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Three Points Design Loft Blog
Eventually this will sound like a scratched record (and yes I am barely old enough to remember those) but it has been a hectic week and a half or so and I wanted to try to get more up for our customers and fans before now. I have a new favorite acronym - O.B.E,. overcome by events. So much of what we plan around here gets O.B.E. But, nevertheless we press on. I wanted to get to this piece:
last week, but I was O.B.E. It was a custom order from a collector for a birthday present, and it offers me the opportunity to explain how we proceed with custom orders and commissions around the studio here. We try to start with an idea of what the client would like to see in a particular space or area of their home, then get an image of that space for reference before we start sketching out ideas. Once we have enough initial information then we proceed to put a webpage up in our Custom Projects section on this very website. Here: is the page for the above Jonah and the Whale. In addition to the webpage we construct for a commission there is also a copious number of emails back and forth on details like size, colors and finishes - which I've omitted for the sake of brevity. The beauty of having an individual page for the design is that it can be referred to anytime, and means that we won't need to email the same images over and over. Once we have the design set we can move on to scaling of the piece, then carving and fabrication, then on to painting and finishing, and finally shipping and delivery. Throughout the entire process we update the progress on the webpage so the client can follow along and make changes and suggestions as we go. This process greatly cuts down on the uncertainty factor of ordering a custom work of art from us. When you open up the crate on delivery day it should almost be like welcoming a well known friend. So, that is the cliff-notes version of how we work with clients to create the perfect addition to their homes and collections while still maintaining some semblance of sanity on all sides. The last time I updated this I posted an image of the forest of Herons we waded through in order to make sure the runners of the Chesapeake Swamp Stomp had a purpose for running that far (other than personal satisfaction!). So, in accordance with my suspense policy mentioned somewhere below here is an image of what the Herons look like when not viewed at such a Hitchcockian angle:
The bases for the Heron awards are different that those under these two, but otherwise they are one and the same. Except that if you, faithful reader, want one you don't need to run a marathon to get one! Jac 5/2/2008 PS: New images are up on the 'new' page, oddly enough. ********************************************************** Well, I was afraid of this. When I decided to start an albeit rudimentary style blog one of my chief concerns was not being able to find enough content to fill a blog posting every so often, but in finding the time to be able to update it regularly. A month is too long to pass with no updates, and I apologize to those of you who check in and expect better. But, as you might expect, I do have a (few) good excuse(s). Like this one:
What looks like a forest of Herons is actually the awards for the Chesapeake Swamp Stomp Half Marathon. Once again this year we did all 78 of the herons for the award winners in the race. So, if you were fortunate enough to finish the race, and dedicated to your training enough to win your group or overall class then the award you won came from our studio. It was a mini marathon of sorts for us to finish these within the deadline! There were 54 small versions and 24 large, all hand carved and hand painted, mounted on driftwood pieces salvaged from the waterways of Back Bay. The whole batch did appear (briefly) on the local news the night before the race, and thanks to you loyal readers who called and let us know, otherwise we'd have missed it. I've got more to add, but in the interest of keeping this run going I'm saving it for later in the week. But check out our new page if you can't wait. Just images there, but some of them will make it to the blog page eventually. Jac 4/21/08 ********************************************************** I thought the other day that it would be beneficial to explain why I don't automatically let you - faithful visitor and customer - know where a new piece has gone. If you've noticed below I've showcased three new items but have waited to let you know who ordered/received them. There really are three good reasons for this: 1. The newly created work is winging it's way speedily to it's end destination, usually via one of the big shipping services. And anyone who has shipped anything knows that the shape it left in is not necessarily the shape it will arrive in. I'd hate to send a customer to a gallery to see some new work only to find out that it had been destroyed in a not-so-freak shipping accident involving a tractor trailer, a forklift, and/or thousands of miles of conveyor belts. 2. Sometimes the end customer may not want their custom designed, commissioned work of art shown to the world. Or their neighbors. Or both. 3. It (hopefully) will keep you, faithful reader and customer, coming back to see where a newly favorite work of art resides. So, to complete the installment from earlier this month, the shell below ended up (safely) at one of our favorite places - City Folk in Lancaster, PA. It was accompanied by this piece:
