hutch studio

Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Whirligigs of Summer- Part 2

~ The Whirligigs of Summer ~

Part II

The June whirligigs were pretty special. This is one of my favorites to date and has a story that's a workshop first. The couple that made it are from Gig Harbor, which in itself it pretty funny. They ran a half marathon that morning in Seattle, then drove up to La Conner and built this Whirligig finishing in almost record time (2:30pm). That's fast. They were a super fun couple and they produced a super fun whirligig. I could use that kind of energy. I'm assuming that this whirligig spins on their Dahlia farm in Gig Harbor now.

Friday, September 14, 2012

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.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Cardboard Frame Making Workshop

~ Cardboard Frame Workshop ~

This frame was made by cutting almost all triangles. The finished frame has a very art deco/arts and crafts look.

When I started this one I was thinking about spring and things sprouting and blooming.

This workshop combines the smart idea of repurposing used cardboard (which everyone has lying around) and the fun activity of making a one of a kind creation. What's not to love? You can bring a specific photo, print, or artwork, or make a standard frame opening o swap out images in the future. That's all you need to bring. Well, bring your creativity and imagination. I supply all the materials.

This is a 2 hour class and the cost is $25. The first class is this Friday and I'm getting excited. Look for the unique frames in a future blog post.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Another whirligig in the world.

~Another whirligig in the world.~

This was great! I rarely get to see a whirligig that was made here at hutch in a workshop after it leaves and finds it's place in the world. These 2 pictures were emailed to me recently. This is Hope standing next to her whirligig that was made during a workshop taken with both her mom and dad. I think she found the perfect spot for it. Even better would be to see it a year from now when the copper gets a beautiful patina.

Thank you Hope for sharing!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

April 28th Whirligig Workshop

~ April 28th Whirligig Workshop ~

Here are some of the latest whirligigs created in the April 28th workshop. They were a particularly focused group and they had cool stuff to play with. The duck head topper on the upper left gig was a definite first. At the end of the day, everyone had a gig they were beaming over.