Following are my archived newsletters.
They show projects I’ve made in the past few years, including lots of work in progress photos, which I hope you will find instructional. Click on the thumbmail or on [read more] to see each article.
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Click the pictures to see the newsletters or articles
Finished garden bench. I call it Affinity 2 after my eing inspired by the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. Making a floor lamp Backyard Birds of New England, with a bluebird, cardinal and pileated woodpecker. [See how I add color to the work]
August 2017 Designing a garden bench of wood with a seat of stone, starting with a scale model, then full sized drawing. Starting to build it. [read more]
June 2017 The Spider Bed is finished and here are the professional photos by Bill Truslow. [see the finished bed photos]
April 2017 Still carving the panels of the Spider Bed. In the thumbnail I have pasted the drawing right onto the wood and have just begun to carve through it. [see carvings further along]
February 2017 Spider Bed construction and starting to carve on the panels. The thumbnail shows cutting mortises on long pieces s a motif in the drawings. The drawings are inspired by Chagall’s painting “My Life.” [see the drawings]
December 2016 Spirit Bear bench in progress, carving the face, and desiging and starting work on a bed inspired by a spider. [Read more]
October 2016 A sofa table with two
seated figures and a glass top, and beginning work on a new bear bench [read more]
August 2016 A Sculpture from a found log. Someone left this on my porch,anonymously, and this is what I eventually decided to do with it. First I made a model, then carved the block.
June 2016 A Cabinet for the entry of a beach house.
February 2016 Whale Tale Multipurpose Cabinet delivered
November 2015 Whale Tale Carving
Carving the drop front door on the shoe storage part of the bench [read more]
September 2015 Progress on Multipurpose Cabinet
Some photos of the assembly process, and of the chair set More from the Menagerie, and the dining table Judy’s Surp [read more]
July 2015 Multipurpose Cabinet and Bench
The design drawing, frame parts cut out and a dry assembly of a custom piece that combines a chest of drawers, a bench and shoe storage, for an entry to a walk up flat in Portsmouth’s South End [read more]
June 2015 More Giraffes and the ABG Re-internment Ceremony
The reintermnent ceremony for the African Burial Ground, how I color my carvings, and a child’s sized chair carved as a giraffe. [read more]
May 2015 Giraffe Chair – child’s sized
Caskets for the African Burial Ground in Portsmouth, and some work in progress photos of some carved furniture – a chair and a lamp [read more]
February 2015 African Burial Ground coffins
I have finished work on the reinternment coffins for the African Burial Grounds park here in Portsmouth, and here they are. [read more]
November 2014 Bear Chair and Gala
Here are some work in progress photos of a bear chair I am making in some old pine I have saved. [read more]
October, 2014 Continuing work on the garden benches
Working on the joinery and carvings of the garden benches [read more]
September, 2014: A pair of garden benches
A fellow member of the Furniture Masters suggested black locust as a locally harvested, weather resistant wood for my outdoor garden benches. Last newsletter showed the models I made, and here I’ve started making the seats for them. [read more]
July 2014: Progress report on table for elm slab top
The bracing below on this table base has a ladder-like design with built in proportions based on a golden mean. Also in this newsletter I’ve made great progress on the carvings for the end caps. [read more]
June 2014: Iris and Butterfly Mirror
A round mirror with a shelf in Art Nouveau style, with iris and butterfly carvings, for the entryway of a home in Florida. This newsletter also shows the design process for a dining table base for a wide English Elm slab. [read more]
April 2014: Ants and Door completed
Here is the Ant Totem I have been showing as “work in progress” and also the carved wine cellar door collaboration with Vigilant Woodworks. [read more]
March 2014: Ant Totem
Almost finished with the sculptural piece commemorating the ant colony destroyed when milling the walnut log.[read more]
October 2013: Plant stand evolving
The plant stand in transformation. Here are some photos of the building and carving progressing[read more]
August 2013: Plant stand model
A while ago I collected a very interesting stone, and now I am working a plant stand/chair sculpture[read more]
May 2013: Screen finished
The finished screen “Three Quotes from Ovid” I have been showing as work in progress.[read more]
March 2013: Screen Collaboration
When not playing in snow I’ve been busily working on the screen collaboration with Catherine Green[read more]
February 2013: Screen drawings
