The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 5

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part V

I just can't help it but when someone brings an item that I haven't seen before I get excited about the whirligig.  In this case it was the tin mold that sits below the enameled coffee pot.  The larger cake pan that the spoons are attached to is pretty interesting as well with its' star like shape.

The little copper Buda bells and rope molds on this gig I definitely hadn't seen before.  The flower petal bowl at the center adds a lot to the look of this whirligig.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 4

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part IV

The two whirligigs shown here are good examples of a color pallet.  Yellow, black and red is a striking choice.  Outdoors they will begin to rust and the colors will fade and soften.  But for now they will spin in the wind showing off their boldness. Brenda, the creator of the whirligig at the top is a super talented Steampunk artist and we used to carry her extraordinary jewelry in our shop. Her friend that created the gum ball machine topped gig below was also an artist and art teacher.  It was great getting the chance to hang out with these cool women and making 2 very cool whirligigs.

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 1

~The Whirligigs of Summer~

Part I

Tom, Sharon, & Al.

I've been accumulating a bunch of great photos over the past couple of months, due to the great work by the many participants in our whirligig workshops.  Tom, Sharon and Al created their gigs in May and it was a lot of fun as I recall.

This is a good example of how you can use both new and old items together on the same gig.  Eventually being outdoors, everything will look weathered and old.

Old flatware is pretty labor intensive to drill.  A tip is to try to bend the handle using a couple of fingers with gentle pressure.  If it doesn't flex it will probably take a while to drill through.  Also, some materials that are plastics or composites can be brittle when drilling.  I believe the purple plates on the gig above were bamboo and had the tendency to crack.

Sharon had a challenge with her Stainless Mugs.  We can't drill through stainless so it's on my "Don't Bring" list, but we made it work by creating metal straps that wrapped around the handles and attached to the lid of the red tin.  Everyone needs to have one challenge during the process.

A creative group of Whirligiggers!

~ A Fun & Creative Bunch of Whirligig Makers ~

Well, I have to say that I won'y forget this whirligig workshop.  I little while ago I received an email from one of these women, let's call her Jenny F., who had driven by our studio and was so excited to see that we held workshops in how to make our whimsical whirligigs by repurposing old stuff.  She is an artist who uses old tin objects in her art so her head is already in that "recycled" space.  It didn't take her long to get a few friends on board to fill a workshop.  This was a fun crew.  They all are artists that deal with recycling and repurposing in their work and I would suggest checking out what they do by visiting their sites and blogs.  Here is what they created that day.

                  Jenny Fillius                                Deborah Paul

           Ross Palmer Beecher                        Diane Kurzyna

Meeting new people and getting to know them a bit is something I really enjoy about the workshops at hutch.  Thanks to Jenny and the fact that she is so nice and has many friends future whirligig workshops are filling up fast.  So give me a call or email and maybe you can get in on one.

"Mrs. Picklefish"

 ~ Mrs. Picklefish ~

Sometimes coming up with a title for something is really challenging and other times it is super easy.  I've been working on the whirligig at hutch for a while now, using it as a demo gig during workshops.  One day a woman mentioned that a fish mold that I had painted dark green looked like a pickle and she was right about that.  A while later, when I was playing around with putting a coffee pot on the top, I inverted it to see how it would visually work.  I saw it as a head straight off and "Mrs. Picklefish" was born.  She is a single rotating gig that measures 26" tall from the base and 14" wide and deep.  It will be for sale in our etsy shop as soon I figure out what the shipping costs will be.  I guarantee that this gig will spin like crazy. In the meantime, check out some of the fun vintage finds that Kristin just found for the shop!

Colander Light

 ~ Colander Light ~

Sometimes you can have an idea, create it, and later on see a similar idea made by someone else.  I've learned over the years that it is always better to then take your idea further.  It's a way of creatively pushing yourself.  Recently I picked up a magazine and discovered an article on lights made using kitchen colanders.  I had made a couple for the shop a year or so ago that seemed very similar.  HTe very next day I took down the one I had in our kitchen and began turning up the creative dial.  I added fork fringe which I had been thinking about doing but this article sealed the deal.  I also suspended it with a cool old twisted metal plant hanger from a bent spoon bracket on the ceiling.  The change was much needed.  Before it was hardly noticed and now it can't be ignored.

