Ready to start again

Having had a break for most of this year I am now back in the workshop, already got some commissions to go at, ideas for new miniatures are in the planning stage and should hopefully be ready for sale in early to mid October.

I have during the past six months or so been visiting lots of National Trust houses, have taken lots of photographs and these are giving me the inspiration to get going again.

One of the reasons I have been quiet is that I have got back into the hobby of photography and you can see what I get up to with the cameras here.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Williams/972510472773133?ref=hl

Also here is the link to my miniatures page.

https://www.facebook.com/harvingtomniniatures?ref=hl

They are both facebook pages but you don't have to be a member of fb to view these pages.

New miniature work beckons

I have been very quiet the past few months, with a nice Summer we have been out and about, couple of holidays and lots of trips to National Trust houses, lots of ideas from those places and now the darker nights are back it's time once again for miniatures.

The table below is from the wood you can see in my previous post, over a hundred years old and it's very nice to work with.

 

This a tudor style table, have distressed to give it a nice aged look and finished with a thin coat of beeswax.

 

This is currently listed on ebay

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_ssn=smallartist&LH_PrefLoc=2&_arm=1&_armm=63&_ruu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fm.html%3F_ipg%3D50%26_sop%3D12%26_ssn%3Dsmallartist%26_arr%3D1

Am also back into painting again and hope to get a few watercolours listed on ebay very soon.

 

That's it for now but expect an update very soon.



Interesting lot of really old mahogany.

See the picture below, I was given this by a friend who was working near an old cottage, the workmen who were renovating the cottage were ripping out old beams and throwing them in in a skip!

Fortunately my friend Trevor knew how good this wood is so got some out for himself and has given me some offcuts for which I am very grateful.

Don't know how old it is but guessing a couple of hundred years old, it is mahogany and in wonderful condition, no holes and beautifully matured.

Good job he didn't bring me a beam as I would not have been able to cut it down.

Not sure what I am going to make from it yet, definitely some miniature turnings and if I can cut it down ( a lot of it is quite thick) and possibly some wood panels for my next project which could be a tudor room box.

This morning I made a Tudor style grindstone from a small piece of the wood, quite pleased with it, have stained it dark oak and the finish has come out nice, stained mahogany is much better for miniatures than plain white wood.

 



Yes the grindstone does turn with the handle, even surprised myself that it worked!

It is removable from the table as can be seen below.

 

Not been posting much lately due to a lot of selling on ebay, but now is the time of year for me to experiment and play a little, so watch this space.

 

Have already started shaping some of the wood for a couple of settles, which I will show here when completed.

 

Any suggestions for what else could be made from this wood, then please post below.



smoking!

 

 

And for something completely different to my normal turnings, well perhaps a lot of them aren't normal!

This is a Hookah, originally it came from the Persian empire, then it became popular in Egypt, now it is known the world over, sometimes known as a water pipe or shisha, although many substances can be used it is know for flavoured tobacco, the vapours are passed though a water basin or bowl.

I have turned this from a lovely piece of a new hybrid material.

All my turnings are miniature, this hookah for example measures just under 2" tall.

Below is a tobacco jar and pedestal, I say tobacco but could be used to hold many different things.

The last of today's turnings is below, an incense burner, again this could be used for any purpose you wish.

 

The Tobacco jar with stand and the incense burner are both turned from Maple eye burl, this has a lovely finish, tops are removable and the bowls are hollowed out.

Now I need to start racking my brain to see what other ideas I can come up with.

and there's more!

Still playing with the new material that I have, this is a pedestal with a lidded container, could be used for anything, I just love the colours in this piece.

The miniature below is a flour barrel, turned in Thuya Burl, the grain and marking in this piece is lovely, one of the nicest pieces of wood I have used to date, the photo does not show how shiny it has come up, sanded down to 12,000 grit and lacquered.

 

Finally the piece below is the start of an idea I have, wonder if anyone can guess what it will turn out to be!

Again I have used thuya burl, got to be careful now as I don't have much of this wood left.

Will post more photos soon.



 

Got to get a lot more turnings done now as I will be featured in the June edition of the American Miniaturist magazine, which is due out on May 10th.

 



new material

 

                                        

 

  Have now bought some new material to play, sorry work with!

It is a resin that has been coloured and injected under very high pressure with a burr wood.

Very nice to turn and already have lot of ideas to use it for.

 

As you can see from the photos this pedestal and vase/jardinière has a nice contrast between the wood and the resin and it polishes up lovely, have to keep sharpening the tools though as anything that is slightly worn will chip the material.

The one above is a pedestal fruit bowl, obviously can be used for many different things, this has an array of wonderful colours blended in, could even be used by a witch, but now wondering if these items could be used as art deco or arts and crafts.

Was hoping to add my latest painting (a panorama) but have got yet another cold and I feel horrible so that will have to wait for another day to finish it off.

More turnings in exotic woods.

 

Well I managed a couple of hours in the workshop this morning and have managed to turn some containers using an exotic wood called Thuya Burl, I just love working with burls as you never know how it is going to look, so many variations, the two above and two below are all from the same piece of wood.

The piece below is a hat stand with shelf which I have turned from Mexican kingwood, these take a bit longer to make than a lot of the other miniatures I make, but very satisfying when finished.

The stoneware/earthenware is the end product of some turnings I did in wood, I have then made moulds and cast them in a plastic resin.

 

And last but not least some more hand turned bottles, this time for the witches out there.

Dead Man's Port, Bat's eye whisky etc etc etc........

 

 

The article about my various turnings is going to be in American Miniaturist and is due to be in the June edition, also other turners are to featured in the article and I look forward to reading it.

 

Coming soon......... panoramic paintings, I have just finished making a mould for my latest frame and all being well will have a painting to put in it soon, but for now back to working on my commissions.