05 September 2007

Creative Energy In Many Forms

BareEssentials

Last night I finally got out my carving tools again. When I was carving at my last house-sitting gig I didn't have a sturdy table or a bench hook. I wasn't able to cut very deeply under those conditions, so all the blocks I did then still need lots of clearing. It felt so good to spend a couple of hours with the chisels.

Meanwhile, most of my creativity is now pouring into the task of making a new home. On Labor Day weekend, Lynn and I labored in the kitchen. First we painted the walls to lighten the room:

OldColor
Old Color

NewColor
New Color

And then we put together the kitchen island below. It was shipped to us in pieces in a huge 125-pound box. Living on the third floor has some drawbacks.

Kitchen Island

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The island looks great! What is a bench hook?

Nicole

0Annie) said...

Yeah, the island looks very nice, but so does the paint job. What an amazing difference color can make!

I have the same question, what is a bench hook?

Annie B said...

Sorry for not explaining. A bench hook is a board with two thin strips of wood nailed at the top on one side of the board and one long strip nailed to the bottom on the other side of the board. The top strips hold the block in place as you carve. The strip of wood on the bottom catches on a table edge and holds the whole kit and kaboodle in place on the table so you can use both hands to hold your carving tool. Gives you much more carving power and also goes a long way to prevent accidents.

Diane Cutter said...

It looks great, Annie! I can smell the freshness and look forward to seeing those block become final prints!

Anonymous said...

Looking good! (the workspace and the kitchen!) We just had out ratty old bathroom taken out and a super-duper smart one put in...oh the mess though, while it was being done! Pics on my non-arty blog if you're interested...http://scribblycottage.blogspot.com/