New work

I have been working on the third set in my Triplets series for several months. They are made from a block of really interesting elm which has some nice figure and huge area of bark inclusion. They turned out really nicely in the end, but the twisted grain of the wood made it a real pain to work with. I had to spend a lot more time than I wanted with a knife cleaning up cuts, texturing some surfaces with carving gouges, and sanding. I called this set The Bothersome Brothers.

But they surprised me by selling within a week of going on the shelf. I hadn't even had a chance to take proper photos of them, but their proud new owner was patient enough to let me take this shot before they left for their new home.

I have also started making pendants:


These particular ones are turned from various burl woods. They are strung on a soft nylon cord which is adjustable in length. They are selling very well and I am exploring other design options and ways of stringing them. I have some clasps and other stringing materials on order and look forward to trying them out. I also ordered some findings to make matching ear rings.

Stay tuned. I hope to be able to offer these from the website very soon.

How important are handcrafted items in your life?

How important are handcrafted items in your life? This is the question that will be addressed on the Maritime Noon phone-in, tomorrow, Friday, July 13th.

In a world that's awash in mass-produced products, certain individuals still devote themselves to making things that are unique. Artisans around the Maritimes create everyday items like coffee mugs & breadboards, accessories like earrings & shawls, and fanciful objects that blend various media and defy description.

Maritime Noon is the lunch time radio show of CBC serving Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. It can be listened to live from the links on the Maritime Noon homepage, and will be archived for one week from their Phone In page. The phone in starts after the one o'clock news (Atlantic Standard Time).

I will be listening. It will be interesting to learn what my potential customers have to say. If you can't get on the phone-in, why not leave a comment here and tell me what you think about handcrafted items, or what you think of the comments made by the phone-in participants.

update: (Due to special coverage of the Lord Black trial, this show was shortened to about 30 minutes and started at 1:30 or thereabouts)