New Works, Coast Chimes Wind Chimes

Cobalt Blue Glass, Natural Beach Stone Chime

$95 US incl. shipping, Coast Chimes

Detail, Blue Glass Beach Stones Wind Chime

Handcrafted Copper Hook

Managing to find some time to create new works these days. I find that very refreshing, energizing. It's so much fun to select nice glass pieces, natural beach combed materials, and to see what I come up with. It's still after all these years most often a big surprise how these simple materials come together to create stunning beauty.

You may visit my website to see all my wind chimes, from small antiqued brass chimes to very large natural driftwood beach stone works: Coast Chimes. Satisfaction is always guaranteed, along with free shipping to the USA or Canada.

 

Everyone Loves Copper — Beautiful Gift!

The thing about copper is that it is beautiful. Other metals are often treated with paint or a powder coating to make them look nice, but that is a temporary finish that will flake off, fade, crack. Over time, copper just looks better and better. That's one reason Coast Chimes' wind chimes are a great choice. They won't be headed for the landfill in a few years.

Coast Chimes' wind chimes are designed for beauty, for sound, and for durability. All the hardware is handmade from copper: the rings that attach the chimes to the cedar roundel, the hooklets, even the wire that holds the beach stone clapper.

When looking for the perfect gift, consider something that will last, that is unique, that is clearly built with attention to detail and great care.

Go to Coast Chimes to see the selection. As of today, there are 113 items, but that count will be going down fast, and production is pretty much finished for 2021. For the best selection, don't delay.

Natural Pacific Zen Beach Stone Wind Chime

Kaleidoscope Artist-made Sea Glass Wind Chime

Beach Zen Stone & Driftwood Wind Chime

Indigo Blue, An Unusual Colour for Coast Chimes

Kaleidoscope Wind Chime

With Inky Indigo Blue Copper Wrapped Glass

3 Antiqued Brass Chimes

$95, Free Shipping, at Coast Chimes

Although I love all the colours of my artist-made sea glass, since it all comes from bottles (mostly wine), the colour pallet is limited. I get pretty excited when I get a hold of some unusual colours, such as the inky indigo blue of the piece of glass below the framed glass, pictured above. Being different, somehow it is always very special.

It's interesting how the glass from all the different wine bottles just sort of naturally goes well together. It's hard to go wrong! 

Check out Coast Chimes to see all the fantastic wind chimes and suncathcers, wonderful for you deck, your yard, your garden, or as a gift for that special friend.

Good Summer Light for Picture Taking

Below are a few recent pictures of my works, taking advantage of pretty nice summer light. I took a bunch, and then realized that the awful shade of green netting over the background blueberry bushes was not working, at all! So I had to retake them all, once the netting was done.

I invest considerable effort trying to capture my work. It's really tricky, because the light changes the appearance of the glass so much. I do the best I can... and frequently redo!

Find all these gorgeous wind chimes (and many more!) at Coast Chimes.

Adding Beauty to Your Outdoor Environment

Large Beautiful Glass and Copper Wind Chime
by Coast Chimes

It's clear: from the number of orders pouring in, the wintery areas of the USA and Canada have thawed out, and people are turning to their yards and gardens, deciding to add some decor.

Why Coast Chimes? I designed with three main elements in mind.

First, appearance: my wind chimes and suncatchers must be beautiful.

Second, durability. My works are designed to last: Coast Chimes is the environmentally right decision in what is far too often a throw away world.

Third, for the chimes, they must sound fine, and not annoying. I worked on the sound until satisfied that they sound great: pleasant, not too loud, blending with the natural environment so as not to intrude on ones peaceful moments in the outdoors.

• Beauty
• Durability
• Lovely sound

These days, with the price of copper (I just invested in more raw stock), they are also frankly a good deal. Back when I started, I hardly paid attention to my copper, as it was not very expensive. I pay attention now! And while the price of copper has increased several 100's %, I have not raised my prices in years. So enjoy a good deal!

Visit Coast Chimes and choose something amazing for yourself or for a friend?

Awesome Handcrafted High-quality Outdoor Wind Chimes

Soothing, Cool Blue and Greens,
Artist-made Sea Glass
Wind Chimes $175 at Coast Chimes

When the sun shines through the glass, you are treated to a kaleidoscope of color! The small artist-made sea glass pieces are loosely trapped between two plates of extra-thick glass in a well crafted cedar box frame

The five copper chimes are double brushed, treated with a reactive (not paint, this finish will never peel or flake), hand polished, and suspended with handcrafted copper rings-- no string or fishing line to wear and break.

The beach stone clapper, or striker, produces sweet sound against the copper chimes.

See this and many other wind chimes, chimes, and suncatchers at Coast Chimes.

Oh So Blue

Click on the picture to see it larger

Cobalt Blue Glass with Five Antiqued Brass Chimes

Sometimes I am actually amazed by what I put together. The wind chime pictured above is a case in point: gorgeous! Everything just works. I love the colors, the design, the copper, the antiqued chimes. Sorry to brag, but, I am proud of this!

Visit this wind chime on my website (Coast Chimes) or on Etsy.

Wind Chime, Freestanding, Copper, Beach Stone

Click on the image to see it larger

Freestanding large wind chime, with a smooth, rounded natural beach stone base.

