Some recently completed arts and crafts accessory pieces. The mirror is based on a picture found somewhere on the net and had to derive proportions and dimensions. The shelf is an original design that I usually build with QSWO. This particular shelf was requested with plain-sawn red oak. The shelf is 30” tall with a 30” middle shelf. The shelves appear to float in the upright portion and will support a surprising amount of weight. The upright section is pegged in the corners dowels and hidden with pyramid plugs. Wish I could take credit for the tiles, but I simply framed them with QSWO. All of the finishes are dyes with varnish top coats, rubbed with 0000 steel wool and wax.

This is a commissioned piece done in black walnut and Carpathian elm burl with a Baltic birch bottom. It is rather large at 10×8 x 4. The box was built using blind spline miters for strength and hinged using large barbed kerf hinges. The finish is five coats of General Finishes oil and urethane, hand rubbed to a glossy sheen.

The pictures are representative boxes which are designed and built with simple lines and form so that the natural beauty of the wood is the focus, not the box.  The boxes feature combinations of domestic and exotic woods chosen for their beauty and uniqueness.  The woods are finished in their natural state and hand rubbed to bring out the figure and color.  The pictured boxes are 9×5 x 3 and hinged using barbed kerf hinges. I also build larger versions of the same form, as well as, lift lid boxes that are sold through a number of venues.

The pictured boxes are Sappy Walnut with Walnut Burl, African Mahogany with Pomelle Sapele, Black Walnut with Curly Cherry, Bloodwood with Quilted Big leaf Maple, and Wenge with Zebrawood.

The box is 1/2” walnut roughly 12” x 8” x 4” finished with Tung oil and wax. It was built as a gift for friends that just had their second child so that they will have a place for all of the keepsakes collected in the years to come.

Built theses painted poplar and bead board pieces for my granddaughter last month. A matching four drawer dresser is in the works.