Still on the assembly board

The kerf linings are in, the paper clips are off! My little stretcher bars are improvised cauls..after 2 trips to the hardware store(s) I came up with these--they help keep the uke shape while I work on stuff!

Striking out at clay...

On my first trip to the shop I made this plate..I have 2 strikes against me, who knew? First, I bought porcelain and apparently, you need to be an expert to work with this stuff! I built this by hand, using a slab roller and draping it over something I found around the room. On my second night in the shop I carved out the taro and made 2 more plates. They started at 12 inches and I thought they'd shrink to 10 but so far it's at 11.5 so maybe these should be serving trays. Strike 2..plates are space hogs in the firing kiln..again..who knew? I want to do these in celadon, which is why I chose porcelain. It is the hardest stuff to work with!! You can't handle it too much and the more you do, the harder and drier it gets! But, I really like how these are turning out.

I'll buy more clay today..10 dollars for 25 pounds! Next I'll try to throw bowls..I'll get strike 3 on that because you're supposed to start from scratch by learning to center..for a few sessions, then learning other sequences..if this were a class I'd be the failing student who wants it all, and wants it now. Pua tells me to practice and experiment, but I want sets of dishes I can use..not stupid pinch pots from second grade! My mom still has those on the window sill in her kitchen.

it's gonna be a full body soon!

I glued the kerf linings on the edges and will shape the 2 blocks for the neck and heel; then I'll glue on the top and the back--and it will look more like an instrument..cross my fingers!!

hardware..hard time.

These are spool clamps. After bending the uke sides, you glue the instrument top and back to the sides using these as clamps. They retail for $26.95 for a set of 6 clamps. I made these using a long 1 inch dowel and glued some cork on them, drilled them and inserted the 6 inch bolts and wing nuts. I made 25 of them for about $20. It took me about 4 hours...3 hours to figure out HOW TO and find all of the materials (just kidding). Of course, the cork sheets were too thin and I glued 3 sheets together.

At first I had the wrong size bolts and wing nuts the picture on the internet looked small. When I finally got out an ukulele side and looked at how this was going to work I went to the hardware store with my uke form and the guy asked why I was challenging him!

I have been going through the different stages of the process of building the instrument, reading and researching as I think...I want to bolt the neck to the body with the whole thing enclosed so I can do some binding and trimwork BEFORE attaching the neck. I will need to go through the soundhole to bolt the neck in. One guy at a hardware store swore to me that there is no such tool that does things at a 90 degree angle!! I've seen Wes work on the bike with one. Well, I'll have to go to Sears. I'm tired of talking to idiots in the hardware store!

The guy at Tacoma Screw is more user friendly.

It's a happy fishie party!!

Remember the long strips of paper we painted in the yard a few days ago? I put drew details on with a black sharpie and Noe and Kawailani used some glitter glue pens to encircle the eye...I'm waiting for them to dry. Next is to staple the backs and fronts together and stuff the fish and then close the last little bit. I would like to try this on some silk and turn that into clothing..or maybe we could do this for kids by spreading white t-shirts all over the yard! One picture has my foot in it so you can tell how large the largest fish are. This should make for a nice catch of the day in the net on Saturday! The top picture shows a finished fish in blue and red. We should be done by tomorrow night.

Ahhh...Ukulele Lady

The bender in action..it takes about 20 minutes or so to bend a side...I'm having better luck! Once I bent and scorched a piece of wood. After that I bent and cracked some sides. This time I didn't have those problems!!

This is the makings of a go bar deck. I may break down and buy some of the plastic rods, but I built these from 2 different sized dowels. Inside the larger dowel is a spring. I used fishing line to tie the top piece to the skinnier rod so I don't lose the tops and springs. This works pretty well, and didn't cost much. The plastic rods cost a couple of dollars for each single rod! In the beginning..I glued on the tone bars and set a rock on it to weight it down while the glue dried...I'm either smarter now, or working it way to hard!!

Pua's Pottery

Kapua is in engineering classes but did take an elective. Who knew she had this talent? First time in ceramics on the wheel...so...I need a set of 8 large saimin size bowls, and I'd like a set of 8 plates sectioned off like the bento boxes!

Beyond the skate party

I neglected to mention that one of the parents from daycare came to the party to help out...she likes to do caricatures! How cool is that!

And it isn't a skate without some bumps and bruises? Trishana says it looks way worse than it feels!

an apprentice

A good helper is a good thing! Kawailani is sealing the surface so I can paint. The plan is for hummingbirds and fuschia on one side, and a winter scene with a cougar and raccoon. Wish to put a bear in it..I think they hibernate..well, I think I'll put a bear in too!

Sunny day must be an art day!

My friend Teena gave me a part for a kid activity and explained that one of the stories being shared has to do with Jesus and the fishermen. She says they will need to imagine fish...well, I imagine fish...and I think kids should SEE fish...so yesterday...it was really sunny and I thought about doing these fish...the girls and I rolled out the butcher paper (all over the yard, strips and stripes of butcher paper)! We mixed the paints and got to work/play, brushing, splashing and sponging!! The paper has had time to dry and we have enlisted the daycare kids to help us cut out, stuff and staple the fish today..and we may be doing fish tomorrow too so that Jesus' disciples can actually have fish in their nets on Saturday. Paper has it's advantages, the fish won't be slippery, flopping or smelly!!!