BOB

This morning

my 'Senior Associate', my mentor, my Tutu passed away.

Over the past two years, BOB taught me

 the skills I needed

to carry on with Tom's blog.

I'm young and inexperienced but

I promise to give it my very best...

for BOB.

It's been a long day.

Respectfully,

his 'Junior Associate'

JUNIOR



BYRDFUD EXTRAVAGANZA

Junior is very excited about Tom's

new birdfeeder in Margaret's east garden.

It is built of steel and features several

 re-cycled pieces from feeders

Tom has previously built for our wild birds.

 The base is 4x4 feet and about 3 feet tall.

This is for the quail.

The structure stands about 8 feet tall.

The hummingbird, finch and perching birdfeeders 

are mounted on an axel and

 the entire unit spins in the wind.

It is making Junior's head spin, too.

 The quail found their new birdfeeder

within an hour of its installation

yesterday but they flew away when Junior walked by.

This past week, Junior fell asleep on my head.

He is so goofy.

I haven't been feeling well these past few days

but this morning I wandered outside to

catch the warm morning sun.

It felt so good!

Margaret followed me and took my picture.

Live each day as though it may be your last.

Enjoy the closeness of a favorite buddy.

Soak up the sunshine and

the love of your friends and family.

Love,

BOB

ART in the GARDEN

You are invited to the

ART in the GARDEN
opening at the

Columbia Center for the Arts
 Hood River
Friday, June 1st

6-8 pm.

The show runs from June 1st through July 1st

and features thirteen artists

including three garden sculptures by Tom.

Time for tuna.

BOB

Easter Sunday

When we woke up this morning, an Easter basket

 of goodies with candy-coated chocolate

 malted-milk balls had been left for all of us! 

My 'Junior Associate' thought that perhaps I had laid them so I had to set him straight.

Junior

Wishing you all a beautiful Spring!

BOB

Swiss Flats Railway Storage Station

After many months of collaboration, Alberto Viramontes and Tom completed their work on a custom cabinet for a railroad engineer who collects model trains. 

The Story

"I am Jan Zweertz, 'General Manager' (GM) of the mythical Swiss Flats Railway (a large scale model railroad). This train storage project is a collaboration of two craftsmen and my wife Rae, the 'Zoning Commissioner' (ZC) and me. Ongoing discussions over a period of 3 years between the GM and ZC concerning the clutter of rail cars and locomotives on top of every horizontal surface of our home lead to  the ZC requesting a piece of fine furniture that would fit behind the couch and which would include a top surface completely devoid of train-related stuff. With these constraints in mind, I sketched, and then modeled in 3-D foam core, the basic concept of an old world train station with cobblestone platforms, canopy roof and a double level double track with storage arches below. The look of the interior arches came from a photo of a Swiss tunnel entrance. The center pillared canopy is based on a composite of old drawings and photos from my RR book collection.

Collaborators in this project were Alberto Viramontes of Hood River, Tom Herrera of Mosier and Split-Jaw Products of Portland. Cross Cut Hardwoods of Portland was the wood supplier.

Alberto is a long-time family friend who made many frames for my late father's paintings, fine wood shelves for my late mother's art supplies as well as a very nice disc storage cabinet for our home. Tom Herrera is also a family friend who collaborated with my late mother when I commissioned a steel coffee table with glass mosaic top over a decade ago. Tom is an artistic metal craftsman who enjoys a challenge. He designed and fabricated the steel framework that ties the whole piece together.

I picked out hardwoods from Cross Cuts which included African leopard wood because its pebbly grain looks like cobblestones. African kopek wood was selected for the look of a reddish canopy and American red oak was chosen for the base arches.

Split-Jaw Products is a small, locally-owned manufacturer that produces and markets large scale rail products worldwide and does custom work using the CNC milling machine. They routed the stainless steel rail into the leopard wood after pre-testing a small piece in order to prevent damage to tools normally used to route hard plastic.

Alberto, Tom and I met several times over many months to figure out the look and feel of the piece and the best way to execute the work. Alberto did a great job of joining all the wood. The wood that looked good to my layman's eye had to be milled extensively and, therefore, made interior dimensions tighter than the original plans.

Zoning Commission Rae and General Manager Jan now have a solid, beautifully made Storage Station for the Trains of the Swiss Flats Railway which we hope to enjoy for many years thanks to the wonderful collaboration of Alberto Viramontes and Tom Herrera."

Alberto Viramontes and Tom Herrera

Junior and I never saw the finished train storage station

but we would have enjoyed that tunnel!

Looks like a great place to find mice!

Enjoying one of our favorite activities together.

As you can see, Junior isn't too 'junior' anymore.

BOB

Happy Holidays

Happy New Year

from

Junior, Margaret, Tom and me!

BOB

Wood base made by Dave White

Steel frame with removable window frame fabricated by Tom

A friend commissioned Tom to create a frame to hold a pretty stained glass window from his 1880's farmhouse in rural Oregon.

