About 10 days ago, I started building two boxes. One is cherry with a maple and purple heart inlay, and the other is walnut with rosewood and walnut inlay (meant to be more subtle). The details on these projects are as perfect as I could make them. The level of precision on projects so small and delicate is incredible — even a tiny fraction can throw off the whole project.
The reason I pursued such detailed projects is that a few weeks ago, while showing some of my stuff at our local farmer’s market, the owner of the Jemez Springs Fine Arts Gallery asked me if I would like to be a member artist. I was flattered, of course, mostly because I’ve never thought of myself as an artist. I’ve always seen myself as a good craftswoman. After much badgering from my spouse and friends about my imposter syndrome, I decided to see if I could add a couple more nice items to my repertoire. I have to say I did enjoy it, but before I was finished (30 hours later) I was a little tired of the extreme precision and the SANDING! But all in all, after I complete a couple of larger projects in my future, I’ll take on some more artistic projects to be ready to replace my items if they sell in the gallery.
I used mitered and splined corners, both for strength (although a box like this would probably hold fine without the splines) and more for style. The splines match the inlay in the top. While it worked out okay, one lesson I learned, and unfortunately, I’ve had to learn it before, cut the slot for the inlay after the inlay is made and sanded. It will provide a much tighter, seamless look. The other challenge was the order of operations for sanding, finishing, and flocking. I used a purple flocking for the cherry box and a deep red for the walnut box. It really sets off the look on the inside, but getting things sanded and finished prior to putting in the flocking was a real pain. The flocking won’t stick to a finished surface (not as well), so I had to mask off the area to flock and put on the finish, and then reverse the masking to do the flocking. It was not terribly difficult, just time-consuming waiting for things to dry.
While perfect is unattainable, I’m very proud of these boxes. I don’t think I’ll change my style, but an occasional, detailed, classy item is certain.
