Right: Custom urns in Birch,Walnut and re cedar. Designed to fit into a single Columbariun niche

Left: Custom urn in Birch wood, designed for several cremains.

Custom Memory Box for a child born in December. Birch wood , pyrography and analine dyes and silver paste.

Plate with integrated centre bowl; Birch wood and finished with aniline dyes. Theee views to show shape of this item.

12" diam X 2.5 inches high

Left: Custom urn in Birch wood. Sized to hold two cremains.

Customized urns in black walnut and birch. Monogram in pyrography

Customized birch wood urns

A previous customer has decided to pre-order his own Urn. I find that this accounts for at least half of my customized urn orders.

Urn in Birchwood; image with pyrography and carving. Finished with Varathane to retain the natural wood colour.

Left: Customized Cremation Urn in Birch and Black Walnut. Ref: Stuart_Urn

Right: Customized Cremation urn in Birch Wood with Red Cedar, Birch and Walnut insert band. Ref: Brown_Urn

Custom pen collection holder in Cherry and Black Walnut. 7" X 13" X 2.75"

Top tray is lift-out. Ref: Raissa_Pen_Box

Customized chests with leather straps. Left, Birch with walnut blocked band. Right, Birdh with Red Cedar, birch and black walnut band and red straps. Images and script as requested by customer

Right: Custom Cremation Urn in Birchwood. I used the cutting method that creates a continuous grain around all four corners of the unit. Image and script in pyrography. ref: Urn_Proulx

Left: Customized logo added to a chest made with Birch and Walnut with leather straps.

Custom serving tray in Birch, Padauk and maple. Images in pyrography determined by the customer. Right, the bottom has had suede-tex added to keep it from scratching any surface on which it is placed. The inside has had a poly-resin coat applied which has been "rubbed out" to give it a satin finish.

Ref: 60YearsTray

The following 5 images are of a custom box for his / hers personal litems. The wood is Black Walnut with a Cherry wood insert. The lower compartments and the small-item wells in the lift-out trays are coated with blue or black sued-tex flocking. Ref: Ryan Request

A cremation urn in black walnut wood with the memory-item compartment lined with a blue sued-tex flocking. The customer supplied a sample of a signature they wished to have added to the urn. It , and the dates are added using pyrography. Ref: Signature Urn

Right: This is a second request to add a bull moose image to a cremation urn. The wood is Saskatchewan Birchwood.

The wood is Black Walnut with Red Cedar stips and a Birch / Walnut checker insert. The text added as requested by the customer. Left: The front and top . Right: Text on the rear of the Urn. Text is Hobo Font in pyrography.

 

Right: Birchwood Cremation Urn with two smaller "keeper" urns with flower-butterfly image in pyrography.

A Burr Oak needed to be removed from its location near a Church in Prince Albert. I was invited to help take it down and then to receive the wood if I wanted it. I had not worked with Burr Oak before and was excited about the possibilities. In appreciation for this I offered to make some item for the Church.

It wad decided that a wood basin to hold a glass Holy Water font for the entrance of the Church would be good. To retain the character of the tree I left bark on the piece and allowed the asymmetry of the piece to reveal the patterns of the bark, sapwood and heartwood areas. These images show it with and without the 8.5 inch diameter glass bowl that is seated in the 12 inch X 5.5 inch wood basin. Ref: OLC_Burr_Oak

A custom bench / chest in Birch hardwood. Since the lid is a full width hardwood panel it needs to be able to expand and contract and still be supported to prevent warping. Support slats of Oak are loosely attached with screws and washers in slotted holes. Ref: Park_Chest

A prior order for a custom birch wood box / chest to serve as a toy box and later as a personal chest and furniture item brought about a repeat order for "Benjamin's" box. Because of its likely hard service life the unit is constructed of 3/4 inch birch plywood with birch hardwood laminations to create the panel effect. A sliding top tray and lid stays complete the unit. (48.5 X 20 X 18 inches H)

The same as above . Ref: Chest_Spen

The custom chest shown below became the model for another request. Cabinet grade birch plywood and birch hardwood and aromatic cedar were used for this unit. The lid is supported by two lid stays. A sliding top tray adds to its versatility.

