I can finally reveal my “family portrait” of the Jasper family, consisting of the Copper Pig himself (Paul @copper_pig_fine_woodworking), his wife Vicky (@jasperfarms – the fact that she raises chickens and teaches yoga is all I knew about her), their daughter the talented Copper Piglet, and of course Henry, their furry son.
This whole project came about because we had a trip to Boston planned for a family reunion. I had mentioned it to Paul a while back and he essentially said “stop on by!!”. Paul has been a huge inspiration to me and has helped a number of times in my woodworking. Our message history is just rife with advice, tool recommendations, and general encouragement. He once video chatted with me on how to make my “Three Rivers Table” so that it didn’t destroy itself with seasonal wood movement, drawing out floating tenons on a napkin. Everyone in the community knows what a positive force he is, constantly supporting other makers with shout outs, collaborations, encouragement, trades, and purchases. It doesn’t hurt that he’s part of our brotherhood of PhD scientists moonlighting as artists/craftspeople. Basically he’s my #mancrushmonday. My idea was to just make a quick little pig or something for when we visited him in Boston. As soon as I started designing it, this “family portrait” idea hit me. Once it did, I really had no choice but to make it. The design snowballed and I ended up spending a couple weeks on it. The idea demanded I finish it as envisioned. That’s just usually how it goes when I get excited about something.
Made from 14 species: African stinkwood (from an antique chair my mother-in-law @sledv_life_rocks bought in South Africa in the 1970s. This is a species that is no longer commercially available due to overharvesting and subsequent protection. It was exterminated on Table mountain, in the shadows of which my wife @tamarynart was partially raised), walnut, bocote, yew, spalted maple, bubinga, ash, cherry, ebony, bloodwood, sumac, aspen, and two unknown species from an exotic hardwood pallet. Designed in Adobe Illustrator and cut it via scrollsaw.
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