Even Longer Than I Thought.

Yep, it took ages, still, at last I have some photos of the finished cabinet…

So it all turned out good in the end.

Hugs

soror

Some things take a long time…

It’s been a while since I last wrote and that’s because I’ve been working on a very complicated piece that will not be finished for a while yet.

I started to make a cabinet based on a sort-of chinese style that was going to be slightly alchemist flavoured …. [I’m not sure what that means either].

I began in August 2019 when I finished the Wicca table [ see below]. and had a lot of wood to cut up … as you know I do that by hand, and I wanted to start drying it as soon as possible. Well I had a load of Ash from a few of my clients’ gardens and that is what I used.

Then, while it was drying, I put some more stuff on Etsy and made a few of the decorative bits and pieces that I would incorporate afterwards…e.g. two panels, one of Luna and one of Sol and some flashes for the outside of the doors.

Well almost a year later and I had this to show for it;

The little recessed copper handles I forged from some copper bar I bought on ebay and the used a Japanese patina called niiro … otherwise called rokusho [although that is actually the name of the compound rather than the patina] … anyway it turns copper a rich red rather than the muddy brown it normally goes.

I didn’t use ply for the inside of the draws, but made them from solid ash.

I then tarnished the ‘gold’ leaf to give it a bit of age.

…and this is where I am now…

The doors are nearly hung, and the architrave is finished….

The two panels are fitted to the insides of the doors

This is Luna

..and this is Sol.

I still have the stand and legs to do but, unfortunately, I’ve pulled my biceps [right arm] … so I’m having to take it easy for a while.

I’ve used the time well, though, and got some of my jewellery up on Etsy. [Last year I sold the bowl and the knife along with a few other things.]

I’ve carved a couple of dragon claw feet for the stand but have a few more months to go before it even starts to take shape. When it does I’ll post more pics.

I hope you are all keeping well, the virus hasn’t had much effect on me as I normally spend my time communing with shrubs and lawns … and they are unaffected.

Virtual hugs to all

soror

xxx

Wicca table ….. for a white witch or wizard.

Well, this would do to read Tarot from or whatever. I just finished this although I drew it about a year ago … I’ve been doing other stuff.

It’s made from a piece of silver birch I got from a local tree, it was a huge limb that had to come off.

The inlay is about 4 or 5mm thick, plum and recycled mahogany.

I had done a 3 legged table and one with 4 legs, so it seemed 5 was the next step. I couldn’t find any 5-legged ones online so I guess it’s quite unusual.

the Wicca table

As usual I went to great lengths to pin, peg and ‘butterfly’ all the pieces (I hate to rely on glue solely).

5 legs and the construction

 The logo is the first hexagram from the I Ching … “creative power” .. my caligraphy.

I’ve already started cutting wood for my next long term project, I have been given some Ash from local tree and it should be enough for a small chinese style cabinet.

…and enough silver birch drying for a couple of chairs but…. no room in the house for more furniture as yet.

Keep well

XXX

soror

Sans L’art … rien

Well, I went a bit crazy with the wood block … here are a few of the results…

Well, without art there is nothing.

XXX

soror

Etsy and me.

I’ve made a start now, loading stuff onto Etsy. There’s a lot of photography involved so I set up a little corner of the workshop with white painted ply.

24 items thus far, with an average of 5 photos each … I’ve probably taken 200 photos to get those 120 odd decent ones.

So far I’ve got most of my woodwork there, except for the furniture. I’m not sure I want to start sending furniture round the world so I may have to find another way of selling it… maybe locally.

My next lot of stuff is jewellery and some prints.

I’ve made some woodcut prints of my latest bit of graphics…

… which means.. “without the art …. nothing.” That seems obvious but I’ve made a few woodblock prints and fancied them up with some glitter etc. So they’ll be next up on Etsy.

Then, bit by bit, the jewellery.

That’ll keep me busy.

