The Garden in Autumn

Who could guess that in November in western Virginia, the Geraniums, Lobelia, Sweet Alysum, and Verbena could be so beautiful. The days are in the 50’s and 60’s and the nights in the upper 20’s and low 30’s and the flowers against the house just keep on pushing out their bright and shining colors.

I decided on this sunny but cold day, that anytime now I will wake up to a not so pretty site. I thought I had better grab the camera and take the pictures now, fore tomorrow may be another story. The leaves on the trees have changed and dropped already and I guess soon my garden flowers will go to sleep for another winter.

Hand Caning In The Modern World

I find it really fascinating in today’s wold just how many people have forgotten what hand work and hand labor is. They forget in the high-speed world of the internet and computers, cell phones and information on demand, what artisan skills are and what time is involved in the fine art of handcrafted work.

Over the years as a professional basket weaver and chair caner, I have noticed how impatient customers have grown for their chairs to be hand caned, as if they lived on the Star Ship Enterprise and could just go and put a chair in the replicator and it should be done within seconds at the touch of a button.

Hand Caning takes hours of hand labor that usually takes place over days and weeks, while at the same time working other chair orders at the same time.People do not understand the hours involved from start to finish in the caning process and cannot understand why it takes 4 to 6 weeks turn around time for their chairs to caned, dried, stained often times to match, which in itself can take quite a while, since cane does not take stain and each coat must dry completely before the next layer or color is applied.

In short hand caning takes time, it cannot be rushed. Unlike today’s computer fast age, where you get what you want at the click of a mouse, it is not so with hand caning. Like all good Artisan made skills, Quality takes time!

The Caner’s List

The Caner’s List- Now I know that many of you are asking the same question that many others before you have asked, what is the point of me putting my name on the Caner’s List. Also many of you also ask what is a Caner’s list?

I will answer the second question first- The Caner’s List is simply a waiting list of people waiting for caning to be done. When you put your name on the list, along with the type of chairs that you have to be done and the quantity, then as the caner works down the list you will be called as you are come to.

In my studio, you are called and if at that time it does not suit you to have your chairs done, then I usually will set aside one week the following month, usually the third week of the month, where I will move your name to and will call you back about having your chair done, if at that time it still does not suit, then I will move your name to the bottom of the list, which means that it may be 3 months out or sometimes a year or more from today. This is done as a courtesy to the customers as often there are situations that arise, that makes it not suitable at that time.

You know Caning is a lot like going to the grocery store, you walk in and look NO ONE is in line, however when you want to check out everybody and their brother is in line to check out. It is very much the same with caning/seat weaving, no one comes, no one calls, then suddenly and without warning everyone calls, so to the customer that says no I don’t want on the list I will call back in 6 weeks when you are caught up, they wait and then call just to find out, that now they have to wait for 6 months longer, had their names been on the list, I could have taken their chairs at 6 weeks.

I try to stress to customers, just because their name is on the list, does not mean they are making an obligation for work to be done, it is used as a scheduling tool

Please I urge all customers thinking of having work done to have your name put on the list, and avoid disappointments.

The Art of the Braided Basket Handle

Often, you have wanted to dress up a basket without adding dyed accents to the body of the basket. Most of my customers prefer to have the more traditional baskets, however everyone wants something different from time to time. Enter the Braided Basket Handle!

Braided handles have been around for a long time and can take on many different forms. Early silver tea and coffee pots often had cane wrapped and braided handles to protect the hands from heat and also just to dress them up a bit.

Basket handles are no different. On basket handles this can vary from the traditional style of braiding to diamond shapes and even twill woven patterns. The patterns are only limited by the limits of your mind. For me the braided handle enables me to express these limits in material form, which enables me to advance in design and technique.

As time goes by I will be adding examples of new designs I have created, however here are just a few examples. The pictures are not the best, as my camera is not the best (or its operator) but I think it will give you some idea of what braided handles are.

Winter- Best Time for Chair Caning!

