The unveiling.

Hullo world.

Right, for those of you folks who have been paying attention, you will be expecting pictures of the dresser this week. And I for one, would hate to disappoint as you've been patient enough as is.

Now that its all done and dusted, I am quite proud of this one and am happy with the way its turned out. I could scarcely have imagined that I would be able to design and make something like this 6 months ago when I started the course, and yet I have somehow managed it.

Dressed to kill.

Where's Wally?

Its been another busy week, in which we've been immersed in the world of carving. I've found the exercise quite therapeutic, if slightly painstaking and laborious. Its nice and quiet, the only noise being the occasional tap of the mallet (that or John's cursing because he's cut himself again!), and is altogether quite gentle - which makes a change from the usual hustle and bustle of machines going off every 10 seconds, trying to mutilate you in the process. For me, the only drawbacks are (i) you need quite a lot of kit (namely chisels of every shape and size) to be able to do the job properly and (ii) how long it takes, although it is one of those tasks that you can easily put down and pick right back up again later (which is a bonus).

Hand-carved moulding

Stained glass and whatnot.

Hullo, and welcome back. Its been a while, and its good (and bad) to be back. We're now into Term 3 and the focus this term will be much more on learning and experimenting with different techniques, from stained glass to gilding, rather than completing a particular piece (carved and gilded mirror doesn't feel like it really counts for some reason). In a way, it will be nice to concentrate purely on the academic aspects of the course, and not feel the pressure to have build and finish a work of art within a set time.

Stained glass panel

This week we've played with some stained glass and made a mini-panel. The glass itself is quite frustrating to cut and break, but the end result is an absolute delight. Every time we do something exciting like this, I always wish I had a bit more of a creative flair and the ability to innovate and experiment, so that I can incorporate some colour, texture and playfulness into my pieces. On the plus side, I've managed to surprise myself but not cutting myself this week, for which I am truly grateful.

Apprentice box filled with goodies

The dresser is now fitted and fully sprayed and is sitting in the spray booth waiting to be unveiled (tune in next week folks!) and I've even managed to make myself a tool (carving mallet), finish my apprentice box, start on a new mini-project and (yet another) jewellery tree. I've been hankering after a clothes horse for a while, with the one I've got almost falling to pieces, so I've decided that I would just make one. Two problems immediately occur: a) I've managed to make it look like a cactus and b) I had the bizarre idea that I should practice my routing so that I could get over THE FEAR. Sadly, its not quite having the desired effect at the moment. Will have to see how I get on though in the coming weeks...

Hand-cut dovetails on the box

Pretty glass patterns

Box unveiled

I've not been idle during the Easter break, working on my portfolio, a potential website, a business plan and market research all at once. Its quite daunting to say the least - I feel like my brain now has limited capacity to cope with any new information, having had to learn about Excel, photo editing and digital printing, business plans and market research all in a short space of time...whilst still reeling from the design and woodworking information its had to take in over the last 6 months! Hopefully all this time and effort will bear fruit, and I guess time will tell. In the meantime though, if you're at a loose end and fancy helping out on some market research, drop me a line and I will ping you a survey!
Ta