I grew some sunflowers on the corner again this summer and now they are shutting down fast as the first snow of the season arrived yesterday.   So long sunflowers .. hope to see ya next summer!

Since moving to Butte, America I’ve spent a good deal of time renovating my property into a usable studio and gallery space and also doing custom woodwork.   About two years ago a man named Glenn Brackett stopped in and I came to learn he is one of the owners of Sweetgrass Rods.  Now understand, I am a plowboy from South Dakota who lived as a desert rat in Arizona for nearly twenty years before moving to Montana.  Fly fishing and fly rod makers were far from my scope of interest but that has been changing since I met Glenn.   As I’ve come to know some of the ‘Boo Boys’ at Sweetgrass Rods I’ve also been given a fantastic opportunity to learn some basics of fly fishing from Glenn.  I’ve found out how little I know about this sport and just recently caught and released my first trout in the Big Hole River.  I would liken that first catch to a prospector finding flakes of gold .. it is exciting and challenging at once, so in these early days of fall I will be out there, prospecting per se, collecting flakes of gold even if I don’t catch another trout again.

 

Now here is something really cool.  www.Sweetgrassrods.com  is moving into their new production facility and retail space in Twin Bridges, Montana and they hired me to build display racks for their graphite and bamboo rods.  I’ve always been one who admires fine craftsmanship and the Boo Boys take their craft to levels I barely comprehend.  I’ve worked in wood for over 25 years, they work grass,  ’sweet grass’ bamboo.  The precision machining of grass and the attention to detail required to create a fine bamboo rod is an impressive feat.  I highly recommend taking some time to visit their site and enjoy the high level of artisanry they infuse into each hand-crafted rod.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the racks in my studio .. and some of the components used in the process.  The materials are beetle-killed blue pine and reclaimed fir flooring.  I’m also using raw bamboo which is a first for me but a fun learning experience.   The pine was milled near Butte and the flooring was salvaged from an old market that was renovated in recent years.   The displays will be installed in early October so I will post pictures once they are complete and hanging in their new shop.  

Good friends of mine are building a home not far from here, and when I mean building they are doing nearly all the actual work.  It has been fun to see their place rise from the foundation and take shape as a house .. hopefully later this year it will be their home.  They have asked me to help with some of the finish work and it will be a great summer challenge to see their Victorian Italianate home become reality.  Here is a quote by Herman Aihara that I have always enjoyed;

‘If you want to build a building,  first there is spirit – you have a design.  Then you get the material to build the house.  Unless you have a spirit,  you won’t build this house.  No shape.  You have to design the shape,  make a plan.  That’s spirit first.  Always there is spirit.  Then the material comes.  There is no seperation.  To me,  this is the first thing to realize: … matter and spirit are not seperate.’

this stuff happens.   On a recent trip while in Arizona I was delayed and ran late for my morning appointments in Prescott.   Because of the delays I took a shorter route back to Sedona .. as I was driving the freeway I thought of a balustrade I had built about 7 years ago in the Verde Valley and had neglected to take pictures of the finished project.   I exited the freeway and continued on a highway towards the redrocks.  As I passed a gravel road I read the sign ‘art exhibit today’ with an arrow pointing down the road.  I thought ‘no way!’ .. indeed, the exhibit was being hosted in the home of my old clients, Perry and Judy.  What a great surprise!  Their home is in the greenbelt of the valley and is incredible, a beautiful setting where several artists were exhibiting and painting.  It was nice to visit with them once more,  enjoy their home and the company of old friends.  Serendipity .. life is good that way.

This jewelry box is a custom gift I made at the request of my friend Mark for his wife Noorjahan and is made of Swiss pearwood and African wenge.   The relief carved lettering on the lid is written in a Persian language known as Dari, her name means ‘light of the world’.  One of the true blessings in life is knowing friends such as Mark and Noorjahan who have welcomed me, supported me and helped me in many ways since moving to Butte in 2006.

Every now and then a special project comes along that really stretches my skills and creative process.  This sign project for an artist friend evolved out of some ideas this winter and we worked together to design and create a ‘business branding’ concept that reflects Montana, her work and the historic nature of Butte.   Made of sheet aluminum with reclaimed copper  interior panels which are visible through the negative space lettering the signs hit the mark on what we hoped to achieve.  The black lettering is engraved and painted,  hammered-copper riveting, distressed patinated edging and fasteners complete an old world look.   It is always a fun challenge to work with talented people who keep an open dialogue and have vision of what the final project will become.  Thanks to Mike for the bracket work and a talented client, this project ranks as a favorite ever and I am proud to say it came through my studio.

One of the fascinating woods I have worked with in the past several years is beetle killed pine.  Millions of acres of forests in North America have been decimated by the small IPS bark beetle over the last decade yet there is beauty as a result of the destruction.   The beetle introduces a bacteria into the tree in the cambium layer of the growth rings and the result is a stunning effect known as blue stain.  The staining occurs rapidly in the sapwood and does not affect the heartwood of the tree.   This is an experimental piece I worked with made of thin crosscuts of lodgepole blue stain pine.

The past few weeks have been mild here in the mountains and I’ve been honored to work on a stairway project high on the continental divide.  These are The Highlands south of Butte and it has been inspiring to make the drive to the property and enjoy views like this.   Today I watched the storms roll across the mountain and forgot my little problems in the valley.

On the hottest day of last summer my friend Jeff stopped by and told me a garage was being demolished near his home.  The site supervisor told him to salvage anything he wanted so immediately he came and got me.  We sweated and got sun-burned pulling what we wanted to keep.  I made a flag from a section of the garage wall .. it is about 37″ tall and 72″ wide.  Under the collapsed walls we found a great stash of clear pine planks.  A long time ago a fellow woodworker stored them but never got around to using them .. thanks ol’ friend!