The Robot

A long time ago I found a small piece of scientific equipment that I thought could be made into a robots head. I know, that sounds crazy. Well, I have decided to actually build the thing. It will be a hybrid between a musical instrument, a child's toy and an art object. I have done almost all the work I want to to the head. The neck is almost finished, as if the main body. Although they are not in this picture, I too have gotten some feet together. This is where I am as of the end of 2011.

As you can see from the last photo, I like to keep my workspace nice a messy. 

Fox Mount

Fox mount on walnut salvaged from the Whitmore farm. Thanks Will. Learned a couple things doing the doe mount that I was able to apply here. I think I will make one more wall shoulder mount, then I will be about ready for a full animal. This one still needs some decent photos. 

Random small projects

 This is a piece designed by my friend Tony at Cicada Grove. Cortnie printed them and I did some touch up work; sanding, puttying and linseed oil waxing.

My lady got a box of bones somewhere. She wants to make jewelry out of them so had me drill tiny holes in all of them.

This drawing is not really for anything, I just have not drawn in a while and was kind of getting ashamed of that. I need to practice. I am better than this.

My friend Brendan made a really cool 'magazine' (seems more like an art piece to me) and I was able to contribute a story about a man eating shit. The story is pretty good, but his magazine is great. We have copies for sale at White Rabbit. They are highly recommended.

A Baby's Crib

 A few months ago I decided to build a crib. Somebody actually told me,"there can't be any screws sticking into there, so the baby doesn't get poked..." like had I not been told that I would have built an infant bed of nails.

 I tried to go as traditional with the look as possible. It is oak, pine, birch and poplar. All screws and nails are hidden. I based the size on the size of mattress available.

 Here is a photo half way through the build with Ivy Rose laying in it to show the scale.

In the baby's room with the door on. I think she likes it.

The last step will be the linseed oil, and soon I hope. All in all, I am pretty proud of this piece of furniture. I have never designed anything like this before and feel like it turned out pretty decent. I hope it stays in the family and after my daughter grows up, she uses it for her kids.

White Rabbit

 White Rabbit was started several years ago by Cortnie and me. It was an extremely modest shop, upstairs in the Hall Mall. Looking back it seems like an insane gamble on a half baked idea. Over the years  and hundreds of conversations the vision has become more focused. We moved above the 'Yacht Club' in a 400 square foot room, then into the old 'Fun Zone' space currently occupied by 'Lorenz' (about 700 square feet). We decided to roll the dice and move into a space 2 and a half times bigger. The old drop ceiling and business carpeting are things of the past for White Rabbit. This new space has full height ceilings, and hardwood floors. At this point it is extremely raw and there is 2 months to re-do it.

 This is the old back door for this space. It was decided that we needed a door that was not letting wind, rain and snow in, so it was replace by a steel door. This one had a pretty sweet look, so we decided to frame in the back wall and use it there, as the door to the back room. We also had to close in the 'window'.

 Thanks to some hard work by a lot of folks (Joel Anderson, William Whitmore and Jarrett Mitchell, Cortnie Widen, Phil Maul and Kathy Widen especially), we got it all turned around. This is how it looked right before opening the doors. Shelving is made, floors refinished. new lighting, double dressing rooms, etc etc....

Jarrett Mitchell is a very good friend of mine. He also runs 'Wake Up Iowa City'. Along with Will Whitmore, Jarrett and I built this coffee bar. There were some challenges along the way, but I am excited for how it turned out. Having Iowa City's best coffee shop inside the store I open daily rules!

 A few months into the new spot and the shelves are full of locally made arts and crafts, and we have some fantastic artists displaying in the gallery space. The artwork above the shelving is by Ryan Garbes and Shawn Reed of the band 'Wet Hair'. Shawn also runs Night People Records.

 Once a month we do an art reception for that month's artist. They are generally well attended.

I love the people White Rabbit attracts. With so many artists, writers, printmakers, musicians, seamstresses, etc selling out of the store, the types of people coming in are extremely varied.