Customers' Scrap Book #2
Family Heirloom:
This is EXACTLY the sort of thing I designed my shadow-boxes for. Bill's mother made this doll for him when he was a wee lad. Notice the book above. I had this exact Golden Book when I was little too and remember it fondly.
Folks of a certain age might remember the story of the African child who had some difficulty with one or more tigers. He climbed a tree and somehow got them to chase one another around and around the tree. Doing so made them melt into butter. (I recall having some difficulty with this concept when I was little). The story finishes with Sambo climbing down from the tree, collecting the butter and going home where his mother makes him pancakes out of it. (I also recall being concerned that the butter would be dirty.)
Strange what we remember from the wonder and confusion that was childhood, isn't it? Perhaps I wasn't a particularly bright child.
Not sure what to say about the PC'ness of such a story and doll in this day and age. But I will say this -it is an important piece of Americana - if only to Bill- and I am glad to have helped him protect and display it.
A Young Woman's Keepsakes
Order out of Chaos:
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There are -it seems- some things a young woman needs to keep quite safe -things from childhood and what not. This is a bird's-eye maple box with a lock and a drawer under. And yes, that's a 
I make the point in my article on 
Here we see Ms. Tiede's students from Middle School 45 in New York, New York displaying the nature they found on walk-about on one of my 
This 
Wish I could take credit for this design, but it was my customer that came up with it. It's is actually a box on legs. Pretty Shaker-style legs, but it doesn't open. The glass top is set flush into the surface. Charles' wife is a cat-burglar and has her own set of glaziers handles to lift it out when they need to add to -or rearrange- their collection. What do they collect you ask? Turns out that the various river banks around their home are full of little and VERY old fossils. Think they might be trilobites and nautilus shells -the little spiral ones. 
Judy -of Virginia- collects those little souvenir models of important or famous buildings. This case was built to match one she already has and that she has thoroughly filled up. This is actually the second job I have done for Judy. She also collects brail tablets and had me make her two huge drawer chests for his particular collection
Gift-Cases for Collector's Knives:
This is from Bernie of Pennsylvania. Some scary-ass looking knifes, but beautiful in their own way. What we have here are 2 presentation boxes -one oak with walnut trim, and the other the reverse.
Shadow Box as Art:
I can't take the credit for any of this. Michelle of Texas makes these... um... I'm not sure what genre they are -Gram'ma Moses comes to mind though. I like it. Sheri makes her own shadow boxes & dividers. Then she paints them and adds the items. She was kind enough to send me a picture of her latest.
Lepidopterist's Case:
I can't pronounce it either, but it has to do with butterfly collecting. John, of Illinois, is pretty serious about collecting butterflies. The case is just about 5 feet high and has 36 drawers. They are sized to fit the Riker mounts John has used to hold his collection. (Evidently he has used these wonderfully handy little boxes for more then a few years too!)
Gloss Black Jewelry Case:
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Stands just shy of 26 inches tall. Gloss black lacquer, 17 graduated drawers, lock, black felt drawer linings. Simple -clean -vaguely oriental design overall. It's for Mike's wife. Mike evidently really loves his wife.
Memorial Knife Case:
Seems a military and knives are the order of the day lately-and this one combines the two ideas. Michelle here is giving her son-in-law this memorial USMC knife for Christmas. She sez this might be the first time he really likes a gift she gives him! Michelle was imaginative enough to notice that my doll cases were the right size and would serve admirably. This is natural oak with a gray panel.
Air Force Retirement Gift:
Debbie had me make this case for her Husband. 25 years in and he's moving on. But 25 years makes for lots of memories and here is one way to display them. Not quite sure what to call it. Too high for a coffee table. More of a desk -but with a glass top? Guess I'd have to call it a display case and be done with.
Home for a Knife Collection:
Bill, from right here in Colorado, is a respectable wood worker himself. But he is also a busy man, so he brought me the wood and the design and had me make the sawdust. The cases (yep -there are two separate cases with interchangeable drawers.) are walnut. The drawer-fronts are a tropical wood called pernambuco. Lovely stuff, but my workbench looked like a pumpkin abattoir for a few days
Optometrist's Office:
I didn't build the cases, just the drawers for this elegant optician's office. Can't take credit for the beautiful red velvet lining either. Would kike to take credit, but I can't. My customer lined 20 drawers like the one shown above.
