November | 2008 | Stained Woods: Art by Tina Hanagan, Bloomington, IN

Archive for November 2008

The Farmers Market turned Winter Market

November 30, 2008

Yesterday morning after breakfast downtown, my husband and I stumbled into the Winter Market. The usual gang of veggie and flower sellers weren’t there, but the coffee place was as popular as ever. Bloomington’s market had an end-of-year hurrah by having many local artisans set up shop for the day. There were Tuba Santas and carriage rides, even a reindeer or two! It was all very festive.

I like to check out the art to see what’s new and if anything inspires me. I really fell for this wooden ring from Studio AMF. She uses braille as a design element. What a great idea!

I also stopped in at the Tattoo Dreams stall. Lots of wood items, but embellished with stamps, using letters and words –which always interests me. I guess we didn’t spend enough time there, because I keep thinking about one of her boxes that might have been Day of the Dead inspired. I think the chilly weather got the best of me.

Here’s are a few Bloomington pics that I took this week:

Downtown before and after:

Categories: around Bloomington
Tags: art, Bloomington, craft, Day of the Dead, furniture, tuba santas, wood jewelry

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The beginning of stained woods

November 25, 2008

I didn’t start out staining wood–I painted it. The first piece I did was a raw wood toy chest-type thing. It was the first time I realized that I needed a creative outlet to offset work (and sometimes life). The pattern is a takeoff from a school assignment where we had to draw our versions of a mandala. It’s done in acrylics, and I’m not sure how many months it too to finish. I do remember mixing all the paint, and having to re-do parts that I did not like. I’ve also had to refinish it a couple of times, but once I put on several coats of Polycrylic (it’s a Minwax product) in 2003, it’s been fine ever since.

Categories: furniture
Tags: acrylic paint, art, painted wood, pine

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DC Star

November 13, 2008

I think I’m getting this one worked out.

I worked on a sample version on a warped pine trivet that I had lying around. I snapped a few pics to show the process if anyone is interested. I’ve already changed my mind, and it no longer fits on the 9 inch square that I was using. I added a line outside the big star, and it looks like I’ll need to reduce the size.

I purchased a new circle cutter, and was pleased to find out that it seems to work well for painter’s tape! I’m looking forward to doing an offiical version. Yes, I have a few more changes in mind.

Categories: stained woods
Tags: art, DC, pine, stained wood, trivet

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A new trivet idea

November 8, 2008

I’m thinking about star patterns.

I took a picture while I was working in DC this year, and I can’t seem to shake the image. Where else but DC would I take a picture of an interesting star pattern? We were walking around The Mall in our few hours of free time before starting our gig, and decided to check out the newest memorial. The World War II memorial. It was hot and full of people. I wasn’t inspired to take pictures until I found this drainage grate. If I can make this work, it will be an entirely new type of star for me. You can see a couple of others on the drum post.

For comparison, here are a few that made it into my repertoire. A coaster set done on maple:

Categories: stained woods
Tags: art, coasters, DC, maple, WWII

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The drum project

November 4, 2008

While I wait for the coffee to kick in, and the lines at the polls to go down, I can blog.

This summer my husband and I decided to build a drum for him. We took an oversized floor tom (or maybe it’s a small bass drum on it’s side) and made it into our version of a cocktail kit. He did all the research and ordered all the parts, I helped measure and drill the holes, and then the staining. He spent time while I played with stain adapting the new bass drum pedal. He had to change it to hit the bottom side of the new drum.