Building update

The windows and front doors have just been installed–there will be 100mm architraves around the windows inside and out to add the finishing touch.

The paths and flagstones are almost done and the short stone wall on the basement will be finished with matching stone pillars (450 x 450mm) around the skinny black galvanised steel veranda posts (termites are considered at every stage of the build). The basement veranda will be left open to show off the thick wall and we will render the blockwork inner wall with a crusty ‘knock-down’ stucco.

The framework for the upper floor will soon be clad in red cedar shingles and then the big beams, rafters, and collar ties built to hold the terracotta shingles on the roof.

Art Weekly–The Chief’s chair

I cant seem to stop making chairs. I must have been chairless in a previous life!

This is the Easy Rider of chairs (big handle bars, low reclined seat, and really heavy)–it is cantilevered to give it that floating feeling. And the dovetail joints have evolved into the wood inlay decoration on the backrest. The centre piece is cypress pine surround by mahogany and then the yellow box local hardwood half-round slab which forms the backbone of the chair.

The angle of the backrest makes it quite comfortable–it is such that it bears about half of the body-weight–not all of your weight is on your bottom.

Shoe rack

This will go by the front door on the veranda. It is about 1300mm long and 750mm high–the square hole in the top fits around some protruding logs. As you can see, the dove-tail joints are getting more ambitious.

I will paint it with a satin, weather-proof varnish they use on yachts and this should preserve the colour and lustre.

Small table 2

Made from 2″ slabs of mahogany– 48cms high and a metre long.

 

Home-made frames 5 and 6

Home-made frames 3 and 4

Home-made frames

I have started mounting and framing pictures previously shown–they always look better dressed up..

 

Art Weekly–Tripod stool

The three legged stool has the advantage over the four legs because it is stable even on an uneven surface–it was traditionally an ideal milking stool also because the milker could lean forward into the cow without losing balance. The tripod structure is so simple and, once the three legs are pinned to the seat and at the cross, there is no further need for engineering–no other struts or bracing. It cannot move. For this reason the Indian Tepee is considered to be the perfect tent structure and most suitable for nomadic life.

The legs are stringy bark and the seat and back yellow box. I made a paste of sawdust, PVA, colour, and turquoise chips to fill the cracks–once it is dry you run over it with the sander and it looks like real inlay.

The seat is like a bicycle saddle with ‘stirrups’ below.

Outdoor furniture

This one-person bench seat weighs a ton–all antique hardwood. It goes out on the veranda and, in lieu of cushions, the seat and back-rest are hollowed out to make it as comfortable as a moulded plastic chair. The arm rests and the crown piece are from the same wisteria–the twisted trunk was sliced down the middle on the band saw revealing a nice pattern and good colour.