I have been volunteering and working with Ptarmigan Arts for over 10 years, on the board of directors, as the volunteer Tech director, doing sound for gigs and even playing in a few… So I was really excited when Ptarmigan Arts decided to add an Art Gallery to their non-profit community arts space. This way I am able to display my sculptures and furniture with the many other amazing artists who live here. I was again honoured when they asked me to make a new sign for the Gallery space. They had just aquired the new space and done lots of promo and logo design. I came up with a simple design using the logo lettering they have branded to fit the small space available for hanging a sign outside the gallery. On the front I carved and painted the lettering with 1shot signpaint, then coated with 2 coats of OSMO exterior oil finish. I sometimes find cedar that has been naturally stained a darker grey colour, probably from exposure to metal. I used some of this darker coloured cedar as the frame to contrast with the red cedar sign. The sign is assembled with mortise and floating tenons using my Festool Domino Joiner, love that machine! (as I have worked mostly by hand in the past, this one has really revolutionized my ability to produce excellent quick and strong joinery with the curvy handsplit cedar that can take a very long time to work with entirely by hand…)
The sign is made from all salvaged red cedar driftwood collected locally. You can really see this well on the back of the sign where I left it entirely the way I found it, silver and beautifully weathered. Considering that the Gallery is situated right on the ocean, it seemed fitting to maintain the driftwood atmosphere of Hope Bay.