The last few things I have made in the workshop haven’t yet graced these pages so I’ll rectify that now…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

….ah, ‘rooms again.

XXX

soror

A new box

I’ve just finished this new box. The light wood is spalted ash; it has mahogany and ebony trim. The mahogany I got from an old wardrobe door and the ebony is from an african mask I cut up for an earlier project.

The handle I made myself from ebony and brass with red enamelled discs in the ends.

…and I painted the inside liner to look like old gold.

Quite a nice little project although the spalted ash was very soft, making it hard to work. I probably wouldn’t use it again.

I’m now in the middle of my next project, a table in silver birch. The wood I cut a couple of years ago and (hopefully) it’s dry by now.

Photos to follow

Bye

XXX

soror

All shall be well …

All shall be well and all shall be well … all manner of thing shall be well. That’s the inscription on the spalted beech bowl shown below. The quotation is from a piece by Julian of Norwich who was writing in 1395. I think it’s the earliest writing by a woman in English.

I bought the bowl, it was a very poorly carved thing and I did quite a lot of work to it. The spangly glitter is just to pimp it up a bit, the wood is a little porous in places.

It’s a quotation that I’ve enjoyed and I’ve wanted to carve it on something for a while now.

I’ve been cutting up birch by the log full for a while now… I’m aiming to do my 3rd table, but the wood has to dry. It’s all stacked in my airing cupboard for the winter. I’ll probably make a start around Christmas time.

Weather’s great … hugs to all

 

soror

 

XXX

 

 

That ol’ chestnut

I have just finished my latest project, a box from a very old chestnut tree which fell on one of my clients properties.

I made the hinges myself out of some sheet brass I bought online. The box itself is quite wonky so I didn’t want to use machine-made hinges. The hinges are riveted onto holly which is a denser wood than the chestnut.

The banded woods are holly (light) and mahogany (I think …. it’s reused from an old wardrobe door).

My next project is on the bench already. I have some silver birch which was cut a couple of years ago which I’m planning on making into another small table with inlays.

It’ll be a long time till that’s finished, but I have some smaller projects on the go that I’ll show when they’re done.

Hugs

Soror
XXX

Finally got in….

I got messed about, trying to log on to my site. Google made me sorornishi584 or something similar. I couldn’t remember which email address I used many moons ago…

Anyway… all good now, I think.

So… I’ve made a few things since I last blogged…

This is a knife I made for my other grandson… the handle is holly and ebony.

Then I made a table out of the root section of a yew tree… the wood was very difficult to work because the grain went every-which-way. … but that’s why I picked it.

That’s a resin insert in the centre of the table top..

That took quite a while as you can imagine…

The last big piece I’ve finished was a stool for my workshop. The seat is cherry and the legs were a rather boring maple so I silver-leafed them. My first attempt at leafing and it’s a bit of a mess if you look up close.
but from a distance it’s exactly the effect I wanted.

The arm/ back rest is made from a very droopy branch which I split and shaped.

There is a silver emblem on the back and the foot step is thick copper with silver nails.

I’m currently working on a box made from a 200+ year old chestnut that fell on one of my clients estates. The wood is quite special, slightly rotten and slightly ‘quilted’ …. you don’t find quilted chestnut really although quilted maple is popular in the States.

Photos to follow now that I have access again…

…and the time.

Big hugs

soror

XXX

 

Back and forth are just as far

Well I’ve moved my blog from sorornishi.is because, in spite of the adverts [or because of…] WordPress is free and I don’t post often enough to justify the cost of paying for a server…. it’s up for another month…

So, I’m back here again, it’s now 10 years+, still going, though not as strongly as I was.

I am finding that my non-virtual life is a good deal busier than it was 10 years ago and the bling of my virtual existence has fallen away somewhat. So most of my posts for the forseeable future will be about stuff I make in my workshop…. as you may have guessed already.

Anyway… thanks for visiting…

 

soror