Month: October 2012

Owl Woodcut Shield

by Prairie Bench0

This is our second woodcut owl shield/mask. Designed at 70% of the size of our original owl shield, this version replicates a small Phoenician or Mycenaean defensive shield used in close contact. As a mask, the owl represents the forest watcher and sage, the wise storyteller with intuitive insight.

The owl woodcut is approximately 18″ across with a five degree barrel curve. There are no screws or nails in the design which maximizes use of our reclaimed fir and spruce stock. This owl is finished in a chocolate walnut stain and lightly sanded on the outer feathers to give the appearance of our local Barred Owl.

Signed original: #110-BL-10-12

Settle Bench Rustic Finish

by Prairie Bench2

We designed our Settle Bench last year for a holiday promotion. It’s sat in storage until now when we had time to take it out and refinish the wood with more time. The result is a brown denim style that accents the grain. The entire bench is held together by hand carved wooden pegs. A secondary spruce frame is designed within to provide structural support for such massive planks.

A Settle Bench is a traditional design and the name is given to upright hall or entryway bench where guests can ‘settle’ when they enter a home.

The bench was created from a log salvaged by a local tug operator. It’s a Sitka Spruce and we lost count at 200 years old. The unique hole in the Settle Bench’s right wing back is from the boom chain, used to tie the large outer logs and contain the log boom. This was a large spruce specimen (66′ length) and we wanted to preserve the milled planks with their original history. The Settle Bench is approximately 50″ long, 42″ tall and 24″ deep. The front piece folds down for shoe storage.

The tug boat image was taken by Norbert Kaysser who salvaged the Settle Bench log.