GARY A. LEAKE WOODWORKING |
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News and Announcements – not quite a daily blog, but more current than I have ever updated the website! Home |
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1/23/12:
I am back at the updates! Added numerous new pieces to the registry. And
additional thanks to Steve and Sherman as they provide a new home to
"Sitting Pretty"! |
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1/16/12:
I am so far behind in updating the website, including this page as well as
our plans for 2012. The good news is that Sandy and I have been busy creating
new artistic wooden pieces and restoring antiques. It’s a poor excuse, but
shop time is more fun than updating the website. Many thanks to the many
patrons, including Bob/Nancy,
Ron/Verleen, Malcolm, Ramona, Michael, Nancy, Mike/Diane, and numerous others. Our wonderful
galleries are all weathering the economic storm and many had a great 2011.
Hopefully 2012 will grace all of the galleries that I am proud to say include
my work. |
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5/30/11:
A good news/bad news moment… I just received notice that the Edmonds Arts
Festival Juried Gallery did not accept any of the three pieces that I had
entered (the bad news). The good news is that these pieces are now available
for immediate placement in the fine art galleries that sell my wood art!! And
finally, we just purchased some of the most beautiful walnut and cherry slabs
that I’ve seen. I have already begun the design of a new series of tables –
and my ‘annual’ chair. |
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2/4/11:
Congratulations to Artwood Gallery
in 5/27/11:
While working at the Penn Cove Gallery, I met the new owner of my “Maple
Allure” table. Thank you Jane! |
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2/3/11:
We just returned from a trip to Many
thanks to Adam/Allison, Jan/Ernie, Gloria and others for their ongoing
support of local art. Way to go Brackenwood Gallery and Penn Cove Gallery! |
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1/26/11:
What a busy beginning to the New Year! Three pieces including “All About Yew
III” shown at left sold through local galleries! Fortunately I just completed
three new art tables… |
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11/4/10:
I am a featured artist at the Cole
Gallery’s First Glance Show! Shannon and Denise have kindly orchestrated
some publicity for the Gallery and myself at Edmonds KOMO as well as on Cole Gallery’s blog. Check it
out… |
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10/22/10:
What a busy couple of months we’ve had! I have to begin with the latest news
first – I am pleased to announce that my work will be exhibited in yet
another fine art gallery. Earlier this week I had the pleasure to drive to
Duvall, a quaint town east of Woodinville. There I discovered the Laurel Tree Gallery and its owners Michael
and Laurel. A great gallery and great folks too!! Plan a trip there soon… Also many thanks to Mark/Julie, Bob/Nancy, Peggy, David/Jayne,
Anne and all of the other fine folks who have recently purchased and/or
commissioned works. Thank you for your continued support! Finally, I created my first ‘whacky bookshelf’
(“Incline-ation” Books and Stuff Display shown at left) for the Brackenwood Gallery’s
‘Bells, Books and Candlesticks’ Show. |
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8/14/10: Last night Sandy and I attended the Juried Art Show
Reception of the 47th Annual Historic Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival. To
our surprise “Blue Lagoon” was awarded 3rd in 3-D!! Given the
large number and artistic quality of this year’s entries, I felt much
honored! And the 3 tables looked really great among the other art exhibited
too! |
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8/11/10: Many thanks to Bob
J. and Nancy B. for giving “Adrift Chalanga-Da” a permanent home (and what a
beautiful Arts and Crafts style home it is too!!). |
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8/5/10: I’ve finally finished the 3 very special pieces that I
intend to enter into the 47th Annual Historic Coupeville Arts and Crafts
Festival juried art show. After winning 1st place in the 3-D category of the
juried art show for 7 of the past 8 years (and an Honorable Mention on the
'other' year), I have created pieces that I hope will continue my winning
trend. 2010! Please come join the fun, sip some wine (Friday's reception) and
have a great time... Visit Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival for
details. |
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7/12/10: Great news!! In support of the Seattle Woodland Park
Zoo I donated a very special wood art piece to be included in this year’s 34th
Annual Jungle Party live auction. The table, valued at $3000 sold for $3500!!
