That’s my dad! Usually the dude is busy doing things for other people, but once in a while he cranks out a project for himself. He makes it seem easy to make this copper sunflowers sculpture, and for him it probably was. He’s got the gear, and the skills. Dad used a nibbler to cut everything out but you can definitely use a bandsaw with the right blade or maybe even a jigsaw. Snips? I doubt it, with copper this thick. Once he had all the pieces fabbed up he used an oxy-acetylene torch to braze everything together.
I recorded this interview with my uncle, Robin Sigler, on Christmas Eve 2009. It’s taken me a while to edit it together with some related photos. I like his philosophy that you don’t have to paint things exactly as you see them. As I watch it and hear all the conversations and dogs whining in the background I feel like I’m back at my parents’ house during the holidays. And I always enjoy our time there.
I have a lot more photographs of Robin’s painting and will eventually add them to the site.
You can run, but you can’t hide from me when I’m carrying the Flip. This latest ambush is with my aunt Jan. For Christmas she made some very fancy embroidered pillow cases for my parents. I can’t imagine sweating and drooling on these masterpieces so I’m guessing they’re ornamental.
I dropped the ball and forgot to get photos while I was there, but I think you can see clearly enough from the video that pillow cases have a lot of detail. Gifts like this really are special, and not just because of the significant amount of time it takes to make something like this. In this (pillow) case it was about 20 hours for the pair.
One year I tried to make every gift I gave, and it just about killed me. Props to everyone makin’ stuff.
I left the video camera running while we did this. The whole shoot took about 30 minutes. I think Paris had the idea for snowflakes. Originally, I wanted to recruit a ton of people, dozens at least, to make one giant snowflake somewhere in downtown Asheville, and shoot it from a building. But the ladies were thumbs down on that. I still may do it one year. That’s a lot of white clothes!
We hope you like it. If you haven’t gotten yours yet and you know you’re on list email me. We still have a small batch that hasn’t been mailed. If you want one, no matter who you are, just let me know. We have a small number left.
The hits keep coming. Mary made a set of potholders from some funky 1970s style fabric for her funky (in a good way) older sister. She used some fabric meant for covering ironing boards in the middle because it’s heat resistant. Beyond that, she freely admits that she doesn’t know what she’s doing, and didn’t have directions. Freestyle sewing!
Oh, yes. We finally got the cards in the mail, tah-day. Since only a few people have already received theirs I won’t post any photos or videos until later. Also, the killer blizzard this past weekend has interrupted our electicity, heat and work flow so I’m running behind on the media stuff. Come back soon.
This Monster Backpack for our nephew is another Christmas creation by Mary. Handmade all the way. Even the bag it’s wrapped in is handmade. She Googled “cute cartoon monsters” to find different ideas and used them as inspiration for her own thing. To make the applique possible she had to simplify the final design. Mary has advanced sewing skillz, credentials even, but she makes it sound simple.
And, she was wrapping gifts in our freezing cold house. Lots of snow this weekend. Not much electricity. Sorry to whoever was calling during the video. We stop for no one.
The crafty lady is on a roll. This project is a tote bag made from some salvaged wool that she felted. Details include a fancy-pants interior pocket, and a functional/decorative patch. Curse you moths! No pattern was used. Freestyle sewing!
I saw this last year, Christmas 2008, when visiting my in-laws. My mother-in-law Cathy Earle did this fantasy cityscape oil painting in the early 1970s. I believe it was an assignment in an art class she was taking. She had redecorated her office and brought this piece out of the archives. The colors are fantastic, no pun intended. They are an Army family and at first I thought this was real skyline from some place they had been stationed in Europe.
For a closer look see a larger version of this oil painting.