During the Spring through Fall seasons, is the time that most people see me demonstrating the various forms of Hand Caning, as well as other forms of seat weaving. It is during this time that customers have what I do fresh in their minds, from these different demonstrations at farmers markets, festivals and shows. However, the best time for me to do these various form of seat weaving/hand caning is during the down time in the winter months November to April.

I would like to encourage anyone interested in having their antiques and heirlooms re-seated, please call me or email me and have your name put on the list, so that you don’t miss your chance to have your caning done. Sometimes customers will ask how many chairs are in the studio and the answer has been 6, but they did not want to be put on the list and say they will wait a couple of weeks, just to find out in a couple of weeks those chairs have been done and replaced by 20 chairs.

I encourage everyone to add their name to the list to fix their spot in line and avoid lengthy disappointments. During the winter months is the best time for caning, as nothing gets in the way. No prepping for shows and demontrations which easily can take 3 days out of a week.

Christmas is Coming! Place Basket Orders Now!

It is that time of year again, before the holidays arrive I like to try to remind my customers to remember to place their basket orders now, to avoid disappointments. Order early, as all baskets are handmade and require time to prepare and weave.

In general, market style baskets can be ordered up to November 25, however due to the nature of Ribbed basket (Egg) these take much longer and need to be ordered soon. This week I hope to post pictures of my most popular baskets for gift giving. This is just a friendly reminder, to remember to order early.

Zig Zag Twill Basket with Black Walnut Base & Handcarved White Oak Handle

The Feel of Autumn is in the Air

This summer was almost like no summer at all, even though it was warm, we had lots of cool cloudy and rainy days, but somehow they just seemed unbalanced. All of the sudden it seemed the last day of August and now into September that Autumn abruptly returned.

Even though the weather is nice, it still feels that Winter is just around the corner, and somehow to me that it will be a much longer winter than it has been here for a very long time. Often in this part of Virginia, winter has a way of showing up in January to March (wonderful short winter).

In years past I remember the big thing was homes all around would hold out to see how long they could get their Geraniums to last on year about 15 years ago some made it up to about 2 weeks before Christmas, that is not to say there was not a lot of  sheets thrown over plants during that time at night.

Then several years ago was the year that we did not think that fall was coming, because Bradford Pear trees kept their leave up into mid December. This year just seems different for some reason, the air has little humidity, trees look like they want to get ready to shed their leaves, boy I hate long winters here, I hope that I am wrong, however we are powerless to do much about it. You just have to make the best of it and wait for Spring again.

The weather people have talked about above average snow fall here, something we have not seen in many years. The only wonderful thing about that is walking in the middle of the night with a gentle snow falling, the roads are packed with ice and snow, then like the miracle of Winter, the Old Order Mennonites are out in force all through the days and nights with the horse drawn sleighs on the roads, often times you can get lucky and if you are out walking they will pick you up to go sleigh riding, trying to get in all they can before the snow plows come by.

Wonderful Handmade Soap from a New Hampshire Farm

I have a friend Karyn Bennett, that lives on a farm in New Hampshire. She owns Lizzy Lane Farm. Karyn make handmade soaps. She does a very good job of everything he undertakes and soaps are one of them. Her latest creation is a Rose Scented Oatmeal Soap. You can order her soaps through her selling blog, Lizzy Lane Farm Store.

The Lizzy Lane Farm Store also offers a variety of other handmade items by Karyn.

Other soaps available are Lavender Spa Bars, Loofa Soaps which are available in Lilac and Summer Grapefruit.

Karyn also makes a wonderful healing salve, which is made from all natural and organic ingredients. which include the following. Comfrey, Jewelweed, Chamomile, Calendula & Lavender infused in a grape seed oil, beeswax, tee tree, Essential oils and Vitamin E.

Karyn has a very interesting Blog on Farm Life on a Rural New Hampshire farm, I am sure everyone will find something of interest there.

Old Chairs Regain New Life

I have noticed during this depressed economy that more old chairs are coming out of basements, attics and barns, to regain their rightful places in the home once again. Relics of days gone by, these chairs are taking up residence in the home again and looked upon as objects of beauty.

