Next oil painting

I am trying to build up stock for the Chicago International (but RL seems to have other ideas....) and this is my latest oil painting. Tomorrow I am getting my knee operated on so wish me luck!

New oil painting

Cavalier King Charles spaniel, oil.  Hand carved frame. 2-1/2" by 3-1/4".

Tea Table article is out now

I really like to write articles for the online magazine of my favorite woodworking tool company, Highland Woodworking. Here is my latest article, the 1:12 scale Irish George II carved tea table:

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/woodworking-tips-1611nov/teatable/miniature-carved-tea-table.html?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Wood%20News&utm_content=WN+November+2016+no+italics

The article outlines the steps involved in making this table.

Carved box

This is my prototype of a highly detailed chip-carved box reminiscent of a medieval casket or document box. It is 2" x 1-1/4" It is made from pear. I say prototype because it was an experiment to see what exactly was feasible, especially the hardware. I made the strap hinges and hasp from thin brass, then blackened them.

First off I had to make a box joint jig. I decided to make a whole new miter gauge for my small table saw and incorporate the jig into it rather than use the existing miter gauge, because once adjusted, the jig would not stay that way once removed. In the photo below you can see the little key. It is the thickness of the blade which I thought was a nice sized joint.  You butt the wood up to it and make a pass cutting the slot, then put that slot over the key and so on. I just put it on here for the photo, when in use the blade is raised only as high as the size of the joint.

There are mistakes, for example, I drew the design on the sides, then decided to make it a little bigger, but forgot when I carved the other side! So they don't match :)  

I learned a lot. I am hoping to have a limited number of boxes available for next year's 

Chicago International. 

For the new ones, I have refined the design, adding more detail. I will make sure the wood is properly thickness-ed and the hasp will be nicer. Stay tuned!

meow!

I thought you might like to see the little cat I just finished. 

He's hand carved wood, hand painted then I applied his fur coat.

He's on ebay the week of 7/31-8/7

Thanks for looking!

Pure magic!

This is an experience not to be missed! Hand feeding my hummingbirds. SOOO cute, so many, buzzing around my head while I held the feeder. Yesterday, they did not even wait for me to hang it, so today I decided to film it. You can click on Full Screen, it will get big (but somewhat blurry)

Some more paintings for Chicago

I made the frames from cherry, but the paintings are removable if a different frame is desired.

And last this guy is framed but he is packed away so I am posting  the painting cropped.

more paintings

These are all going to Chicago. They are 2 to 3 inches high. They are still unframed but I thought it was kind of neat to post them this way. I make all my own frames. I've made this little girl's frame, just waiting for her to dry completely.

This one is by the same painter that did the wire haired terrier from the other batch of paintings I posted.

Here is a different cute little terrier,

And last, this woman. I have a couple more I was hoping to do. I still have to make frames and time is running out.

My home grown cherry wood

I've carved another Irish George II tea table but this time I used my own home grown cherry wood. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

I speak frequently about the little cherry tree that my neighbor cut down, the one I ate cherries from.

I took the trunk home because I loved the little tree, but I did not know at that time what was inside just waiting to live on. Perfect "in scale" grain and knots and a beautiful coloring. 

This photo shows a nice little knot.

It is so fun to cut off a piece of log, mill it down, thickness it and create a miniature piece of furniture!