Welcome to this weeks publication of Heart Hand and Eye, Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking's newsletter celebrating the work of our students, alumni and faculty.
Artisan E - Veneers & Curves
from left Doug, Juan Carlos, Ryan, Kunga, Josh, Kathleen, Kenji, Robert, Jack, Carl, Jamie, Dan, Aaron
JK Lectures
In this week's lecture, Jim spoke about veneer, and coopering planes and frame and panel. A couple of our Artisan Program graduates will be heading down to visit with Jim and Britta when they finish up next week. Jim's inspiring words will soon be available on our website.
Resident Journeyman Program
With Robert's new benchroom and the new Wood Room nearing completion, Doug Ives from Gibsons British Columbia is busy with Yvonne's new reception area. Our gallery was built in the 1930's and has some strong character which we are trying to maintain and restore. We are grateful for Doug's enthusiasm for the gallery and school.
Juan Carlos from Caracas Venezuela shares with this weeks class his enthusiasm for compound curved veneer work. Here he shows the students the process he used for creating his most recent piece. Juan is a fine craftsman with an excellent eye and mind for the craft. It is a real pleasure for me to watch graduates of our program and their passion for our craft being shared with others.
Artisan Program
Jack West from Fort Jones California trims his curved veneer panel to width prior to applying his applied edges. This week students were introduced to form making, curved veneer panel work, tapered laminations and coopering. Each student comes away with a curved veneered panel in eastern maple. A tapered lamination in ash and a coopered panel. It will be a sad day next week saying goodbye to such a special group of people.
Kunga Delotsange from New York via Tibet uses a block plane to flush the applied edges of his curved veneer panel. To ensure a good match with veneer and solid, each student received a piece of eastern maple from which the applied edges and baked in edges were removed, veneers were then cut on one of our fine bandsaw's. A form was shaped from a piece of solid poplar, three plays of 1/8" plywood were bent over the form, the panel was trimmed and baked in edges were applied, the veneer was then applied, trimmed and finally applied edges attached.
Ryan Inmann from Vancouver via South Africa with dry run of his first set of staves for his coopered panel exercise. This is Ryan's second year at the school and will complete his Artisan Program next week. When he returned this year he said that he had already put what he learned to good use including using his planes made in Artisan B Plane Making & Surface to prepare the surfaces of a recent piece. It has been wonderful to have Ryan's family up during Ryan's stay.
Kathleen Murphy from Edmonton Alberta pores melted recycled lead into one of our forms during the optional Saturday where students were given the opportunity to make lofting ducks. Kathleen also took the time to make a few new forms replacing existing forms made during the Craftsman Program which finally cracked. I have enjoyed very much having the opportunity to work with this fine young cabinetmaker and will enjoy watching her progress as she ventures out with newfound knowledge. She Jack and Cory are heading up to Skookumchuck Narrows for a hike tomorrow.
Josh Shrae from Anchorage Alaska uses one of our Davis & Wells boring machine to mill the mortises for the fence for his shooting board. Many of our students have taken full advantage of the evening and Saturday bonus hours to complete a variety of optional exercise including tool making. Josh will be heading down to Montna following the program where he will be working on a timberframe using sustainable green building methods.
Dan from Vancouver British Columbia uses one of our shop jointer planes to shape the form for his curved veneer panel exercise. Dan began the Artisan Program last year and will finish up at the end of next week. On Monday the students and I will be heading to the lower mainland on a wood run and to visit a couple of shops including Dan's. Dan has been harvesting much of his own wood over the past couple of years with his chainsaw mill. Recently he past along to us one of the nicest pieces of Port Orford Cedar that I have ever seen. It quickly was marked with my initials and will be used in an upcoming cabinet I have in mind. Dan continues to be a strong supporter of our small school.