The chest unit shown above is also 48.5 " X 20" X 18 " high.

ref: Chest_Hood

An earlier custom chest in Birch Wood with aromatic cedar lining. 48" X 20" X 18" high. Lid supports to prevent sudden closing of lid.

Right: Reclining moose image in pyrography on this cremation urn

Left: 70% replica of a softball fast-pitch ball bat in Birch. Part of a larger set of 29 which were laser engraved and then presented as all star awards at the U - 16 Boys Nationals held in Prince Albert in early August 2015..

 

When I was  given a Sacred Pipe / Chanupa to care for and pray with, it came with a simple wood stem that I have used  over the intervening years.  My mentor who brought me the chanupa told me that I would be free to replace the stem with one of my own.  I have made various stems for other people and  another for myself but never got to replacing the first one till now.  I made two, one from Pauo Fero with seed bead decoration and a wood spiral, and another from Fir and Pauo Fero.  I show them here with the Chanupa bowl for which the stems have been made and with the tobacco pouch I keep in the Pipe Bag.

 

My local parish asked me to  make two hymn directory boards that  would be placed on a stair tread between the choir and main sanctuary space.  The client wanted the board to be moveable so that  it could be lowered to change numbers and raised to the required height  for viewing by the congregation.  This was to replace the traditional wood slot board and to give at least two extra rows for numbers.  I decided to get numbers made by a sign shop laminated to vehicle grade magnetic sheets and cut to  standard 2 X 3.5 inch size (business card size).

I purchased and spray painted two steel plates  9 X 30 inches, and framed the steel.  Because the base needed to be small to fit the stair tread I needed to make it heavy to give it a degree of stability.  To do this I  created a flat cylinder  to which I added a heavy weight.  The vertical standard has a tapered spine along the back to provide for dimensional stability, and the standard  also had  peg holes  drilled  at four inch intervals to allow for  variable height positions. 

The sign board  has two cleats that serve as rails to hold the board to the vertical standard and  to allow it to be positioned or removed with ease.  The image below shows a close up of the magnetic number pieces  sticking to the steel plate.

Right: Birch box customized  as a special birthday gift.

Plain Birch Wood urn customized  as requested by family.  Top momento storage area is lined with  fibre flocking in dark brown.  Image and name added with pyrography.  ref: JB_Urn

Simple Birch Wood boxes made to hold communion hosts at the entrance of my local church.

Right:  Birch wood and Black Walnut Cremation urn customized on request.  Image and name with pyrography. 

Left:  Face of Birch Wood urn customized on request.

Left: front of customized Birchwood Urn

Custom toy storage chest / bench in birch wood.  38" X 18" X 16" H. Core box with 3/4 inch birch plywood.  posts, rails and lid planking of solid birch.  Name added with pyrography. Piano hinge and two spring-loaded lid lifters for safety.  Ref: Spence_Chest

Inside there is a sliding  tray to hold smaller items that would get lost in larger toy storage space.

Custom Memory Box Chest. Birch with red leather straps and snap fasteners. 21" X 14" x12" H.

ref: Brons_MB_1

Custom Memory Box Chest.  Birch with red leather straps and snap fasteners.  21" X 14" X 12"H

Ref: Brons_MB_2

Custom Memory Box Chest.  Birch with red leather straps and snap fasteners. 21" X 14" X 12" H.

Ref: Brons_MB_3

Birch and Walnut  Memory Box Chest.  This unit was planned  by  email discussions about  purpose, materials and design.  Intended to hold  a child's memorabilia, with leaf selection and colours to correspond to the season of the child's birth.  Plant images were outlined and detailed with pyrography.  The wood was sealed and the colour was an appliction of alcohol-based aniline dyes.   Left: right and back view.  Right: left and front view.

Custom jewellry box in black walnut.  six bottom-level compartments with a lift-out tray. The compartments are lined  with a brown fibre flocking application.  The butterfly image was  created with pyrography and the colour areas were created by applying  diluted  aniline dyes over a metalic silver paint.  The customer supplied a digital image of the butterfly, a rare or recently extinct Florida species.

Walnut hope chest with full width drawer.  Basic structure is 1/2 inch baltic birch plywood and dimensional  black walnut.  The upper storage area is lined with aromatic cedar planks while the lid is  surfaced with black walnut planking.  Antique style lock and key mechanism and gold chain stays.  This unit is a near replica of one done  more than a decade ago for another member of the customer's family.