Wedding Memories:
This is another collaboration between this little-old sawdust-maker and a professional designer. In this case, it will hold dried flowers from the young couple's wedding. They actually freeze dry them! Makes the flowers last forever.
This oak w/ cherry stain sofa-table has both a black chamois upholstered panel for long-term collecting and display, and a white satin cover for immediate use -being as it is for wedding flowers an all.
A SCHOLAR'S COLLECTION end-table display-case
Cheryl -of Norwalk, Iowa- is a scholar of no small repute. So much so, in fact, that she actually collects the accouterment of scholarship. This is to say the book marks, reading magnifying glasses, and page knives. (These are the knives that you used to have to use to slit open the pages of a newly bound book. Who knew?)
This set of two end tables and two coffee tables go into Cheryl's library. The end tables have three drawer fronts -to false ones in front of the display area. The top knob hides the key hole to a mortised lock that locks the display lid. (The bottom drawer is actually a drawer.) It is Heppelwhite style and oak finished with a golden stain.
AUGUSTINE'S STUFF
You met Augy's sister Jane a while back. She is the wee child with the blue drawer case she painted herself. I'm Uncle Bill to both of my old school-friends children. Poor Augustine is ordinarily a delightful kid with a big old grin, but he doesn't like having his picture taken.
Golf Tournament Collection
This coffee table holds 40 years of a father and son's shared fascination with -and attendance at- the Masters Golf Tournament played in Augusta, Georgia. Take a close look at the collection. Those are the badges the club members wear during the tournament, and there are more then 40 of them. Roger pays respect and homage to his father who has been a member since 1958, and has enriched his son's life with these incredible gifts.
As for my comments, not much I can add, except to say that it is the biggest dang coffee table I've ever made.
Dental Exhibit:
I do get interesting customers. This case is in a traveling museum exhibit by the Maryland Dental Association. Holds stuff used by the lecturer / presenter. The exhibit was designed and built by Capitol Exhibit Services who were my customers. Check out their site -they do beautiful stuff -and do much of it for real museums!
Custom Apothecary Chest:
This makes the second time I worked with a designer for a third-party customer. It's actually my design, but with input from the designer who wanted something to go into a special nook in a woman's study. Something with lots of little drawers, something in oak and blue. Came out looking old-Dutch -to my eye anyway- and came out nicely.
Display Case Case:
"Display case case" is not a typo -this is actually a case to hold display cases. Frank collects custom knifes -folders and regular ones- and puts them in smallish display cases. After years of juggling the cases, he asked me to make him what is essentially a drawer case to hold display cases. You can see the latches on each case, so they slide out and then open up -kind of a belt and suspenders approach to protecting valuable collectables.
Admiral's Retirement Gift:
Admiral's Retirement Gift: This ball and claw coffee table was given to USN Admiral T McCreary upon his retirement. It is to hold a flag, ceremonial sword and such. He is (was) such a great boss that his staff ordered it for him as a surprise and put his military life in before the ceremony. And BTW -Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations spoke at his retirement.
I don't publish testimonials, but Master Chief Terry Cosgrove the admiral's senior enlisted advisor was the lead on this project and sez, "Thanks for your great communications and your outstanding craftsmanship."
Family Pet:
Not the dog in the foreground -though a fine pet she is -the Heppelwhite coffee table is for Cassie's family's pet dinosaur. Yep -just what every family needs -a little memento from the Jurassic era! Cassie's dad -Gene- is a serious amateur paleontologists. Turns out it is / was a parrot lizard 'cause of it's parrot-like beak. It's called a psittacosaraus by them what know- stood upright -about a meter tall , and ate plants. This one is named "Mort."
The dogs name is Joplin. Don't know what she eats but I suspect it's not plants. Cassey tells me she spends most of her time laying around under Mort.
Family Memorial.
