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Finishing Tip
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Add a cap full of eucalyptus oil
to a spray bottle full of water to dust, clean and preserve wood
surfaces. Eucayptus is a natural antimicrobal. Easy, inexpensive and
completely non-toxic.
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Friends, Finds & Collaborations
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For the photographs of Scout's bed, the kid's bedding is by Boodelee and the guest room shot uses "field day" by Sanford Burrows. Thank you to these talented designers/business owners for their amazingly well-designed, quality products and to Nancy at Surfrider Foundation for lending us her vintage posters.
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Dear Leigh,
Welcome! This e-newsletter will answer the questions that people always seem ask when we tell them our business, woodworking.
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The Life of a Table
What do you like about your work?
So much transpires across the lines of a dining table. So much weight
over the years has been carried by a chair. So many ups and downs have
been shelved inside a cabinet. We grew up and grow old in a good rocker.
The
twisted old ash stump that's sitting outside the shop now will
undoubtably take it's place in someone's home in the next few years. I
haven't decided what to do with it. Maybe a table, maybe a chandelier,
maybe a burled veneer secretary. As I walk into the shop each day I
wonder what will happen. Before it came here, one of our clients had
enjoyed it's shade and the sound the wind made blowing through its
pinnate leaves and white flowers in spring. Surely the previous
homeowner did the same, and on back to the sprout and to the seed.
Going
forward we'll talk and laugh about what to make out of it and how to
get it done. Someone will come in one day looking for a table and
catalyze our endless possibilities into a single vision. I've always
wanted a coffee table like this! How would you make it? What would it
look like? I have a three year old child, will it break if he climbs on
it?
We make drawings and design the table for the family. We
work the wood and craft the joinery and sand and oil and polish. We
deliver and the wood does the rest. My favorite part is to deliver a
piece of furniture and watch the wood do it's thing. Their eyes light
up as a ray of sunlight reveals the depth and texture of the grain. I
watch as a new relationship blossoms. Their history together is just
beginning as they place it and admire it in just the right spot in
their living room.
The novelty of the new table will fade in
time, but in the swirls of grain stories will imprint like old
photographs of the times and seasons of this family's life. The child
grows older. He has a family of his own, and the table comes to him.
His children play games on grandmother and grandfather's old table. The
son oils the table and tells them how he played on it just the same
when he was their age.
So, what do we like about our work? As I've heard Sam Maloof
say, a little part of me goes into every thing I make. The best day is
when all our work is complete, and we're ready to give it away.
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Awards and Press
Keeseh Studio's Make Some Green Competition
Providence,
RI - 11.7.08 - A distinctive panel of judges annouced nine winners at A
Better World by Design Conference, held by RISD and Brown University.
The wine oak received "honorable mention."
Woodshop News
This
magazine is a trade favorite. The article calls us out as a "California
shop establishing a market for its use of reclaimed lumber."
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On the Workbench
New Projects and Photos
Our son, Scout, turned three and was clearly growing too fast for a
toddler bed, so we moved right to a "big boy bed". The bamboo lumber we
used, is unlike the plywood typically shown in bamboo furniture. It
retains the durability and sustainability, but without the plywood
style edges. The simple and contemporary look is designed to adapt with
the inevitable transformations of his room, from toddler playroom to
teenager hangout to (sigh) guest room. We can achieve bright colors or
a natural look with non-toxic finishes. Why buy three beds, when you
can buy one? Click here for more.
And for More New Projects |
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Our
services include the highest quality modern and traditional cabinetry,
custom furniture, green materials, finishing & refinishing. We
work with general contractors, architects, interior designers and
individual home owners.
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Please forward this email to people you think would be interested. We look forward to hearing your questions and suggestions.
Wishing you peace and good fortune in 2009, Cliff and Leigh Spencer
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