The New Item Gallery
My more recently completed items and those that are new to my website will be featured here. I hope to update this page as least quarterly going forward to highlight new projects as well as past ones. Items you may have previously seen on this page will be moved to the "Past Projects" page for fast access. Please check back occasionally to see what is being made that interest you.
NOTE: When I complete a project, my enthusiasm often leads me to forget to document it with good photos and records, so many of the photos you may see will probably show my work at it's eventual point of use. I hope to be able to provide better quality and studio like conditions to illuminate my work better over time.
Wall Mount Blanket/Quilt Ladder...
This is one of my more recent projects, I have lots of blankets, quilts, and afghan crochet covers. I found many floor standing blanket/quilt racks, and even one with a single arm I'll feature at a later time designed more for displaying them; but didn't find much that held more than one blanket or quilt, and was designed for mounting on a wall. So this is my original design.
This is a special piece for me personally for another reason. This is constructed of southern yellow pine, a very commonly used softwood in this area, but it's previous use is what was special. The wood used in this project was gotten from a warehouse in "the Pond" area just north of downtown Winston-Salem NC in the late 1970's. Its shape and markings were indicative of and it was stated by the individual who made it available to us that it was previously used in hogshead barrells used by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco to haul raw tobacco between their factory buildings. Their flatbed trailers would be seen regularly in the downtown area with loads of 9 or 12 large barrels loaded with raw tobacco on the way to processing.
But I'm most proud that this now allows me to display the hand crocheted afghans made by my grandmother deep in the NC mountains. There is no other artwork I could display that can give me more enjoyment and good memories than this. And I can take them off the rack and keep warm on a cold winter night.
the Pedestal...
The PEDESTAL has been a really exciting project for me. One of my close friends who is a musician playing Double Bass had taken a look at the website and mentioned he liked "the STEP" and thought it may work well for his amplifier he uses on stage. I let him look at "the STEP", and it just wouldn't work. It's mass made it too heavy, and it was a little too large were its primary shortcomings. He also hoped to find something that would perhaps enhance the sound, besides what it would do by lifting the amp off the floor. I had recently purchased a small piece at my local lumber supplier, and it seemed to have some of the properties of some woods that are used for fine musical instruments. So I thought I would give it a try. The design is almost identical to "the STEP", but I used material thinned down to 3/8" since it didn't have to have great strength. As I was completing the project, it was sitting on my assembly table, and I was determining my satisfaction with it, I had my hand sitting on the top and started drumming my fingers in sequence while in thought. The warm mellow sound coming from "the PEDISTAL" was delightful, and I was so pleased to have achieved that objective.
The picture to the left shows "the PEDESTAL" in use. I felt like I hit a home run when my friend texted me the picture with a note that it "Works very nicely with this amp. I can hear the _________", referring to the type wood that was used. (I don't want to let that cat out of the bag!)
