I am checking in once again to my long dormant blog and website. I want to report that I am in the final two weeks of my degree and will be finished by the end of the month. I have had a grueling schedule and have had little time to even think about furniture or working in my woodshop. I have focused almost all of my attention on design projects and school.
Now that I am wrapping things up here (at least for the moment as I will explain later) I have had some time to return to my website and update some things. Please take note of the change in categories and the change in emphasis in the products offered. I am now offering a more limited selection of some of the finer pieces as well as adjusting the prices to better reflect a more realistic value. I will continue to make some changes here and there as I have time and as I prepare my website to be viewed as part of my online portfolio by potential clients or employers.
Speaking of portfolios, please check out my newly redesign online portfolio at cosmosportfolio.wordpress.com. I have updated the layout to something a little more visually appealing and a lot more functional. I am also in the process of updating the material to include my projects from the semester that just ended.
Finally, I want to announce the formal beginning of Cosmo’s Design. I have mentioned the idea before, but am now officially hanging my shingle out as an interior designer. I am starting with a couple of real projects that I am really excited about. One residential remodel and a commercial retail space reorganization. With the clients’ permission I will post photos and status updates as they happen.
Please look over my work here and at my online portfolio and consider me and my little shop for your own project. And as always, tell your friends.
P.S. As promised earlier, I want to also announce that I was the recipient of a prestigious scholarship to attend an advanced professional certificate program in the fall. It will mean two more semesters in school, but is a great opportunity and privilege. Some very good designers have come out of this program over the years, and I am honored to be admitted.
I wanted to check in and let everyone know that I am still alive and doing well. I am working very hard at school and am getting closer to graduation. I am taking 15 hours this semester and will have to take a similar load next semester to graduate in the spring. As you can imagine this takes not only most of my time, but my attention as well. For now it is my wife that is doing all the writing. You can find her weekly blog posts on the Dallas Morning News arts blog every Thursday.
One of my plans after graduation is opening up a larger shop and starting a furniture line that will be available at local show rooms so don’t worry, I’ll be back.
While I haven’t been doing much outside work, other than something for my church and some custom pieces for an old airplane, I have had some time to work on some of my own ideas. A while back I had an idea to use up some of the scrap wood that keeps piling up around my shop. The scrap is mainly small boards or sections of plywood that are too small or in insufficient quantities to actually make something. My idea was to cut the scrap into two inch wide strips of whatever lengths were available and use those strips to build furniture. Not only could I use up a lot of my scrap, but if the idea worked, I could go to builders and find a use for some of their scrap would that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
Well, this is my first attempt at making a chair out of scrap wood strips. It turned out pretty well, and I can definitely see the potential for this idea. Unfortunately I used the design for another chair I had been thinking of for the general shape and it didn’t translate well to the new technique. It looks great, but isn’t that comfortable. I should have used the dimensions from my last plywood chair. It is quite comfortable and would have worked just as well with my new idea. The great part is that it wasn’t too difficult and that I have lots more scrap wood to play with. I plan on making more of these to work out the best, and most comfortable, shapes. For now enjoy these pictures of my prototype. (Think of it as “concept chair” like those wild cars at an auto show, they look great but are totally impractical)
I’m sure you’ve noticed that I haven’t been too active on this blog for a little while, and if you have projects with me you have noticed that my pace has slowed down considerably. I am sorry for being absent for so long, but life is full of changes and mine has been going through a pretty good makeover lately that has made it very difficult to give the woodshop the attention it needs.
I have been going to school part time for a little while to earn a degree in Interior Design, and that has been taking up more and more of my time. My military commitments are starting to pile up on top of that, and just recently we were notified that our brigade is going to be deployed sometime in 2012. Because of that I have had to shift from part time at school to full time in order to finish the program before I leave. That means that I am taking a full load of summer classes in addition to being gone for most of June for military training. I have been working 12 and 16 hour days for a few weeks with very little time off for simple things like mowing the lawn or going to church with the family.
Because of this I have decided to take a little break from the workshop. I will keep the website up, and post from time to time on the blog, but I will most likely not be taking any new orders for the time being. I wish that I had time to even increase my own inventory to participate at local art shows, but I am not even able to do that. This summer I will just be attending a few shows, not participating. It isn’t easy for me to come to this decision, but the situation basically demands it.
I hope that after finishing school, and returning from what I hope to be my last deployment, I will be better at what I do and have more resources to do it. I am sure that I will come out of this stronger than ever. Thank you for your support. It has been fun (except when I cut my finger off last fall) and I have learned a lot from all of you.
Josh Grimmett
School is finally over and my final project that consumed my time day and night for the last three weeks has been turned in. I finally have time to sit and think about other things, including the blog. I don’t have much time to rest though, I am starting a may-mester in a week which will take me away again for a few weeks.
In the meantime I have decided to take my comments on local politics and create my own blog to express them. As I become increasingly involved I thought it was best to separate it from the business side of things. Just thought it would be a little more professional.
