available commercially again fairly recently - to add a modern color palette. Milk paint is an environmentally safe paint made from natural, dry pigments. You just add some water and brush on a soft, rich surface.

The whole table will be finished and sealed to combat the inevitable coffee cup rings that will accompany the hoards of Macbook users who gather around to create the next generation of websites, apps and programs.

The skinny on milling around

2010-07-10T00:46:00.000-05:00

I spent most of Thursday near the small town of Carson, Iowa, at my woodworking pal Skip's house. I met Skip soon after Niz and I got married at Skip's cousin, Eddith's house. He found out I do some woodworking and invited me to help the next time he milled some logs. The 'next time' was Thursday, and it was the most entertaining and educational experience I've had since I visited Thailand earlier this year.
I've visited a couple local sawmills but have never seen the portable milling process that Skip's sawyer buddy, Andy, orchestrated Thursday.

We started by loading single logs onto a stationary frame. Andy operated a series of hydraulics to turn and stabilize each log against the frame. Next, he positioned the portable mill's blade - which is essentially a sideways bandsaw - for the correct depth, and cut the log into a square pillar, rotating the log 1/4 turn after each cut in order to remove most of the bark. When the log was squared, Andy cut 5/4" thick (that's 1 & 1/4" thick) strips from the log, rotating it occasionally in order to make the ideal piece of lumber each time. As the blade finished each cut, we pulled the freed slabs of lumber away and placed them on a series of drying racks. Surprisingly, the freshly cut wet, or "green" lumber was about the same color as the dry wood will be.

The day was not without a couple hiccups. One of the logs Skip was most excited about milling was a long, straight trunk of ash. Skip was having the log quartersawn (if interested in a quick, reliable tutorial about the differences in how wood is milled, go here). Sometimes, particularly with oak logs, this milling process results in revealing a unique and desirable surface grain highlighted by a sort of pattern of reflective... flecks. Boards cut this way also tend to be more stable, in terms of their reaction to humidity.

Unfortunately, as the ash log was being cut in half, the blade ran into a nail. And a piece of wire. Likely, they were part of a farmer's fence decades ago, and had grown into the tree over time. Even a small piece of metal like a nail can take a major toll on a saw blade. Usually, nails and other pieces of metal (bullets and similar shrapnel are also common) are found by running a hand-held metal detector across the surface of each log. However, these surprise pieces were buried deep inside the tree. The dark spot near the middle of each half of the log shown at right is a stain in the vicinity occupied by the nail. These annoyances were balanced by the fact that the weather couldn't have been milder for July and I didn't lose any fingers.

By the end of the day we'd milled several logs of cherry, walnut, ash, burr oak (our region's version of white oak) and hickory, all harvested from Skip's land. The lumber will rest on Skip's drying rack for about a year, at which time I'll head back over to Carson and collect my wood-wages for the day. More importantly, I have a better understanding of a fundamental step in bringing a tree into fruition as a new object.

A dining table delivered

2010-06-29T22:36:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday I borrowed my in-laws' truck and took a short drive to Lincoln to deliver a cherry dining table to my wonderful client Charles and his husband, Jeff. I spent about 4 years making the Omaha-Lincoln-Omaha commute for a previous job, but hadn't done it for several months. It was nice to get out on the Interstate again, especially accompanied by Little Steven's Underground Garage channel on Sirius XM satellite radio, which I already miss. I constantly listen to music while I'm working. Omaha's radio stations leave much to be desired and I refuse to buy an iPod. Since it's too dusty in the shop for my turntable (and the road is a little too bumpy), it seems like satellite radio could be an adequate stand-in. But anyway, back to the table.

Charles' and Jeff's table was my first experience using a set of table extenders, as well as with making removable leaves. I chose to complicate things a bit by adding a yellowheart and paduak inlay pattern on both edges of the leaves to continue and grow the center design. Generally, the project went well, other than that I learned the hard way that using wood that isn't perfectly flat for the leaves can be a little problematic. Lesson learned.

Thanks to Charles and Jeff for giving me the opportunity to create a unique piece that will be a daily part of their home life for many years to come.

New people, places & directions

2010-06-25T19:12:00.001-05:00

This afternoon I spent a couple hours squaring the edges of several planks of hackberry that I brought back from my most recent visit to Silver Creek Sawmill in Iowa. These boards, along with legs cut from the thickest plank of walnut I've ever seen, will eventually come together as a conference table for my new friend Jessica, owner of Birdhouse Interior Design. I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica a couple months ago, having followed her and the development of her business on Twitter for a while. Our ideas about design and affordability seem to mesh pretty well and I'm excited to work with her as she takes her business to the next level.

Jessica's new digs - and the conference table's new home - will be a beautifully lit parcel in the space formerly occupied by the Mastercraft Furniture Company, and which also houses the new CAMP Coworking Space. Am I jealous? Um, yes. It's exciting to see so many creative people working around each other, moving their ideas and passions forward.

Here's a simple drawing of the basic table design, sans an element that will add some additional color, contrast and life to the piece to tie it all together.

This table is particularly exciting for me because it is a shift in direction and technique. The planks that make up the top will join to one another a various angles. The legs will be tapered and rounded by hand on one corner to match the contour of the top. I'm also trying a new technique that will include using cast resin. More on that later.

The pork is cooked perfectly, or, a few thoughts on "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist"

2010-06-18T00:14:00.000-05:00

Last night I turned on the television to see if it would lull me to sleep. I flipped the channels and stopped, by default, on the Bravo network. The show that was on was a re-airing of Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Work of Art casts a dozen or so artists - mostly of the "emerging" set, it seems - in a series of art making contests, with the winner to be crowned the next great artist, whatever that might mean. Essentially, it's an art version of the network's other highly popular series', such as Top Chef and Project Runway. As the show airs week-to-week, the contestants live together in a posh loft and compete with each other to make art within a distinct set of criteria. They're judged and artists are eliminated one-by-one. Last night's episode required contestants to use discarded and antiquated technology to create a sculpture.

Initially, I scoffed at the idea of this show. TV + art + fabricated contests seemed preposterous and contrary to what art is supposed to be about. Actually, it made me feel very uncomfortable. I thought, How could artists who respect themselves, their work and creative process succumb to the temptation to give themselves over to a contest? Forget the potentially lucrative commercial effect an appearance on such a show could produce. The whole idea smacks of insincerity.

At the conclusion of what I saw - admittedly I missed the very beginning of the episode - I realized it was more than my initial reaction that made me feel uncomfortable. My contempt moved (mostly) away from a critique of the artists' collective and individual motivations for participating and their graduate student sense of general self-importance. Instead, I realized the unidentifiable quality that made me feel so agitated about the whole thing was the separation between the events of the show and the audience seeming to experience the events of the show. More pointedly, it's the way the audience is left to observe the critique of the artists' works, as if our participation as viewers makes us intimate insiders in the conversation that takes place around the judges table.

In the show, several respected members of the art world (seasoned critic with English accent, middle-aged New York gallery owner, established found object sculptor, and so on) as well as the contestants themselves, (whose comments seemed to be selectively included for dramatic effect, btw) pass judgement on the contestants worthiness to be called the next-great-artist. The composition, presentation and attitude of the judges comes off as 1 part informed, canonical criticism, and 2 parts gossipy vamping for the cameras. Its what we're supposed to think the art world is all about, particularly the New York art world, the supposed epicenter of all things art.

But this is the real problem of the show. Like its Runway and Top Chef compatriots (and most "reality TV") Work of Art disguises realism with melodrama. Viewers see glimpses of the artists' work and process, but its patronizing. Just as we're left to experience how tasty as chef's meal must be through the soft-core noshing of a set of expert judges, we're told what to think about each artists work. This effectively - and purposely - cuts off any opportunity to participate in a meaningful dialogue about art, much less actually think about it for ourselves. We are teased with bits of conflict among the artists. A tender and damaged contestant with OCD laments about how "distractingly boring" another artist's orderly and minimal(!) work is. One of the judges brazenly likens an installation to a window display. Collective agreement is reached, verdicts are read off and we're told what is successful without actually experiencing anything for ourselves. But we've seen all the footage, so they must be right, right?

