Old Wood, New Wood

I've got a bit of a reputation for using old recycled wood a lot. I thought this kitchen in a new "cottage" would be one of those but I was mistaken. Ideas soon zeroed in on a grey stained veneer made of poplar. This product is being used to make remarkably convincing wood species look-a-likes. That being said we got into some old barn timbers too, and worked the two materials in together.

The table and bench grew from the same collective creative chatting that got the project started. I always work with the customer's own ideas and my co worker, John Weima, takes me to places I'd never thought of.

This last photo shows the end support of a bath room vanity. The customer has followed an interesting theme of a semi-industrial look of the thirties. Lamps are flared enamel shades on threaded pipe. These cables evoke hydro pole stays to me, linked to forged 19th century barn door hasps. It is eclectic, for sure, but it works and challenges every presumption. 

Outside the first snows are cooling off the rounded granite ridges. It was not so long ago on a hot day we leapt into the lake to cool off!

A stairwell

This is a new blog for me, though I've been blogging on other matters for a while.

I suddenly thought I should do a blog of my work, something that's occupied me for thirty years now! So I'm going to start with what I'm working on at the moment and we'll see what happens. 

This picture is the start of my latest project. 

This current project is nothing like what I usually do, but then no two jobs are ever the same. 

Over a year ago I did a kitchen for someone, which I hope to post. It was part of a bigger renovation. As with so many renovations certain parts never get finished. So it was with their old stair well. A year and more has passed and I was approached by the customer to fix up the stairs. That was relatively easy, but the final question was what to do with the damaged and blank wall where the stair turns to the top floor. I took a photo of the stairs and then drew in a sketch that had popped into my head. Here it is:

The customer was delighted and so I have proceeded. The next stage was to shape pieces to create the impression of the print "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai. I used 1/4" MDF, my least favourite material, and came up with a three dimensional layering which covers the gaps around the treads at the top.

These pieces have now been removed and given thir first layers of paint as I experiment with style before worrying about colour. This next photo shows the layers stacked and laid out flat.

I've been a bit more simple in my forms than Hokusai and have made wave crests which remind me of a walrus.

Mount Fuji will be painted red and there will be no fishing boats. The next stage will be to work on the colours. Then it can be installed. Updates will follow.

February

Well, I finally got it done. We matched colours to paint samples from a paint supplier. This way I didn't have to mix which was becoming a problem for me and was holding up the project. Re-painting became a sort of "paint by numbers" and was quickly achieved. Then I fitted the pieces in and touched up the joining areas. Here is the result: