Refined Home Relics

RHR is back crafting away!

2014-11-03T20:36:00.001-08:00

I'm back working in the RHR shop again. Projects are being worked on, Etsy store will be updated. New posts will be trickling out again. Time to get back to work!

I'm still here!

2012-03-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Josh here, finally blogging after a long hiatus. RHR is in somewhat of a transitional period and the entire shop has taken a journey from Connecticut to North Carolina. Will this be the final stop for RHR? probally not, but its all part of life's adventure right? The past two months have been busy here in NC, as my old college buddy and fellow artist Robert Hamrick joined the team.

Rob learned how to turn on the lathe Very quickly. Here he is turning a piece of purpleheart.

Together we've pumped out a lot of product and will have all new inventory posted on etsy in the VERY near future. Heres a taste of one of the new things.

A purple heart Pipe. (minus the screen)

As it happens I sold the pipe within a day of it being finished to another local artist here. Ill take it as a sign that this design is a winner. Stay tuned for a complete update to the store and the continuation of weekly blog updates.

Take Care,

Josh

Rare paintings

2011-09-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

I paint very infrequently, but I figured why not show some versatility here and post some older paintings I've done in the past. These are not for sale, as they currently have homes, I was lucky enough to be able to go back and take pictures of them recently for my Portfolio.

Painting from High School days. Artist focus: van gogh

"Apple Trilogy". First time using Oils

"Behold" Acrylic/water/sharpie

I'm working on quite a lot of projects this week, including new Pipes and Bangles.

Completed Projects NO.2

2011-09-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is an older project, but I recently refurbished it and took new pictures. This is my Slide Guitar I made for a project in college. Its an electric with gibson pickups and hardware. The body is made of Zebrawood and the fretboard is Rosewood. It took me under 24 hours to make this somehow..I did it all in one shot so I must have went into a super productive art coma or something. Its pretty amazing considering that it was my first musical instrument and it came out 99.9% perfect (theres one little flaw, but i'll never tell!)

Completed Projects NO.1

2011-08-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

I know the gap between the last update has been long but there is good reason. I have been very busy the past weeks working on my stock and making new art pieces for the next event!
To make up for the lull in postings Im going to clean the air and post a project a day for the weekend. Here's the first:

Rosewood Pipe Set (custom order)

Custom order for an old world aesthetic

I hand turned them from rough cut stock I have and hand sanded and drilled the chambers. Finish is food safe mineral oil applied periodically while being worked on in addition to final coat process. There is no stain in these woods, the mineral oil brings out the natural color and feeds the wood as time goes on. The chambers are drilled large enough for easy cleaning and prevention of clogging. These pipe do NOT clog like others and because of the density of the wood will never break on you. You can literally smash this on the pavement or run over it and it will barley make a scratch. I don't know about you but I have broken plenty of pipes that I've bought somewhere over the years so I keep this in mind while designing my own.

More projects to come over the weekend..

It's Coming..

2011-08-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Progress....

Devilish....but for a moment longer

Back from Event

2011-07-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm Back from an event/festival I went to yesterday. It was the 4th annual "Rock your ink off" event in Waterbury CT. I had a table there for Refined Home Relics where I sold a good amount of my art. I have to say we were pretty successful considering that there was low attendance and the fact that everyone was spending their money on tattoos and not art booths. I unfortunately did not have a moment to take a picture of the booth, but I did snap a shot of all the craziness outside my shop getting ready for it the day before.

The cheese boards and pipes were especially popular with people. I'm very excited about the positive responses and will continue to go to more events in the future.

A Day on the Lake

2011-07-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the short lull in posting, I'm currently watching my younger siblings at my fathers house in Holland Mass. Its on the lake that was frozen over in the snow sculpture picture:

Conner (left) & Colleen (right)

They are the coolest kids ever and I always have a blast hanging out with them. I'm also working on some more secret projects while I'm up here. Some small portable stuff, since I don't have a studio up here. I also brought all my music gear so I can keep working on my Album (its REALLY coming along now). Very soon there is going to be a HUGE post showing a lot of the new things im working on, as well as new finished work.

Glimpses of the Workday NO.2

2011-07-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Some of the things surrounding the workday :

Check out Captain Cicada here waitin for me on the deck

Lil Mouse-Monk Jr. made it through the critical 8hr window and beyond

Yes, thats right the little Mouse-Monk from yesterday made it through the night in his makeshift home/incubator.Hes doing pretty good, he looks gross and pink now but in 5 days or so he will be all fluffy and endearing, you will see =] Hes getting nourishment too in the form of warm milk/ special solution fed to him on a thin paper rag he sucks on.......yeah.....enough Mouse-munk suckage for the day......

Ill say this though, Nature is one of the strangest yet most interesting forces that surround us everyday. Sometimes its hard to see that through the lens of modern day living. But I tell ya, when a giant Cicada ambushes you as you leave the house on your deck, nature comes rushing back right into ya face to let you know its there....and I decided that I love that....haha.. Onto finishing and delivering the goods on my Current Projects.

Rainy Day: More Music

2011-07-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today turned out to be a pretty rainy day which meant TWO things. ONE is that that the cheese boards were somewhat slowed down today since I sand outside..but TWO being that when it rains I tend to record a lot more music. So there's a dichotomy with me and my creative output there.

I got a lot of work done for two of the songs I've been putting a lot of work into lately on days I'm not "physically" building something, like today. I will hopefully get a good sounding "complete draft" done of one of them tonight. Which means I just might post an exclusive free download of it a bit early if there's interest. Is there? you tell me.... =]

My Mahogany Gibson

Song is tentatively called: Joyous Gentle Giants. Its one of those songs that I've been working on for about 6 years now. And it finally starting to come together!

