Rustixs.com

I have been commissioned to build another dining table like the one I built for the Coastal Living Idea House in River Dunes, NC. I am very excited about it and asked Kelly S. (the owner of the finished table) if I could blog about it. So, it begins.

Yesterday, in frigid weather uncharacteristic of the South, I drove to Cullman, AL to pick up salvaged oak timbers from Southern Accents Architectural Antiques (see my previous post). These are the same timbers I used for the CLv table. The timbers came from roof supports on an old barn. The guys at SAAA pulled the nails and sawed the timbers in half (roughly) lengthwise. The wood has some really neat features besides old nail holes. There are bug trails and knots and some have really great oak figuring. My next step is to plane it to the proper thickness for the table top. As rough as this is now, it is neat to see what it will become and how beautiful the finished wood is.

I think my muse has returned. Busyness is the enemy of creativity. After an extremely hectic summer and fall things have slowed down to where my mind wanders to making things. This week I saw a pile of wood scraps and a broken shutter as what they could become. So I made a birdhouse for a friend as a housewarming present. The roof is made of the shutter slats–which were the perfect size and shape for overlapping roofing. The sides are made from cedar siding scraps—this I like because it should help the birdies with their parasites. Bugs do not like cedar, nor does fungus. The shell adornment was a souvenir of a trip to the coast and the aluminum flashing used to seal the top was purchased from a home improvement store for a weather proofing project around the house. This was a pretty quick and easy project and it made a fine gift for my friend’s new home. I intend to make a couple more as gifts.

Here is a second birdhouse I built as a gift. I am going to post a measured drawing here as well so you can knock one out at home. All you need is some wood, a saw, hammer, drill, and nails.

My college friend Diann could do a mean Cher impression on this particular tune. Not me. But I wanted to post something about a functional piece of art done by my friend and colleague, Jason Burnett that does reverse time for abandoned objects. This piece, called “Steelmaster”, is only the second piece of legit art that I have purchased. I saw it at his first one-man show in Gadsden, AL. I loved it then and kept pestering him about it while I saved a few bucks.

He makes functional time pieces out of found items and random parts. Beautiful work. Jason tells me that the “ears” on this piece were at one time earrings–had to be a product of 80′s fashion. The recessed clock face was a sink strainer in a previous life. Recycled, renewed, and reclaimed resources–it is an example of “green” art. This piece is pretty mild compared to some of the larger pieces he has made. Very intricate and seemingly random, but held together by form and function. If you get a chance to see his work in person, you will see what I am saying.