Ref: N_Hope_Chest_2013

Left and Right angle views of opened chest.

Back of chest with a full bordered panel of baltic birch plywood.  This gives  significant structural strength.

Left:  Customized Cremation Urn.  Name is engraved on top of lid that covers space for holding personal items.  SOLD 

Right:  Large birch chest with name of recipient added to top of chest.  SOLD

Left: Memory Box customized as a wedding gift.  Name of bride and groom and date of wedding burned into lid surrounding image of wedding bands.  SOLD

Right:  Birch box intended for a small boy who has a fascination with Ladybug Beetles.  The carapace of the beetles is built up with multiple layers of clear gloss varnish to give it a depth appearance and touch.  SOLD

"Leaf Table 2012 - 2013" is a custom birch wood table I made for my own living room.  Click here to see a separate page showing more details on this table and the finishing process.

Right: customized lid to Pastry Set box. Intended as gift to person with special connection to Akita  dogs and Arabian horses

Custom Black Walnut man's jewellery box.  Lower level compartments  lined with black flocking / fibre coating.  Two slide / lift-out trays with 3 inch and 2.5 inch  wells for smaller items.  Unit is 17 wide X 13 inches deep by 4 inches high.  Lid and sides tapered and rounded.

Ref: JB_Dec_2012

Custom Baby change table.  Unit is of birch laminates and hardwood.  The change mattress  fits into a lift-off tray; see lower left.  When no longer needed as a change table the  mattress  tray can be stored and the rest of the unit used as a side table / storage unit.

The customer supplied a photograph of the desired  table style.  Ref: Change_Table_Dec 2012.

Black Walnut was used to make these two custom Cremation Urns.  They needed to be sized to fit a columbarium  niche  of one cubic foot.  Each unit is  5.5X11X11 inches external dimensions. Initials were added using pyrographic tools.  ref: UrnMerk

Left: Birch Box with turtle image added. Right: Black Walnut chest with family name and wheat stalks added.

Left: A simple display easel in oak. 60 inches tall, cross piece / holder is 25 inches wide. Ref: Easel Park 

Custom Cremation Urn in Birch and Black Walnut. Name added to lid and image of buck added to face of the urn. Image and name in Pyrography. Gerald will customize items such as this urn at no extra charge if the amount of work required is not excessive and the time allowed to do so is adequate.

Black Walnut with relief carved images on face and names and wedding date on lid. 14 X 10.5 X 4.75 inches. Reference: M & K Walnut Memory Box

Left: custom shelf unit with one adjustable shelf. Maple stained to brown / black finish

Custom shelf units. Pair made with custom front face flair, adjustable shelves and stained brown / black. All maple wood construction. Ref: Onyx Shelving.

While I do try to meet special requests for items that cannot be found elsewhere, I have tended to avoid requests to repair or refinish older furniture. If the item that requires repair is valuable and deserves repair, there are likely much more qualified furniture and antique restorers available to meet those needs. In a few cases I have broken my own pattern and undertaken special repairs. Recently I was asked to restructure on old mahogany cutlery chest that had fallen and broken and remake it into a feather box while retaining as much of the original as possible. After living with the pieces for a few weeks I figured out a way to meet the request and I am happy with the outcome.

Custom Memory Box in birch and black walnut woods. ( L X W X H = 22 X 13.5 X 13 inches) Full length hinge. Name and leaves with pyrography.

Left: Custom Cremation Urn. Birch wood with band of African Padauk. Inscription and rose are added with pyrography. Right: Custom cremation urn in black walnut, birch and aromatic cedar. Personal item storage under top hinged lid. Cremains sealed in lower portion above base. One of four.

Left: board with four  animal images burned onto the surface.  The wood is birch with a rather pronounced heartwood grain.  The images  are "practice" efforts and will likely be duplicated on turned pieces  later in the year.  The four detail images show the finished work.  The finished board was mounted over a segmented  disk representing the four colours of the quadrants of the Sacred Hoop.  I provide some detail  of my process on my Wood and Shop page.

Left: finished piece with birch board mounted on a segmented disk representing the four quadrants of the Sacred Hoop.  The  coloured  quadrants were given a textured base of plaster, sealed and then painted.  The board is separated from the  quadrants by spacers and the quadrants are  held together and separated from the wall by another single spacer board.