I can't help thinking, Is the seriousness of the contestants/judges sincere? Does the show itself become some sort of conceptual work? Have the participants transcended their purported artistic roles and become subjects in another work entirely? Is the whole thing just cleverness and drama disguised as art? These are the kinds of questions that could make this sort of show interesting, but are nowhere to be found. Perhaps they're implied, or maybe they don't matter. Either way, I get the feeling the producers don't care. After all, it's hard to take seriously a show that's incessantly peppered with promo spots for a series of shows about over-ripe bimbos that represent "real housewives".

For those interested in participating in a real dialogue about and with art, there are several good places to start. One is the monthly art quiz at the Bemis Underground. It's the brainchild of artist Wanda Ewing and BU curator Brigitte McQueen. For a more personal, educational experience, head upstairs to a First Thursday Art Talk, featuring the ever-changing flow of Bemis Center residents and guest artists. And sure, there are plenty of other opportunities outside the Bemis Center too.

Unlike Work of Art, these kinds of real activities allow you to participate and observe from the inside of the fishbowl. You can draw your own conclusions and experiences, English accent or not.

- Peter -

Charles' & Jeff's Dining Table

2010-06-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple simple drawings of one of several tables I'm in the midst of making. This one is a dining table for my clients Charles and Jeff, who live in Lincoln. Aside from the legs, which will be slightly tapered, this is basically what the finished piece will look like. This piece continues my series of objects inspired in part by quilt patterns, though employed here in a subtler way here.

This, and another dining table I'm working on simultaneously, are my first forays into tables with leaves. For both I'll use a set of extenders that attach under each table top, allowing the top to separate in the center so the leaves can be dropped in.

For this design, the long side of each leaf includes 1/2 of a star pattern, which will allow the center star design to grow and continue as each leaf is added. The star inlays are paduak and yellowheart, and the table structure is cherry.

Cheers,

Peter

A little philanthropy

2010-05-05T23:57:00.000-05:00

Tis the season for benefits, and over the next couple of weeks there are two with which I have the pleasure of being involved in small ways.

First up is the 2nd annual American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) fundraiser. This year's fundraiser, which includes a silent art auction, takes place at Dixie Quick's/RNG Gallery next Thursday, May 13 from 5:30pm - 8:30pm. I don't know a lot about the AFSP, and I don't have any real connection with them; what I do know is that they do some difficult work with people who have some serious problems. So donating the quilted walnut mosaic side table (viewable to your immediate left and right) is the least I can do to lend a hand. Details, tickets, etc. can be found on the AFSP website.

The second, a $100 Art Sale Fundraiser at - and for the benefit of - the Bemis Underground, takes place May 21 (and 22, though I doubt much will be left by then). The title says it all. Lots of art all priced at $100. This might sound familiar, as Brigitte McQueen, the newish curator of the Bemis Underground, hosted a similar and successful $100 sale at her former Pulp gallery. I didn't make it to that sale for fear of a thick crowd. My disdain for large crowds will likely make me a no-show for this show, but I am donating this small paduak and cherry side table (to the right and left), which is part of my ongoing series of mosaic patterned pieces. Yeah, it's kinda small, but hey, it's only $100 bucks and it is a working table, so there you go.

I've worked with and for a number of not-for-profit organizations over the past several years. I have a pretty good understanding of their importance to a community and the difficulty of raising money and resources to keep their programs afloat and staffs paid. The Bemis Center particularly has played a major role in providing me with opportunities to develop and take chances as an artist and designer.

My $.2 for both events: go, and go early. We may still be in a recession, but $100 art is still $100 art. I would say, "See you there," but... you know... the crowds and all. Similarly, silent auctions are usually opportunities to get deals. And there will be Dixie Quick's food there. And drinks. So... see you there.

Works in Progress

2010-04-26T20:32:00.002-05:00

Here's a sneak-peek of a work-in-progress, non-furniture piece I'm working on in my spare time. Like several of the smaller tables I've been making over the last 6 months or so, this piece works on a 30/60-degree angle star pattern. People regularly assume these pieces are created using an inlay. However, inlay (as either marquetry or parquetry) involves placing a pattern or image on top of an underlayment or other structural surface; whereas this piece is solidly handcrafted using 1,000 - 1,500 individual pieces.

It's about 40" square and though you probably can't tell from the photo, the thickness of the individual pieces range from about 1/2" to 1". The woods used to make the angular stripes are cherry and walnut. The colored stars are made of canary wood, blood wood and redheart.

Eventually, the piece will be sanded so that the surface smoothly follows the contour of the individual pieces. When completed, both pieces will be wall-mounted. Before sanding and finishing this piece, I'm going to make a plaster cast that will become a second piece. I still have to figure out how to do that. If I try to pour plaster directly on the wood, the water in the plaster will soak into the wood fibers and ruin the whole piece. Plaster will also stick like glue to a piece with as much texture as this. The plaster casting process will likely involve a combination of rubber and plaster molding. If you have any suggestions, I'd certainly consider them...

These other pieces are a couple examples of smaller fabrications that I've made mostly from the scraps from the above piece and some of earlier star tables. These pieces are also meant to be wall-mounted. The evolution of these pieces will be to make more sculptural, 3-dimensional objects in which these pieces are sort of like walls. But that'll probably be a while.

Vinyl Lives! Jason's LP cabinet finished

2010-04-23T21:59:00.001-05:00

I started a fancy two-tiered combination record cabinet and turntable holder for my client, Jason, a few weeks ago. I was thrilled to deliver it completed, along with a little bonus LP, earlier this week. Since I'm an avid record collector, I had a blast making this cabinet and hope I get a chance to make some others similar to this one. Maybe I'll even have time one day to make one for myself.

From my original design, I couldn't resist making a couple changes and embellishments. First, I traded out the proposed paper strap door pulls and handles for a set I hand-turned from canarywood. They're likely to last a little longer, especially since they'll be in arms reach of an adventurous 2-year-old. I also inlayed a single star pattern in the top of the lid that's similar to the tables and other pieces I've been making recently.

The project also created several challenges for me; namely the compound angles I had to cut and join to create the top. I also learned that next time I make something like this, I should try to make the top a little lighter (it's kind of a beast).

Each tier of the cabinet holds around 75 - 100 12-inch LPs, which should be plenty of space for Jason to expand his collection.

Staying Grounded

2010-04-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

Fridays have become one of my favorite days lately. No, not because it's the end of the traditional work week (there is no end to my work week); but because I get to spend Friday afternoons assisting another artist, sculptor Littleton Alston.

I was previously Littleton's assistant from 2003 - 2008, helping him with a number of tasks that ran the gammit from mold-making, waxwork, helping pour bronze(!), welding armatures and sweeping the floor. For instance, I spent Saturday morning finishing a some beautiful paduak bases I made for some of his stainless steel sculptures.

Working with Littleton in the past and now again taught me all kinds of technical skills and has equally influenced my work ethic and aesthetic. I wouldn't have had the discipline or desire to start Measure Cut Cut Studio without Littleton's influence, advice and help. In essence, Littleton has been one of my most important mentors, inside and out of the studio.

Fridays give me a chance to escape my own studio for a while to concentrate on helping someone else accomplish their aesthetic vision while making a few bucks along the way. It's also a great way to reflect on my own process and vision and gain insight and criticism from someone I greatly respect. Working a few hours a week for Littleton is also a constant reminder of where I started my own artistic journey several years ago, and where I'd like to be several years from now. In essence, working on someone else's art helps keep me grounded, focused and, as Anthony Bourdain says, "hungry for more."

Coming up: Jason's LP cabinet is finished; more of those star things are on their way; early preparation for the Bemis Center auction; and an extra cool conversation with Rick Waters of the Sawdust Chronicles!

