All articles filed in Crate Art Project

Yep. I made plenty of progress on this latch hook rug project, this one composed from a covered bridge photo I took last October in Vermont. This blog post recaps where I started for this project. Honestly – the reason I’m even working on this project (and hoping I can complete it in time for…

I’ve built several adult-level latch hook rugs in the past few years, and after completing them, I’ve entered them in competitions and sold them at charity auctions. And after the last one I built – a gigantic sunflower – I believed I was complete. Done. Finito. I donated my leftover yarn to an arts collective…

As I wind down my last few drive-in speaker restoration projects (apparently the neighbors were complaining about the smell of the caustic strippers I used to remove the old paint), I still have a couple of videos that needed finishing. And one of those includes this rare Simplex “Mabte” miniature speaker that I actually acquired,…

For the past thirteen years, I’ve entered some of my photos and constructed artworks into Historic Albany Foundation’s BUILT charitable auction. The proceeds from the auction helps preserve and restore historic buildings and structures in Albany, many of whom are in dire need of repair and rescue. Too many of them have fallen to neglect…

Here’s the thing with me. I’ll get involved in projects, I’ll go full-tilt on those projects, I’ll have fun with those projects … and then, for whatever reason, I’ll just stop. Full stop. Put all the uncompleted projects and their tools away and not look at them or think about them for a very long…

I have another drive-in speaker restoration project premiering today on YouTube. And in this one, the drive-in speaker looks reasonably decent at first appearance – but when I opened it up, the speaker was burned to bits, the internals were full of ash and cinders, and some of the screws were essentially fused into their…

The more I work on these drive-in speaker restoration projects (and the more YouTube videos I make from these restoration projects), the more fun I have with them. And this time, I went into the realm of color-changing paint. Let me explain. In 1998, Ford created a special hue called Mystic Chrome, a paint which…

When I get involved in a continuing art project … I have a lot of fun with it. Seriously. A LOT of fun. But that “lot of fun” also involves putting together new and unique ways to challenge myself on projects like this. Case in point. During the warm summer months, I can work outside…

These drive-in speaker restoration projects are becoming more and more fun. Case in point. A few weeks ago, I acquired an RCA drive-in speaker from an eBay seller. I was intrigued by the unit, especially because the back of the chassis had the words “DOES NOT WORK” scribbled on it. Okay, I like a challenge.…