dennis mitchell's Blog at LumberJocks.com

swallows #3: Swallows at the Western design Conference 2008

dennis mitchell — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:16:59 GMT

The Teton Range is the backdrop for the 2008 Western Design Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I can see why the fur trappers gathered here for rondevu. What a great place for a gathering of craftsmen and artist. One of whom happens to be sporting a fancy Lumberjock tee shirt.

Setting up I’m amazed at the quality of work I’m seeing. (and a bit intimidated) This is a world class collection of craftsmen. That night I get to go to an artist reception at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. I’m already humbled by the work I’ve seen and then I get to the museum. Somewhere before woodworking I studied wildlife art. Not only do I get to be with the modern masters of western furniture and design. I get to be with generations of Americas best wildlife artist. They just happened to be having a retrospective of the works of Robert Bateman. (He’s the Sam Maloof of wildlife painters) To add to my sensory overload the museum is also showing it’s own little furniture show. Sort of the best of the best. Just awe inspiring work. Check out David Lamure if you want to see some beautiful pottery.

I’m not sure where artist get this reputation as premadonnas, maybe Hollywood or New York, but out west they tend towards humble and friendly folk. Just the camaraderie is enough to keep me coming back.

Check out the Western Design Conference web site and click on the links to the different artist web sites. I can’t even begin to describe their amazing work. My camera work doesn’t even come close to capturing it.

The organizers have put on a great show. I only hope Jackson Hole can appreciate what they have in their own backyard it would be a shame to lose such a treasure. Speaking of treasures I here is my piece. What a great place to be mediocre.

swallows #2: swallows revisited

dennis mitchell — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 01:35:22 GMT

My swallows came to visit this morning, so I thought I could show off a sneak preview of what they inspired. In my last blog I talked about them visiting my shop and me changing my design to honor that occasion. This is a cherry carving painted with acrylics on a purple heart back ground.
This is the drawer face.

This is part of the chair back.

swallows #1: Barn swallows come to visit

dennis mitchell — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:41:58 GMT

Somethings just make the hair on my arms stand up. My mind is in a creative whirlpool. I’m working on the piece I’m bringing to the Western Design Conference this year. It’s a Willow twigged, Purple Hearted, Cherry creation (desk and chair) and I’m surrounded by drawings of songbirds. I’m trying to add a field book style drawing to this desk and it just isn’t quite right. This is just adding to that sense of failure that has been following me like a cloud. The color and layout these birds just arent working. This morning I decided to add a swallow to the group. Next thing I know out of the corner of my eye i see these birds swirling around my head. Almost like an old cartoon. I had two swallows fly into my shop and pay me a visit. Maybe the universe does love me. It is the inspiration I needed. Form, Color, Spirit…flying swallows…just what my piece needed. Thanks God, I needed that.

I got pictures!

dennis mitchell — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:49:40 GMT

It’s been a while since my last blog. I’ve just been building kitchens and the contractor has been finishing and installing. This one I got to do the finish and install work on. So I got Pictures!
I figure since the construction industry is busting it is just the right time for a business man like me to jump in with both feet. I really didn’t like the boom so hopefully people will be a little better to work with in a bust cycle. I was doing great before the boom, then everyone got too busy and I started losing money as folks just didn’t get me the right information. I’d go to a job that wasn’t ready. To put in cabinets that where wrong. Then get run over by the other trades. Enough whining time for another picture.
I sure was impressed with quality of projects in this last competition! Congratulation to all who entered. That is some wonderful work. I do hope to get to do some furniture soon. This just building kitchens is too easy. OK one last photo. Take Care!

Western Design Conference...What A Ride!

dennis mitchell — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 16:56:12 GMT

My head is still spinning. Just getting to the show has been a trial. This was my third try to get past the jury process. I’ve heard about how hard it is just to get accepted into the show. So in my innocence I figured I’d go all out and bring everything. That meant getting a booth. Hauling everything up there. Setting it all up. A good bit of time and money involved.
Part of getting ready was getting all new tires on my “good” truck, a 96 GMC with just about 100,000 miles. It made it two hours down the road before the radiator blew and I had to turn around and nurse it home. This all happened on labor day so everyone is closed. I ended up hooking my trailer up to my other truck. The 95 Ford with 180,000 miles, old motor, bad transmission, horrible brakes, bald tires, broken window. Did I say you smell gas if you drive it too slow. Half way there we stop and I find a nail in the tire. A little further down the road at a gas station I come out to find a large green pile of fluid under the radiator! I’d just over filled the reservoir …thank God!
Tuesday was set up day. I had to get proof we had a Lumberjock in attendance.