Jason's Record Cabinet: In Process

2010-04-04T01:03:00.000-05:00

As some of you may be aware, I'm kind of a vinyl junkie. I've built up a sizeable collection of LPs and 45s over the past 10 years. However, I've never taken the opportunity to build myself a cabinet worthy of its would-be contents. My friend and client Jason, however, is going to have a nice cabinet for his collection very soon.

The below image is a simple drawing that I'm using as a basis for building Jason's cabinet. I'm in the process right now, and am really enjoying building it knowing it'll be in someone's home who I think is really cool, and will house something that I have such a strong appreciation for.

The cabinet is constructed of walnut and comes as a two-piece set. The top section includes a beveled, hinged lid that, when opened, will reveal Jason's turntable. There will also be a display rack attached to one side that will serve a dual function of holding and highlighting the jacket of the record in use. I like to think of that feature as the home stereo version of a cranky record store clerk's "Now Playing" rack. Underneath that will be a shelf with doors that will hold about a crate's worth of LPs. The lower section is a similarly sized shelf unit. I'm flirting with using paper as a structural element again with this piece, proposing to use it as the handles for the doors and top.

A feature that doesn't come through the drawing is the beautifully figured walnut in the photo to the right. The spirally, funnel grain pattern will be incorporated into the doors.

I can already tell this is shaping up to be the kind of project that's hard to give up.

Two new side tables (for sale)

2010-03-23T00:18:00.005-05:00

In between working on commissions for customers, I still find a little time to just make stuff. These two side tables are good examples of the fruits of that labor. The pinwheel patterns on the top of each were made by meticulously cutting and fabricating several hundred diamond pieces in precise patterns. After sanding the tops, I finished them both with several coats of satin polyurethane.

The table on the left is made of walnut, canarywood and paduak and is 18.5" tall x 12.5" in diameter. The one on the right is made of walnut and paduak and is 20" tall x 12.5" in diameter. Both tables feature elegantly curved legs made from steam bent solid walnut. Even cooler is the fact that the material is 100% recycled from scraps and cut-offs of other completed projects. So, as far as wood furniture and art goes, these pieces are relatively environmentally friendly.

These are both one-of-a-kind pieces that won't be reproduced. They're also for sale! If you're interested in purchasing either of these side tables, please feel free to inquire for price quotes. They're perfect for holding a cup of coffee while you're reading the morning paper (or blog)...

Patrick's Bed

2010-03-22T00:20:00.000-05:00

Late last week, after a wee bit of trial and tribulation, I finished and delivered my first bed, to my client, Patrick. Patrick's full/double bed is made of 3/4" birch veneered plywood with a dark walnut stain. It holds a standard size mattress, which is about 75" long x 54" wide. The design is decidedly different than most of what I've done in the past, since I don't tend to use plywood or stains much. However, it was an opportunity to try my hand at what seemed like some pretty intense - and at times challenging - series of mortise and tenon construction.

The headboard and footboard are individual solid pieces that serve as the basic structure of the piece, and are supported by posts fabricated using several layers of plywood. The side rails are long tenons that sleeve into double mortises cut front-to-back and side-to-side into each post. The posts also accommodate lateral tenons that mortises through the central length of support. The lateral supports that span the width of the bed sleeve onto the central and side rails. Several pins too keep everything in place round out the design. After finishing the basic structure, I found that there was still a little too much movement from front to back, so I attached some metal brackets to stabilize each post.

Now, it's back to business. My new projects include a new bent plywood and paper seat chair, a dining table or two, and a record/turntable cabinet that's supposed to be for my friend Jason, but that I might have to keep for myself. I'll also be posting photos of a couple side tables I put together in my spare time over the past couple of months. Those will be for sale, if you're interested. Stay tuned.

A doggone problem solved!

2010-03-08T22:01:00.002-06:00

It's become part of our daily routine at the Cales-Proskocil household to chase after our 2-year-old Lhasa apso, Hazel. One of Hazel's favorite things to do is take things she's not supposed to have and then brazenly trot into another room to chew and chew and chew. Hazel's favorite items include tissues, socks, undies, shoes and, above all else, Niz's slippers. The picture on the left shows her with a recent victim of her incessant chewing. The sort of boudoir shot on the lower right is just there to show you how cute she is.

Niz is more Westernized than I am, but one of her many Eastern attributes is her use of slippers in the house. She keeps them right next to the bed where they're easy 'pickens for Hazel to brazenly snatch up and run into the living room to devour.

As I mentioned, this happens pretty much every day, so in an attempt to combat this doggone problem, I designed a hanging paper holder for the slippers. I've used the same heavy watercolor paper employed in a couple recent woven chair seats. I attached the simple, curled slipper holders using some snap fasteners. The brass grommets applied to each corner can be used to nail or pin the entire piece to the wall.

This is version 1.0 of the slipper holder; the curled holder pieces aren't exactly the same size, and the snap fasteners and grommets were attached quickly with little regard to symmetry or evenness. It may not be perfect, but while it's in use, Hazel will have to settle for my dirty socks.

Ooh, baby baby! A new baby rattle

2010-02-28T23:40:00.000-06:00

The baby bug seems to be going around quite a bit these days. I know a few ladies who are expecting pretty soon. One of them is Niz's former roommate and good friend Debbie. Debbie and her partner Matt are living in Chicago and expecting a bouncy boy in mid-March. Their baby shower was this past Sunday, so we decided to make the trip and kill two birds by visiting Niz's favorite furniture store (and my least favorite), IKEA. (I could easily fill an entire post with a rant about my lack of enthusiasm for IKEA's cheaply made and poorly fabricated furnishings, but hey, this is a fun post about the miracle of life and such, so I'll save it for another time).

Anyway, as I've done for several friends and a few clients over the past few years, I made Debbie and Matt this fancy turned rattle. The body is from a scrap of canary wood I found in my shop and the orange plugs are from a piece of paduak I still have from the first chair I made. This color combination is one of my favorites, as evidenced by the other picture, which is of the first rattle I made.

The form of Debbie's and Matt's rattle is inspired by the shape of an acorn (Debbie and Niz share a love of squirrels), though I've also been told it resembles, ahem, something else.

I'll likely be making time in my schedule to make several more of these miniature maracas in the months to come.

Thailand Adventure, Part 2 - Craft & Design

2010-02-15T22:45:00.001-06:00

Before I left for Thailand, several people suggested the trip would have an impact on my work. I'm not sure how much the mostly rustic palm and rubber wood chairs and benches I saw will directly influence my work. More likely, I've been influenced by the Thai people's relationship to working and living in the lush, yet challenging landscape and the influence of the uniquely Thai idea of "mai ben rai", or "nevermind", "don't worry about it", "it's okay". My relatives who harvest rubber, durian or coconuts, or clean and cure fish work long and odd hours. And while they sometimes start and end in the wee hours of the morning, day after day, giving all they have, while never showing the slightest bit of worry or negativity. It still feels wonderful to remember how simple, yet fulfilling everyone's lifestyle seemed to be.

I suppose in some ways the woodworking and furniture design reflected this idea too. Most of the chairs and benches I saw were simply constructed, opting for nails over any kind of complex joinery. The decorations were often geometric patterns, subtle curves and naturalistic carvings of animals in palm or rubber wood. You might notice from some of the pictures I've shared that palm and rubber trees are plentiful. I didn't see as much teak as I thought I would.

Surprisingly, I saw very similar designs in most of the wood furniture as are demonstrated in the photo on the right. This was true for other wooden objects, as well.

