I worked in the shop of a display company for 20 years. I always loved looking at the odd cut-offs of lumber and trim moldings we ‘produced’. We hired an older experienced woodworker and one day, when things got slow, he brought in on of the most amazing mosaics I’ve ever seen. He had a small shop in his garage and sorta out of the blue he picked some interesting little left-over pieces and glued them together into a sort of puzzle. Some were taller than others, some nice small pieces of rare woods and some were strangely angled bit of cheaper stock. Some were dark, some light toned, and some were old faded paint. Over the years it grew to be around 4’X6’ and he brought it to the shop to have our painter spray a clear coat on it. It’s been at least 35 years since I saw it in person but I can still see it in my head.
I love that story! I think what sticks with me most is that this guy, who had been woodworking for a long while (it sounds like) was still interested in just playing. I like that he kept that spark. Thank you for sharing!
So anyway I was going to suggest that maybe if you started something like that with the odd scraps and chunks you could do some interesting abstract mosaics to sell beside the intricate pieces. If nothing else you can look at it when you’re ok’d line me and remember the project you did with black walnut or teak or all that oak CR7, sort of like a diary. Thanks for sharing your projects.
I was already thinking about that—about some of the lovely but otherwise kind of unused scraps I have and don’t want to just get rid of. I hadn’t thought of it like a diary, but what a great notion, I think I’ll do that.
I worked in the shop of a display company for 20 years. I always loved looking at the odd cut-offs of lumber and trim moldings we ‘produced’. We hired an older experienced woodworker and one day, when things got slow, he brought in on of the most amazing mosaics I’ve ever seen. He had a small shop in his garage and sorta out of the blue he picked some interesting little left-over pieces and glued them together into a sort of puzzle. Some were taller than others, some nice small pieces of rare woods and some were strangely angled bit of cheaper stock. Some were dark, some light toned, and some were old faded paint. Over the years it grew to be around 4’X6’ and he brought it to the shop to have our painter spray a clear coat on it. It’s been at least 35 years since I saw it in person but I can still see it in my head.
I love that story! I think what sticks with me most is that this guy, who had been woodworking for a long while (it sounds like) was still interested in just playing. I like that he kept that spark. Thank you for sharing!
So anyway I was going to suggest that maybe if you started something like that with the odd scraps and chunks you could do some interesting abstract mosaics to sell beside the intricate pieces. If nothing else you can look at it when you’re ok’d line me and remember the project you did with black walnut or teak or all that oak CR7, sort of like a diary. Thanks for sharing your projects.
I was already thinking about that—about some of the lovely but otherwise kind of unused scraps I have and don’t want to just get rid of. I hadn’t thought of it like a diary, but what a great notion, I think I’ll do that.