Long Lost Album Cover

Just found this in Discogs. I totally forgot about this commission. It's the album cover of 'Another White Male' 'Cattle' of 1996.

Facet Table in Stainless Steel

Facet Table in TIG welded, polished 304 stainless steel. 30"H X 44"L X 16"W

"Intersections Fence Project." Puplic Art In the Downtown East Side

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painting by Taiga Chiba

I have been working on a public art project with my friend and esteemed colleague, James Koester in the DTES. It's a show of paintings of local artists. James has been working with Intersections media to produce this show. Plans are still in flux but it looks like the paintings will be displayed as a perimeter installation on the fence of the Intersections parking lot, like the banner of James' blog of the project.

James is designing managing and curating the project which is a much bigger job than you might imagine. Some of the artists have been chosen by Intersections and some by James. Intersections will be producing a short video of the project. My contribution to the effort has been the making the metal frames for the project and the installation which will happen in early December.

Of what I've seen so far, the paintings have a quality not seen in a lot of public art. Refreshing. It reminds me of a quote attributed to Candido Portinari who when asked for his position on social realism he replied "All I know is this; art is art or it's shit." We can thank James for his integrity on that score. He has gone out of his way to create an artist centered community based exhibit of exceptional quality.

Here is another teaser of one of the pieces:

painting by Colleen Carroll

A must see show in the making...

Figurations: Shelf-X-Wood first showing

Wenge and maple. Gloss lacquer. Stacked with glass units.

Studio photography to come...

The Return of Mothra

I was visited by Mothra a few years ago while framing in the living room of my house. This time she arrived while we were watching a movie. She was fluttering against the window so we shut off all the lights and I went out on a ladder to save her from the cobwebs on the window sill.

The wingspan of this incarnation measured 5". You can hear her wingbeats when she files. She had big red fuzzy legs which didn't show up well in the photos. Too bad she didn't show up in the daytime. She is a Polyphemus Moth ( Antheraea polyphemus ) from the fabulous Bug Guide website. Link to the caterpillar stage

Facet Box

Jewellery box from the Facet Series by Marcus Sabathil. Hand sculpted from a solid block of black walnut and finished with hand rubbed shellac. The box lid swivels 360 degrees and is held closed by rare earth magnets. It has a satisfying "snap back" when it is closed.

My work is now available on Etsy at my store: design4furniture.etsy.com

Spring Critter Round Up

Super busy with so many projects... but I have some sweet shots that have been burning a hole in my flash memory.

I post these without comment. I may add something later.

As usual, click to enlarge. Much fuzz to observe.

Enjoy.

Shelf-X -Wood

I'm just in the middle of building the first Shelf-x-Wood pieces.

This first photo was taken before the edge veneer or lacquer is applied. These units are modular and stack horizontally and vertically. The wood veneer is a sustainably produced Wenge look-alike. Cabinet insides are veneered in maple.

The units come apart easily and can be flat packed for shipping and moving. This construction allows for a free-standing unit without backs so it may be used as a room divider.

This photo shows the joinery that allows the modular stacking.

This is a glue-up in progress.

A Winter Surprise

While out dealing with the snow we've been enduring, this caught my eye...

Click to enlarge, If you dare...

Love the colours. And that belt... So stylish, so now.

How do they do it?

First time I've seen one in the wild. I think it's a Western Tiger Swallowtail.  I got some help with the ID from the nice people at my favourite bug site: BugGuide.Net 

On the same day I sighted this creature:

"Han, Han, make-cheesay. Pa'sa tah ono caulky malia. Ee youngee d'emperolo teesaw. Twa spastika awahl no. Yanee dah poo noo."

Puppy Pupa. AKA Jabba the Pup.

Ice Feets

Never a dull moment around here. These oddities of nature were dangling in the creek formed during a cold snap here.

Magical Mystery Diving Bird (solved: American Dipper)

This little dear was splashing around in one of our ponds today. I grabbed the binoculars to get a better look.  At first I thought it was a duck, no, too small. Then I thought it was a wren bathing  but it seemed too big.  Then It dove under water.  Wha? 