Wednesday the judges did their thing. That evening we had a reception for the artist at the National Museum Of Wildlife Art. I started out building picture frames for my wildlife art so this was just up my cup of tea.
The next three days the show was open to the public. My juried pieces set out in front of my booth. I’d never even done a local show so I didn’t know how people would respond.

It was real hard to not just walk around in awe of the great work! Wow it was amazing. What a great place to be a “mediocre” craftsman.
Thursday night they had a fashion show. Drug kicking and screaming…well I knew my wife wanted to go so I graciously accompanied her. I guess I was expecting that urban dress up anorexic girls in weird Halloween rejects and call it high art type show. This old construction worker loved it. Girls in cowboy hats and leather are hard to beat!
The artisans I met and the inspiration of the collective creativity made it all worth the effort. I don’t know if I have a single sale. Bad business decision…maybe. You will see the effect of the show in my work. If this show doesnt improve my level of art I’ll be shocked.
Monday back installing cabinets just sucked. My heart just wanted to start a “real” woodworking project. I’m thinking a small box…

Dear Diary

dennis mitchell — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:10:42 GMT

My blogging is more like a diary. It is about my personal woodworking journey. The Western Design Conference is just a week away and my brain is kicking into high gear. I’ve been offline for a week and a half so I’ve just been trying to catch up here at Lumberjocks. Reading some good stuff about marketing, websites, shows, etc. The range of professional experience is very educational. I have to admit I expected some direct response from a web site, but haven’t got a bite. Well I am suppose to be getting a few million dollars from some young lady in South Africa and this cream that is suppose to… never mind. My experience with galleries is that the furniture could sit for years before being sold. Then every thing could sell in a month. Time will tell with the web site. I’m just glad I didn’t spend thousands. I don’t know how many times I was told all I needed was a web site to “get my stuff out there”. Speaking of thousands of dollars this Western Design Conference has my fear level on the rise. Getting my stuff out there! What a chore. Thousands of dollars that could have done the addition to my shop and furnished it with tools. What was I thinking? I’ll tell you. Ever since I saw Ralph Kylloe’s books. I wanted to build beautiful rustic furniture. They showed a level of craftsmanship and artistic ability I could only dream of. Dream I did. To build at this level I knew I had to play with the big boys and in my part of the world they played at the Western Design Conference. So my fellow Jocks I could use your prayers. The day is just a week away. You folk here get a lot of the credit. You have provided me with a vast amount of inspiration. I know it would have been too easy to just get wrapped up in cabinet work and let another year slip by. Week by week I would see some project posted that kept my creative spark alive. Don’t expect a well written account of my trip like you got from Mark. I usually forget to take photos. But I will take the spirit of Lumberjocks with me. Thank God that is all I will need.

Knotty Maple

dennis mitchell — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:53:53 GMT

I just love it when the lumber truck shows up. This time was exceptional. I got three different types of wood, Poplar, Alder and knotty Maple. I’ve been wanting to build something out of knotty maple for many years and just haven’t had the chance. I really like the difference in color and wild grain. I’ve got a job building two matching entertainment centers. I had lots of tear out running it threw the planner, which is OK in this case because the piece will be distressed. I have the panels and doors glued up.

