I need to make this..

There are a couple of topics that are coming into play here: First, I have lived in the same area almost all of my life. During my late 20’s, my retail job shipped me up the coast of California to Orange County where I lived for 10 years, but I returned to San Diego when my daughter was born. So, I’ve been within a hundred mile radius of my birthplace and my own family my entire life. I know a lot of people here.

Second, I have an extremely resoucreful father. When we were kids, I can’t think of more than 2 times when we ever hired anyone to fix something in the house. My dad has a garage bursting at the seams with tools and materials, scraps..you name it. My dad is an amazing person to bounce ideas off of. One of his favorite shows is “How It’s Made”. My mother is so f’ing creative that she doesn’t need to talk to anyone about her ideas. I mean…ridiculous projects when we were kids.. halloween costumes to rival any met gala attendee. You get it. I’ve been around this energy for 50 years.

So when I found myself in front of a massive table saw last night… I teared up a little. I NEED to make stuff. I have an insane appreciate for things that people make with their hands. There is some sort of heart palpitation when I am around other people that make stuff too. We get it.

Hardwood cut and ready to trim and assemble.

I recently reached out to a framer to have some floating frames made locally.. the estimate was $600ish. Since I have been around wood working all of my life..I know the price of hardwood.. I understand the labor needed to make things like this.. but $600 is not even in the ballpark of what I can afford knowing what I know. I decided that this business was not the right fit for me and I drove myself to the hardwood store.

We make most of our furniture.. My husband helped his father build their childhood home! I know my way around hardwood and I also know now after a few recent builds how different woods accept stain. I settled on Ash and bought 36 feet. Loaded it into my car and came home.

I printed out the cross section of a floating frame and gave it with some measurements to my husband.. after watching him feed the first board through, and explaining to him that I needed these cut to a very small width, I got very nervous…nervous for his safety and I phoned a friend.

My friend is a general contractor…I happen to maintain his website for him in exchange for small projects here and there and we’ve known each other for many years. The best part? He lives down the street. Last night, the three of us ended up in his garage and within a matter of minutes, the 36 feet of wood was all cut to perfection and put back into my car. I still can’t get over how beautiful it is.

One of the frames we are experimenting with.. This one is for a 7/8th inch profile canvas.

So tonight, my husband will be out in the garage, sanding and testing stain on the wood and I am going to be able to add some floating frames to a couple of my paintings* here. I looked into buying them off amazon and I didn’t feel the quality of what was available was complimentary to how I hope people to perceive my art..so making these is a total dream come true.

I need to make things and I need to be around people who also make things. What a small amount of time to receive a total recharge… I am so thankful.

*If a handmade frame is available for the painting you would like to purchase, it will be noted in the listing. Frames are not available for all paintings.