Which is our newest carved feather design. It is called 'Falling Feather', and is 48"high, 10" high and 14"deep. I carved it by milling up 2" strips of white cedar, about 2" thick. I stacked the pieces in a staggered formation, curving the design as I went up, then glued and clamped the body of the feather. Once dry I then bored out a hole in the middle of the feather for a steel support rod, then added the tapered end of the feather, also bored out for the support. At that point I could start shaping the overall look in preparation for carving. Once carved the steel support was inserted and then welded into the base block. Finally it was painted, distressed and waxed. If you'd like to see it in person please stop by City Folk in Lancaster, PA for it and some of our other work. Jac 3/20/2008 ********************************************************** Sorry for the long absence. We first had to get ready for the Virginia Craft Festival's Annandale show, and then, strangely enough, drive up and exhibit there. So it has been a hectic couple of weeks here on the farm, which left little time for a blog post. But we did manage to create a few new pieces for the show. This one:
is a different version of our popular Shell Wall hangings. It is 32" wide and 32" high, and about 4" thick. In order to create the strong side to side curve in this piece it is necessary to bevel each individual 2" thick strip of cedar 5 degrees or so, much like the staves of an old fashioned barrel. When glued up the effect is startlingly similar to a real shell. For this particular one I based the design on a shell our toddler picked up at Surfside beach in Nantucket last year. It was added to a bowl of whole shells and pieces, picked up from beaches we've visited, that serves as nautical inspiration. The tan and cream colored natural creation was tiny, and the delicate detail was the strongest trait I wanted to convey in our larger version. In the next few days I'll update where this piece is headed. As of now it is the centerpiece on a nautical wall here in our showroom. Jac 3/11/08 ********************************************************** Today was rainy and gray on the farm, but we didn't mind - the horse pond needs the water. We're still in a bit of a drought in these parts of Va. Speaking of Horses (nice segue I know), Here is a new horse design we shipped out last week.
This horse is based on an image I found in an old book of a big dapple gray draft horse. Tricia searched our library and found another image of a butter mold of all things, with the blanket pattern carved in. She used the design in the mold as an inspiration for the paint pattern on our horse. The mane and tail are real horse hair, and the ears are real leather. The finish has been aged and then finished with furniture wax. I like this version better than his equestrian cousins here on the farm. Less to clean up and cheaper to feed!
PS: the 'All You Can Eat' Fish sign below was sent here- if you are in Alexandria I recommend stopping by. Jac 2/23/08 **********************************************************
Back again. Busy week this week - orders getting shipped, and as you can see from the new page and new content - a website update. One of the reasons we wanted to get a little more in-depth with our new blog was to be able to give our customers and fans a reason to check back in from time to time, and to be able to give some detail to pieces we are currently working on. If we are doing a commission for you it will be listed here, if not then you'll need to make do with this page and work we're doing for others. Sort of a virtual window into what the studio and what we are working on. For instance, this piece:
we decided to call 'All You Can Eat'. To design it we took a popular folk art fish pattern off of our 'wall of patterns' and resized it three different times. Then I carved the three different fish (we like things in three's around here) and set them aside. I used some old iron strapping for the wrought iron support running the length of the piece; first cross cutting it in three different lengths then cutting it longwise in three spots to make two thinner pieces. Then these were heated up and forged into the circular designs for the gills and mouth. Once all the pieces were forged I checked them against the carved wooden fish and then welded them back into one long strip. This was set aside while the fish were painted and distressed, then added as the support. The last step was to rummage around in our metal working section for old bottle caps, washers and bronze boat nails for the eyes, and to attach the wrought iron to the fish. This 'all you can eat piece' is on its way to a gallery near Washington, DC. I'll let you know where later! Jac 2/15/08 ********************************************************** Welcome to our initial blog posting! We've had a presence on the 'net since the mid 1990's, but always thought of it as a static medium - more of a catalog than an interactive mode of contact. But we've decided to join the 21st century. From this space we will endeavor to keep you informed of where we'll be showing and what we'll be showing. With the opening of our showroom (on March 1st, 2008) we'll be adding images and video of the inventory as it changes from week to week. Don't expect too much at first, our regular clients keep us busy, and commissioned work has been growing steadily, but eventually we hope to feature paintings, furniture and garden art from artists and craftsmen we admire and respect.
Since this is the first post on this page I want to give a back-story to the name of this page. Our studio is a converted barn. In the process of repairing it we decided to utilize the attic space above our showroom as a sort of 'design loft'. The room has a large picture window that looks out over our farm, and we've found the loft to be the perfect place to envision the next feathervane, or the next mermaid. Hopefully you'll get to enjoy our studio loft space through the creations it inspires. Feb. 11th, 2008
Jac Johnson, Three Points Design Inc.
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