Many thanks to Bob F. for supporting our zoo. Visit the
Woodland Park Zoo's website for details. |
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6/22/10:
Wow!! First the good news – my “Maple Fantasy” table
with its deep blue glass reminiscent of my first look into Oregon’s Crater
Lake was awarded 3rd in Sculpture at the Edmonds Arts Festival!! Now for the bad news
– the |
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5/25/10:
Got a surprise call from the Brackenwood
Gallery of Fine Art in |
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5/18/10: Great news
today!! All three of the pieces that I submitted to the |
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5/4/10: Today I
received notice that one of my favorite hall tables, “Walnut Engagement” just
sold. Unfortunately as any artist will tell you, “You can’t keep them all.”
Most of my wood art pieces are destined to find new homes. I hope the new
owners appreciate ‘WE’ as much as I did creating it!! Tomorrow, Sandy and I
deliver the two pieces for the Scott Milo’s Wabi-Sabi Themed Show (an
Ikebana display table “Wing”
and “Adrift Wabi-Sabi”). I hope to see all of you at the opening
reception Friday, May 7 from 6:00-9:00pm. Visit Scott
Milo Gallery for details. |
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11/18/09: Yesterday I
received notice that the Anacortes Arts Festival has accepted two of my
wood-art pieces (“ |
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4/16/10:
Big changes – the email address and website have changed. I finally got a
‘.com’ and have been busy transporting the website. In my spare time, a
number of restoration projects and gallery pieces have been completed. I’m
working on two commissioned projects – a hall table and a desk. And we just
installed a small table in the new Coupeville Library. The table proudly
displays a Georgia Gerber ‘Coon’ cat bronze that honors Janet Enzmann,
volunteer extraordinaire. |
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12/23/09:
What a month we’ve experienced!! Between receptions at various art galleries
(Cole Gallery , Penn Cove Gallery , Scott Milo Gallery , Pacific Northwest Art School
Holiday Exhibition) and completion of commissioned pieces (see “Cherry Curves” to the left and thanks to John
and Michele) and antique restoration projects prior to Christmas, we have
been both blessed and very busy. In addition, I am working on a series of
four very special tables that utilize rare ziricote highlighting its lovely shades
of browns. For chocolate lovers, these beautiful browns include very dark,
dark, milk, blond and Cadbury chocolates. The first two of these tables are
in the finishing stages (see “Dark Beauty” to
the left). Sandy and I have begun to plan next year’s show schedule and
corresponding wood art pieces. I will update the ‘Shows and Events’ section
of our website soon. |
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11/15/09:
What a week!! Last night, we attended the opening gala of the Brackenwood Gallery of Fine Art
in |
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11/14/09:
It has been a while since the website has been updated because we have been
so busy creating new pieces for galleries, commissioned works and
restoration. Latest commissioned works include a petite but wild cherry table
(“Cherry Swirl” shown at left), a large and really wild cluster-birdseye
cherry table. We have also begun discussions related to a small table for the
remodeled Coupeville Library. A number of my new wood art pieces have been
added to the website’s Wood Art Portfolio. |
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8/29/09:
The buzz about Woodpalooza is building! I have just finished the “Whirls and
Swirls” hall table that matches the “Chair with a Flare” that I had completed
earlier (so that it could be shown on the Show’s postcard). I hope to see
lots of you at the Show. |
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8/1/09:
Last night’s Reception at the Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival was a
blast. It was great to see many friends, fellow artists and so many red dots
(sold pieces)! I entered two tables (“Adrift” {upper left image} and “Walnut
Fantasy” {lower left image}) and was very pleasantly surprised to discover
that “Adrift” was awarded 1st place for 3-D art in the juried
show! And then to top the eve off, “Adrift” was purchased by one of our
recent restoration clients. Thank you Kathleen!! |
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6/25/09:
I have just purchased a couple of wonderful slabs: |
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6/4/09:
What a couple of busy days… Yesterday we learned that one of my favorite
cherry tables, “Cherry Challenge" sold at the Wood Merchant, La Conner.
