Taking A Break in the Hollywood Hills - Ways to Re-charge Your Batteries

Don’t be misled by the title as there is noting in this post remotely like practical advise on how to re-charge that battery for your power drill or other electric tool. Instead we spent an overcast May Gray day (not to be confused with Inspector Maigret created by Georges Simenon) on a trail that runs from Durand to Mulholland re-charging our inspirational reserves. Tourists be warned there is no access to the Hollywood sign which if you look closely you can see peering through the marine layer or pedestrian access to Mulholland West.

The overcast sky made the morning refreshingly cool and the Coronavirus gave us time to take a few shots of some of the local birds that were more conspicuous and easier to hear without the throng of tourists.

Flowering Broom

We were treated to both the sight and sound of a Chipping Sparrow perched on a shrub and while we were unable to capture his rust red top we were able to capture his profile as he took off. This family of sparrow is very common in Los Angeles and their tame nature makes them easy to spot.

Broom plants and soft fountain grasses have taken hold on this trail making a great foreground to Castillo del Lago, home in the 1930’s to the renowned gangster Bugsy Siegel and in the late 1990’s to Madonna.

Tame and Easy to Spot the Chipping Sparrow’s Head Has A Rust-Red Top

See how birds have inspired our cabinet pull designs

See how other hikes have inspired our cabinet hardware page

See More of Our Flora Cabinet Pulls

Insect Art and The Gilding Process

Martin Pierce is currently creating 18 gilded panels which will be used as decorative door panels for the front door of his home. Similar framed panels will be available for sale thereafter and we hope to announce those details soon.

Martin is currently at the gilding stage of the process which is what we show in this post. The raised panels are all beetles and the 5 distinct shapes are all from the gymnetis family of beetle. The beetles were chosen for their different body and wing shapes as well as color and will be applied to the door to create an artistic pattern.

The gilding process is used by Martin to create a bright iridescent surface which roughly simulates the iridescence that in beetles is created by the cell structure of their exoskeletons and the way it reflects light. Color will subsequently be added through translucent pigmented glazes.

Gilding brush used to pick-up with gold leaf Brush used to position leaf over wondersize

Once a smooth surface has been created by applying and then sanding a layer of casein (see earlier post) the panel is then painted with a layer of semi-clear wondersize which acts like glue to fix the leaf in place. As a practical matter Martin paints the entire panel and water spots most of the outer area  before he begins gilding, this way he does not have to paint around small legs and antennae and the water spots that fall on the insect body can be easily removed with a cloth.

Martin’s fondness of beetles and insects can be seen in his cabinet pulls.

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Plants That Never Fade

Having hunkered indoors to avoid the torrential rain we were finally able to take a refreshing walk in the Hollywood Hills and discovered some trees and bushes that are already blooming including pink camellias and golden mimosas.

Living in this exceedingly temperate climate we also have plants that can bloom at any time of year as their reproductive cycle occasions. A spectacular example can be seen in the desmettiana green and yellow agave that we planted back in May 2016 when we turned our garden from being a sad lawn to a water tolerant stunning landscape. Just under 3 years later the desmettiana cuttings have grown to am impressive 12’ in height and have thrown up sculptural asparagus spears that have just blossomed into fleshy yellow flowers. What is beyond my comprehension is how this agave giant has grown to such height and girth with minimal water and no added nourishment. The spears began to shoot up before we had seen the recent rains showing us these plants true mettle.

Desmettia Giants in a drought tolerant garden

The pollen is hidden deep inside the flower at the base of its stamens making it accessible to only the most tenacious bees and hummingbirds, the latter being suitably equipped with long beaks and even longer tongues.

Daisy Cabinet Pulls With An Amber Patina One of Several In Our Plant Collection

Your name Cabinet Pulls

Using a family font as a custom cabinet pull.

We are often asked to make custom door handles and custom cabinet pulls but not all requests can be met so I wanted to share with you a recent project we have just completed.

The home owner was remodeling his kitchen and wanted to use his simple but specific family business brand to create cabinet pulls. The client had 2 good digital files showing the front and side of his JJ font and as I shared in an earlier post we were able to use this to create a 3D model. Once the model was complete a mold for the single and double JJ 2 was created, wax replicas were made and shelled and finally steel castings were poured.

Brand Name Custom Cabinet Pull

The project was one we were happy to make for following reasons.

While the clients budget was fairly modest the design was not overly complicated and the 3D modeling could be done easily as there were excellent pdf files that showed the front and profiles of the J font and they were scaled to size. The quality of the files helped keep the modelling costs down and helped speed the production process.

The client had planned for the fact that cabinet doors are directional and can be either left or right handed and he creatively chose a design that could be inverted to make either a left or right pull. As the budget was limited this was a relief as we had only one tool for the larger J’s and the smaller double JJ’s.

The cabinet pulls were cast in stainless steel and were brushed by hand for a simple but chic look.

We made a total of 80 pulls from start to finish in 12 weeks.

Creating custom cabinet pulls and knobs

We have recently been commissioned by a home owner and a designer to create custom cabinet knobs and pulls for their respective bedroom and kitchen. The designer approached us with the task of creating 3 styles and sizes of cabinet knob to replace and supplement the ones in the home owners period property. In this case the existing original pieces were in excellent condition and could be used as patterns for a sectional mold that was constructed in silicone rubber.

The second commission was to create a completely new cabinet pull that would use the client’s distinctive family cattle brand as a model for the cabinet doors and drawers. The client did not have a physical piece that could directly be used to form a mold, but he did have a pdf file of the family font and from this we were able to create a 3D CAD model.

CAD File Created Using Client’s Font File

Both projects will be poured in stainless steel using the lost wax method rather than using 3D Stereolithographic printing. As the molds for both projects are relatively simple one-part molds the upfront costs for design adaptation and mold creation were relatively low and added little to the per unit cost of the pulls. The number of units ordered was also modest ranging from 50 to 75 pieces, but it will be was enough to cover the cost of pouring a smaller crucible of steel.

First Waxes Created from New Mold Ready to be Shelled