One of the things I like about the forks is that the light takes on almost organic jellyfish quality.  If jellyfish were made out of kitchen wares that is.  I also staggered the fork lengths to create a wavelike edge at the bottom.

In terms of function things were much improved as well.  Before it was so high up on our tall ceiling that it offered little light to a dark space.  Now it is centered right above the table and illuminates the center piece beautifully.  This light is priced at $300. Give me a call to order 360-466-2303.

"Poppy"

~ Introducing Poppy ~

My dear friend Poppy is a sweet little man.

He drives around town in a rusty tin can.

His shoes are bright red.

Wears a thimble upon his head.

Being stylish is always his plan.

His town is not big.

And "big" just isn't his gig.

He avoids crowds whenever he can

Play at Hutch.

~ Play at Hutch ~

There has definitely been a lot of changes at Hutch lately and one of the very best is the emphasis that we are putting on idea of "Play".  The magical quality that a child's eye and imagination possess has always been at the core of what we have tried to express with what me make and how we present those things.  I think that this shows better now that it ever has before and especially in the rooms of Hutch.  Below is a shadow that is cast on the window sill in our play porch from the childlike drawings of bunnies on our window glass.  I realize it is a small thing that might easily go unnoticed but I always find magic in these little moments of discovery. 

Krys, who is like Hutch's professional picker has been very busy combing our area thrift and vintage shops and finding some great treasures. The porch is full of vintage games that fill the older customers with nostalgic memories of "play" and still  effect children with the playtime feeling.  So much so that on one occasion a little girl was playing quietly while her mother browsed the entire shop for a good long time and when they had both finally left I discovered that every little bunny in every room had been magically moved into one of the dollhouses on the porch and they were having a fun old time. Very cute.

One of the very fun things we have done lately is put a hopscotch game on the floor in our side porch.  By using tape it isn't a permanent addition to the floor and hopefully will easily remove in the future when we think of some other fun thing.

And it's not just for decoration either.  It gets used frequently by young and old.  Sometimes I think the older ones, look at the floor and hop along in their minds remembering their own childhood experience.

To end this post I want to share something I discovered one day written on our little child's easel located on the play porch.  It made me smile.  The little girl that wrote it returned a week later to happily discover it was still there and hadn't been erased.

There will definitely be more playful posts to come.

"Put A Bird On It"

~Put A Bird On It~

"Sweet Tweet"

Glazed Porcelain Bird

in a  wire cage.

3.5"h x 3"w

$42.

A few weeks ago, my wife who spends a great deal of time in the blogosphere came across a video from a new television show called "Portlandia".  It was titled "Put A Bird On It", and featured Fred Armisen from SNL, playing one of a pair hired to tweak a design boutique.  Their solution to all sad and ordinary things was to put a bird on it and it would be magically transformed into something desirable.  I know the reason that this is sooooo funny to me is that I know how true it is and I certainly use the "bird" at the studio quite a bit.  Pictured above is an early version of a "Sweet Tweet" which I started to make last spring to hang in the many windows of our side porch.  The red and blue seemed to be the most popular but I made them in just about every color for a while.

"Sweet Tweet"

*very early version & no longer available.

Some of the very first sweet tweets were made using oval tart tins as bases.  There is also very old sheet music lining the bottom of the cage.

"Sweet Tweet"

*Current version of design.

$38.

Every time I made a few more of these popular little guys I would change the design slightly.  The most recent (pictured above) has a base made from repurposed cardboard and the bird is made from painted fimo clay rather than glazed porcelain.  I personally prefer the matt surface on the bird, but what do you think?  I'm not sure if I will be making more of these birds but that's what I always say.  There are still a few left in the shop so give me a call if you are interested in purchasing one.  They're cute wherever they hang or sit.   360-466-2303

Our New Blog Shop!

We have a new Blog Shop!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we have been developing many new sections on our blog for you to visit.  They are located right below our blog header.  You can enjoy pictures of the inside and outside of our shop in La Conner by clicking on the "tour" section.  Find out what makes us tick by clicking the "about" section.  Browse and buy some of the latest hand made creations, patterns and kits by clicking on the "shop" section.  The original pen and watercolor  (above) by Krys Kirkpatrick is the most recent addition to the shop. To see more of Krys' work click on by for a visit.