Our next venture was one of the more ambitious projects we have undertaken. We decided to bring one of Nate’s old ideas to life: a rocking “horse” in the shape of a dragon.

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The Bat box!

I was discussing steampunk with spooky-librarian Jeanne, a friend that makes stained glass art.. the conversation wandered into the lack of “evil” stained glass works, and the possibility of doing an art nouveau Bat.

a few days later, we saw a call for artists in a halloween show, and the goal was seized..

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Central Cincinnati gallery, i was so jazzed when they invited us in (our third time showing work in a gallery) The store owner has a long history in the Cinci art scene..to be accepted into a show of hers was.. kinda staggering. My thanks to her, and the store is a fascinating place to explore.

Located in Downtown Cincinnati. Eclectic Diverse, and High-End, It opened in Feb. 2007 and so far has been doing wonderfully.

A Cincinnati non profit arts center and gallery. They saw my work, invited me into the guild, and i volunteer there a lot. If you’re ever near, drop by, there’s a lot of fascinating stuff there all the time. (our first time in a gallery was here)

A spiffy Printmaker in Boston. She and I work together on some prints, and manage the Printmaker’s Periodic Table of Elements project together. She doth rock.

Carving is kinda a new art to me, at least, in wood. So i tend to fiddle a bit, and practice a bit in various woods before i tackle “real” projects.. trying to get the feel for the wood, for each is different. poplar is supersoft, but the weak fibers “feather out". oak, takes a lot of effort to carve, but picks up a perfect surface if you learn to understand the grains. walnut and ash..oily, hard to cut, but glides so well, and burnish so well.. sassafras, the open grain of oak, without the strength, maple an interesting mixture of good and bad traits..

so far the only wood i *hate* is pine. So here’s a few images of stuff i’ve tinkered with..rough sketches and doodles.

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As our circle of friends grew in the crafting world, several people suggested that we make a traditional 3-legged stool, something that people who spin yarn would use. The project really kicked off when Spazspun of Etsy.com commissioned us to make one, and is actually made to be the right height for a spinning wheel, but could be used for anything.

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This one was a long and (in my mind) wierd story.

The very sweet and talented CelticGoddess of Etsy.com had gotten to know each other a little in the forums, and she was hoping to commission a traditionally themed bracelet display for craft shows - something that would be a bit more difficult to shoplift from than the regular “capitol T” shaped commercial bracelet displays. This is the end result.

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As Jason began the cutting for the Tuam, I began work on a very ancient style of travelling throne used by the Roman magistrates. I’ve not researched it closely, but I have read in a few places that this style of folding chair, in the shape of an X, was allowed only for high Roman officials. Even after the Roman empire collapsed, those territories that were affected by the romans still considered the X chair as a sign of power. There were many many variants over the centuries, and the X chair evolved farther and farther from its roots. If you’re bored, look up a savonarolla, or a dantesca or the throne of the franc king, Dagobert.

I am told that even today, X-shaped chairs are reserved for Catholic bishops, and that they actually use Faldistoriums in ritual, though I do not know if this is true. My idea, however, was an interpretation. Say, not long after Rome retreated from the British Isles and Hadrian’s wall was overrun. What kind of throne might a Celtic warlord have made? How would he have re-imaged a Roman Faldistorium? So, I made this -

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