Every workshop has too have a few steady clients, bread and butter products that keep coming, and one of mine involves the manufacture of Professional Makeup Mirrors which are then sold by http://www.fitzrobbie.co.uk or available to hire through http://www.trafalgarlighting.co.uk . In discussion with both customers over the summer as an experiment I made several in different colours, and they were launched on an unsuspecting public last week.
The plan is that there are a number of stock colours, Black, Blue, Burgundy, Pink, and Gold, as well as being available in custom colours and finishes to match your décor, needless to say they immediately then got asked for Leopard Print fabric. As they say in all the best places – watch this space there nothing like a challenge
However one of the very first hire enquiries which turned into an order was from a well known High St Retailer who ordered 15 Black ones to take centre stage in their Christmas Advert, a quantity we hadn’t considered as they only had 2 in stock, so guess who got busy, manufacturing 20 Mirror Frames in a day, and if you pile them up artfully it becomes sculpture, which must make it worth more.
The end result can be seen below. They look good if I say so myself. 
I am rather proud of the gold ones. Years ago I did some work in the makeup counter of a major west end department store, which was divided up into sections to appeal to different age groups. The area for ladies of a certain age which in their terms was anyone over 25 was very cunningly lit by up lighting onto a gold ceiling which created the most superb soft light which took all the wrinkles off your face. As a customer they grab you, put you in a chair, and slap all kinds of stuff on, and then hold up a mirror. Under that light they could have used emulsion paint and you would still look good. My version of that is a gold surround with high colour temperature LED lamps and its surprising just how much difference it makes, I was going to say even I look good, but that might be stretching it a little too far. But if I was a wedding makeup artist, or a makeup shop I would be seriously looking at one of these in gold
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There’s nothing like a challenge and my latest project is most definitely one of those. Over the years I have made my fair share of wooden wheels for horse drawn carriages, usually something fairly substantial, with wheels in the region of 1.2 – 1.5mts diameter with 50-60mm rims known as felloes.
Now even by my standards this is an unusual project. I have started work with a lighting designer who has been engaged to light a new sculpture about to be installed in a public park in the near future. The sculpture is based on a flower design and the custodians of the park are taking a somewhat enlightened view and rather than have a conventional lamp post to support the lanterns are prepared to consider a lamp post in keeping with the surroundings and the sculpture.
I have been on holiday for the last week, we didn’t go anywhere but I didn’t go to work, so it counts as a holiday and its given me a chance to catch up with some jobs, and in between take it easy watching the grass grow. Once again I am struck by how uncomfortable Garden Chairs really are, their not comfortable and their not relaxing, which as I see it rather defeats the object. I find they don’t really fit my body shape, but then my dearly beloved who is shorter than me also complains about the lack of comfort, so time to do something about it.
A couple of weeks ago a colleague of my daughters mentioned that she had been served at a hotel Smoked Butter, and how she had enjoyed it. When I first heard about it I was sceptical and I could see a few issues in the actual smoking, but the more I thought about, the more possibilities that appeared. I started to think about other dishes that would benefit from smoked butter, savoury pastry, scrambled egg with smoked butter could be good, but think how good potted shrimps would be. Its just got to be tried.
Now the bread was good, a mixture of Dark Rye and white bread flour,created a crusty loaf, which was as good as it gets. Someone asked me the other day “how long does it keep” to which the answer is we don’t know, there,s never any leftover.
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