Kenji Konno from Vancouver British Columbia via Japan sets up our Davis & Wells bandsaw for cutting veneer. The students each had the opportunity to slice veneers using one of our fine bandsaw's during the process of making their curved veneered panel exercise. This past week our service provider for the website went down and data was lost. Kenji and Jamie who work together managed to save our lost data. They have both been tremendous supporters of the school and we look forward to their return. We are hoping to catch up with them Monday evening for dinner in Vancouver. Kenji has a strong intrest and ability in carving. This week he started a little elephant lofting duck which we wil cast later this summer.
Jamie from Vancouver British Columbia uses his bocote jointer plane to shape the form for the curved veneer panel exercise. This is Jamie's third year attending classes at our school. It is wonderful to see returning students and the progress they have made. Jamie just completed a fine workbench this spring. I was talking to Federico, one of our two year graduates of the school who suggested that he may not remember the face but he often remembers the work. I concur, Jamie attended the first ever class at the school and I remember one of the highlights of my week was watching Jamie cut an exquisite set of dovetails in doussie.
Carl Flansbaum from Bellingham Washington uses one of our shop jointer planes to shoot the edges of his curved veneered panel prior to applying edges. Carl is a part time pharmacist and now a full time woodworker. He already has an impressive string of commissions underway. Carl was a self described power tool guy who really embraced our heavy emphasis on hand tools and did some fine work while at the school.
Aaron Lane a operates a small woodworking company Lane Woodworking in Birmingham Alabama. Aaron is a fine young craftsman with an impressive body of work. In addition to the curved veneered panel, the tapered laminations and coopering, Aaron made a few chisels, put an insert into one of his coopering planes and still managed to get out and enjoy our incredible part of world with his partner Amanda. It is encouraging to watch craftsman who aspire to take their work to the next level.
Faculty
Resident Craftsman & Teacher Robert Van Norman shares with this weeks class the art of edge jointing. This week students were exposed to curved veneer work including form making, Tapered laminations and coopering. On the optional Saturday students were shown the process of making lofting ducks made from recycled tire weights and brazing rod.
Community
Juan Carlos and Doug share a quiet moment in the benchroom
Dan and Jamie inspect a few veneers of spalted maple from a plank that Dan milled from a fallen vancouver tree.
Facility
Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking is pleased to announce the upcoming opening of our new gallery and office.
Our gallery and office will be moving across the courtyard into the cottage adjacent to the Gumboot Cafe. In addition to our students alumni and faculty work, the Other End of the Plank Gallery, will also feature the work of a selected group of local artists and artisans. At the school, this means the addition of a dedicated Wood Room and new Benchroom for Robert with ample light and a separate entrance. With the additional room, we will be expanding our current inventory of hand picked planks.
"I made one object at a time because of the wood, because of the tools, with a certain idea and hope, and somehow these objects won friends and gradually, gradually, my confidence and experience increased. But for a very long time, it was touch and go. Even now, although people may think that I have got it made and things are going fine, even now I am only carrying my end of the plank. Someone else who is sharing life with me has believed from the beginning in what I am trying to do is carrying the other end of that plank" - A Cabinetmakers Notebook by James Krenov.
Alumni Bench Order
Our annual alumni bench order has left Sweden. Leif has made and donated a left handed bench for our students which will accompany our order. Then went onto mention something about beer and the olympics. If you would like more information about these hand crafted benches visit Målilla Hyvelbänkar. Our school will be placing another alumni order next spring.
Alumni
Juan Carlos discusses the design for his stand with alumni Federico Mendez Castro. Two very fine craftsmen both of whom are two year graduates of the program. We are grateful to have involved with our school.
The grand opening of Other End of the Plank Gallery will take place the day after first elephants first Elephants. We hope that you will join us.
Artisan & Craftsman for Programs 2008 -2009
There is limited space available in our Artisan Programs for 2008. If you would you would like more information or would like to register call Yvonne toll free at 1.877.943.9663. Alternatively registrations may be faxed to 1.604.885.9711.
We have confirmed our first-year students for the 2008-2009 Craftsman Program. The group consists of men and women from Japan, Ireland, Columbia, United States & Canada. We are currently accepting applications for the 2009-2010 Craftsman Program.
Artisan Program Schedule for 2009