Bifurcation III Is Now in Place and Available (GYSOT!)

Looking east through the shop and Bifurcation III.

Next time you're downtown in SLC, stop by Josh Wheatly's new location (formerly Urban Vintage on Broadway) just behind the Green Ant. In his window on 200 East, you can see Bifurcation III in all it's glory. I've got a few other pieces for sale there as well (thanks, Josh!) and so does HE ;-). As I've mentioned before—a beautiful space with amazing objects to embellish and enrich your life.

Once you visit Josh and Ron, drop over to Ken Sanders for some rare book action and then I recommend a brat and fries at Ty Burrell's (and others') BEER BAR on 200 South. Brendan Kawakami is a miracle worker! Check out this REVIEW from the City Home Collective crew. Couldn't have said it any better myself. My favorite fries in UT (except for maybe the fries at the Wasatch State Park Golf Course clubhouse grill …).

"Bifurcation III" Is Almost Done!

The shadow knows it's bifurcated, eh? (Josh, no peeking!)

This is Bifurcation III in its pre-rusted state, casting a long shadow in the driveway of Compound II. It has been a fair amount of work and I'm glad the grind of grinding/sanding is finally done!

Obviously, it's the third in a series of similar pieces. Bifurcation I was in the first show I was ever in, The Heavy Metal Show at the now extinct Unknown Gallery. Bifurcation II is weathering proudly in a good friend's girlfriend's back yard. SUPER proud to have it there. Number III has a plan which will be revealed after it has come to fruition.

Anyway, here are a few more detail shots, including the rusting underway…

New Climbing Gym = New Counter Tops!

A week ago today, Jim Knight and I installed the new counter tops at Momentum Millcreek. The new gym is slated to open on April 15th so we got them installed just under the wire. It took about twice as long as expected to edge-treat, darken, surface treat and glue down all six pieces (7 hours or so), but the results were well worth it. (As my Mom joked, I suspect they'll last until the next millennium, at least in some form…)

I've been working with Jeff Pedersen (and Jim) for nearly 15 years now… from The Quarry to Momentum I to Momentum II. It's been an honor and a pleasure to be involved all this time and to see he and his business partners continue to expand and grow. This new gym is going to ROCK (pun intended… maybe I should've said it's going to PLASTIC!).

By the way, I want to give a big shout-out to Jim at Wasatch Laser Processing for doing such beautiful laser cutting and getting great steel to cut in the first place. BEST laser work I've seen in the SLC area in my many years of doing this kind of work (Critical Laser in Linden is also very good but a bit too far away for regular work). Anyway, everything was perfect and the price was right.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BK!

Just want to send a very Happy Birthday shout-out to my friend Bill. He should be spinning some bluegrass tunes on KRCL (90.9 FM, SLC) around the time this entry is posted. Tune in and check his show out. ALWAYS high value, whether you're a bluegrass fanatic or just like good music and some mighty fine DJing…

The photo above was taken at the Utah Arts Festival on August 7, 2012. We were eagerly waiting for MR. James McMurtry and band to hit the stage. Good times with a good friend. Perfect.

Yeeeee!

PS Ostensibly, James has a new album on the way later this year. YES! Again I say, if you're not familiar with his music I recommend that you get on the stick and get some!

Chop 'em if You've Got 'em!

Photo by Gary S.

As much as I LOVE my new shop, I still have pangs of nostalgia for the old shop, especially when I run into pics like this one taken a couple of years ago by my good buddy Gary, who was in town for a few days. 

I've been working with steel since 1997 and rarely get to see myself or my tools in action. As a result, shots like these are quite compelling for me and really capture the essence of the experience. Thanks, Gary…

The old shop served me very well from July of '97 until about May of '13. Roughly 16 years of creative output from a small garage. Now it is returning to a less creative state as it will be used solely for parking once again. So it goes… 

COOL TOOLS!

I recently picked up Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. What a great compendium of well researched and recommended tools of all kinds. Already ordered KROIL, which I had NO idea even existed. There is a lot to dive into here. Really took me back to those feelings when I was 15 and looking through the first Whole Earth Catalog. Magical. Much the same but in full color and with QR codes. Check it out.

The Latest BD Sign Is Done and Installed!

Photo Courtesy of Sandra Salvas

The Monday before Thanksgiving last year (meaning 2013 since I haven't posted since November of last year), I installed (with plenty of help) the new BD sign. I'm quite happy with how it turned out… and how it looked in the snow in early December. My legacy of slowly adding my touch to the BD campus continues to grow. I couldn't be prouder.

And on January 10, 2014, I celebrated my 20th anniversary at Black Diamond. Proud of that too! It's been a great couple of decades with my BD family and I look forward to more…