Bryan's dad served his county in the US Navy and this is a memorial to that service. The lad in the picture is the gentleman's grandson. The case is in maple with a deep antique finish and the legs are the simple classic cyma -sometimes called cabriole- design.
A Piece of Harvey Family History:
I speak so often enough about family heirlooms, it is a little embarrassing not to have followed my own advice. I herewith correct this omission. This little shadowbox has been in our family for many years. My mother made it with the the stuff of her own father's career. He was (perhaps it's obvious) and rail-road engineer. But first, and swear-to-god, right off the boat from Ireland, he was a fireman -sort of an engineers apprentice whose job was to shovel coal.
More Boy-Scout Memorabilia:
No sooner did I post Jane's work below, then Doug from Colorado sent me a pix of his Boy Scout shadow-box. I didn't make the case, but I like the piece and I like the sentiment that went into it.
These are both patches and -Doug tells me- neckerchief slides -home-made ones at that.
Display-case for Boy Scout Patches:
I didn't make this case, but it shows beautifully what sort of things can be done with a shadow-box or display case. Jane and her husband Tom from Southern California made this case to give to their son's scoutmaster who was retiring after many years. These patches -and another case with a flag from the USS Arizona- are from his time as an adult leader -there are even more from his time as a lad.
Here is another example of Jane's work. Her husband Tom ran in a triathlon. (And finished the fool thing! Merely thinking about such makes me feel the compelling need for a nap.) She followed my advice on making Shadow-Boxes and put together this wonderful example of visual documentation of a tall-tale -or proof of a true story. Only she and Tom know for sure, but it would be hard to argue against his doing it if you were a guest in their house and standing there in front of this shadow box. It doesn't show up on this small photo, but she used over-lapping elements and lifted certain of them off the background to provide interest and emphasis.
Hepplewhite End-table for CRYSTALS
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Rebecca in Texas has just remodeled her study. This table goes between two new -but classic looking- leather chairs to hold her crystal collection. It's lined with black faux-chamois -as flat black a fabric as was ever made -to really high-light the sparkly bits!
Display Cases for a Senior Living Center:
Memento from a Honeymoon:
Rusty's Case:
Jane's Special-Stuff Drawer Case:
Customers' Scrap Book #2 |
These cases were an interesting commission. It seems that sometimes as folks get older and their faculties come to wonder, they can't always remember their room number. But if there are family pictures and items of memory to help them find their way, the problem is much diminished.
There is a commercial that says "There is a system to these things." I'm not sure what they mean, but I like the idea and there is a system to these cases too. They are to be mounted permanently to the wall outside the rooms. You can just see the four holes drilled in each corner. Then a sheet of black foam-core is inserted to act as a cork-board sort-of-a-thing to hold pictures etc. One or two shelves may then be added -or none at all- to hold cherished and memorable items. Finally, the clear cover and top of the frame is slid in to close it all up. 
This isn't a product -and not even a commission -it's for the good old boy that moved a bunch of my stuff from California to Colorado. He and his bride found it on the beach in Mexico, Biggest dang sand-dollar I ever saw. It had been knocking around a while -and he asked me what to do. Came out nice, I think.
This case is for a new restaurant -WIllemina's Restaurant and Bar- a Dutch cuisine restaurant no less! They opened on New Years eve and hence the decoration, but the long term plan is to display little Dutch things. Check out the 
I am particularly proud of this case. Over and above the fact that it is a pretty little case, it was made for a honest-to-goodness museum curator! Rusty has all manner of letters behiind her name and works for one of those big museums scattered around DC. She wanted a semi-custom job. Started out with a large -24 x 24 architectural case in oak- then I added a simple top and ogee feet and medium stain. Then Rusty added car headliner-fabric drawer bottoms. Brilliant!
This is Jane. Jane is my very good friend's daughter, and Jane needed a special case for her special stuff. And it had to be pale blue-green. So she sanded and shellacked and waxed it all herself in my shop. Came out nicely and she hardly got any shellac on her self or her clothes. Don't know how she did it, but she has to be the cleanest neatest little child I've ever seen.