This year seems to have been crazy busy. A lot of my time was taken up with making for the ‘Out of the Forest’ exhibition – but surely I did more than that? I know I’m not the fastest maker out there, and I am retired, but I’m not that slow – or am I? Time to take stock.
After a dive into the various photo storage sites I have, plus a bit more, I realised that not all of my work has been recorded as images, and there are plenty of other domestic activities which get me out of the shed – lawns, baking days, shopping runs, duty days at Ferry Park, etc. However, we did get a fair bit done.
The big job in the first half of the year was to finish painting the house and to replace the flooring in four rooms in the house. We laid a hybrid floating floor system, and in two of the rooms, the flooring was laid in a herring bone pattern! The videos etc on the computer make it look easy. It might be easy if you have learned all the tricks of the trade – I had much to learn. I have no photos!
The first piece finished was the Realeaux Triangle in curly Mango. This piece was entered in the Wood Symphony Gallery ‘Turned and Sculpted’ on-line exhibition and was sold to a US based collector.
A Realeaux triangle is one of an interesting family of geometric shapes. The Realeaux forms all have a constant width or ‘diameter’, like a circle. Look it up on Wikipedia!
I finished another sculpture in the first half – a small ‘Bud Form’ in Silky Oak. This was pretty much a prototype for a larger piece in curly Mango that has only just been started!
I spent a bit of time giving a colleague and fellow Clarence Valley Woodworker a hand to make his first piece of furniture – a rocking cradle for his soon to be born grandson. While this was happening, I began working on a hall table.
From around May through September, I was working on pieces for the exhibition.
First off was a smaller Realeaux triangle – also in curly Mango. This piece was made partly in response to a query from Wood Symphony Gallery.
The ‘Sci-Fi Tri-spoke’ came from an idea I saw on Pinterest, but significantly altered and developed until the original is only vaguely recognisable. The shape of piece reminds me of spaceships in old sci-fi comics when I was kid. This was a challenging piece to build. Although the blank was one heavy billet of mango wood, the piece is surprisingly light.
I had made a similar table in Banksia – this one was from a piece of Silky Oak that had been leaning against the wall of my shed for a few years. It had several small fissures in the top – these were filled with resin, then rows of Red Cedar butterfly keys were inlaid. The design required balance, so a Dragon fly was inlaid in the right hand side. This piece sold soon after the exhibition closed.
This clock and whiskey cabinet had been on my to-do list for a few years. Red Silky Oak, Red Cedar and some Camphor Laurel for the cabinet back. On the card, it says that the clock would suit a temperance household…
A ‘Boxed Set’ or a set of boxes. Five boxes in Tipuana, lined with Jacaranda, and topped with glass by the wonderful Su Bishop of Xandolla Glass Art. I put them into the ‘Out of the Forest’ exhibition as a set, not for sale seperately. The Tipuana has a black stain in the sapwood, and the creamy heartwood will redden with time. The boxes have a live edge all round, and mitres of Australian Red Cedar.
Another Mobius piece, this one exploring the relationship between inside and outside diameters. I spent a lot of time chasing the lines and curves. This was made for the ‘Out of the Forest’ exhibition. Curly Mango, finished tung oil and wax. Happy with that.
Once the work for the ‘Out of the Forest’ exhibition was done and dusted, it was back to the accumulated backlog of stuff for our house and other work I promised for others.
The first of these jobs was to build a shelter to protect the caravan from weather damage – especially the effects of sun and hailstorms. The shelter replaces an existing structure which had a few issues. The shelter was delivered in kit form. I demolished the existing structure, excavated and poured the footings, and with the help of a neighbour (thanks Tim Gherke!) erected the shed. There were plenty of lessons to learn along the way. We still have to put some drainage in place – but that will come next year.
Next was a handrail around the deck on Su’s shed. The main plan was to provide a good handrail to go up and down the steps to make it safer. Su is prone to a bout of vertigo from time to time. The handrail was made from recycled treated pine, and is really quite solid.
The last big job to get finished was the kitchen bench and cabinet under for Su. Su chose the Camphor Laurel slabs back in March, but the ‘Out of the Forest’ show meant that nothing got done for the next seven months. The cabinet houses a small electric oven that we often use instead of the big oven for sheet bakes, warming food, etc. There is also space for recipe books, and odds and sods that normally litter the house. The cabinet is made from laminated pine, with a white washed paint finish, sealed with a flat water based poly sealer. The slabs for the bench were flattened and thicknessed by hand. The brackets and butterfly keys are Flooded Gum.
There are, of course, numerous other small jobs that got done along the way that I’ve ignored.
It’s easy to forget our achievements. We seem to be more inclined to remember the problems, the failures or other misadventures. It wasn’t until collected all of these photos that I began to appreciate the output. We should all take the time to remind ourselves of our achievements and the good things we’ve done. Do it now!
Shed on a One Acre Block 