Like the rubber trees that I was so infatuated with, the bird cages that peppered the houses and businesses throughout the Surat Thani province have become symbols of my trip. The designs of the cages I saw were rough in the sense that they weren't finely sanded or finished. But they were delicate in their use of thin rods for the bars and intricately sawn decorations and turned handles. Of all the souvenirs I brought back, this was my favorite, and I hope it finds a good place in its planned home. I got a lot of weird looks while carrying it through all the airports, and my wife's family seemed a little perplexed that I had bought a bird cage, but didn't have a bird to put in it. Niz's uncle, Na Sok, even chuckled at me when he picked us up at the airport on our return leg. I found out when we got back to the U.S. that he keeps and shows doves. I wish I would have known while we were there; I probably could have talked him into showing them to me, and I would have had another venture on my hands...

Besides bird cages, many families had outdoor wooden shrines of varying sizes painted in bright, opaque colors, though the general shape and design of each was the same. Many family homes and public spaces also had concrete tables and benches painted with bright colors, similar to the designs shown in the photo on the right.

Looking through the hundreds of photos we took during our 3 weeks in Thailand, I realize there's still quite a bit I want to share. I'll post one more wrap-up of the trip, featuring what I saw at the Big Buddha shrine, in Phuket.

Exploring Thailand Part 1 - Rubber Farming in Na San

2010-02-08T22:39:00.001-06:00

My 3 week honeymoon in Thailand was a real adventure - perhaps the most authentic "adventure" I've ever undertaken. My wife and I started in Bangkok on January 12. Her aunt, uncle and cousins - none of whom spoke much English - escorted us around the city for several days. We visited a wide variety of temples, markets and sites that catered both to Western tourists and native Thai people. It was a fun leg of the trip, rich in discovery of kind, humble people and vibrant colors, flavors and - for better or worse - smells - in the big city. Many of the places we visited were also filled with "farangs" (foreigners).

By contrast, Na San is a small farming community of about 2,000 people located in the Southern Thai province of Surat Thani. The people of Na San, including several members of my wife's immediate and extended family, have been harvesting rubber and fruit trees in the region for several generations. Na San is my wife's birthplace, and it served a similar purpose for me as I came to learn, understand and love the Thai people and their work.

Life in Na San seems to be simpler than life in the big city. The pace is more relaxed. While there are busy fresh markets, there are no knick-knack shops selling mass-produced elephant carvings or knock-off Ed Hardy t-shirts. Most of the narrow, one-story dwellings are tiled from one end to the other. A basic restroom includes a sink, a shower head attached to the wall and a modern toilet with a spray nozzle attached. Thai kitchens are similar to their Western counterparts, though most don't include microwaves, full ranges or dishwashers.

The economy of Na San - and much of the rest of the Surat Thani province - is based around agriculture. Rubber farms laid out in long, regular rows sandwich the highways throughout the area. Aside from meeting several members of my wife's family, watching and experiencing the rubber orchards first hand was the highlight of the trip for me. I commented over and over again about how I could have just sat and stared at the orchards all day. The thin trees shoot straight up toward the sky until a few branches bend together to form arches like natural cathedrals.

Many members of my wife's family (above left to right: a few of Niz's family members: sisters Pee Jeeip and Pee Lek and cousin Nong Boy) own rubber and fruit orchards, and they let me try my hand at harvesting the rubber. In fact, I was so excited to work the rubber orchard that I mistakenly got up at 5:30am one day awake and ready to work all morning. Later that day we all realized our language barrier had caused a misunderstanding, but I was ready to go.

Prior to visiting the orchard, I had believed that rubber trees were tapped with some sort of spigot, and that the rubber sap drained out of the tree with little effort. When I did finally get a chance to try for myself, I learned this was very wrong. The work is physical and takes a particular technique. It's usually done in the wee hours of the morning due to the heat too, so men and women both work odd hours several days each week.

The thin bark of the tree is scraped lightly at a diagonal angle down and across the tree. This frees the opaque white sap to slowly seep to the surface and run down into a ceramic bowl. Each bowl looks like it holds about a pint of rubber. The full bowls are then collected into a larger bucket and taken to a market to sell. While we were there, raw rubber was selling for about 90 baht (about $3) per kilo, which I was told was a pretty good price.

I was also told I did a pretty decent job scraping rubber bark, after I got the hang of the technique. My obsession with the trees led me to buy a simple tool used to scrape the wet rubber from the little bowls. I also attempted to buy one of the sharp bark scrapers, but wouldn't have been able to bring it back through security, so had to let that one go. When we go back again, I'm going to see if I can get on the payroll.

Next up: a look at some Thai craftsmanship. Hey, this is a furniture blog, after all!

On Vacation - Back Feb. 2

2010-01-24T08:31:00.000-06:00

I'm on vacation with my wife in Thailand from January 12 - February 2. Check back in early February for some exciting photos and a review of our trip in early February. It'll include my experience in the village of Na San, including a brief stint working on a rubber farm. The trees here are beautiful - I wish you could see them in person!

Cheers,

Peter

Bluestone Development Wall - Collaboration with dKiser Design.Construct

2009-12-21T11:54:00.000-06:00

My friend Doug, from dKiser design.construct, and I finished a collaborative project for Bluestone Development's new office this past weekend. Bluestone's new space is located at 13th & Webster, in the same location that was formerly the Empty Room. After finishing our ORGANISM installation, the fine folks of Bluestone asked us to create a unique installation for their newly added south wall to add some additional character and warmth to the space. Doug and I brainstormed some ideas and came up with a shared vision that would utilize lots of separate wooden panels of different sizes, shapes, depths and tones.

Doug took our vision forward and created a specific scale design. We applied 4 different stains to the pieces, plus the natural color of the ash plywood we used as the base for all the pieces. There are a few panels and shelves that stick out from the wall a little to give it some depth and additional texture too. We filled the screw holes with a variety of hardwood plugs of different lengths to add even more dimensionality as the lights in the space cast shadows over them. After cutting, sanding, staining, lacquering and installing over the course of the past few weeks, we're finally done.

Stop by Bluestone and give it a look sometime after the holidays, and be sure to check out Bluestone's hip downtown developments, including 22 Floors, the Rows at SOMA and Joslyn Lofts.

Fall & Winter Stars - 2 Experimental Tables

2009-12-04T10:23:00.004-06:00

Before my friend Doug and I got rolling on the Organic Chair in November, most of my attention was concentrated on further exploring the repetitive, geometric technique I developed while working on my "Ark" chair. The two tables shown below are inspired by the recent transitions to Fall and Winter, respectively, and both follow the same symmetrical, 45-degree angle model. However, with these pieces, I concentrated on the star pattern that naturally emerges when using triangular-shaped pieces.

The tops of both these pieces might be the first thing that catches peoples' eyes, and I'm happy the fabrication of each worked out as well as it did with the number of variables presented with using so many pieces for each. They were somewhat tedious and time consuming to put together, but the base and legs for each proved much more challenging to put together. I should quickly mention that the fabrication process for the tops of each are not "inlay" as several people have commented. They're not stained either; the colors you see are the natural colors of the woods (mostly walnut, paduak, canarywood and redheart), with only a topcoat of semi-gloss polyurethane. Inlay involves insetting thin, non-geometric (marquetry) or geometric (parquetry) shapes into another surface. These star tables are made by putting together hundreds of individual diamond-shaped pieces.

But back to the base and legs. These were more challenging - particularly the curvy orange (made of paduak) and yellow (made of canarywood) turned ones.

In the picture on the right side, you might be able to see a curved cut mark near the foot of each one. These wrap around each leg, again in a pattern, and were partly the result of an accident. I'm not sure if this is a common occurance of more seasoned woodturners, but I often get a lot of splintering near the top and bottom of my stock. In an attempt to combat this, I started off by cutting a 45-degree angle around the stock near the top, thinking this would preempt any splintering that normally occurs. As I was turning the area around the cut, I noticed a rounded, petal-like form emerging. This did fix my splintering problem, but also resulted in an innovative form that further highlights the botanical spirit of the whole piece.

Next up, I'm going to try to make a massive form using this pattern technique. My dad, who is much better than I am with math, reminded me that the angle of cut of the triangular/diamond shaped pieces would determine the number of points on similarly star-shaped fabrications: 60-degrees = 6-sided; 45-degrees = 8-sided; 30-degrees = 12-sided; etc. So next up, I'm tackling a project that will use a combination of 60- & 30-degree pieces. But this time, I want to make something that has a rounded or wavy top surface. Any fellow woodworkers, artists, designers or math whizzes out there who can help?

Epilogue to Empty Room

2009-12-01T15:40:00.135-06:00

Doug, Matt and I brought ORGANISM - and with it, the Empty Room - to a close last Saturday night. It was an amazing, challenging, and ultimately, very fulfilling project. I had never done anything that approached an installation before, and came out with a new understanding of the collaboration, time commitment and work necessary to pull something like this off.

I entered the project apprehensive of how the various components would work together; after all, there's not much of an immediate connection between poetry and building. But after some initial trial and error, we reached a happy medium. In the end, I don't think it was so much a collaboration as it was an exercise in sharing. Matt hosted several successful poetry readings and slams in the early part of each week. Doug and I took advantage of whatever chunks of time (mostly weekends) we could to build the Organic Chair and recreate a venue in the space.

After we finished an initial simple structure we turned our focus to what we're calling Organic Chair #1, which was only unveiled at the closing.

One of our goals for the entire installation was to raise some resources for a nonprofit organization. Matt, who was recently named as its new Executive Director, decided on the Nebraska Writer's Association. Doug and I set our sights on the Kent Bellows Studio & Center for the Visual Arts. We realized we probably weren't going to have much luck finding a buyer for the Organic Chair installation. So we switched gears and began focusing on Organic Chair #1. Through our mostly unplanned building process, what started as a sort of kaleidoscopic tank slowly emerged as a curvy and somewhat more sophisticated stand-alone reaction to the installation. Though we didn't quite get the inside and outside finished, we hope to do so and sell it to benefit the Bellows Studio.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it down to the space during November for a reading, slam, concert, or just to hang out. There's a list of related postings and links below about ORGANISM and the entire 6 months of the Empty Room.

Check out Andrew Marinkovich of Malone & Co's photo documentation of all the Empty Room projects.

Silicon Prairie News was gracious enough to do interviews and features about ORGANISM, 25 Days of Building, Clean Plate, 300 Square and the Empty Room concept itself.

For more ORGANISM pictures, etc., check out our Facebook page.

Amy Morin's (Beast Box) website: http://plaiderpillar.com/
Elle Lien's Clean Plate Website: http://clean-plate.com/
Mary Wees' 25 Days of Building Blog: http://25daysofbuilding.wordpress.com/
Jeff Hug's String Thing Website: http://emptyroomstringthing.com/

And a special thanks to 22 Floors, Bluestone Development, Secret Penguin & What Cheer for allowing such a unique thing to occur in Omaha!

ORGANISM @ Empty Room - Week 1 Recap & Upcoming...

2009-11-08T20:28:00.002-06:00

Doug, Matt & I kicked off the final month of Empty Room one week ago with the opening of ORGANISM: A Festival of Words & Building. After a slow start building, Doug and I have made quite a bit of progress on the Organic Chair, and are looking forward to adding more elements over the next few weeks. We've mostly concentrated on building from noon - 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and during the weekly Wednesday Poetry Slams. If you'd like to join us, you're welcome. Just email us at organism1109@gmail.com so we can be sure to prepare. We also welcome guests to just come in and check out the space while we're working too. Here are a few pictures to show our progress:

Matt and his gang of wordsmiths are hosting events Monday - Wednesday evenings, with occasional events during the rest of the week too. To keep up with the poetry schedule, visit The Poetry Menu. Personally, I'm most looking forward to this Wednesday's Haiku Slam, and next week's Sock Puppet Slam. We also post updates nearly every day for fans of the ORGANISM Facebook Page to keep up with us. If you're coming down to ORGANISM Wednesday, you might also check out Doug's presentation at the next Pecha Kucha, which is just across the parking lot at Slowdown, starting at 8:20p.m.

Today also marks the first installment of 3 Share-a-Chair installations that I'll gradually be adding to the space. Learn more about this new ORGANISM element at Share-a-Chair.com.

I'd also like to remind visitors that we're accepting donations. There's no cost to attend any of the ORGANISM events, but there are a couple donation boxes set out. Matt is accepting donations that will support contributing poets and support the Nebraska Writer's Association. Doug and I have a donation box to support the growth of the Organic Chair installation and the Kent Bellows Studio & Center for the Visual Arts. We're also donating a portion of the sale of objects in the Empty Room to the Bellows Studio, so your support for us also supports exceptional young talent. Bellows Studio Executive Director Anne Meysenburg is also presenting at Pecha Kucha on Wednesday, so if you're interested in learning about the organization, here's a prime opportunity.

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you at ORGANISM!

Fleeting Thoughts like Falling Leaves

2009-10-29T22:08:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I usually enjoy living in Omaha is that I'm basically a small-town guy at heart. And let's face it, Omaha is kind of a small town. I want to think I'm a big city kind of guy; that I'm drawn to the largeness of movement and noise and action, but it's really not true. I travel for work several times a year, usually to larger cities, and after a few days, I usually can't wait to get back HOmaha. Even so, growing up in the midwest - first in Kansas, and for the last 10 years in Nebraska - I think I've had a tendency to take for granted the richness of the midwestern landscape. Who isn't at least a little drawn in by a soft breeze flowing over wheat fields before the harvest? Or the simple pattern of rows of corn, soybeans, and whatever else farmers grow around here?

The leaves started turning and falling in my Benson neighborhood several weeks ago. Initially they fell fast and hard, pulled down by the weight of a premature snow. Soon a wet, yellow blanket was covering the ground.

Over the course of the last few weeks bursts of rusty reds and oranges have joined the yellow blooms in a dying explosion of color. I don't remember the colors being this vibrant before. Or being so drawn to the contrasting tones. I'm nearly overtaken every time I turn a corner on my drive home from my studio. It gives me chills to see the yellow leaves flutter from the tops of the trees after small gusts of wind pull the stems from their branches. I don't remember being this influenced by nature either - maybe marriage is making me soft.

As beautiful as the view is now, we all know the landscape will soon give way to a neutral wash of white and brown. But as with the rest of the natural landscape, the lines and contrasts of brown against the impending snow will display a subtler beauty that is harder to see.

These same past few weeks have been busy ones for me. I've been stealing as many hours in my shop as I can trying to turn these star fabrications into tables. They are also a simple gesture at both capturing and honoring the beauty of the Fall and coming Winter landscapes, respectively. The uniform shape of each piece - both in the star form and each contributing diamond shape - echoes the symmetry and simplicity of the fallen leaves. And like a leaf, the simplicity of their form sometimes masks a design that is more complicated the closer you look; it was not easy cutting and fabricating between 200 and 300 individual, uniform pieces of wood together. As I mentioned in my previous post, these pieces are my attempt to - dare I say - turn over a new leaf, in attempt to make work that is more environmentally sustainable than I've attempted in the past. I like to think that with each successive piece of furniture or art or whatever you'd like to call them, that I'm honoring the materials as much as I can.

These tables are also part of my contribution to the ORGANISM project in the Empty Room. If you'd like to see how they turn out, please stop by ORGANISM throughout November and help us grow the space. Don't forget to bring your hammer.

A "Star" of Sustainable design? Probably not.

2009-10-14T00:11:00.001-05:00

My involvement in November's "Organism" project in the Empty Room is mostly about chairs. And design. And building. However, sometimes it will only enhance the project by providing tables on which to rest your favorite beverage, book or both. To that end, I've created the beginnings of what will be two small coffee tables. I've been a little under the weather the last couple days, but was able to work on these over the weekend. Both follow the construction technique I developed with the "Ark" chair. However, with these tables I've focused more on the overall pattern and shape in the fabrication process. The larger piece measures about 3-feet from each star point to its opposing twin. The whole piece is about 3/4" thick. This will be the table top, which will be paired with a set of thin, spindly turned legs. The fabrication of the larger finished piece was made by cutting about 300 (288, to-be-exact) individual diamond shaped pieces that have then been glued together, one-by-one. The smaller piece will be the same design, but feature a modified wood/grain pattern from the larger one. The woods used in the larger piece included paduak and red heart (alternating in the center), followed by a layer of honey locust, with the remaining encasing made of different varieties of walnut. The smaller piece is red heart alternating with canary wood, followed by a pattern of red heart and honey locust.

