For the first time in 40 years I had to drive to work in the morning.  This was something new.  As I said before, I lost the early mornings, late evenings and some stolen time on the weekends in the studio. But in looking back this was the beginning of the period where I would be doing some of my best work.

​Once in the studio I could focus and be without interruptions.  This was something new and I came to embrace it.

The wood on the right is what I had to been given to create pieces for some very special people.  These were to be ready for June, 2018.

I made 2 turnings each from the birch and the rough pine.  The third piece was the most cooperative and produced a very nice platter.

With the ideal working conditions of the studio I was looking forward to doing more work and exploring with epoxy.

The spalted maple bowl followed closely on the heels of the walnut one and I was off and running.  As Christmas was fast approaching I had to start building my inventory to meet the demand.  This was, for the most part, salad bowls and chargers.  These were the pieces that bought the supplies and paid the rent.

Not only did I have Christmas on the horizon but I had some serious challenges for the spring of 2018.

This is the straight forward platter that was made from the pine in the image on the right.  Beautiful in its own right showing the grey from the outside of the wood and the rich patina from the inside.  

The platter had a short story about the wood hand-written on the back.

The other two pieces of wood were more complicated and deserve their own space.  I will write about them in the next installment.

​Until then...

It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I wrote the last time but almost a year and a half has gone by.

Where to start...

I started working in the new studio in September, 2017.  For the first time in 40 years I had to drive to work in the morning.  This was a new experience for me and I wasn't sure how it was going to work out.

On the plus side I had a studio that was just about perfect with a finish drying room and office, a wood room and the main workshop.  Also I had a well insulated building with a high efficiency propane furnace that could hold the temperature at 21C.  (I have found that this is the perfect temperature for drying finishes and setting the epoxies and glues that I use.)

My new shop is 100 square feet smaller than my previous one so things had to be carefully put away in an organized fashion.  Part of the newly arrived dock wood was shoe-horned into a corner.

With the tent to the lathe complete it was time to get down to work.  I was able to set up the lighting just the way I had always wanted.  I was anxious to get started.

It took most of September to get everything in place and up and running.  ​This included building a tent over the lathe to control the dust.

On the negative side I was now working 5 days a week.  Not going out to the studio before breakfast to get my day started.  Not slipping out for an hour or two on Saturday or Sunday.  Not going out in the evening to put on a final coat of finish.  Also, I had to bring my work bag home each weekend as there was always something at the house that needed fixing.

My time wasn't all tied up in getting the new studio running.  I had to make two trips to Pointe au Baril to pick up old dock wood for the recycled cedar chargers that I make.

The story continues but that is enough for tonight.  It is -20C outside and there is a wind chill of -35.  It is supposed to be like this for another day or two.  It is nice and warm here in my office so I suspect I will be back at the keyboard again tomorrow evening.

​Until then...