Tagged: Woodworking

Hand-Carved Toy Blocks

Hand-carved wooden toy blocks for children
Soon after discovering my wife was pregnant, I developed plans for carving animal figurines out of wood and assembling them into a mobile for above baby girl's crib. It was a beautiful picture in my head, but that's as far as that project went. Life happened and it's one of those plans I just never got around to. But I still had the desire to make something with my hands for my daughter. And what better time to do so than Christmas? Moving on from the mobile concept I decided to make toy blocks Read More

Pallet Desk Inspires Other Pallet Furniture

Pallet furniture projects inspired by my pallet desk
A few years ago I made a desk for my wife using only pallets. You can read the specifics here. She's a collage artist and I wanted something unique that would fit her style. I'm very happy with how it turned out, and it's been fun to watch photos of the table spread across social media. But as pervasive as social media is, there's something special about seeing your work in print. Kolaj Magazine just released their ninth issue in which they feature my wife and Read More

Homemade Christmas Tree

How to build a homemade, rustic Christmas tree
I like traditions. In our first year of marriage we were given a free Christmas tree as a gift from the farm where we had our wedding reception. Before setting up the tree I cut a short piece off of the trunk, as is normally recommended. I kept that piece, planning to make a collection of stump pieces from each Christmas. That tradition lasted a total of one year. In our second year of marriage, it was replaced with a new tradition: making our own Christmas tree. Rather than spend thirty to Read More

Table Made From Pallets

Table made from pallets
Half a year ago my wife and I celebrated our second anniversary by driving from Pennsylvania to Utah and back. We had plenty of time to talk, dream and plan. And our biggest plan was to totally rework her art studio space. The main piece would be a large table. She is a collage artist and works mainly on flat surfaces rather than easels. But beyond that, she wanted a collaboration space where other artists could work with her side by side. Money was definitely an issue, so I went the pallet wood Read More

The Artist’s Experience

The artist's end product is not all that matters
In today's society, much emphasis is placed on experience. We hear phrases like, "Well, it turns out I was horrible at volleyball, but I had a blast playing!" People write blogs about their road trip experience or what they learned while creating a piece of art (hello). A friend can ramble on and on about their shopping experience, going into extreme detail about their thought process for each purchase. As with most things, this self-focus can be taken to the extreme and become something detrimental. Read More

Wood in Fine Art

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I'm not a fine artist. I definitely fall into the graphic designer category, although there are more similarities than differences between the two titles. Fine art is graphic design with vague intentions. It often leaves the viewer scratching their head. My creation process, and the creations themselves, are usually logical and straightforward. Regardless, I like to dabble in art—a lot. And when I find myself dabbling in the finer arts, I find myself using wood as the primary medium. Wood Read More