Today Sandy and I installed a 22-inch by 10-foot by 2-inch thick countertop
fashioned from a single slab of stunning sapele into it’s new home! Our shop
is temporarily a bit empty, but it will soon be humming with work for the
upcoming ‘Woodpalooza’ and other shows. |
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5/30/09:
What a surprise! This week I received an unexpected and very nice surprise in
the form of a card thanking Sandy and I for a custom butternut/walnut
benchseat that was recently delivered to a wonderful local client. Mary
wrote, “I appreciate the harmony between the bark texture and the striped
legs and the perfect way the natural curves work together. It is a
masterpiece!” Although we often receive compliments, rarely are they put to
paper – and on such a lovely card. Mary is a pleasure to work with. Thank you
Mary!! |
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4/14/09:
It finally arrived! I just received a copy of ‘500 Tables’, Lark Books’ latest book in
their 500 series. ‘Nature’s
Rhythm’ appears on page 132 in all of its glory! Not only was my
table selected from many thousands submitted, but fellow |
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2/25/09:
A great week so far – I have just put the finishing touches on one of the
most beautifully figured maple burl hall tables that I have had the pleasure
of crafting (actually I just let the character of the wood show and
restrained from messing up what nature created). I plan to enter this table
in the 46th Annual Historic Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival
juried art show. |
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2/20/09:
I received an interesting phone call today. Someone wanted to know if I
repaired move damage of ‘regular furniture’ as opposed to true antiques.
After all, their furniture (Thos. Moser!!) was only 25 years old. I had to
chuckle a bit, but naturally the answer is ‘yes’. Sometimes the only
difference between quality modern furniture and antiques is time… Perhaps I should change the business
name to ‘Whidbey Furniture Repair’? |
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2/19/09:
I’m on my way to an art gallery with the newest wood-art creation: a very
small display table crafted from zebrawood and black walnut. All of the
galleries that display my work are wonderfully supportive and I consider
myself honored to continue creating pieces for them to show. I am
occasionally asked why I don’t sell directly to the art-buying public. I
consider art galleries to be my marketing partners and want them to succeed
in doing what they do best. Art galleries earn and deserve every bit of the
commission that they receive! We may not need art to live, but it sure does
brighten the journey. So visit an art gallery today… |
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2/14/09:
Every year we experience a ‘holiday bump’ in the restoration-side of our
business. This past year was no different with lots of |
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12/6/08:
Tonight Sandy and I dusted off the wood shavings and donned our natty
gold/purple Lions Club vests to participate in Coupeville’s Christmas Parade.
We were blessed with large crowds of kids of all ages (<1 year to 90+) and
no wind and only a bit of rain. For those many who braved the elements, thank
you. Afterwards, the Penn Cove
Gallery had good crowds and appreciators of the arts! Sales were really
good!! But why was the Boat Parade almost an hour early? It was there and
gone before the tree lighting in the town park… |
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12/6/08:
Great news! I am honored to announce that a number of my wood art pieces have
been accepted at the Cole Gallery
in |
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12/5/08: The Anacortes Art Walk was fabulous! Fortunately the weather mild with no wind/rain. I have never attended a fall evening event that had so many happy people enjoying themselves while appreciating art. Thanks to Kathy Sherman and her able staff at Scott Milo for hosting and sharing the tasty treats (the hot cider was to die for!). And I had a red dot on ‘Dark Wave’ too. Thank you Daphne!! |
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12/3/08: Last week’s great news: ‘Nature’s Rhythm’ has been selected for publication in Lark Books latest book in their 500 series, ‘500 Tables’. The good news is that the table was selected from many thousands submitted; the better news is that the Wood Merchant matched someone with the table. It now has a new home! And they bought a desk and chair too!! |
