Wind Chimes: New Look for 2010

Click on the picture to see it larger.

Beach Glass Inspired Kaleidoscope Wind Chime

Now with Antiqued Dark Chocolate Copper Chimes

Visit my website for more information, or to purchase: Coast Chimes

My chimes are always evolving and new designs are also always surfacing. For me, that is the difference between a craft and art.

Most recently, I decided to change my brushed and polished copper chimes for a hand rubbed antiqued finish. I love the look, and so for now I will be concentrating on this style. It's a warm, dark chocolate color that I find goes better with my glass.

Please visit my website to to see more examples, or my Etsy shop, where I have some great sale prices right now.

Research and Development, Coast Chimes

Click on the image to see it larger.

Cobalt Blue Glass with Aged Brass Chimes

Now with vastly improved sound.

Visit the 'Under $75' page of my website by clicking here.

You would think after fourteen years of making wind chimes, my research and development would be pretty much history. Not at all.

About a month ago I made several significant changes to the large copper chime section of my big wind chimes. This resulted in a more elegant look, improved sound, and less soldering.

For many years I have struggled with the small chimes on my suncatchers. Originally I used massed produced aluminum chimes, but I did not like using something mass produced, and I did not like the aluminum. I then spent many hours thinking about and experimenting with small diameter copper, with mixed results. I went back and forth between copper and aluminum, and was never satisfied.

At last I determined that I simply could not tolerate the aluminum chimes with my beautiful copper and glass. For a short while I thought I had a solution, which was simply taking enormous care crafting the mini-copper chimes, and getting my son to tie them onto my handcrafted copper hangers with heavy nylon line. Sadly, the line tended not to hold up, and that obviously would not do. Back to the drawing board.

Next I decided to use kidney ear wires to attach the chimes to my hangers. They looked wonderful, and they were clearly on for life. The one snag was that the sound was not very good, but I rationalized this, thinking three chimes in a row are never going to make much sound, anyway. I was not happy, but I thought they were good enough. I went for looks and durability above sound.

I got a wake up call when some drop-in customers came with a young boy. The boy was hopping around playing with all my work, and he was commenting as he went. Several times he made a comment about not much sound from the mini chimes. Children are so honest!

So I determined to slay this monster once and for all — back to research and development. I bought a lot of different types of materials, and decided to work on this until I was 100% satisfied. That's what my customers deserve, and that is what I expect of myself, too.

I am pleased to say that I have finally found the perfect solution. My new system to attach the mini-chimes is very strong, and the resonance is as good or better than with just plain nylon. Win, win.

Cool Freestanding Suncatchers

Click on the image to see it larger

Freestanding Beach Glass Inspired
Suncatcher Chime
Natural Pacific Beach Stone ~ Naturally Beautiful!

Busy times here on the Sunshine Coast. The Christmas rush, and then several wholesale orders, made a BIG dent in my stock. So I am working full speed to make new things.

I've just completed a series of freestanding natural beach stone sculptures, some with handcrafted copper chimes, some with double sets of chimes, and othres with glass and no chimes. These are truly unique. The glass and copper go so nicely with the natural stone and the tung nut oiled wood. Very peaceful.

To see the full series, visit the Gallery Page of my website. You can learn all about them, and, if you wish, buy one. Even though these are large and heavy to ship, there is no postage or handling charge on my website prices for the USA or Canada. If you are in Canada, you may wish to ask for an invoice in Canadian funds. Enjoy.

Bonsai

What does this fellow...

Yukon snoozing after a long hike

Have to do with this Bonsai Chime?

River Driftwood Bonsai Chime

My dog Yukon is great. So what does he have to do with my river driftwood bonsai freestanding chime? Lots.

See, I take Yukon for a long walk every single day. Mostly we head right up the mountain, near our home. He's a golden retriever, which means he wants to jump into any water he can, which means we usually visit a couple of creeks on our hike. And the retriever part means he wants me to throw sticks for him to... retrieve.

Well, that's no problem as there are lots of creeks and lots of sticks. But the other day one of the sticks I picked up was clearly not a fetching stick: What a beautiful, interesting piece of river driftwood! Yukon was extremely unhappy to see me with a stick that I guarded from his chompers, but I knew this was no fetching stick— it was a chime stick.

