Palm Desert Loving All Animals Annual Event

We are pleased to share details of the annual  Spay-ghetti & No Balls event taking place this Saturday November 13th in Palm Desert and sponsored by Loving All Animals. The non-profit’s mission is to maximize the success of programs within the Coachella Valley dedicated to finding homes for homeless pets. Pet Companion Magazine have kindly donated one of our Siamese cat door coat hooks to the silent auction at this event. For more details about this event or for donations to this wonderful group please visit lovingallanimals.org or call 760-834-7000.

Brief Profile of the Siamese Cat:

The Siamese cat is thought to originate from Thailand formerly known as Siam*. The modern Siamese has, through selective breeding, become less rounded than it’s predecessor and is noted for it’s pointed large ears, long narrow neck and almost triangular shaped head with almond shaped eyes. The breed is short haired, and lacking an undercoat, its silky hair clings tightly to it’s body thereby accentuating it’s svelte musculature. The face has distinctive markings or points around the nose and eyes that develop as the kittens mature with colors ranging from grey to grey-brown to light grey and blue grey in tone.

The Siamese cat in our cat accessory collection is cast in silicon bronze, an alloy that is light brown in tone and which we accentuate with a dark brown patina to simulate the distinctive face point area. Siamese cats are by temperament social, playful and very vocal companions and they enjoy prominence amongst cat owners being one of the top 5 cats amongst US cat owners.

*Interesting information about this cat breed can be found at wikipedia

Inspiring Entry Door - Bee Door Knobs and Insect Art

Choosing the right doorknob for our new insect paneled entry door was not a difficult task as we have 4 styles of animal and reptile to choose from. The carnivorous lizard would have been an obvious choice but as he occupies center stage on our entry gate, we decided to opt for the bumble bee knob.
The bumble bee is cast in bronze and we finished this set with a dark oil rubbed patina which plays well with both the red and black colors of our entry door. To accentuate the bees round abdomen and eyes and to highlight the ridges on the honeycomb back plate we lightened these sections for contrast.

The honeycomb back-plate can function as both an escutcheon for the bee knob or as trim that can be used to house a keyed cylinder. The bee knob when turned activates a latch that opens the door and when released keeps the door closed. The honeycomb is machined to take a spindle that passes through the port of the latch to activate the latch and to keep the knobs firmly attached to each other.

The honey comb for the keyed cylinder is machined on the outside with a large 1 3/8” hole to house the keyed cylinder and on the inside with a small ½” to house the turn piece that enables the door to be locked or unlocked from the inside. If you study the photo of the inside trim you will notice that the turn piece is styled on a small cockchafer beetle.

Our entry door took several weeks to create and our posts document how the panels were created so if you want to turn one of your doors into a gallery of bird, animal or flower paintings then please do read our earlier posts of japanning and gold leafing. Needless to say there is no limit to the subject matter for decorative panels, so harness your imagination and create something fabulous.

Japanned Gold Leaf Panels with Bumble Bee Knob