It is hard to believe that at one time there were ever any caner’s so prolific that when the bottoms wore out that they were just replaced and put back into service again. Some of the chairs that I see coming to me are a good indication that even as much as 50 years ago that caning was not prolific at that time, or else these chairs would not have been put into the darkest corners of the home.

For the person with the chair, they are just chairs, however for me the caner, I see chairs come to me all the time that were handcrafted, not mass produced. Somewhere there was an artisan skilled in furniture making that decided to take wood and build a chair, some beautiful works of craftsmanship, each carefully and meticulously turned on the lathe, with great skill and measurement all details well planned out to create something of beauty for the home.  It is shameful that the love and skill that went into the creation of each of these works of art were packed away not to see the light of day for decades to come. The only bright spot, is the fact that they were not discarded, and that now during the depressed economy that people are looking at what they have and now deciding that it is better to fix what we have, instead of buying something new and in most cases of lesser quality than these works of art from yesteryear.

It is just not hand caning that I have seen coming out of attics, but pressed caning, rush, porch rockers just to name a few. This depressed time has made people to look at what they have, and realize that they do have things of value right in their own homes, overlooked and forgotten over the years.

The pictures in this post are chairs that I have found in shops, out by the road, and people have just left on my door step in hopes that I would replace the bottoms in them and find them a good home. Some as you can see are waiting for a bottom to be woven, some the caning has started on.

The black Rush Bottom Chairs were made in Italy and will have new replacement rush bottoms woven into them. There is a set of four of these. All of these will be for sale as soon as the bottoms are woven.

The rocker below is of black walnut, and was handmade. This is my favorite chair of all time, in all the 20 years that I have been caning, this is my favorite. It is of Shaker design, and as patiently been waiting for a bottom for some time. I have not decided if it will have a Rush, Splint, or Shaker Tape Bottom, as would have been common with Shaker Chairs of the period.

I would like to encourage all people to look through what they have in basements, attics and barns and see what works of art they have hidden away and make them beautiful and useful pieces of furniture once again in their homes.

Transformations- Hand Caned to Rush

Last week I had the pleasure to work on a set of chair that originally were hand caned. One would think that once hand caned always hand canned! Not so thanks to the ingenuity of a wood worker of yesteryear.

The amazing thing of removing a genuine rush or even fiber rush seat done decades ago; is that sometimes it can be a mini time capsule full of mystery and surprise. These two chairs were just that. The original genuine rush seats yielded its hidden treasures. Once the old seat was removed I found packing material in the form of crumpled newspaper clippings from a Troy New York newspaper, dated 1935! However being very brittle, it revealed to me that it was the used car section of the paper. Did you know that in 1935 you could buy a used 1929 Buick Sedan for $60.00?

The mystery of these chair do not stop here, they were originally hand caned, and re worked to fit a drop in rush seat. This would tell us that back in 1935 it was no easier for some to find a hand caner in those day either. So the chairs were modified to accept a drop in Rush seat. This is the first time I had seen a chair like this but as the pictures will show this worked out beautifully for these Bird’s Eye and Tiger Maple dining room chairs.

I am hoping to get pictures of the finished chairs to post, I did not because there were done in a Rush (pun) I will need to get with the customers and get pictures of their finished chairs, to post.

The Maple trim that you see going around the rush drop in seat, are the strips that cover the underlying hand caning holes.

This is the original drop in seat with genuine rush bottom, note the decorative corner blocks.

Please not the underneath side of a genuine rush seat, since the rope is actually acheived by laying cattail leave one upon the other in a graduated fashion and hand twisting them to form the rope as you continue to rush the chair, this results in the ends of the leaves protruding fromt he back of the chair seat. As this photo shows.

This photo shows how the drop in seat just slips out of its holding space in the center of the chair.

Bottom of the chair, reveals the hand caned chair seat, and the blocks placed in the corners to support the rushed drop in seats.