Guitar anyone?

Hey Everybody!

Over the past couple of months, in amongst work and life, I've been trying out a different application for my burning. I was asked by a friend of mine, Jon, who plays guitar in a band called Jo Jo Gun & The Bullets (Myspace) (FB Page) (one of his musical incarnations), to burn a design onto the wooden pick-guard he has for his guitar. I was quite happy to oblige!

The design was drawn from scratch and it went through a few different incarnations before everything seemed right, and the green light was given to burn away! The burning was a little slow-going, as the pre-existing finish had seeped into the grain of the wood. This meant that my pyrography tools had to kind of 'plow' through the finish to get to the burning point.

Here are a few images showing the progression from beginning to end:

After sanding off the existing finish, there's a
nice clean canvas to work with.

Here was the beginning of the first concept.
The latin wording is VERA - Truth,
SPES - Hope, AMOR - Love, ARS - Art.
The text was a little crammed together, so
another version was needed.

This next positioning had the beginnings of
the text taking over the piece, so this one was
scrapped as well. 

And here is the rough draft of the final version,
complete with more focus on the floral design.

Then I used my natural light box (the sun, plus an
open window) to help in inking the final draft.

After the design has been transferred to the
pick-guard.

And now a series of details from the more or less
final burned piece. (before finishing)

Rough approximate lines were added to show
where the volume and tuning knobs were going
to be.

Pre-finished, after burning. The text was added
after this pic was taken.

And the final product! Lovely!

I hope to have some images of the guard on Jon's guitar in the near future. When I get them, make no doubt they'll be posted that very night!

Buoyed from the success of the first one, I did another pick-guard for my very own guitar. This one was a little easier to burn, as the basswood was unfinished to start with. It was also a little smaller, as the guitar is a Les-Paul style. One of the challenges for this project was that the guard I have is plastic, and so a new one needed to be cut and shaped out of some 3/8" basswood. No problem though, using some hand tools and a little patience in cutting and sanding.

I chose a honey bee and honeycomb design 'bee'cause of how awesome honey bees are. I mean, come on... all kinds of amazing.

On the left is the original guard made from plastic. The other
two to its right are made from the same piece of basswood,
although they do look slightly different in colouring.

Bee design transferred onto the wood.

All finished burning. The design always looks
a little darker before it is finished with polyurethane.

And the final piece on the guitar. Whenever I play
now, I feel the mighty power of the honey bee, guiding
me towards unrivalled fret-board mastery! :O

There we go! A couple new projects completed in my pyrographic journey. I keep having a blast doing this, so there will be plenty more to come.

Later, folks!

Best,

Adam Grant

Man of Craft

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Ultra-Mini Update

Salut!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm on my way back into the swing of things. There have been a couple projects that I've been working on, and completed over the holidays. And one that's not quite finished that I can't wait to show off a little.

There will be pics up soon-ish, and a proper blog post to go along with it!

Best,

Adam Grant
Man of Craft

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Pop With Brains!

Hello All!

It's been a nutty past few weeks culminating in a really fun night at the Rivoli last Friday! The event was called Pop With Brains, and is an ongoing music and arts showcase that raises funds for CAMH.

Look at me, I'm on the event poster!

Since the beginning of September, I've been working longer than usual hour days at my day job. This meant that my MOC worktime was limited to the evening hours... and sometimes wee hours of the night. I'd rather not work at night, as routers and chisels and such can get kind of loud and disruptive - but sometimes you just gotta do it. Sorry, neighbours!

Anywho, I've never shown any artwork at a bar/tavern venue before, so I had no idea what to expect. I was told to bring a lamp, my art, and table set-up materials.

My wonderful GF was of course there to help me set up, and we got there at about 8:15pm. There were already a couple of art vendors there in the back room, so we nestled into line along the west wall. During set-up, we had a chance to get our eardrums mashed in by a couple of the bands' soundchecks, and before long we were ready. There were a couple more artists who arrived after us, and all in all there were (unless my memory fails me) five of us there packed in all cozily along the side of the venue.

Me with my MOC set up! I'm glad we had the lamp, as it sure did get dark in there! The lamp, by the way, was made out of a couple of books... by THIS guy!

This being my very first show in Toronto, I was very fortunate to have a few of my close friends come out and support me. Thank you so very much! It means a lot to me that you were able to make it!

Here are some of the items that I made for the evening: some original art, as well as some locally themed items.

A buckle done for Adymm Ender, of the band Secrettes, who was awesome as co-organizer for the event.

Some (at the time) unfinished pieces that eventually were completed for the event. Both the Leaside Pin and Robot Love bottle opener sold at the show! All done on a wood called Yellowheart.

Gotta rep the home TO neighbourhood with a Parkdale Pin.

The Regent Park Pin. Burned on to Yellowheart.

Heart Buckle. This one was made from a wood called Bocote, and I used the natural grain of the wood, which had a heart shape in it it for inspiration. The red colour was stained, and the white border was done in acrylic paint.

Same buckle as above. I really love the grain on this wood!

Another buckle using the grain as a starting point for the design, and finished using acrylic paints to provide the colour.

This Ski or Die Buckle was burned on Bubinga. I did this one because I have an affinity for skulls for some reason, and and I used to play the game Skate or Die for the Nintendo when I was younger.

A Compass Buckle on Purpleheart. Compasses are so hot right now.

