I made a good living back in the 1980s doing fine art with pen and ink drawings and limited edition prints, with my artwork sold in more than three dozen galleries. Although that journey was decades ago, I’ve never lost my love of creating this style of art. Even so, I have no desire to do things the way I did back in the day. Instead of drawing original pen and ink drawings on paper and then having limited edition prints created in a commercial print shop, I want to create the drawings digitally on my iPad and then create ‘prints’ in our studio using a laser engraving machine on wood panels. These limited edition ‘prints’ (fewer than ten in an edition) will then be hand-coloured, using pigmented inks, numbered and signed. I am currently doing my research on professional quality laser engravers with a minimum bed size of 24” x 24”. Like when I researched CNC routers and plasma tables so many years ago, the technical information and specs of a laser engraver seem a little daunting. I’m seeking to purchase a professional-quality machine I won’t quickly grow out of, while at the same time not overspending for what I need. Once I make my decision on which machine to go with, and get the machine in our studio, it will be time to figure out the software, materials, speeds, power settings and all that goes with the technology. I have already worked up a dozen drawings to experiment with. It is going to be an exciting adventure!
Cut, cut, cut
Matt has been busy cutting, fitting and gluing tile in the Copper Crown of late. He started with the border tile, which goes all around the room, and has no straight lines. The border tiles are cut down to 2” X 3”. That means lots of fitting and marking, and then trips to the shop to cut the specially shaped tile. All that effort is for good as the floors are looking fabulous! Stay tuned for a peek soon…
Stocking up
After a very busy fall and before an even busier winter/spring construction season, this is the time to regroup just a little. We take inventory of our supplies and place our orders for enough supplies to last through the next year. We like to buy in bulk when we can, for we can negotiate a better price and save significantly on shipping costs. By the end of this month we will have tons of sand, hundreds of bags of concrete additive, pallets of various sizes of Precision Board and glue, consumables for the CNC machines and bins full of every size of screws and hardware. We’ve also gone through our tools to make sure everything is in good working order and replaced as necessary. By buying before the end of the year we often beat the inevitable price increases on most items as well. Once fully stocked we can solely concentrate of our work.