Custom image and name  added to a Cremation Urn.  Wood is birch with a band of wenge and aspen dowels.

Left: Custom ordered wedding gift Birch wood plate 15" diameter. Pyrography and aniline dye colour added.

Right: Custom ordered image of a wolf face on  a 15" diameter birch wood plate.  Image  is created by pyrography.

Two serving trays;  To the left, a recent  product with images burned into wood  base.  Also, the red Padauk wood is fresh and  a brighter red than the  older version to the Right.  The tray on the right was made several years earlier and the images were carved in low relief and colour added.  While similar, they have a rather different character.

Left: Box in Burmese Teak and African Wenge band.  Expensive but beautiful woods

Right: Custom table in purpleheart wood.  Designed to fit  under a window, against a wall and with a base water heater unit.  Appearance and stability were design issues.

Left: custom trestle-style table.  While shorter than most of this style, it still retains the character of the style.  Made from solid birch, it is also fully knock-down  design.

Right: 20 " diameter. 14 inch tall table / stool for customer's entry area.  Solid enough to sit on and yet decorative.

Left;  birch wood  platter; lid and base.  15 inch diameter.

Right:  Same with lid removed to show inside compartments and ceramic bowl.

Birch wood box intended as a Christmas gift to a grandchild of the customer.  The  tray is lift-out and will slide over to  expose the lower space.  Images  burned and wood slightly stained with  a brown Danish Oil finish.

Left:  Coat of Arms applied to a wood base of birch laminated on oak.  Oak has been stained to match the location where it will be  applied.  Abacus Signs of Saskatoon printed a PDF image file to a self-adhesive decal.  The work done by Abacus signs was very good.  The piece was commissioned to be added to the Bishop's Chair / "Cathedrum" in his Cathedral Church

Right:   Custom urn in birch with initials  on lid and calla lilies on face

From left: Credence Table, Presider's Chair, Altar

Altar

See page that illustrates the nature and outcome of this project.  Click here to see special page.

Ambo and adjustable  book rest

Basic Armoire unit

Four armoire units as they were being picked up by client.  The four season painted panels have been inserted into the doors but the units are still not stained. (Custom Project)  SOLD

Two of the four seasons directly from the front.

Click here to see more on this project.

The images on both sides are of four custom armoires.  The door opening is designed to receive a painted panel 29" X 48".  The panels represent four seasons.  Each armoire will go to a grandchild of the artist and is intended to be a keepsake of her.  Woods used are birch and aspen.  The client intends to stain them with a dark stain.  A shelf bracket and hanger rod have also been provided with each unit.  Alternate shelving can be added according to its intended function.  Click on either image to go to a page which shows more detail and construction information.

Jewellery Chest.  Click here to see more images of this project (Custom project)  SOLD

Carved face

Edge showing cross-grain of the spalting birch wood

The reverse / flat side of these four urns

 

These 6 custom cremation urns were prepared for a family intending to split cremains  into six parts.  Each urn has an internal capacity of 37 cubic inches, for a total capacity greater than that required for a single urn.  When in use the bases will be sealed to the upper birch wood part with a bead of silicone or similar adhesive.

Double-walled stainless steel smudge bowl with Birch base and leather carry bag.

Carry bag for small smudge materials canisters

Carry bag for larger smudge materials canisters

Beaded moccasins (Early attempt at beading)

Ceremonial rattles with blue aniline dye colour. Birch wood.

Ceremonial rattles and dipper in wood.  Dipper to be used in Inipi Prayer Ceremony

Custom order cremation urn.  Birch wood

Custom order cremation urn.  Birch wood

Custom order cremation urn.  Birch wood

The two images on the left are of a custom order tabernacle.  the woods are local Birch and Black Walnut.   it is destined for a chapel in Miami.

The table top images are of the new birch wood table I made for my home.  I carved low-relief images of flora from Friendly Forest into 4 quadrants of a Sacred Hoop, with some leaves outside the Hoop and reaching toward the ends of the table.  The entire table top is 11 feet long and 39 1/2 inches wide.  I debated leaving the images in natural wood colour, darkening the 'field' or adding full fall colours to the plant leaves.  i opted for darkening the field, using a wood burning tool and some brown aniline dye.  It took much of my time in the second half of the winter of 2007.

