Artwork for the Greater Good

On By CharleyIn Blog, Ministry, Projects, ReflectionsLeave a comment

Besides being in the shop, one of the best things that I do is being involved in my local Emmaus and Kairos communities.  These communities have impacted my life and made me a better person and deepen my relationship with God and I love the opportunities I have had to give back to the community and be on the team.

I was recently asked this question: If I could do anything and money wasn’t an object, what would I do?

That got me to thinking, and my answer was basically to bring water to the  places in the world where there is none because with clean water, that will improve people’s health, ability to grow plants and raise animals, and change the lifecycle in the third world.

Then I got to thinking more about it and found a ministry that does this ministry in Central America and is moving into Africa.  There are also opportunities to help raise money and even do trips to help build wells.

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.

Romans 8:28 CEV

So the Spirit has moved me and coming soon I will be announcing a new project where if you donate to the fundraising campaign, I will send you one of my custom designed art pieces for this project.  I am working on finishing the design now and hopefully will start work on cutting the first couple and have all of the details finalized.

I am really excited about doing a project like this which will help so many people.  Stay tuned for more details.

Sawdust withdrawal – an update

On By CharleyIn Blog, ReflectionsLeave a comment

Sorry it has been so long since the last post – but I have not been in the shop for almost a month.  It has been a trifecta of Pneumonia, Bronchitis, and an Asthma Attack with a heart scare mixed in.

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I have been thinking up some new designs and should hopefully be able to get back in the shop this weekend.  I have a couple of projects to complete and have to get ready for a show coming up next month.

Quarter Pod of Dolphin

On By CharleyIn Behind The Build, Blog, ProjectsLeave a comment

I was asked by a friend to create “something dolphin” as a gift and cut out this design. It features 3 dolphin jumping through a wave.

A pod is a group of 12 dolphin. When there are more than one thousand dolphin that is a super pod

This is made from Cherry and I took a little artistic liberty and left the live edge on the front end. The grain kind of reminds me of sand how it gets darker as it gets towards the back.

For Christmas I got a light box to help with my photography. I think it makes a huge difference.

Spiritual Gifts – Thoughts from the journey

On By CharleyIn Blog, Ministry, Reflections1 Comment

shaped to be a masterpiece logo

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.                         Jeremiah 29:11

At my church we started a new message series called  Shaped To Be A Masterpiece this past week.  The main meat of the message was that everyone has a Kingdom Purpose and that when we accept Christ we immediately gives you 4 major gifts; Forgiveness, Eternal Life, The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts.
I must confess that I was one of the people that made it 50+ years without knowing for certain what my spiritual gifts are.  I always thought that I had a gift of service but wasn’t completely sure.  Since I was on the camera team last weekend I got to hear the message twice and it was one of those messages that make it feel like Pastor John was talking directly to me both times. (and watching it online again )
Now that I have had some time to reflect on this even more, I realize that God had set me on this course as far back as Middle School.  I was not the greatest student by any means, but the things I was best at in school was Drafting class and Wood shop.  (and spitball wars in math class … )
Once I graduated I lost track of drafting and woodworking for a long while and did some things that were a complete 180 as far  as skillset goes – I was an electrician, a roadie for a production company and a couple of bands, worked in various grocery stores, and ended up at my current job in cable communications where I have been for going on 27 years.
Over the 26 years, I have done various jobs from being an installer / service tech, maintenance / line tech, Supervisor, and my current job as a coax and fiber optic designer for the last 12 years.  Guess what I spend most of my day doing.   Drafting the network in our mapping software.
Kathy and I went to a Home show and we saw a demonstration on the scrollsaw and after some discussion we bought one.  I used it for about a year and maybe it was my ADHD mind – but I lost interest and the saw gathered dust.  (not saw dust.. )
My Father is glorified when you produce much fruit and in this way prove that you are my disciples.                                                                                                            John 15:8 
Fall of 2016 came and after my Kairos weekend I felt the push to start sawing again to make Christmas gifts for people.  Once I became reacquainted with the saw, of the first projects I made was an Amazing Grace Cross for Pastor John.
Our good friend Tammy was going to have surgery, so I made a cross for her to brighten up her recovery.  I had also made numerous other gifts for people and I started to really  pay attention to how much these gifts mean to the people I was giving them to.
A spiritual gift is given to each of us . . . as a means of helping the entire church.
1 Corinthians 12:7 
I also started doing some different things like the personalized ornaments.  I have found that the time in my shop creating my art is really my unique way of serving creatively.  Hmm…  see a pattern developing?  What brought ole introverted me the most joy in school; drafting and wood shop; is now what brings me joy in my middle ages.  I’m using the gifts God has given me to inspire others.