For those of you who are interested in sustainable design, well... this doesn't exactly fit the bill. However, I do have an olive branch of sorts to offer, since each of the diamond shaped pieces is cut from the scraps of other projects. So, I've at least found a way to work with what would otherwise have been waste in a process that embraces the spirit of sustainability, even if the underlying wood I used was not. I look forward to hearing any of your suggestions about incorporating other sustainable design and fabrication processes.

Simple Box Complex lid

2009-09-30T22:49:00.000-05:00

Continuing my experimentation with paper as a structural element, I made this simple walnut box with a fairly complex paper lid. Using snap fasteners in place of screws or glue, it took several tries - and lots of swear words - to get the cuts, folds and fasteners lined up correctly. It was worth it for such a perfect fit. It nestles in perfectly to create a contrast of color and composition.

Up next... a big announcement, and several new projects. First, apparently I'm getting hitched this weekend. Wish us luck!

Fake IKEA, Round 2

2009-09-10T20:04:00.000-05:00

My original homage to IKEA, made for Niz a few months back, has gravitated to my side of the bed. Apparently, it was too short. So, I took another go of it - same basic design of exposed edge plywood, but this time veneered in maple. The pictures look pretty good, but I messed up the top of the veneer, so I'll have to redo that (bubble). This one is about 18" tall and 14" in diameter. I wouldn't mind going back to IKEA sometime - for the Swedish meatballs and lingonberries.

Oh, btw, if you're in the market for a solid walnut table that's, oh, I don't know, something like 4' wide x 14' long, I may be able to help you...

Clean Plate aftermath

2009-08-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

A lot of the time when people see the things I make they're very hesitant to touch or use them, treating the pieces more like they're in a museum than a functional space. So it was rewarding to be at Clean Plate a few times and see people gathered around the table, sharing great food and conversation. The 1-month Clean Plate residency, all the patrons, visitors and the food and drink, left their mark on the space and the table - literally and figuratively. I guess that's what it's all about with the Empty Room. Congratulations to Elle on such a successful and hopefully fulfilling (emphasis on filling) month!

Complete or Repeat? You (help) decide!

2009-08-17T23:35:00.005-05:00

Recently I tried my hand at making Niz a cherry and walnut veneer table that I said was my attempt at something like Ikea. It turned out alright, but now we need another one that matches the style, but that's a little taller and a little larger in diameter. I also wanted to do a design on the top that challenged my parquetry skills (actually, lackthereof). I came up with the below design, to a "meh" reaction. I think it's pretty cool, particularly because the yellow veneer is called "myrtle burl", which just sounds funny. The darker wood is walnut burl. I can also imagine what it will look like finished, and think it will be cool. If I move forward on this one, I'll add the same style of half-tapered, cherry or walnut veneer legs as the first, and finish it with a semi-gloss polyurethane. What do you think? Should I move ahead and complete, or does it demand a repeat? Oh, and feel free to re-Tweet (this post).

Celebrating Others' Work: Kevin Jones, Doug Kiser & Mark Lane

2009-08-13T20:48:00.005-05:00

I've had the good fortune to meet a lot of other artists, designers and craftsmen (and women) over the past couple years. I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight a few of those folks' - friends and acquaintances new and old - with this post. Hopefully, none of them mind me putting them in the limelight for a bit:

Kevin Jones does all kinds of photography, but I think his passion seems to lie in capturing the spontaneity and energy revealed in screams, sweat and spit during the live acts of touring and local punk rock and indie bands. I've also been lucky enough to have Kevin take photos of several of my pieces of furniture (i.e. the coffee table at the top of this page, among others). He also does portraiture and other event-related work. Check out some of his work on KevinAndrewJones.com. Rumor has it Kevin's also not a bad framer and drummer, and he's catching up with me in the woodworking department too.

Over the past year Niz and I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Doug Kiser and his wife Geej. Quite honestly, Doug's a more experienced and talented woodworker than I am, and he brings a background in cabinetry and interior design. I feel fortunate that Doug's been willing to share feedback, skills, resources - and even his workspace once or twice - while not making me feel like an amateur or total ass. Doug's a full-timer who does it all - furniture design and construction, cabinetry, kitchens and bathrooms and more. I'm also looking forward to seeing more of Doug's paintings soon. You can see Doug's work all over town, including Secret Penguin headquarters, Film Streams and Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance. And if you're lucky, your own house. Doug's website is dkiser.com.

Very recently Niz introduced me to Mark Lane, who has been designing and building furniture for quite some time, but just recently launched a full-fledged business, Mark Lane Custom Furniture. Mark draws inspiration from the Arts and Crafts movement, but puts a modern spin on it. I'm looking forward to checking out Mark's shop one of these days, and possibly helping him find a way to get his new thickness planer down the stairs.

I know all three of these guys are going to keep pushing themselves forward in their respective businesses, and as they do so, hopefully their creativity, feedback and success will push me forward as well.

- Peter -

Babes 'n the Wood: Fancy Baby Rattles

2009-08-10T11:52:00.005-05:00

I grew up with lots of wooden toys that my dad made, or my parents bought me at Art in the Park. Other than simple, traditional items like Jacob's Ladders, letter blocks and spinning tops, I don't see many of these kinds of toys anymore. Everything seems to be made out of plastic or rubber. Is it wrong for me to yearn for the days when a kid could get a splinter from a toy? I don't think so.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had a baby, Simon. I decided I wanted to make a toy that would be crafty, safe and useful for kids, but would trump the clunky, old-school toys while appealing to the modern styles of parents. So I came up with handmade fancy baby rattles.

They're not something I've advertised much - mostly I've just made them for friends and friends-of-friends. This past week I made one for my sister's best friend, and I think I'm going to make some more. Each rattle is available in different combinations of colors and shapes to match the style of your new bundle of joy. They're lightweight and durable. And the smooth surface, finished with a baby-friendly oil, won't leave your 'tyke with any splinters.

My plate is clean: Final Clean Plate Sneak Peak

2009-07-29T20:29:00.008-05:00

I've told a lot of friends and acquaintances during the last few weeks that this July has been the busiest time I've ever had, as far as I can remember. Now that we've reached the end of the month, I've finished all the projects I (over) committed to, with a day or two to spare. Among these, of course, is the 14-foot Clean Plate dining table. The picture below is from about a week ago, and should give you a better idea of its overall size. But in order to see the finished piece, you'll have to check it out at the Empty Room. All I can say is that it looks gorgeous, and I'm happy and proud I had the opportunity to do it. I'm also proud of the fact that my dad got to help me with it this past weekend. We hadn't worked on many projects together since my first couple, so it was an interesting experience coming full circle almost ten years later with this more massive piece. Check out all the wood shavings in the picture below; Jean and Renee, sorry for all the dust.

For now my proverbial plate is clean - sort of - for a while, but I'm back to work on a new chair next week. Should be interesting. You can follow my progress at the shareyourchair blog.

Oh, and if you haven't heard anything about it, be sure to stop by Mosaic Community Development this weekend. On Thursday there's a Tweetup, Friday there's live music/food, and on Saturday, myself and the other Just Rest artists, Leslie Iwai and Kjell Cronn, will be doing demos/workshops from 11am - 2pm. Learn more at mosaiccd.org.

So I guess my plate isn't as clean as I thought. That's alright - I like it that way. Adios.

