Families and Tree's.

Right before our Caribbean trip in January, my Dad pulled out of storage a table that my Great-Grandfather had made for my Grandma when she was younger. Isnt he so handsome in his uniform. He was in the machine gun Corp in the Canadian Expeditionary Force. During WW1 he was wounded twice at the 2nd Battle of the Somme. After the war, he became a cabinet maker by trade. This table is one of 3 (he also made one for his wife, my Great-Grandmother, and one for his son) and altho, eventually I'll redo all of them (the second is in my basement already)..this is the first one complete. It took me 3+ months to finish  for a couple reasons, the main one being I needed an idea. I knew I didnt want to paint it a color, and my Dad didnt want me to either. It had such beautiful wood grain detail and my Great Grandpa had went to such great lengths to make it that way. I also wanted it be "more"...but I didnt know what that was quiet yet..so I put it in my basement, went on my trip and waited for my thoughts to process.

This a very solid and very heavy piece of wood

There were some misplaced random stains in the wood that even after stripping and sanding, I couldnt get out so I knew I had to paint something to cover them..I spent alot of time thinking about my family..my history and these stories of the people I love even tho I only know them thru pictures..these thoughts led me to a tree..a family tree to be precise.

 I choose to do a wind blown tree because even tho we may leave the branches to pursure our own life, have our own families or we grow old and pass on..we always remember the place where we came from

I handpainted the details..with the "stump" of the tree rings taking on a "C" for my family name. For one of the other tables, I plan on painting something incorporating an "M" for the last name on my Grandmothers side, who's father it was that built these...The "C" just worked the best for the tree. The leaves are the Canadian Maple leaf and since I knew I would be staining it, I choose to make them a lighter color to take on some of the stain. I also did metallic copper leaf on a few of them to add some depth and interest..o and some shimmer..

I did add completly new legs. These babies were a tough find...then I needed the Misters help with installation. I dont have patience for some things..he has the patience of a saint...thats one of the reason I love him...I tried to stain these to match the top but they would not take any sort of stain, any color of stain ..no stain at all....so I painted....then stained with success. Sometimes Im sure things dont work because the Universe just knows that something will work better.

I love how it turned out...I also cant wait to start the next table with an idea already floating around in my head..