I was going to split this entry into two parts because I had so many photos, but then I thought, it has been so busy around LPO, I will only have more photos later, so why not just go for it? I will begin where last I ended: a photo I took last week out by the hawks’ nest, shown above. Compare that to the photo at the end of my last post and you will see that we have had such smoke from fires! The Wallow and other fires in Arizona, a fire up north in Raton, and now a fire burning in the Santa Fe National Forest. The smoke is so thick there are days when you can’t see the mountains. Below is a pic I took yesterday, of the fire in the SF National Forest.
I am sure the smoke is not good for the little (ha!) baby bird lungs.
They are browning up, and soon, I am sure they will be flying. Ah, kids, they grow so fast! If you click on the picture, you will see the above baby in more detail. Not quite as cute as they were when they were fuzzy though. To be honest, I am not quite sure what is going on in the pic below. I think there are only two baby hawks. Now that they are browning up, it is harder to tell them from the mom & pop, but I think what this is is the whole family hanging out in the nest. That is living in close quarters!
The clavos that were in the middle of the finishing process in the last entry have been installed on what is to be a chapel door.
The handle hardware is quite interesting, looking like a mechanism from the turn of the century.
Custom-forged strapping completes the look. How perfect is that?
That dramatic and beautiful front entry that was nearing completion in the last blog post got hardware and clavos and custom art glass.
There are many kinds of clavos, as you can see if you compare the smooth button-like clavos used in this door to the raised, chiseled-looking ones in the previous door. But no matter the style, there is something about them that, to me, seem to finish a door, whether used sparingly as accents, or in a regular pattern as adornment.
The two doors that were just beginning in the last entry are out of the shop and looking fine! It still amazes me the transformation each piece goes through, whether it is a door, a kitchen cabinet or a wine bar.
This door had an interesting band at the middle, but otherwise did not look exceptional when I studied it on the work bench. Look at it now! From afar it looks rather elegant and understated and up close, the details are fascinating. The arch at the top of the door makes an interesting shadow.
There are metal braces that are original to the antique door, the twists of metal coming through from the back for the chain on the back of the door, as well as a thick hanging chain that has etched its swing pattern into the wood over the years.
That will make such a nice muted drumming when the door is opened and closed. And, speaking of clavos, there are many of the original antique star clavos at the top, middle and bottom of the door. The band near the bottom was most likely identical to the one across the middle of the door, but in the original door, this band was at the very bottom of the door and has been worn from years and years of use. I think what I like most about this door is that it is asymmetrical. As you will note in the picture of the door on the work bench in the earlier entry, the original antique door has the arch at the top, the two bands, and on the left side, there is a slim carved column. All of this is set into a frame of reclaimed Douglas fir.
Though it would be possible to match the missing carved column (the guys are unparalleled at this kind of work), the door is celebrated intact, with the result being far more interesting.
Even the back of the door is fabulous, and I hope the door is placed where the back will be seen and not left facing a wall.
The back of the door is rough hewn, with the original chisel marks visible. There are again the metal braces as well as the folded nails that hold the adornments to the front of the door, and the thin chain that was used as a handle to pull the door closed.
The slabs that made up the original antique door, being hand chiseled, are not completely flat – they have a somewhat rounded surface and on this side, the reclaimed Douglas fir into which they are set is a slightly different color, functioning as a frame for the antique door.
The other door that was in its beginning stage in the last entry, with its inset carved panels, is also out of the shop. I believe these are to be master bedroom closet doors.
In their unfinished state in the previous blog entry, you can see the different types of wood in use – the carved antique panels, the uncarved, but antique pieces, as well as the relatively newer reclaimed Douglas fir. Compare that photo to the finished doors and they are hardly recognizable.
The hand-rubbed patinas are blended in such a way that there is no telling the antique woods from the newer woods. The colors are so skillfully blended that it is difficult sometimes to pick out the different colors that make up the finish – kind of like pixels in a photograph. Seen from afar they blend to make one color, but blown up, the pixels are all different colors. Here we have black and green and red and probably a bit of yellow. Those boys in finish, they take inspiration from the original colors in the antique material and run with it!
When I watched the doors shown above going through production, I thought they were gates – very large gates, to be sure – I would guess they are about 8 feet tall when done – but turns out they are doors to a sunroom.
The original antique Mexican doors are set into the reclaimed Douglas fir – I love all the nail details, and the tiny, tiny clavos on the peep doors.
The original green and blue of the antique doors is matched on the newer wood framing. The back is painted a nice bright yellow. When I thought they were gates and I saw the back painted that energetic yellow, I picture them in the background of the soft sage green of all the chamisa we have here. Delectable!
But now I picture the yellow as a backdrop to morning tea and toast, while reading the paper in the sunroom. My imagination just runs (perhaps a little too) wild when I look at some of the creations on the floor!
Wandering around after the guys had gone home the other day I came across this door frame in the wood shop.
I had to go back the next day to ask about it because it seemed that knobby part sticking out of the arch must have a definite purpose. Turns out it is another pintle hinged door! I believe this is the first arched one we have done. The hinge needs a flat surface, so hence the little outcrop. The inset in the arch, shown below, is carved by hand (those narrow lighter pieces are temporary guides – not part of the frame).
The corresponding receptacle at the floor of the frame is shown below.
This client is getting two pintle hinged doors, the frame for the other, a rectangular door is shown behind the arched frame.
When I was asking Owen, the crafter of these doors, about the outcropping in the door frame, we were talking about how pintle-hinged doors seem to be all the rage at LPO this spring. He said that the excitement was kind of lost on him until he went out to California to work on an installment for one of our clients who actually had one of the pintle-hinged doors. That was where he got it. He said it was just so grand and dramatic – really impressive. It had a greatness about it and he said he wouldn’t have been surprised if the house had had a moat. So, I suppose if your home is your castle, it is only logical to have a pintle-hinged door! I will post the progress of these doors in the weeks to come.
Fooled again! I thought the piece shown above was a kitchen cabinet, but it turns out that it is a media cabinet. I should have figured out that it wasn’t a kitchen cabinet from the fact that most kitchen cabinets go to the floor – they are not raised on feet. This cabinet is about 6 feet long and 3 feet high. The television will sit atop. The open doors are to get grillwork, to facilitate the use of remote controls. I love the use of and expansion on the original antique cabinet panel colors and that the sides are as elaborate as the front panels.
The corners are crafted from the legs of antique dowry chests.
If I may go off on a tangent, here are a couple of pics of hardware that caught my eye, as well as a couple of shots of the floor in the finish shop.
I will close with hopes that the wildfire threat is contained and photos of a masterpiece – check out this grand fireplace mantel! It is made with a giant antique carved corbel and antique carved columns. Spectacular!