I have just launched my new website, very exciting, designed by Jacqueline Stahle of Think Design, in Exeter, NH[read more]
Oct 2012 Bridges House Kitchen
All the relief is done in 5/16 inch depth. Here’s how. I’ve determined eight levels of depth within the sceneand numbered them on the drawing. The carving in progress using several painterly techniques to show depth of field – convergence, overlaps, scale, texture, detail, placement, and focus. [read more]
Sept 2012 Three Projects
This pair of chairs has more detailed carvings on the crest- one has night scenes front and back, and the other sunrise and sunset. And I learned a new way to insert an upholstered seat back from my upholsterer, Richard Croston of North Hampton. [read more]
August 2012 Arms to Armchairs
There is little choice but to use screws to attach the chair arms to the back leg and I have done countless repairs where these screws have failed. To make sure no one has to fix these I have inset the arms into the uprights of the chairs. [read more]
July 2012 Collaboration, and Flowers Chair finished
The title of the collaboration with Teresa Taylor is “Certainty meets Uncertainty” from a conversation about work styles of woodworkers and ceramicists – “the workmanship of certainty” we strive for in the wood shop, and the fact that you never really know what’s going to come out of the kiln. [read more]
May 2012 Black Bear Pair Bench for Wende and Mike
I have been building a Double Bear Bench for Wende and Mike. I’ve made several of these, and you can see one at the League of NH Craftsmen’s new headquarters in Concord. [read more]
April 2012 A Dining Table
I designed this six legged table to be sure it doesn’t sag when fully extended. The slides will fasten to the base rather than the underside of the top because I prefer that the base has full integrity and the top being supported by it. [read more]
March 2012 Finishing up the chair set
I have attached my router to an oval cutting jug with two pivot points that slide on tracks on the x and y axes, but the maximum difference between length and width was only 8 inches. Not enough, so I had to be creative. [read more]
January 2012 Coloring the carvings
I promised to show you more about how I color the relief carvings, so here are before and after pictures of a heron carving. In the first the color has spilled onto the background, in the second the spillage t is carved away. [read more]
October 2011 Heron and Bluebird Chairs
The chair for Barry and Alice is coming along. Here are two views of the bluebird chair, which is “Hers” In this photo all the joinery is done and all the parts are very square and blocky. All those square parts will be shaped to appealing curves. [read more]
September 2011 League Reception Desk Finished
The finished reception desk. The light fixtures were made by Peter Block, the iron work by David Little, the cabinetry by Seth Kedaisch, and the copper by Steve Hayden, all League craftsmen. I did the panels. It was a great project. [read more]
July 2011 Ladies Dressing Table Finished, and a chair project
Those of you who have been following my newsletter will be glad to see the finished photo of the Ladies Dressing Table with Hummingbird and Flowers. Here it is! [read more]
June 2011 A Lamp and Some Carvings
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It is the second lamp design with birds native to New Hampshire. This one has a great blue heron, a pilieated woodpecker and a kingfisher. The lamp has three parts that come together in the center, with the lamp pipe running up a channel in the middle. [read more}
April 2011: Ladies Dressing Table
It’s a ladies vanity desk with hummingbird carvings on the side panels and the drawer fronts, and a mirror. I think it will be quite a sweet item. [read more]
March 2011 Some Carving Techniques
The branches between the leaves have been designed to be ribbon like rather than lifelike. I figure out the twists and turns using a belt. The leaves are carved using different gouges to create textures that show the changing surfaces.
February 2011 Drawers for Pam’s CD cabinet
The four small drawers in the center column do have dovetails front and back, though there is a slight overhang you see here. The reason for this overhang is the geometry of the situation.
January 2011 Assembling the Cabinet
I prefer to break down the assembly into as few steps as possible, so that I am only clamping in one direction at a time. [read more]
December 2010 Building the Casework
The lumber has been milled to thickness, glued into the sides and tops, resurfaced, cut to width and length, all the joinery planned and cut, then fitted, and this is the first time I’ve assembled the result. [read more]
November 2010 Designing a Cabinet to hold CD’s
The CD’s the cabinet will have eight drawers in two columns, and these will be behind doors to simplify the look. Between these columns will be a set of four smaller drawers, and another with a curved front that bridges this whole set. [read more]