This is a Greene & Greene inspired wall sconce with marbled glass inserts.
Charles & Henry Greene were architects in California in the early 1900s and are widely admired for their "Ultimate Bungalows."
Currently there is only one of these stunning homes that is open to the public. It's the Gamble House in Pasadena, CA and it's truly worth seeing.
There is a virtual tour online. If you want to take a few minutes, just go to this link:
https://gamblehouse.org/virtual-tour/
Enjoy!
No . . . I didn't carve the whale. But I did carve the base.
My client purchased this beautiful Japanese whale carving and wanted a good way to display it. We decided to create a base that had the feel of the swells in the ocean.
I chose walnut because of the wonderful yet subtle grain.
I first made a clay model of the base. When I was satisfied with it, I carved a slightly larger base from basswood (a soft wood that's easy to carve) to get a better feel for the size and proportion.
Then, from a large chunk of walnut, I cut and carved the final stand. Finishing was done with 6 coats of Waterlox.
Modelling the base from small hunk of clay and then actually carving a larger piece of basswood to get a feel for the final project look.
From whence it came. Showing parts cut from the original block of walnut.
The completed stand after carving & finishing.
This is a display case for a custom knife maker. Behind the faux leather background is a sheet of 16 gauge steel to which the knives are held with rare earth magnets.
The lighting is accomplished with a strip of LEDs that go completely around the inside of the door to provide an even glow. The LEDs are connected to a dimmer to adjust the light level in different environmets.
I made this "shoe bench" in the Greene & Greene style. The wood is Cherry and Yellow Birch. The finger joints, mortises and tenons are all cut by hand. Each of the Ebony plugs are "pillowed" individually
by hand.
To the right is a detailed photo of the finger joints and ebony plugs. Click on the picture to enlarge it.