Christmas Day 2014

 

MELE KALIKIMAKA!



TIKI MAN SANTA

 Each year, Tom makes a new
holiday ornament for Margaret.

I, of course, supervise and approve
the design while
Tom, blessed with opposable thumbs,
creates the ornament

out of clay, steel, aluminum, paper,
balsawood, yarn, feathers or whatever

 is needed to create his custom ornament

to hang on the green boughs in our kitchen.
 

One of our favorite sculptures,

the real 7-foot-tall steel

TIKI MAN,

now resides in a private garden

in San Francisco.

TIKI MAN SANTA

among the most recent years' ornaments

createdby Tom

 

OUR YOUNG FRIEND MS. FIONA

 

Recently, Fiona and her family shared

a holiday dinner with us.

Tom was all set to show Fiona his favorite

olive-on-on-fingertips trick

but this 3 1/2 year-old was way ahead

 of him as soon as she saw that

bowl of black olives on the table!

 

ME WITH TURTLE CATNIP TOY

from Aunt Mae Mae! I love that stuff!

 

 

I've received my Christmas morning

dish of albacore tuna.

I am now ready for my morning nap.

 

 

  

Tom, Margaret and I wish you a very

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Fondly,

 

JUNIOR

(a.k.a., Junior Associate, Junior Boy, Junior Mint)

MUSIC in the GARDEN

Last Sunday we were honored, once again, to have
Kawika Kahiapo

 perform in our gardens. His lovely wife Laurie also

danced three beautiful hula for all of our guests. 

 

The weather was perfect! It almost felt like Hawaii

here in the gardens along the creek.

Tom Introducing Kawika

Laurie Performing Hula

 

MAHALO
to Greg and Linda who ordered fragrant leis
flown in from Hawaii

for Kawika, Laurie, Tom and Margaret
 

MAHALO NUI

to Laurie and Kawika! 

 

Being the shy little guy that I am, I hung out under the patio deck
during the concert and enjoyed it very much.

It was a lovely day!
 

Yours truly,

JUNIOR BOY

Trellises & Sculpture

Tom recently finished designing, building and installing

four trellises and a unique sculpture 

on 4th Street grade in The Dalles, Oregon.

"When I first contacted Tom to design a privacy screen,
he suggest a visit to his studio/garden to see
 different examples of his work. It was a wonderful
experience to see Tom and Margaret's garden
where each piece of metal art has a special place and story.

Tom came up with an amazing design to provide privacy at my home.
He transformed a patio that was very public to a space
that has become an additional room to my home.
It will take a few years for foliage to fulfill the end result
 but the foundation is beautiful.
Tom reviewed the yard and neighborhood
 to determine which elements needed to be emphasized and which to mask.
His vision for beauty and working with the environment is, well, artistic!

Tom is so patient and kind. When he completed the work at my home,
I told him I'd miss him. He is a joy to work with." 
Mary G.

Tom and Mary discussing trellis design on site

 

Tom preparing the FAN TRELLIS footings

 

FAN TRELLIS 

Steel, Aluminum and Copper Wire

THREE-PIECE TRELLIS WITH GLASS

Glass by artist Linda Steider

 

Mary and Tom celebrate final installations!

 

As Mary plants new vines and roses, more photos will be added.

CIRCLE OF LIFE

Mary loves circles.
Tom created this special sculpture for her.
 

  

Time to rest again with my 'Jazzy Cat'.

Yours truly,

JUNIOR BOY

The Inspired Garden

  
THE INSPIRED GARDEN 

July 4-27th, 2014
Columbia Center for the Arts
Hood River, Oregon
www.columbiaarts.org

Tom was asked to create a

table and chair for the garden show.

After some consideration,

Tom decided to make a very different

kind of table and chair.

 

Finished chair frame

 

Ta Da!
TOM'S TIKI LOUNGER
The chair is 'tacked' with small welds
and is now ready for final welding along all of the seams.
 

Tom says there were 50+ feet of welds on this chair...

(moving 7 1/2 feet of 1/8 inch steel plate into position for grinding)

...AND 50+ feet of welds to grind.

TIKI LOUNGER

before its final treatment

 

TIKI TABLE

before its final treatment

 

TIKI TABLE and TIKI LOUNGER

Columbia Art Gallery

 

 Wouldn't this look great on the 

riverside deck

at

PSYCHO SUSIE'S in Minneapolis?

http://www.psychosuzis.com/index.html

 

Fiona and her mother Martha 

 

Fione, who turned 3 this week,

 is demonstrating

her version of TIKI LOUNGER and his red tongue.

