Finally, after many years making signs and carving into wine barrel tops for all my great clients, I took some time to make a sign for myself. I carved an image of my hand clenching a wood chisel carved from wood (somehow ironic) punching through a barrel top. I chose to carve the company name into a wooden banner. I then gave the banner an aged look to advance the fact  barrel carving itself is an old craft and each recycled barrel I carve has a story to tell. I’m now in the process of making some cool hanging signs to compliment this piece. Stay tuned. 

This barrel top carving measures almost four feet across therefore I had to custom make it since barrels of that dimension just don’t exist.  I used western red cedar instead of oak to keep the weight down and then hand carved the train track scene to a depth of about two inches. After painstakingly painting all the little rocks and flowers etc. I finished the piece with a couple of coats of high quality stain.

This barrel top carving now lives in The Garret Station Restaurant in Los Gatos California. If you happen to be in the area I highly recommend you drop in to sample the menu  in one of their fine, and fun,  restaurants. Just  visit their web site for all the information and be sure to bring your appetite and be ready to have a great time!

WWW.THEGARRETRESTAURANT.COM

For all you plant lovers out there I recommend you take a look at

WWW.NORDICPLANTS.COM

Jumping Horse Vineyard is a beautiful extension of this nursery located on a scenic piece of land. I can’t tell you enough about the beautiful plants and flowers they grow and how great the owners are. I wish them all the success with the wine and the future.

The glass greenhouses are visible in the centre of the carving at the back of the vineyard.

I recently had a client ask me to do a carving for the door to his wine cellar that would match the barrel carving I did for him. The result was a diagonal piece carved in red cedar and clear stained as well as color stained.

I recently installed these three signs for my favorite coffee company “Bean Around The World”. These folks make the best java and do it the most ethical way.  For more insight into what they do and where they are located just go to their website:

 WWW.COWBOYCOFFEE.COM

These barrels  are more examples of the group of five that were carved for the well known Lake Breeze Winery in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. The barrel on the left shows the view as seen fron the top of the property and the barrel on the right hangs on the “Artist’s View” cottage located on the beautiful winery property. The view through the window of the cottage is depicted in the barrel carving to which I added the table and other props to give the feel of an old European artist’s room. 

Well I suppose these double side signs are pretty self explanatory aren’t they. The signs came out as nicely as their pizzas and you can see more of their product at WWW.ALIBABAPIZZA.CA

This is a very popular design. The grape rosette takes quite a bit of work due to the detail in the design however the result is very appealing. I’ve made a few of these with each one being a little unique so the client has a carving done specifically for them.

Puff, a nice cloudy kind of sign to grace a pipe store. Go to www.puffpipes.ca for info on their products.

After the big “blow down” storm we had in town a few years ago I was contracted to carve this 8′ cedar log.  Mother nature came close to taking out the clients’ house when this giant toppled over. Rather than buck it up it for fire wood it was thought to be better karma to carve the view from the front of the house into the log. The house, called “Casa Datai” ( Malaysian) sits on the waterfront and is one of the most charming and comfortable houses in the area and this carving now adorn a beautiful little landscaped garden at the entrance.