Of Nature & Life

2011-07-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

Heads up, this is a pretty esoteric post about something.....i guess...natural? that just happened outside the shop here just a minute ago. A real workday post will follow this one, i promise =].

So Martha, If you dont know Martha yet just wait, you will..... is about to go out on an excursion to the post office to deliver something wonderful no doubt. While starting the scooter...

How cool is she on that thing with the flower!? =]

A strange thing happened then. A chipmunk or mouse (we are at a disagreement there =] ) jumped out of the scooter carrying something it was dropping. To my surprise it was little mouse/munk babbies! Immeadiatly I thought to hide it from Martha since it was so sad to see for some reason. After its mother-monk booked it down the street never to return I took the poor guy back to the side of the shed and made him a lil home made of grass and leaves. I hope hes alright, i know hes just a little mouse-munk but he still deserves a shot at life right?

Nestled in the best incubator I could make. Time to tough it out lil guy.

I checked back an hes seems to be doin ok. I covered it up after this so hes tucked away nice and safe. I dont know what nourishes them besides water, so if any of you have a suggestion im sure Lil Mouse-Munk there would sure appriciate it.

Yeah so....onto the fun stuff....

Tinkering with cheese board designs

2011-07-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today is the first day this week that has not been close to or above the triple digits. For those who don't know me as of yet, for the record, I have a polar bears tolerence for the heat (I.E. NONE, heat destroys me) So anytime during the summer when its hot like this I work outside at my own peril, which sucks when you really want to get some woodworking done. Other wise almost everyday would be full of posts showing pictures like these of some of the new cheese board designs im tinkering with:

about 50% completed, now onto the hand sanding & finishing phase

Both sets are using Black Walnut (dark) and Tiger maple (light)

These look pretty good already, im not afraid to say. But wait for how they look after the fine detailing phase, the transformation and the color that comes out is incredible. Stay tuned for the post documenting the finishing process coming next......this day ain't over yet.

New song posted: Halla Day!

2011-07-22T21:39:00.000-07:00

I posted another song from my album that's being worked on currently. The song is called: Halla Day!, dont ask me to explain the title yet.... This song has a pretty interesting story considering that it is essentially an "open-sourced" song.Meaning that it is a song that I laid the ground work of the chord progression structure, tempo, and melody with my guitar and drum/keys software but left the rest of the song open to collaboration online. Using the Program Riffworks, from line 6, I essentially posted my song and let any musician who wanted to contribute online take a whack at it. After choosing which contributions to keep (I will find out the user names so i can credit the featured artists on release) I remixed and re-edited the song into what you can listen to now with the song player on the right there. You can also download the songs using the player as well.

It resulted in what i think is a pretty cool upbeat song that explored sounds outside of my typical style yet fit in with the overall feel of my music. This song (like all my songs) has a back story of sorts that will exist as an additional component to the song itself (through visual media, and writings). More will be revealed in time. Hope you enjoy what you hear.

In the vain hope of cooler weather...

2011-07-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a snow "sculpture" that two buddies and I made new years day 2008 on a frozen lake in Holland.....Massachusetts. And in a complete blizzard no less ......and yes its a badass robot..

Left: Kyle West/ Right: Me / On camera: Dan Fichera

Hopefully this awesome memory will help cool down, what is going to be an absolute scorcher of a day tomorrow.

Heat wave = bane of Josh's existence

2011-07-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

It is over 100 degrees with 60% humidity today.....DISGUSTING!! This kind of weather turns my brain to mush and makes me want to move to Canada....like now! So this means no work today, as my shop/studio is outside with no AC. Not sure what I will focus on today, but most likely will be something computer related, maybe I will work on some fancy new banners for the etsy shop and blog.

Please keep cool guys, this heat and humidity can kill, don't doubt it.

"Buisness Trip" to the Cape

2011-07-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

About to head out for the day to Cape Cod on a business trip of sorts. Ill be meeting with the owner of Billingsgate Art & Antiques. Will update more when appropriate =]. Wish me Luck!

A beautilful old workbench for sale @ Billingsgate

Glimpses of the Workday

2011-07-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Today's turning out to be a pretty productive day. I have a lot of burners going at once, so to speak, but they are all gettin burned well.....whatever that means. Here are some Glimpses to make it all more in context:

This is where I do most of my Woodworking and Music Recording at the moment:

My dog luke came up to me today and asked for a position here at RHR

Some woods being used for a secret project oOOooooOOOooo

First Glimpse of something new

2011-07-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

I recently made this cheese board for a friend of mine to go in his bar in his "man-cave".

He challenged me to make a cutting board design that looked masculine but beautiful at the same time. This is what resulted, I used Black Walnut and a slab of Tiger maple in the middle to give it that expensive classy old world look. He was very pleased with the result and I'm thinking about making this a regular design for my Etsy shop. What do you all think?

Refined Home Relics hits the blogosphere!!

2011-07-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is it! We are now part of the Blogosphere!,

My name is Josh Goulart and im the owner and artist for Refined Home Relics. We offer unique and lovingly crafted homemade goods that look Expensive to the eye but not the wallet. Some of our Products include: - Wood Bangles - Cutting Boards - Pipes - Earrings - Wine stoppers - Hair clips -Homemade Bath Salts - Greeting Cards We are just launching, so expect much more to come in the near future.

I will use this blog as a place to give insight into my artist process as well as show off finished products AND prototypes for Refined Home Relics.