I quickly got my camera and a sweater and scooted out in my slippers to see if I could snap a few.  The body colouring was plain, grey-brown body dappled with some light streaks and the head and breast were a warmer brown.  It had a pale cream-yellow beak and flesh coloured legs.  It bobbed almost constantly and liked to keep it's tail perked up like a wren. It was about the size of a towhee without the tail.

I was watching it stick it's head under water and swim for short but energetic moments and then it did the most curious thing: It dove under water, flapped it's wings and flew under water for about four feet before hopping back up on a floating branch.  A swimming, diving, flying under water wren?  It later flew into the creek and hunted about for food there as well.

I couldn't get close enough to get any good shots and the telephoto setting pretty sad on my camera

Orb Update

New photos of the Orb-1 in Starfire glass.  This is the smallest version (so far) of the Orb vase.  I don't think Guido could even turn around in this one. Yes, he's grown.  

Orb is created from two pieces of kiln formed glass which are hand lapped, polished and laminated together.

They are available at Dr. Vigari on commecrial drive and through my studio.  Dimensions are 7.5"tall x 10"wide x 3"deep.  $395

Working with Paduk

This is a video I made showing how I remove planing marks and tearout from Paduk.  A card scraper is an excellent alternative to sanding which tears the grain instead of slicing.  Scraping really shows off the alternating grain pattern on paduk.  

New design: Log shelf

These are the first in a series of elemental wood and steel pieces.  Salvaged black locust milled on the bandsaw and seasoned for two years.  Gorgeous colour and contrast between the sap wood, heartwood and the bark.  The hardwood will darken slightly over time.  Black locust is a rare wood to find.  Enjoy.  

Limited edition of five.  

$450 each

20" x 7" x 4" (measurements are approximate)
Mounting holes @ 16" for stud location. Between studs limit load to 25lbs.

Now available at Dr. Vigari Gallery 1312 Commercial Drive
(between Charles & Kitchener Streets)
Vancouver, BC

Dragonfly

Caught this a few days ago. She was so intent on laying her eggs she paid me no mind.

Guido The Orb Dancer

Guido dances to the tune of the O Green World by the Gorillaz. Filmed during the Orb vase photo shoot. If you look carefully you can catch him lip synching. 

WANT!!!1!!

I used to be into fast cars. Porsche being my favourite followed by California style hot-rodded Beetles.  I had a 1971 VW Beetle handed down through our family which I totally tricked out and souped up. 2 litre engine, dual Dellortos, ported, cammed out, 135hp motor. lowered, shaved chrome, Tilt up fibreglass racing front end. I could take a 4 litre Mustang in the 1/4 mile and still get 35 mpg. That's 35 mpg city / highway driving like a twenty something. 

When I started building furniture, I sold my beloved beetle and I lost interest in cars.

Until I got interested in Electric Vehicles.  Then I found the motorcycles. Then these...

These babies have changed everything.

A classic, and electric. I must have one.  See for yourself.

Paduk Mantlepiece

I wanted this piece to be a bit deco in the details. The columns were done mostly on the jointer and I was looking for an Egyptian feel. The piece is solid frame and panel paduk with solid vertical grain zebrano as a trim.  The zebrano required special backing features to allow for seasonal movement.  All of the parts are bookmatched and came from the same board.

 

No stain was used. You are looking at the actual wood colours. In the background you can see the corner cabinet which I made at the same time (well, not exactly at the same time) I will post on that one later.

 

It took a whole lot of very careful measurements to make sure the thing slid into place seamlessly. Luckily the building it's in is the best finished I've seen.  I had to try and one up the place.

New Auranthetic Orange

Keep up to date on all things electric and Orange on my new blog:

http://auranthetic.blogspot.com/

Auranthetic Charger

Meet my new toy.

24 volt, 1 hp, all electric and built in 1974

I'll post more soon.