"My [Man] Made the Frame"

Recently, I made a couple picture frames for my wife. Her two-sided pieces needed frames that were decent looking on both sides, and she couldn't find what she wanted in a store. See one of her pieces for this show here (her blog) or here (the Fuller Lodge Art Center). For my part, here are the frames, sanded and ready for paint

and here is one finished with the art in place. Basically, the art and glass slide into the frame through a groove in the bottom.

I built the frames (and some "feet" for a third frame she bought), then chuckled as I thought of this Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon (which I lifted from "newspaperarchives.com")

and all the other picture frames I've made over the years, and the few I need to finish. No, I'm not going to open a frame shop any time soon, but it's nice to be self-sufficient in this regard. It's fun to create something that is elegant in its own right, but which also accentuates the beauty of something else. I guess that's the essence of the relationship between a picture and its frame, isn't it?

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In other "Art & Music Exchange" news--

I added a new piano student and a new guitar student in the last couple weeks. That brings my grand total up to 5 students. There may be a couple more coming on as well. Woo hoo! I'm planning a recital in May. 

I only have a couple February gigs:
- Feb 8, K2 Women's ski weekend party, Craig Martin Experience, tentative due to lack of snow
- Feb 25, Pajarito Pub & Grill, DK & the Affordables, 8-midnight, $5 cover.

As we get into March, I've got:
- March 8, I'm teaching a fly tying class at Warm Hearts Yarn in White Rock. Consult their blog for details.
- March 15, CME is playing at the Empty Bowls fundraiser for Self-Help, Inc.
- March 21-23 I'm leading a Level-2 Mountain Travel and Rescue class for local ski patrollers. It's been in the works for about 5 years, and it will probably be my last ski patrol "hurrah" for a while. After this class is over, I plan to hand MTR instruction (locally and regionally) over to someone else.

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In the "Random Thoughts" category--

My back has been "out" again. While it feels much better today, and I have kicked the pain killers that have been a staple for the past few days, I still can't bend over to the left without a needle stabbing me in the hip. But it's getting better, and I imagine I'll be pain-free (and back to running) in a week or so. Anyway, this post from Zen Habits really hit home last week, as the author explored happiness in the face of his own misery. It was what I needed to hear. And then last night, at 10 pm, as I was not quite done stretching and contemplating queue-ing up the next episode of Caprica, I remembered this post about not "scratching the itch." So, I finished my stretching to the crackling of the fire in the wood stove, and went straight to bed rather than staying up until 11 numbing my mind with video. Maybe getting enough sleep made a difference in my physical well-being and in my attitude. At any rate, I highly recommend Mr. Babauta's blog, both for its content and simplicity. Mindfulness and thoughtfulness are ideas I've been working on for a several years now, with, as you might expect, mixed results. Still, those ideals are worthy of effort.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Recent Small Projects and Deep Thoughts

I made a bunch of these Altoids tin fly boxes, just in time for the ol' holidays:

The idea of the Altoids tin fly box is not new, but this is a slightly classier version. I rendered a bitmap from a photograph (or, in non-tech-speak, I drew the stencil) in Inkscape (a good freeware graphics program), cut it out on a laser cutter, applied it in enamel (black fingernail polish) with a stenciling brush, and coated the lid with a spray-on acrylic clear-coat to protect the image. The ripple foam was a "boat patch" that I purchased a while back and cut down to fit the tins. It came pre-glued with rubber cement and sticks nicely. The boxes came from Specialty Bottle, though I'll probably recycle tins for future boxes and charge a bit less. I have these kits for sale at Warm Hearts Yarn in White Rock with a selection of flies (tied by me) for local waters. At this point I should also plug Bill Orr and Karen Denison's book, Fly Patterns of Northern New Mexico as the source of the fly patterns in this collection. Look for it at your local bookstore, or heck, find Bill at the Los Alamos Farmer's Market next summer (that's where I bought my copy!).

SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: I tie flies quite a bit, and I'm reasonably good at it. If there's a fly or a set of flies you're dying to try and don't want to drive to Santa Fe to buy, give me a shout. I'll do custom orders.  I'm also planning a tying class or two for early spring, say March-ish, again in White Rock.

My wife and I just pulled the trigger on a new sewing machine, something we've been saving for for quite a while. The most important feature we were looking for: sewing in a straight line with minimal input (our ol' Pfaff has a broken feed dog). We're looking forward to yards and yards of stitch-making fun. I can't believe how automatic these new machines are; even threading the needle is an automated task, done at the push of a button. Right now I'm in the middle of replacing the zipper on my favorite lightweight jacket, which has been relegated to a drawer for 2 years with a busted zipper, and it's time to resurrect it. I spent an hour with the seam ripper a few nights ago, and I have to say, the folks that sew for Cloudveil do a very good and thorough job! Maybe that expensive outdoor clothing is worth the price.

The old Pfaff managed to turn out my Christmas stocking, which I made from the sleeves of my Carhartt jacket-to-vest conversion. It is hung by the fireplace with care (or carabiner...). The "man stocking" may be a gift for next year's Christmas season, sized big enough for tools, firearms, a 6-pack, etc. We'll see. Maybe I'll make some in camo, too.

 
I'm working on a sword for my son for Christmas. I'm going to use an old axe handle my Dad had lying around in his odds and ends. I had been making swords for all the boys (my son's friends and their brothers) for their birthdays, but sort of slacked off when it came to my own. That and I ran out of the good 5/8" plywood. He said he wanted the "ninja" sword anyway, which makes stock selection easier because there's no elaborate hand guard. Stay tuned for that as well, but I'm hoping to crank it out over the weekend.

Speaking of dads and sons, I've been going through my dad's tools and hunting stuff on my trips back to Idaho, most recently over the week surrounding Thanksgiving. His big old desk still sits in his basement "den," and going through that has been a trip down memory lane. I remember being 5 or 6 and sitting there at the little pull-out writing board, playing with my Matchbox cars or Legos or building with nuts and bolts and magnets while he tied flies or reloaded shells. I learned to tie flies on that pull-out table. I also remember sitting on his lap and pulling the handles and moving the levers on his shotgun shell reloading equipment--first the primer, then the powder, then the wad, then the shot, and finally the crimp. Over and over. I'm honestly amazed at the variety of things he did as an adult, from hunting and fishing to golf and clubmaking to skiing, from landscaping his property to maintaining his vehicles. Maybe that's where I got my varied interests and do-it-myself tendencies! In going through his possessions, I've not only encountered personal nostalgia, but also a history lesson from the 60s through the present--old cardboard cigar boxes, tools, silverware, knives, guns and the ancillary equipment (cleaning, smithing, etc.), vintage books, and some older hunting clothes. I'm also amazed at how much of that stuff I personally remember, and how things have shifted. For example, my memory of the heft of one of his pocket knives doesn't match with my current reality. That desk, however, is still gigantic, and I look forward to someday having a place in my home for it. Our little 1200 square foot abode just doesn't have room for it now, unfortunately. 

My goal for Christmas is to have my upright piano project done, or at least usable. Two or three more good hours and I'll be there. The new casters are on and all that's left is an upper shelf. Hopefully a showcase of the piano project will fill my next post.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!