Some of Jim's Commissions

Lakefield College School

This set of nesting bowls was designed to have an oriental look and be displayed as one piece but used as two.  

The wood - walnut and maple - came from the surroundings of a building at Lakefield College School known as "Uplands".  The piece was commissioned for a gift to a long-time friend and supporter of the school.

Memories of an old Cottage

This old cottage had become uninhabitable and was to be torn down to make way for a new building.  Jim removed the old rough-sawn pine from around the fireplace.  This wall faced the morning sun for more than a hundred years and, as you can see from the pictures, what was hanging on the walls left their marks.

A dozen chargers were commissioned from this wood to give to family members as a remembrance of earlier times at this cottage.

Growing up on a farm in Caledon

Jim's customer heard that the farm where she had raised her family had been sold to become a gravel pit.  She and Jim visited the farm and collected fallen and dead branches from some of the trees, some barn board and some cedar rails.

A total of six pieces were commissioned of which two are shown above.  Each turning was made for a specific recipient and designed to evoke particular memories.

The picture on the left is how the cedar rail bowl started.  The middle image is the completed piece.

New beginnings

Cottages may last several lifetimes but they don't last for ever.  Sometimes it is necessary to tear down and start again.  New beginnings doesn't mean that we forget the past.  Jim takes the pieces of old panelling on the left and makes them into a functional salad bowl - a memento from the past that speaks of re-birth and a bright future.

Would you like to commission a piece from your own wood?

Jim has put together some information that may help you with that decision.  Please click here to have a look.

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