Hello fellow woodworkers!

The Mid-Island Woodworkers’ Guild Garage Sale last weekend encountered the wettest, coolest weather that we had experienced for a couple of weeks! We sure know how to pick the days! Not to worry…it didn’t slow the business!

Many members showed up to assist, to sell their stuff, and to join in the fun, while sipping coffee and eating home-made bran muffins. A back-yard cherry tree, donated by member, Ben Hall, had been cut into 1.5” slabs (about 3 foot lengths) and was available for sale from the back of my pickup truck. When we finally called it a day after about 4 hours of chilly weather and diminishing visitations, we had managed to sell most of the cherry slabs (still some left though) and many of the available tools and products provided by members and/or donations. Proceeds from the sale (almost $350 to MIWG) will become part of our donations to local high school woodworking programs.

Our meeting next Wednesday, May 9, (see https://miwg.ca/meetings for details) will a feature marquetry presentation by Paul Miller. He is renowned and has presented in the past to Vancouver Island Woodworkers’ Guild. I am looking forward to hearing his presentation. Please plan on being there! As always, we invite you to bring your family and friends, and to encourage young folks to join in! One of our goals is to promote woodworking in the mid-Island area, and the best way to do that is to reach out to the younger members of the craft.

Also, I received a note from Steve Neil which is very interesting! He and his finewoodworking crafts have been featured in a video produced for Canadian Woodworking Magazine (and in earlier editions of the magazine. Please have a look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_uR6nD3Kzw&lc=z231hvsrbsqzgz34k04t1aokgahr5k1ietqobllojpx2bk0h00410

Best wishes to all of you and I hope that you are able to resolve the issues around…should I work in my yard…or should I go into my shop! Have a great time either way!

Tony

Greetings one final time before tomorrow morning’s garage sale at 3388 Tunnah Road between 10:00 and 4:00. I hope to see many of you here as well as family and friends. As an added incentive, I have a pick-up load of 1 1/2″ cherry slabs – most about 3 feet long. They are quite beautiful. They are for sale at about $7 each, (most at less than $2.50 a board foot), but I will GIVE a cherry slab to each new member that signs up tomorrow. We will have all of the paper work available to make you a full member so that you can participate in many of our exciting activities – including a tentative barbecue and garage sale towards the end of June.

In any case, proceeds from the sale of the wood, and a percentage of all garage sale items will be going towards the support of our High School woodworking programs, so please come out and support us by BUYING!

Many thanks, click on the link below to see the final pics (there will be much more available) and I hope to see you here – despite the downgrade in the wonderful warm weather that we have been having!

Best wishes!

Tony

Page4, 5 MIWG Garage Sale Pics

Hi all! Since the number of participants was too limited to offer this workshop at this time, we will try to reschedule it to some future date if there is sufficient interest in holding it. My apologies to those very few who expressed interest.

Tony

Robert Bateman Centre and Live Edge Design launch call for artists for oneTree 2017

May 12, 2016, Victoria, BC – The Robert Bateman Centre and Duncan, BC-based Live Edge Design have launched a call for artists’ proposals for oneTree 2017, the second in a series of exhibits. The series celebrates the life and value of a single tree by inviting participating artists to create as much beauty from its wood as possible.

For over a hundred years this Black Walnut, Juglans nigra, stood sentry from Dalmahoy, its home on St Charles Street in Victoria’s Rockland neighborhood. Taking root in the Craigdarroch Castle-era, its majestic limbs began to crumble in 2015 and needed to come down to keep the surrounding homes and people safe.

“oneTree 2015 was a huge success,” enthused Peter Ord, managing director of Victoria’s Robert Bateman Centre, “The exhibit had such diversity with over 42 professional artists participating. It touched a lot of people to know that the tree was used in its entirety, and we saw many new people come through our doors to enjoy it.” John Lore, owner of Duncan’s Live Edge Design is also very excited about the upcoming show. “This is a fantastic experience of Art as cooperative, rather than competitive. What’s different about it this time around is that, in addition to wood artists, we are inviting artists of different media. We will consider all submissions that clearly show how the tree and its history inspire the finished piece.”

The exhibit is scheduled to open at the Bateman Centre from mid-November 2017 until January 2018. If you are a turner or an artisan that requires wet wood (with no cracks) and you have your application submitted by June 15, 2016, you will be eligible for early selection in order that you may pick up your wood before it has become too dry. The deadline for submission for all other artisans will be July 15, 2016. There will be some wet wood available for later submissions, but it may have cracks. Kiln-dried wood will be available for artisans in the spring of 2017.

Interested individuals are encouraged to make a formal submission.  The Expression of Interest and oneTree photos are located on www.batemancenter.org or  http://liveedgedesign.us8.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=c39636217439cf92438bca652&id=cebe6f006c&e=8706fad7d5

About the Robert Bateman Centre
Opened in May 2013 in the historic Steamship Terminal along Victoria’s Inner Harbour, the Robert Bateman Centre is a public art museum showcasing more than 100 works by Robert Bateman, spanning his seven decades as one of Canada’s premier artists. The exhibit invites guests to explore their relationship with the environment and pay homage to the magic of nature. For more information, visit www.batemancentre.org.

About Live Edge Design
Live Edge Design creates custom furniture from locally salvaged trees. The trees tell the designers and craftsmen their stories. The ensuing collaboration of materials, craftspeople, and customers culminates in the finest of functional art. Honouring the tree enriches those it touches on its journey. From sourcing the trees to drying, design, production, and finishing, it all happens at their workshop in Duncan, BC. See for yourself or visit online at liveedgedesign.com.

Contacts:
Peter Ord, The Robert Bateman Centre: 250-940-3626 or peter.ord@batemancentre.org

Christine Fagan, Live Edge Design: 250-748-0763 or christine@liveedgedesign.com

We now have some MIWG business cards!!

Tony Dobson has 500 of them. If you want some to hand out to friends or potential MIWG members or anyone else, please talk to Tony at the next meeting and he can give you some cards.

The cards look like this:

Here is a copy of our latest newsletter:

2016/04/05 Newsletter (PDF)

There’s a good article and interview with Tony Dobson in The Bulletin. See page 12 in this issue:

https://issuu.com/blackpress/docs/i20160322074226826/1?e=1205826/34342015