Turning you on: An (over) simplified process for using a lathe

2009-07-21T11:15:00.014-05:00

Last week I posted a couple pictures of an in-process project that involved making some display cases with spindles. Now that I've finished that project and caught up with (most) of my July work, I thought it would be both informative and cool to show some of the simple process for producing a spindle on a lathe. In doing so, I've omitted several pictures to get to the fun stuff (isn't that what we all want?). Check it:

Step 1) Cut a length of wood that is straight and square on the ends. If it isn't square when you start the lathe, you'll cause yourself irritation and potential eye injury trying to get it centered. If you've ever done ceramics, this process is very similar to centering the mound of clay on the wheel, except that if you don't do it right, you can't just remound the material - you'll waste an expensive piece of wood a tree died to give you. You might not think it, but the harder the wood, the easier it is too turn; soft wood chips and tears more easily, perhaps because the grain/wood fibers are not as tightly bound to one another. Generally, harder woods (maple, walnut, cherry) are much more expensive than softer woods (pine). Actually, come to think of it, perhaps leafy tree wood is softer than coniferous wood - something to think about at a later date... back to getting lathed:

When you have a length of wood that is square on both ends, mark an "X" through the center of both ends. You'll use these to center the piece on the lathe. If your "X" is off-center, you'll end up wasting a lot of material trying to make a cylinder, and probably split the wood or take off giant chunks as described above.

Step 2) Once you have the wood centered and attached to the lathe (again, there are steps here, but I'm trying to keep this relatively brief/simple), you attach your tool rest (a metal bar you place your chisel/knife against, which acts like a fulcrum) about 1/4" from the edge of the wood.

(Step 3) For my project, I was cutting spindles, but wanted to keep the ends of each square, so I cut a very shallow groove around the perimeter of the wood, about 1 1/2" from each end (see photo). If I hadn't done this, I likely would have splintered off a chunk on each end; cutting the groove helps keep the ends square. If you're going to turn the entire length of wood, this wouldn't be necessary.

Step 4) Next is the fun part - turning. Turn on the lathe (obviously). Place the tool firmly agains the tool rest and gradually move it toward the stock of wood, taking off bits/shavings of material very slowly. Proceed down the length of the material, cutting a little more with each pass, until you've turned a cylinder. Pretty easy, huh? It really is.

After that you can use all sorts of other chisels and knives with different ends to create different grooves and cuts in the spindle. For this project, I was given some general direction from the client, but they wanted each one to be different. This, combined with the "rustic" or "handmade" look they wanted, made the job incredibly easy. Typically I would sharpen my knives/chisels frequently, as well as sanding the piece with sandpaper from 60 or 80 grit all the way up to 600 grit or higher. I'd also wear a respirator, safety goggles and ear muffs (safety 1st!).

I should mention I've been doing this for a while now, but am nowhere near a pro. There are people who do this - and only this - type of woodworking as a passion, and produce some amazing things. With the exception of Christmas ornaments and baby rattles, turning is something I usually incorporate into a larger piece, rather than make as stand alone objects. If you want to see cool pictures of way better turnings, or learn more about the process, check out the Loess Hills Woodturners Club, a local club based out of Iowa. Of for more photos, check out the American Association of Woodturners.

Getting Lathed: A new project

2009-07-14T15:45:00.005-05:00

I was recently commissioned to make 5 simple, pine display racks for a local artist. I sometimes do these projects to supplement my income a little and challenge me to interpret someone else's designs. They tend to be pretty simple, direct and good practice for my own work. In this case, the artist in question is also someone I highly respect and admire, so that's a bonus too!

The artist gave me dimensions and a general guideline for the pieces, which will eventually be painted nice and fancy and used to display some ceramic figures. The display rack (that's the best description I can give it) is 26 1/2" tall, 16" wide and 10 3/4" deep. I couldn't find any wood that was 16" wide, so I had to use one of my favorite tools - a Dewalt Biscuit Joiner (not edible) to join two 8" wide boards together for the back, top and bottom.

The fun part came in creating the front spindles. The artist wanted the pieces to look handmade and folky, which I sort of interpret as "rough". Therefore, I wanted the spindles to look kind of beaten up and chipped. I chose basswood - a soft wood often used by old men to carve boots, horses and the like - because I knew it wouldn't turn very smoothly on the lathe, and lo and behold I was right. Check out the lathe in action - the piece is turning really fast (not sure of the RPM, so just accept that "really fast" means "really fast"). The section to the left looks stationary because it's already been rounded. But the section attached to the lathe on the right side is still square, so it looks blurry - that's the "really fast" in action.

I plan to post a short video of my rusty old lathe in action pretty soon. A few recent conversations with the folks at Silicon Prairie News and ACuriousParty have inspired me to buy a video camera. Can you say Woodworking Podcast? Giving me wood just thinking about it!

It's all in the cut

2009-07-09T10:49:00.003-05:00

Although I'm an extremely amazing designer and craftsman (please note sarcasm), I'm still learning quite a bit. That's actually one of the reasons I like doing this kind of work. Isn't it hard to learn new things when you're no longer in school?

For a very long time I had assumed that I knew what "quarter sawn" lumber was. I thought this meant that the wood was milled in exact quarter dimensions, such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, etc. I also thought this "style" of cut was sort of the opposite of dimensional lumber, such as one-by-fours and two-by-fours (which are actually only 3/4" and 1 1/2" thick).

However, I just stumbled on a great little article, which includes simple explanatory drawings, that highlights the difference... it's all in the cut...http://www.allwoodwork.com/article/woodwork/plainorquartersawn.htm

Clean Plate table sneak peak

2009-07-08T08:24:00.016-05:00

I celebrated the majority of the July 4th holiday by not hanging out with friends and family; not relaxing in lawn chairs; and not blowing myself up with black cats and M-80s. I did, however, witness a pretty impressive fireworks display in the 2500 block of S. 49th St.

Most of my weekend was in fact spent on my back screwing... boards that is. I took advantage of an extra day off work to finish fabricating the first part of the Clean Plate table. I affixed the side rails to the 4 gorgeous solid walnut legs and created a sort of interior skeletal structure from poplar (a very straight-grained, durable wood).

I joined enough planks to create a full top that screws onto the structure from the underside of the table. In the picture at right, I'm using bar clamps to join the pieces laterally, and squeeze clamps to keep the board from buckling upward under the immense pressure of the clamping. This will also ensure that the piece will remain a flat surface after the glue dries.

Drilling up through the poplar structure into the underside of the planks will accommodate any expansion or contraction that may result from changes in temperature and humidity; this also makes the top look like it's resting on the legs and side rails, without any fasteners, which is a "cleaner" look.

The next phase will involve a pretty extensive amount of sanding on the top. This is the part of working with wood that I wish I didn't have to do. Not only is it hard, tiring work; it's also very dirty and not particularly good for one's health. I wear a professional respirator (those paper masks are worthless, btw), but still come home with nostrels full of brown dust and my eyes feeling slightly irrirated, like I'm wearing contact lenses that are past their expiration date. It's worth the work and risk to health - check out the contrast in the richness of the section of wood that has been sanded and coated with linseed oil and the section that has not - it's pretty dramatic and makes me excited to see how the top will look when finished. Hopefully that happens by the end of the week. Time is running short... Elle starts the move-in to Empty Room August 1.

Clean Table - Sneak Peak #3: It's turning me upside down

2009-06-26T23:15:00.008-05:00

After a short break to travel to San Francisco for work/play, I was able to get back in my workshop today. I made some pretty substantial progress on the Clean Plate table, including getting all the top planks cut to size, as well as the rails and ends for one of the 3 components.

The picture on the left is one of two five-foot long sections laid out on a work table. It's pictured here upside down, because the pieces are not fasted together in any way. Hopefully you can get a sense of the basic design and size from the photo.

This 5' x 4' section and another of equal dimension will bookend a middle section that is 4' x 4'. Two legs of each of the outer 5' x 4' sections will pull double duty by supporting the middle section

as well. I wish I had a better picture of the way I've arranged the top planks; the richness of color and diversity of grain patterns of this Silver City, IA and Nebraska-grown and milled walnut is significant.

