Raptor Bark LLC Refinishing, Art, and Design

My new business is getting more official. My sister and brother in law are going to work on creating two websites for me, one for the biz and one for me as an author. I don't have much money to spend on websites right now, so this is how I paid them.

My sister had this old, beat up dresser thing, stained and cracked white paint slathered on all sides. I spent several days getting the seven layers of paint off. White, yellow, pink, blue, white, blue, and a dark stain. Sad thing was, the first layer of paint was to cover up a water stain that would have been an easy repair. I'm also pretty sure the last two layers of paint were lead based. They didn't react right to the stripping agent. I may die now. A little scraping and sanding later and this is what the dresser looked like.

Some glue, wood filler, stain and polyurethane later and the final product is done. I think it is worth a little website or two, but I am biased like that. Let me know what you think.

Oh, this is my logo for the biz, by the way. Raptor Bark is so going to be awesome. Thanks for reading and supporting my crazy idea to make money without enervating (look it up) my soul.

Put on Notice

I am a little near sighted. I wear glasses to drive. It doesn't mean much more than that. I have to take my glasses off to read, eat, or deal with anything close up. I can hold a piece of coconut shell up and see the tiniest lines, cracks, and patterns. I think it makes me a better artist.

It also means I notice things...random things, little things. This blog will be a near sighted writer's perspective on the world. I intend to make you see things in new ways and experience the world in all its tiny majesty and wonder. Yes, I may occasionally mention large scale things of note. I wear glasses after all and can see into the distance just fine with augmentation.

Today's World Notice is grain. Not those chunks in your sandwich bread or what your doctor told you to eat more of whole. I'm talking wood people. Next time you sit down at your kitchen table, sit in your passed down rocking chair, or find yourself in a job interview across from an intimidating woman in a pinstripe suit sitting at some ancient desk...look at the grain.

That is life etched into the surface of that chunk of lumber. Years of growth as minerals and water were pulled from the earth. It is dry seasons and wet seasons, fire, wind, the migration of birds, the relentless movement of the sun. Run your hand across it. Feel the minute ridges and grooves. Feel the warmth of the wood, the smooth gloss from polish and use. It is more than just a pretty stain. The grain of the wood is there to remind us that time marches on. Time leaves its marks.

We can see the ridges and lines on our exterior surface as we age, but we cannot see the marks left within ourselves. As time flows away into the past behind us, marks are left inside each one of us. My soul is lined and knotted with my past mistakes, golden with my triumphs. Oh, what a pretty desk I would make...