Kicking it up a notch or two

I'm a musician that needs a challenge or two to get my rocks off. I pretty much thrive on creative challenges whether in music or in other aspects in life. When I can't seem to get it musically, I find it in other areas. One aspect of creativity in my life has to do with woodworking. It's still something where I can learn from my previous works. I'm not saying that I can't learn anything new from music but after 5.5+ decades of being a musician, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of new creative ideas any more in any of the genres let alone jazz that has kept me challenged for most of my musician career.

I have no idea where this creative form of woodworking came to me from. I built some cabinet speakers for my guitar amp way back when I was a teen ager. I did get involved with remodeling in the 80's and about 5 yrs ago built a toy box for my grandson. But, nothing was ever so intriguing and fun to do until an elderly neighbor lady asked me to build her a simple bird house. When I was finished with it a few hours later, I told her that I would build her something a little more elaborate when I had a chance. After that everything just seemed to fall in place as I built one complicated bird house and then another. Before I knew it I had built about a dozen, each being more complex than the previous one. I had learned something new and had the balls to try something different when something didn't workout the first time. That's the way I learned to play jazz. When one thing doesn't work, you try something different until you find something that works. Anyway, those few bird houses got me started in building outdoor furniture which became another source for creativity.

When I was a re-modeler I learned to go with the flow. There were times when a job would be so difficult and to get things done, I had to fight my way thru because, things just didn't workout as it was supposed to according to the plans given to me. I learned to listen to the house because it would tell me what it needed and how to do it. Using that idea, the jobs went much easier and the job came out better than the original plan. In music, I began using the same idea, letting the music lead me in the direction it wanted to go. To do that, you need to listen to it, no...I mean really listen to it closely. Listen to the chord structure and the melody and then let it take you where it wants to go. Don't fight it. It's just not worth the effort and it'll sound like crap.

Ever wonder what a bird house would look like that cost over $2,000.00? I built one for a friend of mine which would go for about $2,400.00. Yeah, it's definitely an art form and if I was being paid by the hour for my efforts like in a real job, I would still only make under $12.00 an hour. The, and we'll call it a miniature, work began on April 1st and was completed April 27. That's 27 straight days of work between 8-10 hrs a day continuously only taking bathroom breaks and lunch. Power tools would perhaps make the job a bit faster but there were so many small cuts involved that power tools were pretty much useless. Everything had to be cut by hand, either a hand saw (mini) and/or a utility knife. The wood in question was cedar. I love the look of cedar and it handles weather better than most woods..

After I built the basic box, I could now add the rest of the components of the house. You see, it was pretty cut up. It was not a typical box house. I glued strips of wood (cedar) over the 3/4" wood to create a siding look and then painted it.  When I got to the roof, I decided to frame it out using wood strips I had cut for it with a utility knife. The roof sheathing I used was lauan. Lauan is a 3/16th" plywood that withstands weather pretty well also. Mostly it's used for a flooring underlayment. I used it because it was light enough and easy to cut with a utility knife. All pieces were glued using a waterproof white outdoor glue. When it came to shingling the roof, I made my own. There are many other factors also involved in building a $2,400.00 miniature which I won't reveal at this time but I assure you that the completed miniature/bird house is pretty f'in cool. Here's some pics that don't do justice to it but does show how cool it really is.

here I am with the  miniature

this shows the front of the house in an outdoor setting. notice the brick look. the green stuff is grass

side view

here's the back with a cedar deck and a screened in room

 you can see here how I laid out the roof with different length wood strips glued together