Blog

Cob Workshop- Stone Foundation
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

This summer, we have been focusing much of our attention on building a new wood working shop for Colin on our property.  His designs for a load bearing cob shop were approved by our engineer and permitted to build in early June.  Two weeks later, we had an excavator dig out 2 foot wide trenches that hold 18 inch deep concrete footing walls with drain rock along the outside.  Colin built forms down the middle…

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Pender Car Stop Benches
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

I had the great pleasure of being asked this summer to build a series of hand split red cedar benches for some of the most used local car stops on Pender Island.  The idea of car stops will most likely seem new to you, as it fairly new to us here on Pender Island.   A couple years ago a local transportation committee, Moving Around Pender, or M.A.P,  had the wonderful idea to create legal hitch-hiking…

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Cob Building Workshop
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

COME COB WITH US! BUILDING A NEW WOODWORKING SHOP FOR THUJA WOOD ART  Come and build a cob workshop with us!  This summer we are offering an opportunity for learning about building with cobwhile constructing a woodworking shop on Pender Island.  Built onto a stone foundation, we will move through the process of mixing cob and building load-bearing walls.  Besides covering the basics of cobbing, we will include the finer details of working around door…

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Reclaimed Cedar Benches
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

Sit down and relax! Over the last year I have been enjoying making more furniture from the red cedar driftwood that I salvage off the beaches.  (and just in case you are wondering I do have a salvage and beachcombing license to collect driftwood) I love to collect interesting pieces of cedar driftwood.  Some have curves, tapers.  Others have amazing colours throughout, from blondes to deep reds, to almost black.  The wood almost tells me…

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Cob and Cedar Courtyard
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

I know you’re thinking, how do cob and cedar come together to make a courtyard?  This project incorporated three of my favorite things: cedar, drystack stonework, and cob.  This to me is an excellent example of how to build using local materials.  Everything in this project came from Pender Island. They say all good things take time, and this cob wall courtyard project took about two years to complete.  It was, as most big projects…

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Stranan Entrance Gates
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

After completing the fencing section of the project last year, the Stranan’s asked me to add a hand split red cedar entrance with double gates under a curved arbour this winter.  The entrance is made from all reclaimed and hand split red cedar.  The entrance spans between the studio building and the existing hand split grapestake fencing.  To have lots of room to bring stuff though the gates, they asked for double saloon style gates. …

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Towler garden project
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

Here on Pender Island, BC we have some lovely gardens.  This project was aimed at enhancing a nice garden with a bench (for rest and relaxation), and two rose arbours (one small and one big).  Everything is made from reclaimed red cedar driftwood which I salvage myself. The bench is about 5′ long and uses a combination of mortise and tenon joinery and some long screws which are plugged (for some of the pieces that…

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Rose family covenant sign
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

This is another wonderful project done with our local Conservancy, and the Nancy Waxler Morrison Fund.  I have been making covenant signs here on Pender Island for 5 years now and each one is unique in its own way.  The Rose family have protected part of their property under a land covenant they called Garry Oak, after the trees and habitat that they are protecting.  The sign is much similar in style to many of…

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Pender style grand stone staircase and ramp
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

I recently was invited back to a previous clients place to do some more drystack stonework.  What a fun project it turned out to be.  Transforming the yard into a functional and wonderful place to be.  The clients had purchased a nice new greenhouse and put it up in pretty much the only good spot in their landscaped yard with space and sun.  The problem was that it was at the bottom of a steep…

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Stranan Hand Split Cedar Fence Project
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

Another great local hand split cedar fencing project came my way this year.   This fence is made entirely from reclaimed and salvaged old growth red cedar.  I started by putting in the post saddles.  For the first time ever I had the help of post hole digger on a bobcat, which I must say really speeds things up, and makes a nice neat round hole for the most part.  The holes are 2′ deep here…

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Sandstone indoor stairs and hearth
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

I have had the opportunity to do some showcase indoor stonework over the last year.  The first part is a sandstone staircase dropping three steps into a sunken living area.  The second part is a matching sandstone hearth for the fireplace in the living area near the stairs.  The stairs are built over infloor hydronic heating tubes which will keep the rock nice and warm during the cold weather.  I used local sandstone, some from…

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‘Welcome’ address sign
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

This Japanese inspired address sign is styled like a Torii Gate (a traditional Japanese entrance to a sacred space) and ‘welcomes’ all to the property with the Japanese characters.  It was commissioned by a client in Guam and now adorns their driveway.  The sign is made from all reclaimed red cedar, split by hand, and using mortise and tenon joinery with wood pegs.  You can see that I have again used some of the amazing…

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Schaeffer Bench Project
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

Earlier this winter while salvaging old growth red cedar I noticed one piece of wood in particular.  This piece had very unique feature in that the wood was both the normal redish colour, but also had a streak of dark, almost black running though it.  I have seen a few pieces over the years that are all this darker colour, but never a piece with such an interesting combination of the colours.  I knew that…

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Frog Song Forest Covenant Sign Project
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

Kikuchi Family Land Conservation Sign My latest project this winter has been building a sign for a wonderful land conservation covenant on Pender Island,BC.  The Kikuchi’s, a local family here on Pender, have recently purchased a property with an amazing wetland full of biodiversity in order to protect it from any future development.  This project was inspired by Arthur Kikuchi’s father who the land is dedicated to, and who spent his life in Japan helping…

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Mudie Entrance Project
 150 150 Thuja Wood Art - Reclaimed Cedar Furniture Wood Art Vancouver Victoria Gulf Islands British Columbia

A Unique Hand Split Red Cedar Fence and Gates To keep me out of trouble this winter, I spent my time building a wonderful entrance and fencing project for the Mudie’s here on Pender Island.  As always, my favorite wood to work with is reclaimed red cedar.  I salvage the wood and split it by hand into bolts that I can transport back to my workshop.  Once at my shop I can decide what the…

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