If you are interested in politics here in Arlington, especially topics affecting downtown and Arlington’s urbanization, then check it out at urbanstrong.wordpress.com
Maria, the client for whom I designed and made the laminated console table, has sent me some pictures of the table in her house. They are awesome. I wanted to share this one picture in particular with everyone and thank Maria for her kindness in sending them. Enjoy.
By Christine Nicholson
Known for its eclectic TCU location in Fort Worth, the Mellow Mushroom owners have chosen a spot near UT Arlington as its second home. Monday they broke ground at their new location at 200 North Center Street in Arlington.Now the chain has expanded to serve a new college crowd. “The food is amazing,” says UTA student Erick Fernandez who recently enjoyed the Mushroom’s Austin location. “It will be nice to have one open here.”Owners Kim and Montie Slawson chose to build the new site on the corner of Front and Center street next to UTA’s Arlington Music Hall. “Arlington is such a strong community,” said Slawson in a press release. “The Center Street Corridor is an important part of bringing that community together.”The pizzeria is known for its creative menu including organic ingredients in a wide variety of pizzas, hoagies, salads and calzones. Their hand tossed crusts are baked on stone with a new gluten-free option. “We feel confident that customers will travel from all over the metroplex to experience our spring water dough,” said Slawson.The Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers new Arlington location is slated to open in the early Fall.
via Mellow Mushroom Grows in Arlington | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth.
Here is an email that I got about tomorrows town hall meeting about the proposed Arlington Thoroughfare Plan which includes the Hike and Bike trail. It is from a candidate for the city council, who I’m not sure if I support or not, but it has some good links to further information.
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Chris Hightower for Arlington
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Mar 31, 2011
Hike and Bike Trail Town Hall
Last Day to register to Vote
May 2-10,2011
Early Voting
May 14, 2011
Election Day!
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Dear Linda,
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| Chris inspecting the Hike and Bike Plan, March 29. |
Yesterday, I attended the Hike and Bike Trail Town Hall Meeting at the Fire Training Center. There was some good discussion, both for and against the proposed plan.
I encourage you to take the time to have your voice heard tomorrow night at the 2nd Hike and Bike Trail Town Hall Meeting at Bob Duncan Community Center from 6:30pm – 8:30pm.
I’ve attached some links below that will help prepare you with some background information.
City’s Hike & Bike Trail Homepage
Powerpoint Presentation
Latest Update about the Thoroughfare Development Plan
Please take some time to get informed and have your voice heard at the upcoming Town Hall Meeting.
Thanks again!
Chris Hightower
Pol. Ad paid for by the Chris Hightower Campaign
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Pol. ad. paid for by the Chris Hightower Campaign | 1201 W Park Row Dr | Arlington | TX | 76013
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Staff Writer Matthew Haag passed this along:
Blair Kamin, the architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, visited the Dallas Arts District and came away disappointed.
The buildings bowled him over. The Arts District, he notes, “may be the only place on earth where buildings by four Pritzker Architecture Prize winners (in this case, I.M. Pei, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster and Rem Koolhaas) sit within blocks of each other.”
But the lack of human activity left him underwhelmed.
[D]espite its impressive architectural firepower, the Dallas Arts District can be an exceedingly dull place. There are no bookstores, few restaurants outside those in the museums, and not a lot of street life, at least when there are no performances going on. Even some of the architects who’ve designed buildings here privately refer to the district as an architectural petting zoo — long on imported brand-name bling and short on homegrown-urban vitality. … It would be sad indeed if Dallas, having importing some of the world’s best architects, wound up creating the dullest arts district money can buy.
Kamin does hold out hope for the Woodall Rogers deck park , which, he says, could “go a long way toward rectifying the district’s lack of urbanity. Indeed, it could be a model for other cities, among them Chicago and St. Louis, that have looked into ‘capping’ or ‘decking’ sunken highways.”
via A critic from Chicago writes: Dallas Arts District has stunning buildings. Just no life. | The Scoop | dallasnews.com.
I finally finished and shipped the laminated console table. I put a few more coats of shellac on the table. After two thick coats I sanded with 320 grit sandpaper and then applied two thin, hand rubbed coats to reach a more even finish.
After doing a little bit of research and a lot of thinking I decided the best way to get the table to the buyer was to crate it up and ship it with a freight company. I built this crate in about 2 hours with some thin plywood and inexpensive fence materials. When it was all done the table weighed 130 lbs. and the crate weighed 70 lbs. for a total right near 200 lbs. The shipping company picked up the crate without any problems and it is now on its way to its new owner.
This was a great project that turned out well. I learned a lot more about the technique and can’t wait to make another one to apply some of those things. I also learned a little about shipping as this is the first time I have dealt directly with a freight company. Although it is expensive to do, I feel more confident in using freight for large items in the future. I have been promised that the new owner will take lots of pictures of the table in its proper environment and I can’t wait to see how it looks. Thanks all, this has been a pleasure.
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