 

The solar-powered torches light up at night

to help me find mice in the gardens.

Oh, and I think that red cushion will be a great place

for an afternoon nap.

Yours truly,

JUNIOR

SPRING REFLECTIONS



LEICA MAN
Happy Easter!

Friends Steve and Vicki sent us a photo of

Tom's sculpture 

decked out in his Easter finery!

(See 07.25.2010 and 08.01.2010 blogs)

Look very closely at the 'camera lens' Tom made

and you will see a reflection of Steve and Vicki.

Daffodils in our April garden

 

Our dictionary says that a mirror is:

Something which gives a minutely faithful representation, image or idea of something else; or  

a reflecting surface, originally of polished metal but now usually of glass with a silvery, metallic, or amalgam backing; or such a surface set into a frame, attached to a handle, etc., for use in viewing oneself or as an ornament; or any reflecting surface, as the surface of calm water under certain lighting conditions.

 

While visiting friends Ken and Holly last year,
Tom and Margaret were impressed

by a beautiful steel frame
Ken had made to encase a large mirror for their home.

After considering the possibilities of including
whimsy in a mirror frame,

Tom created 

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall
for Margaret's office.
Every time she looks into the mirror,
she feels rather regal!

MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL

reflecting the sky over the
Columbia River

 

Tom also made a simple steel-frame mirror for
our kitchen in order to bring more light
into a dark area of the room.
The mirror gives a very unique feel to the
kitchen reflecting both the overhead stove light
as well as the east window of the kitchen.
It almost seems like we have
another window in the kitchen...
just the effect Margaret wanted!
The kitty magnets at the top
 to make it extra special.
I'm waiting to get my picture up there, too.

KITCHEN MIRROR

 

 A framed mirror for friends,

Holy Mackerel, It's a Flying Pig!

reflects Linda's love of the whimsical flying pig

 as well as Greg's profession

in the field of fish habitat and stream restoration.

I think Linda liked it!

HOLY MACKEREL, IT'S A FLYING PIG!

 

 Tom

Beautiful double white daffodils in the back garden 

I'll be hunting for goodies in the garden tomorrow!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

and especially to Grandpa John! 

JUNIOR

 

 

 

TEN APPLES UP ON TOP

Recently, Tom and Margaret attended

Maryhill Museum's 2014 Opening Day

with friends Pat and Dick.  

While sipping a glass of wine and enjoying the
expansive view of the Columbia River,

they reminisced about

TEN APPLES UP ON TOP

created by Tom for their home up in
Hood River valley.

 

"When our children were little, (Julie, now 49 and Allen, now 46) their favorite book was Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo LeSieg (alias Theo Geisel) who became the famous 'Dr. Seuss'. The story we heard was that Theo Geisel made a bet with Bennett Serf, an editor at Random House, that he could make an interesting book for kids with only 75 words. The book, Ten Apples Up on Top, illustrated by Ray McKie, was published in 1961 and its publication marked the beginning of the famous 'Dr. Seuss'. 

Julie, Allen, Dick & Pat

with Julie's painting of

TEN APPLES UP ON TOP

and Tom's sculpture

 

After Allen was born, Julie painted a picture of the book (notice newborn Allen’s apples are falling in the painting in the photograph above). We lived in Eugene, Oregon then but had a vacation house in Hood River which became our home when Dick and I retired. We have a large pasture and commissioned Tom to create one of his delightful sculptures for it. Tom asked us “What is important to you about your place?”. We thought about it for awhile and took our battered copy of Ten Apples up on Top off the bookshelf. After reading the book, Tom created the pasture sculpture. 

 

We celebrated its completion with a group of family and friends by passing the book around and each reading a passage." Pat

 

They will get them if we let them!

 

The Dog, the Tiger and the Lion

 

Come! We can not let them get them!

The Lion

The Dog

 

 The Tiger

 

When Grandpa John came to visit,

Margaret took his picture with Pat and the sculpture.

  

I like the Tiger the best!

Yours truly,

JUNIOR

  

STEEL SHOP TABLE FOR RAY

 

Today, Ray received his new steel shop table.
Tom made it from the specifications
provided by Ray.
It's perfectly level and ready for the lathe to do its magic.
 

RAY AND HIS NEW STEEL TABLE

 

STEEL TABLE WITH LATHE 

 

Me and my 'trophy fish'

getting a little winter sun on

FLY FISHING ON THE HOOD

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

JUNIOR