This section will have pictures and or descriptions of products or services we actually get paid for, or at least hope to!
In 2023 I decided that my coding system had become too cumbersome for the variety of designs and products I was making. Instead, my new code will start with the year, followed with a sequence number indicating when a design went into production. So now I will no longer update the portfolio below of pre-2023 products listed by type, but will periodically upload the progress of a yearly design page, listing items as they are made.
My first horse portrait
I took some pictures while our granddaughters were learning how to feed a horse at Tievoli stables. I had to combine several pictures to get the perspectives I wanted but it turned out well (see below). I hope to do two more versions changing just the face profile of the girl and the background. The extra thickness of the bridle truly makes it more 3D looking in real life.
A large mountain scene.
This is my largest work so far. It is from a picture of Long’s peak in Colorado requested by our oldest son. I love the grain of the canarywood piece I happened to have on hand for the sky piece. I realized I would have to change my gluing technique for something this big since the glue dries too fast. I glued pieces in layers onto the back piece. Until now I was able to glue the backpiece onto upside-down pieces of the artwork placed in a jig.
The final art work measures 22″wide and 8″ tall.
Woods include: Canarywood, Aspen, Maple, Wenge, Birch, Purpleheart, Yellowheart, Mahogany, Walnut, and Padauk. They are mounted on 1/4″ Medium Density Fiberboard with a single wall hangar in the middle.
The first 8×10 inch portrait.
Below is the portrait done in June and July of 2021. I wanted to try something with long hair and use a bigger format. I learned that I was limited by the quality of the reference picture. In this case the shadows were too dark. Also, the inlay process just can’t do justice to the fineness of hair. For example, the little dog looks like she has a mask on, but I’m not sure I could have changed that. I made a mistake cutting the right piece of the large dogs nose. The replacement piece was from a different piece of wood which was slightly lighter. Such a small difference but it resulted in a twisted-nose look. I should have replaced both left and right pieces with the same new stock of wenge.
The yellow heart wood background is 1/16″ thick rather than 1/8″ like the other wood to give a 3D effect overall. I liked that, but it made gluing more difficult.
Our second wood inlay pet portrait.
This 5×7 inch project is all 1/16″ woods glued to 1/8″ hard board backing. It took about a week of actual work time. I used CorelDraw instead of Rhinoceros to see if I liked it enough to buy the commercial version. It is a learning process but it has tracing tools I used to get ideas of where to place the piece edges.
I think I will continue in the natural wood colors approach and not use paints or stains.
Our first attempt at lasered animal portraits.
Last Christmas I met an artist, Roger Hoff, who does horse portraits. After seeing some of our snowman ornaments he encouraged me to try to make bigger lasered portraits with pieces small enough to be made in my 4″x6″ laser work area. So my first try is from a picture of our daughter’s dog Tessie and glued onto a 5×7 inch particle board backing.
Our first sales of laser items to resellers.
The Covid19 pandemic meant the loss of my job at the college digital fabrication lab in the summer of 2020. So I put more effort into seeing what I could make on my little K40 laser cutter at home. The Chain of Lakes State Park store was our first distributor. Then when things opened up more in the city, Out of the Box gift shop was willing to buy the magnets promoting our city of Crystal Lake. I also showed them a sample of the inlaid ornaments I had designed in 2018 and they bought some of those to resell. Then at their suggestion of having an ornament featuring a mask, we now have some special ornaments just for 2020. Below is my favorite. It is also the hardest to make! See the catalog for the other designs.
In the summer of 2020 when we couldn’t go to coffee shops with the city magnets I started selling lasered magnets to a nearby State Park (see the catalog). Interactions with the owner resulted in more and more designs as the camping season progressed. I hope to repeat the relationship next year.
Here is a sample of our current group of fridge magnets we want to sell locally in 2020. [note: the pandemic closed shops so we couldn’t find any retailers to buy.]
Our first attempt to make a product to sell in the U.S.
The hand clip is used to protect your fingers when carrying heavy bags or multiple plastic bags. We got a Patent Pending Application but did not find any companies to partner wtih us. It is available to buy through Shapeways at https://www.shapeways.com/shops/rnideashop or you can contact me for the the Handle for Handle – Model 2C.stl file and print it yourself.