I’m still not 100% sure that creating Inspirational Wood Art is my spiritual gift or not, but I do know that it is extremely fulfilling, and I would rather give what I create away rather than make a sale, and I am humbled that what I make will bring people joy for weeks and years to come.  It’s a pretty awesome blessing.

Behind the build: Perfume Tray

On By CharleyIn Behind The Build, Blog, ReflectionsLeave a comment

I had originally wanted to have this project completed for my wife after she came home from her Emmaus weekend, but I realized that it was going to be a little more ambitious than I had originally thought.

I had wanted to make something totally different from what I had done in the past and challenge me to get better and this was the perfect project.

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This tray was pretty ambitious – it was a total of 170 different cuts and took a total of 14 hours including cutting, (and re-cutting 1 piece), sanding, rasp sanding all of the interior cuts, gluing, and another round of sanding.  The wood for this project consists of Spanish Red Cedar for the perimeter of the tray and Cherry for the bottom.

Here is a set of pictures that show the process from the initial cutting to the finished product.

 

While this is ornate in design and the finished tray is pretty stunning, the perfectionist in me still has a couple of things I need to improve on if I do another one like this.  All in all I am very pleased with how this turned out, and the look on her face when she first saw it made it all worth it!!

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:17

2017 Recap

On By CharleyIn Blog, Ministry, ReflectionsLeave a comment

I have tried to launch this site, blog, and online presence for Holy Scroller a couple of times, but have struggled with what I wanted it to be.  There are so many options out there and places to market your artwork, and just as many opinions on what is the best route to go which leads to massive information overload.  So to that end I tried a bunch of different things out, and decided to come back to where I started…  this little wordpress blog that I had not done anything with but reserve the name.

2017 was a great year for Holy Scroller.  I reconnected with the calling of creating artwork that will inspire others.  I have cut many different crosses, word art, and Christmas ornaments.  The personalized Christmas were an interesting experience.  While I enjoyed making them, I got a little bored with the repetition.  Then God had me look at it a different way.  He reminded me that  I need to remove myself from the equation: what I was creating was something that is going to be a special memory for someone for years to come.  That I should get over myself and restore my passion for creating these.  Then I delivered an order to a family that ordered multiple ornaments, and to see the smiles when the people saw these…  oh my…  there are not words to capture what that feels like.

In addition to the personalized ornaments,  I also participated in my first craft show as a vendor.  I was not sure what to expect, but I came away from the show fired up.  My work got some great reviews and I was asked about building a prayer bench.  I have never built one, but I know that with God’s direction I can do it.

While I did do some sales, I think that I must have given away at least 3 or 4 times what I sold.  It is a contagious feeling for me to see the looks and reactions on people’s faces when I give them something.  On Christmas Eve – I took all of my ornaments that didn’t sell at the craft show and went around with a box and gave the ornaments away to put on their Christmas Tree. It made my night.

As I write this, I keep having this song that we sing at church sometimes in my head…

 

 

Holy Scroller supports Kairos

On By CharleyIn Blog, Ministry, Reflections1 Comment

cropped-20171211_055028.jpgKairos Prison Ministry is close to my heart. It is a ministry where we go into Sussex 1 State Prison and share the love of Jesus.   When I started selling my art via word of mouth and Facebook, it was immediately put on my heart to donate 10% of all sales of Holy Scroller Artwork to our Sussex 1 Ministry.

I just wanted to let you know that when you support my art, you are also supporting the work of this great ministry.