To give you a larger sense of the amount of material in this table (and then, perhaps the size),

here is a shot of most of the end pieces I cut off today to square and cut to size the top planks. I save all these stubby pieces in a box with the intent of making a sculpture or fabricating a structure, but I'm not convinced this will happen any time soon. We'll see - maybe when I finish this, and another project and some chairs and...

She's got legs: Clean Plate Sneak Peak #2

2009-06-16T22:12:00.004-05:00

"I need wood around me, Jerry. Wood. Wood." - Kramer, from Seinfeld

I have to drive to the Panhandle Wednesday/Thursday and then we're off to San Francisco for a few days starting this weekend. So, I wanted to make a little headway on the Clean Plate table. Tonight I was able to cut and square the remaining four legs. The table, now shortened to about 14-feet, will have 4 solid walnut legs that are about 2" square. All four of the legs pictured above are cut from the same 8/4 piece of wood, which is pretty cool (Most milled lumber is sold in thicknesses of 4/4, 5/4, 6/4 and 8/4. This means just what it sounds like in terms of math - 4/4=4 quarter inches, or 1 inch; 6/4=6 quarter inches, or 1 1/2 inches; and so on - don't ask me why they don't just use the standard inch measurement - must be a wood culture thing).

Anyway, enough of the shop class lesson. You might not be able to tell, but these pieces all have a very distinctive grain pattern that's very swirly and marbled looking. Check back for more updates soon!

Clean Table - Sneak Peak #1

2009-06-11T22:39:00.009-05:00

I have the distinct honor of being commissioned to create a dining table for the upcoming Clean Plate residency at the Empty Room in NoDo. Starting in early August, Elle Lien will bring her flavorful feasts to foodies and concert goers. And trust me, having sampled this past Sunday's Mediterranean-inspired brunch, Omaha is in for a treat. The Empty Room projects are meant to be community-based. In that spirit, I'll be sharing occasional updates and photos of the building process. If you're going to be around the Bemis Center or are interested in checking it out, lending a hand for an hour or so or just want to hang out drop me a line. Here are a couple pictures with the basic layout of the top. The long pieces of wood laying vertically on edge will actually be the supports on the underside, and the uneven pieces running laterally are the top.

After several conversations, Elle and I settled on a Parsons-style table, which means the ends, sides and legs are all flush with the top, eliminating any overhang or lip. The whole table will be 16-feet long and 4-feet wide. This is by far the largest piece of furniture I've ever made and has already presented me with several logistical challenges. Namely, the length and overall size has caused me to build the table in 3 pieces so it can be moved out of my workshop and easily transported to the Empty Room.

Niz's side table

2009-06-03T22:47:00.010-05:00

My ~~girlfriend~~ fiancee, Niz, has a slightly different aesthetic than mine when it comes to furniture and interiors. For the most part, I like very solid, dark flooring, molding and furniture. She's sort of the opposite; I think she'd like to live in the Ikea showroom. I think she almost fainted when she saw the custom walk-in closet and cabinets my friend Doug K. made for he and his wife's house.

So, in my continued quest to make her happy, I decided I'd try to move outside my craft comfort zone and make something Ikea-worthy. It's not exactly an Ikea knock-off - that would go against my principal about copying, etc. - but I think I've channeled the simplicity in its use of plywood and veneer and relatively simple design. All in all, I'm pretty happy with this one. The top is made of 5/8" plywood that is about 12" in diameter. The legs are about 16" tall - also made of 5/8" plywood. The top surface is veneered in cherry, and the legs are veneered in walnut. It took all my willpower to keep the edges exposed, as I generally look at plywood with disdain. However, finally taking the time to make something sort of nice out of it might have converted me somewhat. It probably cost about 1/2 to 1/4 the price in materials to make this piece in plywood/veneer rather than solid hardwood, and plywood is a "greener" materials, sort of.

Jean's Drawers

2009-05-23T23:22:00.011-05:00

Here's another recent addition I haven't had the opportunity to post yet. I designed and fabricated this and another similar drawer for my friend Jean, to be joined an existing table top she made from wood salvaged from the Falstaff brewery.

The quilted look of the drawer fronts were accomplished by fabricating a series of small (1") diamond-shaped pieces of cherry and Spanish cedar together. This is very much the same process I used for the body of the "Ark" chair in my Share Your Chair blog. The center starburst is made of alternating pieces of cocobolo and redheart. The knobs are made turned from cocobolo and cherry. Though not really visible in these photos, the top and bottom are walnut veneered plywood; the sides are cherry and cocobolo. I finished it all off with a couple coats of semi-gloss polyurethane.

Some Newer things

2009-04-18T14:09:00.021-05:00

Ah, fully wearable wood. Sort of. Like the below pieces, these are sort of studies for some future work I plan on doing. I'm fascinated with how people consume "folk" or "outsider art". It seems a little silly to me. I tend not to place values on art based on the background of the maker, and I see the marketing and consumption of this work as a fabrication. It seems like people overlook the inherent value as the work as a innocent, undeterred creativity, and instead focus on the supposed "otherness" of the work. The recent obsession with folk and outsider art seems to pre-suppose that every person who makes work for the sake of the work instead of for the purpose of installations or gallery exhibitions is some sort of back-woods idiot savant or tortured soul, a la Daniel Johnston or Henry Darger.

Thus, my purpose with these pieces and others forthcoming is to attempt to turn this idea on its head - to make work that looks simply, roughly made in the folk tradition, but reflects the values and accoutrements of a supposed higher class. Photo by Kevin Andrew Jones.

This little has been pretty important in terms of testing out some new design techniques. It's also a last gasp effort to use bloodwood/exotics as something more than just an accent. Again, picture quality is kind of shitty, but hopefully you can tell the bottoms of the triangular drawers are a heavy watercolor paper than has been sewn to the sides.

I've since used this technique twice more. One of my current projects is exploring paper as a structural material, so it should be fun to chart the evolution of the process. Oh, and pay no mind to that conspicuously placed copy of Bruce Springsteen's "The River" in the background.

Some older things

2009-04-17T18:41:00.004-05:00

So this is my first wood creation. Pretty good, huh? Well, I had loads of help from my dad. This is from about 2002. I drew the basic design, which he took a look at and basically said was impossible to make, in sort of the M.C. Escher drawing way. This is one of the few non-chair items I still have. I'll never sell! - Walnut, Cherry, Glass, with glass dividers in the middle and backless drawers, which didn't really work how I envisioned in retrospect. Photo by Kevin Andrew Jones.

I took a commission from my friends Chris and Christine to transform a sort of shelf/display table they'd found at Von Maur or some other department store into a display case. I refinished the piece, added a bunch of inlay and the display case for Chris' super-cool antique beer bottle collection. I also made the wine rack, pictured below, which fits on a shelf or counter. The design is a little big for mass appeal, but a nice blend of maple and blood wood. This was a couple years ago when I was still fascinated by colored wood while I was making this and some other things. It took forever to finish, mostly because I'd never stripped and refinished anything before. That was a hard lesson. Photo by Kevin Andrew Jones.

I'm taking the time to transfer most of my art photos from Facebook/my Mac to here. I'll continue to post a few pictures of work here and there. You can also check out my "Share Your Chair" blog, which is just about all the chairs I'm making in a project that explores, ritual, sharing, exchange and networks.

This is a sort of older piece - obviously a table - that I made around 2004 or 2005. I had it in my house for quite a while. The shelf underneath, besides being perfect for large art books, somehow happened to be the perfect height and depth for about 50 vinyl records. This is a pretty good representation of what I was trying to do at the time - use lots of contrasting woods, utilizing all available space for function, etc. Ironically, I haven't made anything with those sort of elegantly curved legs since. That should change soon. Walnut, Redheart, Mahogany & a few bits of Cocobolo for inlay. Photo by Kevin Andrew Jones.