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be careful !! i had this sort of hard white thing on the end of my little finger for 3 weeks or so. i figured i had a piece of steel in there and that it would work its choice out. well, sunday it did. i bumped it on the steering wheel and decided i had to investigate ... low and behold, there was a woody looking thing just under the skin surface. i grabbed it tightly with my special sliver tweezers from the lumber yard and gave it a yank.
holy cow !! it was white oak and it was about a half an inch long ... who knew?? it was right up there with the micro pin in the palm for a week event back in 2006. that was my first experience with 2d live xray viewing. so, watch yourself ! ... if you think theres something in there, you might be right ... all for now.
Legsm aprons, face frame, drawer framing members
Close up of the corner detail and the channel down through the leg
Here were starting the finish .. Below with a temporary top for the photo ...
Yesterday, Sam and I went to the Salem Art Works to see an event that Sams friend, Pat Quinn was involved in. It took place at The Salem Art Works, an up and coming local arts place. It was my first trip there and it seems like the place has a lot of energy with a focus on glass, metal, wood fired pottery, and general fun and funkiness. On the choice to SAW, Sam and I stopped to see Sue and Bill Clarys shop, Maccartees Barn , a shop with a mix of fine antiques and really fine, fine art. Their roster includes local artists Penny Viscusi, Brian Sweetland, and many others ... Worth a stop if youre in the area. Click the photos to enlarge them ...
The event was billed as an iron pour with, I think, 3 or 4 four colleges represented by at least 30 art students who had prepared sand castings that would be poured. Here Sam checks in with Pat
In conjunction with the pour, for $15.00 SAW offered a blank for you to carve that they would then include in the pour ... Above, one of the directors carries one Sam and I whipped up out to the staging area. Interesting process. You have to visualize the reverse of what you are carving, a fact that stumped me for a minute. The tools available, a couple big nails and some mangled clay trimmers, showed that it could be as crude or as detailed as you wanted. The sand was surprisingly hard to carve and held fine details surprisingly well. They poured it, but it was still hot when we left.
While we were waiting for things to heat up, we toured around and checked it all out ...
There was a funky, summer only large and well lit gallery space ...
and a great glassblowing hot shop where Leif Johnson , a local blacksmith and glass artist was leading a workshop ...
Leif does incredible combination of forged steel and hot glass.
Back at the furnace, the pour was about to begin ... 
fantastic to see the liquid metal rushing out of the spout.
pouring some of the student molds
Thats our sand, but we had to run ... Pat was going to pick it up for us at the end of the day ....
2/17/2012 ... showtime this saturday ... except for two little pieces, were all set up ... the reception, free and open to the public, is tomorrow (saturday) from 2:00 - 4:00 ... lots, besides our furniture, to see there. the southern vermont arts center is an amazing campus and collection of galleries. this show is in the main building, and will run through march 19th. you can see the lineup below, and ill post a few photos of some of the other art on display later today .. stop by if you are in the area ... click the photos to enlarge them ...
recycled chestnut, milk paint and gold leaf. it is displayed on a stand made from toasted locust and polished 3/4" rebar. the locust was complements of my friend malcolm cooper and we had a good time figuring out how to make each of the pedestals interesting, yet not fussy ... you could display it like this, or hang it on the wall flat. same with the mirror in the other corner.
close up of the claro walnut table in the center of the room ... nice figure! more photos later ...
brad guarino
harry rich ... im not playing favorites here; its just that the light was low and i forgot my tripod. i was in a hurry, and these were the only two pictures that were even remotely in focus and they arent great ...
well, back around the fall of 2010, when business was really slow and looking to get slower, we agreed to do a show in manchester at the southern vermont art center, in the winter 2012. it seemed like a long time off at the time. now, not so far achoice ... in fact, until yesterday when i received my official invitation to the opening, i actually thought it was opening the 11th. so, in effect, i received a bonus week to work on my stuff. as it turns out, i think well mostly wrap it up this week, which will leave me with a pretty full finish room by friday, next week could get interesting as other pieces become ready for finishing. click the photos to enlarge them ...
1st up is a claro slab table about 45 x 88 with our standard steel shaker style base. we are still in the debate stage of blackened or polished base ... the blackened base is a little more subtle,, but also a little more work, and well, we can alchoices blacken it later but its not fun to get rid of the black patina later if someone wants a polished base.
i love the look when the varnish is wet, but i wouldnt want to live with a glossy finish unless i didnt plan on actually using the table. just the thought of dusting that shiny finish kills me ...
satin finish now ... much better ... 
the base needs a little more polishing, or blackening ... well see ...
and will just has to do the polish coat on this bureau, a half of the one we finished about this time last year.
we upgraded the hardware from lag bolts to graduated sam made drop pulls ..
and, since it will be sitting sort of in the middle of the room, we gave the back an extra nice green enamel paint job,
our theme is, loosely, wood and steel, colors and textures, and this is a recycled chestnut console that needs some scraping and planing, a few metal accents and some finish ... 
and in the far corner, well have one of our tapered mirrors on a stand. you can see here how it hangs if you want to attach i to a wall, there is an 8/4 corner block, (theres alchoices a stud in the corner) with a 5 inch wide piece of poplar screwed to that, and the there are plywood triangles screwed to the back of the mirror frame that screw through into the poplar ... very rigid when its done ... nice cherry!
weve got a couple of these in our house and one behind the boys computer in the office at the shop. they can definitely brighten up a corner.
the bench for the fireplace hearth is finished. the lounge chair is available if it fits, and i still have one more mirror to make. i posted the gold leafed mdf mockup a few weeks back, but i still have to make the real thing ... well be sharing the room with some very interesting marta johansen drawings below and i think the mirrors will reflect the whole room if i get them set up right. all for now ... updates as we progress .....
ok, showtime again ... i sort of gave up doing stuff like this about 10 years ago, but after i reluctantly did one at our local art center, i was reinvigorated. that was back in february, and we sold a dining table, 6 chairs, a mirror, 2 lounge chairs, two woodburnings, and later on, the chestnut console table .... needless to say, that got my attention. click the photos below to enlarge them ...
so, when jordan schlanger, a well know jeweler contacted me about doing a show at his renovated mill building in housatonic, mass., i thought, why not. we had three pieces left from 
