Some results from the VC Fair

[Shawn Pixley]

I entered a piece in the Ventura County Fair this year. My main goal was just to be accepted. I did that and ended up with second place. David Blackburn took first and best of show with his art deco jewelry box. He deserved to win. His piece was very, very nice. He is a friend of mine and a heck-of-a nice guy.

My piece was a box to hold a sushi and sake set. I started it as a vehicle to practice dovetails. It took off from there. A couple of pics just before completion. Woods are Curly Cherry re-sawn and book-matched, Maple (hard and curly), and American black walnut. Most of this is from scrap from other projects. my off-cut bin was overflowing. Finish is a homebrew oil / varnish blend. The top is coopered and coved. It is probably 65% neander and the balance with tailed tools. Pardon my messy garage / shop.

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Pics right before the drop-off appointment. The design thought was to do a play on flying buttresses with an Asian flair. The horizontal member supports the inside tray

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I made a huge mistake. I built the box and then inlayed the stringing and fish. That was a pain. With the top off, the serving tray is exposed.

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This was all done design on the fly. No drawings whatsoever. I still may inlay something in the tray. My thought was that this would make a nice wedding present.

[Shawn Pixley]

More pics.

The inside was meant to be a play on a Bento Box. The tray is curly maple. The pics don't do it justice.

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I wanted to create an experience akin to unwrapping a present.

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In the upper left corner, the sake cups are box jointed. The chopstick rests beside them are small curly maple off-cuts carved and with a small brass handle. The Bento frame is half-lapped walnut from scraps. The empty compartments have a nested curly maple lid; again from scraps. The bottom is the hand laid paper left over from another project. The box in the lower left corner is the box for chopsticks. The chopstick box top is coved with a walnut handle. I'll turn some chopsticks when I get the box back (presuming no one buys it). The ribbons have small hoops sewn in and assist with lifting the ceramic. The size is 20"x10"x10"