I was originally suppose to match a black glaze kitchen but the finish on the prefab kitchen was so bad now we are getting unfinished doors and matching them to the entertainment centers. The interior designer has specified a black glaze which had me balking. Especially after seeing it on the kitchen doors. Note to prefab kitchen companies when you don’t do a good job sanding then glaze a product it looks like !&##*. Anyway the samples I made up don’t look half bad. We will use a wiping glaze not a hanging glaze. I’m building a set of painted cabinets for a craft room…that is where the Poplar is going. I’ll also be rebuilding all the drawers to accommodate soft close slides. I could of built the whole kitchen (would of made a lot of sense!) but I wasn’t brought in until too late.
I’m way too busy. I haven’t got to just play in the shop for a long time. Haven’t done much at all for the upcoming Western Design Conference. After hiring a helper I will really need a bigger shop come winter. Haven’t done much of anything to finish building my mud house. It is 90% complete and holding. It doesn’t even seem like I’m making anymore money. What did I do? Time is just flying by….

Installing prefab blues

dennis mitchell — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 01:23:59 GMT

I’ve come down with a bad case of the round two it’s. I’ve just been jammed with “kitchen” work. Last Friday my attitude took nose dive. I’ve always wondered why interior designers, salesmen, and contractors get to design the kitchens. Anyway I’m on a job at a very nice house. I got to start the day with a very unhappy homeowner. Seems he didn’t like the black glaze on the cabinets. He ordered knotty maple and pretty much got clear. The glaze on the door high lights every machine mark on the door. The sanding was a poor job. They didn’t fit….That is just a small portion. I’m stuck jury rigging and custom building a bunch of stuff. Why? Why don’t we do it right to start with.
Just talking with the guy I get the feeling he would have LOVED a quarter sawn craftsman style kitchen. I would have loved to build one. But I have quit fighting over the extra 10%. I also have to keep my mouth shut. That’s why I’m always dumping on you guys. It would do no one any good if I upset the homeowners. Some how they need to become happy in their kitchen. That is my true job. To find a way to let them be happy with their bad decisions.
A good thing about having a helper is I’ve found myself trying to be a good example. Well Friday i was all alone. I got to cuss, moan, throw tantrums. I got myself all riled up. Some days I need lumberjocks just to remind me to crawl out of the contractor mindset.
Note to self…this is suppose to be fun!

Off on a tangent...again

dennis mitchell — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 22:09:40 GMT

It has been awhile. Nothing very artistic coming out of my shop the past few months. Just grinding away at different cabinet jobs. I did get 300 bd. feet of knotty maple I’m dying to cut up, but I’ll just have to wait.

Training an employee has been a rush. I’ve really been looking closely at the traditional rolls we take on when we become bosses. I really believe we create our own cultures where we work. They might say quality and really believe it but in lots of places that is not reality. Quality is the hardest thing for me to teach. Our world is based on a go go go mentality. Trying to get workers to slow down is a puzzle. Our egos are based on how much money we can make. I’m struggle with my own ideas of is it good enough?

My neck of the woods are full of minimum wage jobs. We import people from out of the country to fill them. We have $5.35 to $12.00 an hour jobs where families are struggling and we have large business owners making a fortune. (we call them family farmers…most of the families are gone..swallowed up in the rush to grow) In one hand we idolize the Donald, yet support a system that thinks a small business is around 100 employees. I can not support that. I just will not go there. If I can’t make enough to pay a living wage I don’t want the job. Plenty of others can do that but some how I feel I’ll do better, paying an honest wage, expecting an honest days work.

Thank God I live in a country where I can live outside the norm. Woodworking is one of those places an independent spirit can thrive. The question becomes just how do I create a healthy work environment. How do I avoid those pit falls my ego has layed out for me. I’ve worked for some wonderful folk so I’ve had some good role models. I’ve also seen bad choices destroy too many small businesses and the lives associated with them. I’m not really worried because I’m not going deep into debt to try this. No big loans, no leasing a bunch of equipment, no friggin business plans! Not even a brand new F-350!

I miss doing my rustic furniture, but the Western Design Conference is coming up too soon and I’ll need to get busy and build a few pieces for that! Let me see maybe something for the garden…and something with some fancy joinery…

Kitchens #6: Installed At Last

dennis mitchell — Fri, 18 May 2007 00:39:31 GMT

Yes it is finished and I have my shop back, but just for a short while. Monday my cabinet shop goes into full swing. I've held back while I built my house but the time has come to catch up with some bills.

Knotty Alder with a natural finish.