It was a Christmas gift for his wife.

Stained Glass Window in New, Custom Steel Frame

Bob and Candy Cane Ornament by Tom

I became very ill over Thanksgiving but am now doing much better.

To celebrate my improved health, Tom asked me to pose so he could make a likeness of me. 

Each year, Tom makes a special holiday ornament for Margaret. This year it was me!

I think I look rather smart with my 'candy' cane!

May we all enjoy good health and joy in the New Year!

Me and my buddy Junior

BOB

Summer Into Autumn

Nolemanu Hu

2009 Aloha Music Camp

This past summer, Tom used his design skills to help create a safer home environment for our dear friend Nolemana Hu during the last few months of Mana's life. Sadly, Mana passed away on July 26th but his generous, kind spirit of Aloha lives on in the hearts of all of his friends and family. Tom and Margaret attended his memorial service in late August where Tom shared wonderful memories of his friend and mentor. Shonnah sang a favorite mele which she and Mana used to sing together. Margaret accompanied her on ukulele. Later that evening, Mana's brothers Julian and Larry, Shonnah, Tom and Margaret, played and sang favorite Hawaiian songs in honor of Mana, a gifted Hawaiian slack key style musician and a man of quiet grace. We miss him.

Julian Hu, Shonnah, Tom, Margaret, Larry Hu

The June show at the Columbia Art Gallery

The 'Get Centered'  theme highlighted the 25th anniversary of the Columbia Art Gallery in Hood River. Twenty-seven artists participated. Tom designed and created the 'Self Centrification Unit', a 'tongue-in-cheek' homage to the theme. His steel garden chair rotates 360 degrees and rocks, too. Inside the hood is a mirror to help you get even more centered!

Tom, his 'SELF CENTRIFICATION UNIT' and me

Tom and some of the MARYHILL MUSEUM

 ART INSTITUTE TEACHERS

2011 marked Maryhill Museum's Summer Art Institute's 18th year providing participants with teaching strategies to bring art into the classroom. On July 20th, some of the teachers came to PRAIRIE STAR DESIGNS studio and gardens for a tour. We always enjoy their visits as they appreciate Tom's quirky sense of humor. Maryhill Museum is undergoing a $10 million dollar expansion right now. Check it out at http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/

CHRIS KOKESH AND LJ BOOTH

On July 31st, singer/songwriter Chris Kokesh and her friend LJ Booth came to our gardens and

performed once again to appreciative guests. She is already planning on returning in 2012 and we are looking forward to that! Chris and fellow musician Jonathan Byrd of North Carolina will be performing at the Mosier Grange on April 29th, 2012. You won't want to miss it!

http://www.chriskokesh.com/

http://www.ljbooth.com/

http://www.jonathanbyrd.com/

FUSED GLASS AND STEEL

sculpture by Tom in the backyard gardens

TRINA HAMLIN

Minnesota-born Singer/songwriter Trina Hamlin performed in our gardens on August 24th. She played piano and guitar and knocked everyone's socks off with her fantastic harmonica work.

She was really cool! She is planning to return to our gardens again next year, too!

http://www.trinahamlin.com/

Honeysuckle Vines on Tom's Trellis 

 Mystery Tour

The Hood River Community Education 'Mystery Tour' participants came to visit us on August 24th. The artist-in-residence gave them a tour of the gardens and enjoyed his visit with everyone.

Tom explaining his SELF CENTRIFICATION UNIT to 'Mystery Tour' guests

Tom and Nellie

Nellie was one of the first people to purchase a 

Prairie Star Designs 

garden sculpture many years ago.

  

'Mystery Tour' guests lining up to see 

 THE ROYAL FLUSH

THE ROYAL FLUSH

THE ROYAL FLUSH

Custom Seat by Dave White in

THE ROYAL FLUSH

is made of purple heart, golden heart and bloodwood.

BBQ Table

Knowing he likes to recycle metal materials, a friend recently gave Tom a Weber grill which had a broken leg. During the summer, Margaret had moved the outdoor fire pit to a new location in the woods to allow more people to seit around the campfire. Thinking her design might accommodate multiple uses, she suggested that Tom build a steel table into which the grill would be set.  Guests would have a warm surface on which to rest snacks or food while enjoying the campfire. The table keeps the grill off the ground and the fire is easily extinguished when the lid is placed. A secondary benefit is that your toes stay nice and warm while enjoying the campfire.

Junior and the BBQ Table

Junior says that if you double-click on this picture you will be able to see him.

Silly boy.

Entry to the compost bins and BBQ Table

On Halloween,

Tom told spooky stories around the campfire

Special angels Patti, Sylvia, Doris and Barbara

sang for Tom on his birthday

Boo!

Time for my 'Junior Associate' and me to contemplate the inner workings of the sofa.

Goodnight.

BOB