Repetition

So in September, the collaboration piece with Ellen Kochansky, mentioned in earlier posts, took up the majority of my time. Yet, for some reason, I neglected to post anything on it. On Monday and Tuesday, we drove out to Columbia, SC and installed it. I'll post those pics in a couple of days...but in the mean time here is how it came to be (or at least the structure stuff that I did).

The piece has 20 panels (the construction of which is shown in an earlier post) which need some way to stand erect. So, here you see 20 concrete bases in the works.

20 forms

20 metal armatures

20 concrete bases (with those armatures inside)

Benjie Goes Etsy

If you haven't heard of it, Etsy is "the place to buy and sell all things handmade". It is an addictive online marketplace of handmade stuff from all over the world. Now, I am not just a buyer, I am a seller. The cutting boards are up there. Check them out on my Etsy page or by stopping by Fitch & Company in Atlanta.

Benjie Goes Etsy - Cherry Cutting Boards

Charity Auction for the High

the High Museum of Art that is...

High Arts Day Monday, November 16

The event itself is a day of shopping, home tours, and lunch for the Art Partners that all benefits the High Museum of Art. At the lunch a silent auction will be held featuring sculptures by 33 different artists (including myself). The sculptures will serve as the centerpieces on each table. Check out my turned wooden platter (the erroneously titled piece that I call Turned & Burned) on page 14 of their pamphlet.

Also, while your checking it out, notice my fellow Artisan Resource Center comrades, Nick Cook and Stan King.

This is the piece that is up for auction. Wish it luck.

benches

I have been making a bunch of benches lately. There are several varieties. This one is quarter sawn white oak with a concrete top. I also have a mahogany and concrete version, a toasted ash (toasted means it has been lovingly torched to black), and a walnut version.

Cutting Boards

Benjie also brought some cutting boards to the opening. I am hoping to have them available on Etsy.com soon enough. This one is made of hard maple.

Cherry cutting board -

Below is another slightly smaller cherry cutting board (on the concrete counter tops that Benjie made for us). One day (many many moons from now) we will finish our kitchen and I will devote many posts, many words, many pictures, many toasts over big tasty meals to the event.

Handy Little Boxes

The opening of (the wine and beer at) Fitch + Company brought all sorts of people to the gallery. The gallery is great and we are all rooting for it. Alas, while I (Becky) brought my camera, I completely neglected to take photos. So please let your imagination run wild with fantastic furniture mingled with eclectic well dressed folk and lots of happy yattering. Benjie, in addition to having a table (that fancy one that is published in 500 Tables by Lark Books) and a bench in the gallery, brought along some small items to help round out the show with some impulse items. These sat on the back porch for a bit when I did have a mind to take a snap shot or two.....

These are made out of cherry (the darker ones) and cypress (the blonde ones).

This guy seemed to like them.

Some have extra character. We call them peak-holes.

flyer for gallery opening

'nuf said.

New Woodworking Furniture Gallery in Inman Park

Just look at this place, could it be quainter? Don't you just want to go inside and look around? What is it?

It is Fitch + Company, a new woodworking furniture gallery in Inman Park (a section of Atlanta that reeks of personality and is well shrouded in ivy).

We have just heard that the gallery opening will be October 3rd. We will put up more details of the event when we know them.

And this fellow that Benjie is talking to is Ryan Fitch himself. I (this is Becky as usual) have only met Ryan once, but here is what I know about the fellow:

• he is a woodworker (too obvious? did i need to say that?)
• he has been scavenging the metro Atlanta area snagging furtniture for the gallery and making friends
• he has one snazzy gallery that he should be proud of
• he rides a snazzy motorcycle

snazzy.

Benjie has a buddy

This is Kendrick and his very first hand cut dovetails. Kendrick started coming by the studio a year or more ago. We think this photo is from about a year ago when Benjie set him to the task of making the dovetails. Then Kendrick took off to the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine to learn from some of the top woodworkers in the country.

Now he is back....and this is him last week in the studio again. It is hard to tell that this is a different day as I think he is wearing the same shirt. But, I swear, months passed.

Anywho, Kendrick will be in the studio on Wednesdays. I (Becky) like this. While I haven't actually met Kendrick, Kendrick stories are nice. He seems like a good guy. I give him a thumbs up.

The Finished Table Tray

This was finished almost 2 weeks ago now. I haven't quite gotten my blog rhythm.

Collaboration Project with Ellen Kochansky

How could this collaboration not yet have been blogged? It is, in fact, blog-a-rific. It is for a large company here in the Southeast. They have built a new building and had the great idea to have a piece made about their employees, for their employees to place in the new entrance way.


They chose the fabulous Ellen Kochansky to take on this project. I'd like to go on about all the fun meaningful beautiful community projects that Ellen has done. But that will have to be an entry unto itself at another point.


Ellen has graciously come to me to partner up on this one. This will be a set of panels that you see being made below. They will be supported by concrete bases. The panels will hold the arrangements that Ellen composes made from the contributions of the company's employees.

This is the last one

Becky here again. My blogging this evening is delinquent. My pictures are not inserting where I want...so I have done this over and over and blah - they are very mediocre posts. Anywho, this is my last picture….not because the table/tray is not farther along….but because Benjie was so busy making it he forgot to take a snap shot. What’s he doing? Building stuff or something?

Planning to conserve

Matching up the lines

Humble Beginnings

This is Becky again. This time my woodworker husband has an actual woodworking project. It is usually the norm...but in the last month or so...the woodworker has been metalworking. So here are the beginnings of the project started earlier this month. It is a coffee table/tray for a potter named Jill. Anyone who has been in our home knows that we have a special place in our hearts for potters. Everyday things should be art. Art should be used and loved everyday. Woodworkers and potters have a lot in common.

Copper Sink Continued....

Patinaed this with water and vinegar.

Shiny and with its removable divider....

Copper Sink

Does it seem off that the very first blog in This Was A Tree was never a tree at all?

Regardless, this is a piece of copper that Benjie will turn into a sink via sheer force of will. Watch.

Kapow.

And that is the first ever blog for This Was A Tree.

One of us will be back soon ~ Becky