What's Up?

North Carolina's Bob Trotman  is June's featured artist. Post questions for him in the comments of this post.

I have done a lot of repair and some festival-going in the last week and a half. A few beautiful mashup things were sold quickly and I don't have pictures. One was an 80's shaped hardwood desk base that I matched up with a vintage sheet of bird's eye maple veneer plywood for the top. The bottom layer of the bird's eye looked like weathered leather but it may have been a severely distressed finish applied very thick? About 40x22, 7-layer finish ply with a drawer pull (type of thing) cut out along one edge - the most unique piece of scrap I've run into in a long time!

On this Formica table, I painted the legs burgundy.

Then I built Icehouse II bookcase on commission:

 Starting with the door (backing), I cut of the bottom to make it even and to clean off a thin layer of woodrot in the endgrain. The worn, graffitied door was beaten apart from the sides of the tool cabinet it once enclosed, so splintered edges were split off with a chisel. I then wire brushed away the loose paint chips and triple-coated it with water-based polyurethane front and back.(4 layers on exposed endgrain) The hinges were busted off to remove this one, but the bent latch is intact and rotates freely. (Icehouse I Bookcase also had hinges)

The side panels are cut from the plywood back of a very strange old stereo cabinet. I may cannibalize the rest and will try to remember to take pictures of it first. I gave bits of the componentry to Susan for the future making of a Bot.

The shelves are the very last of the shelf-stock donated by our neighbor Sam from a library tear-out in the early 90s. (Previously, I guessed they had come from a prior incarnation at 201 Haywood Rd.) I lost the shop countersink for about a week, so I used a flat auger bit in its absence. With a wide pilot, the flat recess created by the auger seems to create a lock-tight effect when the wood screws bite in at the end. So, lesson learned: losing tools leads to innovation. Lose your tools often as long as you are certain to find them again later.

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A Promise Is a Promise: Where's My Update?!

Top two reasons it has taken so long to deliver: a yard sale and a stolen bike. But I don't want to talk about that.

So there it is, the corner bookshelf, nestled in the chaos of Hip thrift. I do believe it will be more comfortable once it has been claimed by a new owner. Keep in mind, it won't look like this anywhere else; the concept is a blank slate.

The open design makes it ideal for the creative display of toys, books, objects and art.

Meanwhile, I have been doing a bit of painting.

Dry brushwork on the side of a bookcase.

Here are new chairs to go with the tree table. Three are pictured from the set of four.

On a warm March morning, I went to a secret location with the artist Penish Wrinkle and we snagged some wonderful graffitied* tool cabinet doors.

*Graffitied is not a word yet! But I believe that one day it will be.

This is the backside of the door, which is being repurposed as the backing for a crooked, wobbly bookcase that I picked up at an estate sale.

And now it is solid as a rock and no longer crooked. I wire brushed the loose paint and heavily glazed the entire door, front and back, so it is a safe piece despite its delinquent origins.


The bookcase for vinyl sold yesterday and two different parties are now very interested in the tree table. It feels great to be productive! Thanks to everyone for your support.
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Hip Thrift Updates: Nifty table is on the floor.

Not too long ago, I hinted that I might document the construction of a new bookshelf to be sold at Hip Thrift. It's funny how things get in the way, in this case literally. While I was building the shelves, Amy Williams was sanding down the top of a sweet old wooden table. And then somehow this table ended up back in the middle of the workspace. I thought, "Let me paint this thing and get it out of my way, then I'll paint the shelves . . ."

Well, I still haven't painted the shelves.
The table took on a life of it's own.

I thought, "This is a classic table. I'll paint it white."
Then I thought, "Those little circles could really make it pop," so electric blue.
And then, "The legs look bare now . . ."
"Now the top needs some color," and I speckled it with blue and teal.
And then, inspired by painting outdoors. Above, the raw painting is in progress.

Following that were olive and milky glazes, sanding and distressing, and many layers of clear coat. A worthy picture will find its way here soon, but I brought it into the shop tonight by the light of a streetlamp.

So check back for the finished product in all of its refurbished glory.
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>>> daylight

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