So there you go. If it wasn't for my water-loving, stick fetching hound, I never would have found this stunning driftwood, and the bonsai chime would never have been made. When I sell it, which I don't think will take too long, I'll consider that to be payment for a few sacks of the pups pricey chow. In a way, he's paying his own way. What a pup.

You can learn more about my bonsai chime at my website (and see another cute picture of Yukon!).

I Love Rust

A new look for the new year~ Rusty Iron Chimes! Shown with a beach glass inspired kaleidoscope top section. For more information, or to purchase, Click Here.

I love rust! For a long time, I have been longing to get my hands on some iron to make rusty chimes. After starting my new website, coastchimes.com, I got on with this rusty chime project.

The first steel yard I visited here on the Sunshine Coast only had gas pipe, and sanding the creosote-like finish off was not much fun. Fortunately, the second yard had just what I was looking for: pre-rusted heavy pipe. Beautiful!

I have seen painted chimes where the paint has chipped and there is rust where there should not be. Now that's ugly! So isn't it funny how chimes totally covered in rust are so attractive?

And I am not worried about the durability of these. The iron is thick, and it will be years and years before the rust eats them away. The beach stone clapper sounds really nice against these large chimes, too.

So for the New Year, a New Look. I am not abandoning copper. I love copper, too. But it's great to explore new materials.

Always Trying to Improve

To the left: old style. To the right: new style.

I'm always looking for ways to improve my work. I'm constantly making small changes, learning new tricks. Most often, it is something small that most people probably wouldn't even notice. But every once in while, there is something major.

Thanks to an extremely sharp-eyed and thoughtful customer, who was kind enough to share her thoughts, I have now radically changed the look of my chimes. For years I have made them with a double-brushed mat finish. No more. The customer was right. Same great sound, same beach stone clapper, but now even prettier. They are richer and more elegant looking with a shiny, polished finish. Thanks for the wonderful idea, Kim!

Garden Stakes ~ Must be Spring!

It's been a l-o-n-g hard winter, especially for those of us working outside. Too cold, too wet.

Ahhhh! But it really feels like Spring all of a sudden.

And so I made a collection of garden art stake chimes. Copper supports with beach style glass and small chimes. It seems like forever since I last made these~ that's the type of winter it has been. And so I am very happy for the warmer days. To celebrate, I am offering a special on these. Buy two, and choose a third for free! Visit my website soon, as I only have six of them available for now. Enjoy!

Against the Grain

With spring around the corner, these small beach glass inspired sun catchers seem like a nice way to celebrate. Something about them says 'spring.' I sell them in sets of five, three with chimes, two with copper spiral motifs. I have two sets on chime page of my website.

Being organized and neat is something that goes against my grain. I will never be organized and neat.

My environment is a mess.

But at times I do have to make a (for me) super human effort. For example, packing orders. I fully appreciate that when someone orders an art wind chime or sun catcher, their first impression will be the box and the packing. No matter how beautiful the work, something will be lost if it arrives in a tattered box with sloppy packing. I know that. And so I make an effort. I have to laugh each time the postal clerk complements me on my packaging, always telling me I have the best looking boxes of anyone she's seen. Believe me, that's not natural for me!

Another area I strive to be organized in is with all the different sites on which I have things listed. Ebay, Etsy, my own website, and several sites sometimes share the same works. So when something sells, I need to track down the other places where it is for sale, and remove it. This is oddly challenging for me. Just yesterday something sold on Etsy, and as soon as I saw the email my heart sank, as I was pretty sure this one was long gone. I'm human, I'm messy, and I make mistakes.

I strive to be organized, I strive to be neat, but it sure goes against my grain.

Stoned Out

From the Sunshine Coast, B.C. ~ Pacific Ocean Beach Stones

Stones, stones everywhere~ but where is the right one?

Funny thing happened the other day. A customer bought two of the same beach stone wind chimes, and when it was explained to her that only one was available, that each work is unique, she asked if I could possibly make a second as similar to the first as possible. Always looking for an excuse go beach, I said sure.

Well, the beach is full of stones. But very few are suitable for my wind chimes. And even fewer look even close to the ones in the the wind chime this customer wanted me to match.

So anyone seeing me down there picking up stones, rejecting them, comparing them, would have thought I was a real nut case. In the end, I found the beach stones I needed. She will have her two matching wind chimes. You can see more wind chimes like this at my website.