This last one was a Bottle Opener of Jack Layton. It didn't sell that night, but at least half of all proceeds from any Jack Layton item will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. I'd initially thought to have all proceeds go to the charity, but in respect to the time and materials involved, I just need to cover costs.

I was really happy with how this TTC Streetcar Buckle came out, and was not surprised that it garnered a lot of interest before it eventually sold. I will make more of these! This picture shows the buckle just after burning, and not yet in its final buckle form.

It was fun meeting the other artists, and I got to chat up a couple of them that were sitting close to me. Jool and I, were both first timers at the Rivoli, but she's been doing her thing for a little longer than me, and has her stuff in stores (which I was a little jealous of, but I'll get there :P), but her up-cycled accessories and clothes were really cool! She even went as far as to recommend some shops and shows for me to try my luck at, which was very very nice of her!

On the other side of me sat Aparna Yadav, who was showing art on canvas, and very stylish mixed media tote bags. Her and her assistant were very friendly, and we chatted here and there during the evening.

The two other artists that were there were Yuli Scheidt, and Angie Fey. I really liked both Yuli's artistic style, as well as Angie's talent for tattooing and art!

In terms of the music portion of the night, I had a really great time listening to all the acts, as I hadn't been out to see live music in a long time. The first band that went on was a newly formed one called MeanWood (linked is the first song they played that night!) They had a lot of energy, and I loved their sound. Two other standouts for me were the Secrettes, who had some high-energy/very catchy songs, and Most People, a duo who managed to incorporate guitar/bass/computers/drumming (sometimes both at the same time) into what seemed like one sweeping epic ride of a song. I met Brandon, from Most People, who was super cool and also interested in me doing a custom buckle for him!

All in all, the night was successful, and I felt like there was a lot of positive feedback from those who saw my work. Thanks again to all those who helped and have supported me on this exciting journey!

Best,

Adam Grant
Man of Craft

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Workspace

I've been getting ready for the Pop With Brains (facebook) (myspace) show on Sept 23rd. Here's a pic of my workspace!

I'm also trying out my new Blogger app for my phone. It's pretty good, but I've had to modify the layout of the images on my desktop, as it just blopped the image at the end instead of where I wanted it in the middle. 

Over the next week I'll be working like crazy (after my regular work day) to make everything for the show on the 23rd.

 

Best,

Adam Grant

Man of Craft

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Brock's Big BIte!

On Sunday, August 14th, I was back in my home town of Beaverton, for Brock's Big Bite.  This was my very first arts festival of any kind, and I was really really excited to be there! My beautiful assistant also accompanied me (Lady of Craft?) to the festival and provided some much needed support and assistance. 

Brock's Big Bite is a long lunch style event that also celebrates local arts, entertainment, delicious food, a farmers’ market, and a historical walk through town. This was Brock's first annual 'Bite', and on most (if not all) accounts, was quite the success! My contact on the planning committee was Jay, and she was very friendly and helpful throughout the day. I got to meet some interesting people, and had a fun day all around!

Here's me and the M.O.C. setup! I'm sure it will evolve, but
it was big enough for what I had with me.

A closer view of the products.

My favourite person, modelling her specs pin and hearts earrings!
(complete with product placement! take note Coke, and pay us. :D )

Here's the real life model of the bottle opener shown here. Awesome!

The Strand Theatre bottle opener. The Strand is a movie theatre in Beaverton,
with a lot of history. Made of Padauk; with a satin finish.

The 'working' side of The Strand bottle opener. Made by cutting
the steel down to size and routing out the wood for a nice inlaid fit.

Sunderland bottle opener. Sunderland was named in 1871, and
used to be called Jones' Corners, by way of the Jones Bros.
Made of Padauk; with a satin finish.

The new inlaid steel plates now used in all M.O.C. bottle openers.

My old elementary school, Thorah Central, just outside of Beaverton,
on Hwy 12.  Made of Purpleheart; with a satin finish.

Opening bottles with a fictional bottling company in Cannington!
Made of Padauk; with a satin finish.

A bottle opener inspired by the Cannington Dog Sled Races.
Made of Purpleheart; with a satin finish.

Now you can open your bottles with Sir Isaac Brock, whom
Brock Township was named after.  Made of Purpleheart; with a satin finish.

This one's a belt buckle based on 'The Old Mill', in Beaverton.
Made of Purpleheart; with a satin finish. Note the richness of the
Purpleheart wood compared to a different batch cut for the bottle
openers. There are a lot of variances between the same wood
depending on what part of the tree it's cut from, and even by
whether it's exposed to light during storage. 

This buckle is basically 'Sunderland' laid of a brick wall look.
Made from Bubinga; with a satin finish.

This buckle is based on the 1973 Ivan Reitman film 'Cannibal Girls',
that was partially filmed in Beaverton. A Canadian horror classic!
Made from Zebrawood; with a satin finish.

Here are the three villages of Brock Township, in pin/button form!
Cannington = Bubinga
Sunderland = Yellowheart
Beaverton = Yellowheart
All have a satin finish.

The backs of the buttons above!

And here were some new pendants also made for the festival. 
From left to right, 'The Beav', 'Sunderland', 'Cannington', 'The Old Mill',
and a jaunty moustached fellow in a bowler cap!

Thanks to my family, and to Uncle Bill Brotherston (a wonderful photographer) for lending his table! Hopefully I'll be back again next year in Cannington!


Best,  

Adam Grant
Man of Craft

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