New stuff
Jul 19
Been working on new items for ye ol’ Ardoria store.
Here are a few new items we have in stock (for more info click here –> Ardoria):
- Fleur-de-lis Carpenter Bee Trap
- Victorian Wine Caddy
- Victorian Wine Caddy
- Grapes/ Vino Wine Caddy
- Grapes/ Vino Wine Caddy
More to come, stay tuned.
Brandon
Joan of Arc
May 12
Here’s a rare piece that I just finished recently for the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.
The antique dealer Arlene Wagner (Nutcracker Museum’s curator) bought it from thinks the piece is from around the 1830’s and was made in France.
I only fixed the lower lip and left the rest of the piece’s character intact. When a piece is this old, doing a minimal restoration helps maintain its age and integrity.
- Before Restoration
- Before Restoration
- After Restoration
Thanks for looking,
—– Brandon
A rare piece…
Mar 14
Here is a rare Swiss piece I was lucky to find on Ebay back in December of 2013.
As you can see it had some extensive damage. Most of the base was missing and it had a hole drilled in the top of the head. It also had some damage on the face, especially the nose.
I wanted to have the piece fully restored for my wife’s birthday at the end of February. Unfortunately the weather here in Ohio did not cooperate and I had to give it to her partially finished.
The weather has finally broke a little and I was able to get it done this week. Missy is very happy with it and it is going in our private collection.
Be sure to click on the pictures for a bigger view:
Thanks for looking,
—– Brandon
An Addendum
Feb 21
It’s official, the Addendum to The Art & Character of Nutcrackers is available for purchase from the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum:
Click here to buy the Addendum to The Art & Character of Nutcrackers
Be sure to look for my original pieces featured on pages 106 and 110.
There’s also mention of me on page 5 for the repair work I did on a 16th century French piece for the museum a few years ago. Unfortunately, the publisher misspelled my name as “Benard Etto”. So here’s a link to the repair work that proves it’s me:
Also if you don’t yet already have Arlene’s first book (The Art & Character of Nutcrackers) it’s available in the store as well.
I actually own 2 copies of each of these books. One is kept pristine while the other is used as reference. That way I don’t get all worried about having to take it out to the shop if I need to.
Arlene Wagner’s first book was a key element in getting me started in creating and repairing nutcrackers. Having my work featured in her new book is a huge honor for me. So if you get the chance, be sure to pick up a copy (or two). It’s a great book and a must have for any collector.
—- Brandon
Wings, wings, and more wings
Feb 01It’s been a really cold and snowy weekend over here in Ohio.
It’s perfect weather to hunker down, fire up the heaters in the shop, and carve carve carve!
My wife and I team up to make what we call “Batwing Clocks”. I carve and attach bat wings to a traditional mantle clock, then my wife paints them in Halloween and Disney Haunted Mansion themes.
Here are a couple pictures of what goes into making these:
Bat wing drawn on Basswood and ready to be carved.
My creative clamping technique. Lots of rubber bands.
The wings are doweled and glued permanently in place. Gorilla glue foams as it dries.
My busy carving bench with more wings in process and other projects lying around.
Here are links to some of the clocks Missy has sold previously and one available now for purchase:
Haunted Mansion Themed Batwing Clock
Halloween Themed Batwing Clock
Halloween Moon and Owl Batwing Clock (avalable)
As always, thanks for looking!
—– Brandon
Man on a Horse
May 10Here’s a great piece with an even better story behind it.
There’s no way I could tell the story and do it any justice. So here’s the great story directly from Arlene Wagner (Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum):
“After the antique shops closed on Portabello Road in London, George and I went pubbing with David Levi and Rik Gijsen. After a few, the guys were all feeling good and one antique dealer asked Rik if he was interested in buying a nutcracker he had with him. Said it would be 100 pounds since it was just “half a horse” whereas a whole horse would be about 500. A bit of dickering went on, and Rik agreed to buy “half a horse” without seeing what he was getting. Well, indeed it is just that, the horse’s whole head and the rider’s R arm is missing!! I have kept this thing all these years laughing each time I see it, and remembering the good times we used to have antiquing with Rik. I think it is time to have it repaired!!!
The picture shows what I believe is a donkey, but to go with the story, I think you could make it into a horse!! Arlene“
So I did just that. Sticking to the story, I added a horse’s head and tail to this piece, stabilized and repaired the cracks, carved him new arms, and gave him some rope to fit his new role as a horse rider.
The pictures below show what the piece looked like when it came in missing all its pieces and parts. I also included a picture of what it is supposed to look like in regards to him riding a donkey then what it looks like now all converted over to a horse.
This was a very challenging piece to do, but the story behind it made it fun.
Arlene is thrilled with the piece and can’t wait for Rik to see it when he visits her this July.
Man on a Donkey (Original)
The shop still has a steady flow of repairs coming through.
Stay tuned for some more really great pieces!
—– Brandon