Wrap-Around Beading Loom.  This version has a loom warp thread of 72 inches length.  The work is pulled forward and under as work progresses, keeping work area in comfortable and easy to reach position.

This shows the drum with the warp threads on and a short string of spacer-beads in place. The tacks are also used to temporarily secure the start and end of the warp thread.  This is removed once the work has progressed to a few inches to stabilize the  thread tension and position.  Contact me for other details.

This shows a working view of my first loom.  It had a 48 inch capacity and the bead holder unit slid along the base as the work area moved along the warp threads.  This worked fine, but when I wanted to  make a longer band I was faced with the prospect of a huge loom and therefore created the drum-version shown above.  It is much more compact and  can accommodate a longer  work piece or several pieces at the same time as long as they are the same width.

These are portions of two belts that I recently beaded (January and February 2006)  They are stitched onto a brown leather.  Because the leather was stretchy, I laminated  several layers of heavy canvas to the leather before stitching on the beaded belt. this was to eliminate the strain on the beaded section.

Brain-tanned deer skin, beaded and fringed Annual Bag.  Approximately 43,000 seed beads were used to created the beaded areas.  The bag space is 6.5 X 24 inches.  the over-all length is 44 inches.

IN PERSONAL USE

Area below the Annual bag.  Traditionally this would be quilled.  The weave can be undone and the vertical strips quill-wrapped at a point when / if I acquire that skill

Opening / throat area with a band of beading wrapped around the opening.

This is the upper part of a Chanupa tamper.  Peyote weave beading technique was used.  See image to the left to have a sense of scale.

Walnut Cremation Urn, special order with figured wood. Click on image for larger view. Storage area for special items on top ; see next image

This oak baby cradle was a special request by the new parents. All components are wood. The cradle swings within the stand. I work on the points of contact until a single push will result in 30 swings before it comes to rest.

This cradle is entirely in solid Birch. Images carved on both side panels according to the client's request.

This trestle style table is 10.5 feet long and is entirely from Aspen wood. The 12 chairs were designed to fit the table style, and while looking very austere, they are really very comfortable even for long sitting times. This set is in my home and is the first of my retirement wood projects that started the business.

These are two of 4 custom chairs modeled on the chairs shown to the left. These are in birch wood and have thinner woods and somewhat modified dimensions. These were commissioned as wedding gifts for two siblings. and were a match to tables made earlier for a request by parents of the client.

Birch and Walnut Tabernacle constructed for a chapel in Humboldt. The tabernacle has carved images on the doors and around the base. This was made in appreciation for the excellent teaching I received from the Ursulines of Bruno during my grade school and high school years.

The table came with two sets of trestle style legs, tall so it could serve as a games table, and short so it could be a coffee table. The top had a well in the centre with a cover plate, carved on one side, and with crib board holes on the other. Pegs were made from Grandma's knitting needles. Three tables were commissioned for three children ready to leave home on their own. One of the three children commissioned the chairs shown above as matching item wedding gifts.

This black walnut box was commissioned as a "memory box" for a colleague whose husband had died. The unit is 14" X 10" X 6".

Birch box with images of aspen leaves and wheat stalks and the names of the young bride and groom. This was commissioned as a wedding gift. The royal blue napkins and birch napkin rings complete the set.

Set of 4 nesting boxes in birch with Wenge handles. Multiple images on most faces of the boxes. These were personalized as a wedding gift. The largest unit is 9" X 9" X10".

One of a series of ceremonial "feather boxes". Designed to hold an eagle feather and sweetgrass braids. Flat for easy packing in luggage. See illustration below for an interior view.

Special bed made for a young boy who still needed safety boards beside and above the mattress, but which are able to be lifted out to produce a bed a growing young man can use and value. The top unit is able to removed from the base for easy movement. Constructed of knotty pine, a favourite wood of the client father.

see description above.

Custom cremation Urn with two covered compartments. All birch wood construction. The lid has a Spalting Birch Tile laminated to .25 inch baltic birch plywood for strength and stability. The compartment lids have been turned to create a lifting knob and to add a decorative element. When used, the lids will be sealed in with silicone sealant. Price was negotiated with the family.