I really like beach stones, and I like working with them. I have made quite a few large freestanding wind chimes incorporating beach stones for the base, but just last week I had a new idea.

In the past, I searched for stones with rounded, smooth tops, and flat bottoms. Suddenly, I saw that a rounded bottom might work even better, and also look even neater. My theory in practice works perfectly. The stone is very heavy, at about forty pounds, and the gently rounded bottom means that although this base can nicely wobble, even if you bend the chime all the way to the ground it self rights. Very cool! So this style turns out to be impossible to tip or blow over.

I love the rounded smoothness of this stone. A detail picture of the stone is at the bottom of this posting. More information is available on my website, Coast Chimes, or on Etsy.

Click on the picture to see it larger.

New Snazzy Wind Chime Windsails!

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New snazzy windsail design: Hammered copper

I constantly strive to improve my designs, and to dream up new ideas. Innovation often arrives through indirect routes.

Recently a customer asked if I could make a birdbath for her. Never having made one before, my initial reaction was to decline. But then I recalled an acquaintance had long ago given me a very large, beautiful old round copper sink. After much thought, I decided this could be a very cool birdbath, using a huge, upside down driftwood root. More on all that in another post. The thing is, I had to buy some thick copper to patch the drain hole in the sink. That in turn led to my inspiration for a new windsail design.

The new windsails add, I feel, an elegant twist to my wind chimes. My chimes are still mostly going to be offered with the tung nut oiled red cedar sails, but there is now the option (for a small fee) to upgrade to this new copper style.

For those who have previously purchased a wind chime from Coast Chimes, there is also the opportunity to order just a windsail (or a replacement cedar sail, if yours has gotten worn over the years).

Check out my the Windsail Page on my website.

Beach Glass Inspired Kaleidoscope Wind Chimes!

Click on the image to see it larger

Beach glass inspired kaleidoscope wind chime
Now on sale on my website!

Despite the cold, irregardless of the snow, I have finally managed to complete a few of my popular kaleidoscope art wind chimes. There are four stunningly beautiful new ones on my website, and I even put one of them on sale for only $137.50, instead of the usual $177.50. The price even includes shipping (USA and Canada)!

It does indeed continue to be unusually cold here on the Sunshine Coast. Last night it was minus 6C, and the forecast is for snow tonight and tomorrow. Unbelievable. We still have snow on the ground from before Christmas. This makes for very pretty hikes up on the mountain, but uncomfortable days working on my projects. Thank goodness for my somewhat heated workshop-- the first year I have this luxury. Still, there is a lot of stuff that has to be done right out in the open, and I can hardly wait for spring!

Great Sale

Click on the thumbnails to see a large image

Special Sale!
Usually $177.50 each.
On sale for $137.50
or buy two for $250.00
Or, even better, All Three for $350.00
including postage and insurance (USA / Canada)
Visit my 'Flowing Copper' wind chime page on my website

Currently I have three sets of wind chimes hanging on my sundeck, and that strikes me as a very nice number. My chimes are not terribly loud, so the sound even from three sets is still just very pleasant.

With Fall here, there is more wind, and that, for me, means excellent wind chime weather. My wind chimes are designed for year round outdoor use, so no need to only enjoy them through the summer.

With my current sale, you too could enjoy three sets for a very reasonable price. Or get a set for yourself, and share with friends and family. Enjoy!

Driftwood Wind Chimes

I've added a new section to my website~ just driftwood! If you would like to see it, Click Here.

I see a surprising number of people searching for driftwood, and even driftwood wind chimes. Who would have thought there would be so many other fans of this high-character, low maintenance wood? Well, I love it, so I guess it should not be too surprising that some others do, too.

For this new section of my website, I used a different way of showing the items~ a carousel image gallery. I'm not sure which is better, the other way, from thumbnail pictures to larger pictures with details toa full size image, or this way. There is one less level to navigate here, so I am thinking this may be better. I'll see how it goes, and maybe change the whole site to this method. Decisions, decisions...

In the meantime, I got the old workshop / greenhouse torn down (hard job! It was well built.) and the site cleaned up, and the new, renovated shop now has built in tables and shelves, the outside trim is almost finished, and today I made the first items inside the shop~ it's going to be much, much better! Pictures soon.

Driftwood Wind Chimes

Teredo Driftwood Copper Wind Chime. Tung Nut Oiled. Beach Stone Clapper.

Aside from this blog, I run my own website. Through Google Analytics, I can see a snapshot of what people search to find my site. I'm intrigued that there are quite a few people who search for driftwood, and driftwood wind chimes. I thought it was just me!

You know, my first memory of being enchanted by the natural world has to do with driftwood. Back when I was a very young boy, my parents took us to a Northern Wisconsin lake. I recall how I found a treasure: A most beautiful piece of driftwood. I still remember exactly how it looked~ long, smooth, and polished by the waves. I took it home, and for a long time it was one of my dearest possessions.

How odd (or perhaps not) that forty five years later I should still be looking for more great driftwood.

Pacific Driftwood, Tung Nut Oiled, Copper Chimes, Beach Stone Clapper

Teredo Driftwood, Rusty Chimes

Teredo worm sculpted Pacific driftwood with large rusty iron chimes. I've added a whole page of rusty iron chimes to my website~ to see these beautiful works, Click Here.

As promised in an earlier post, I have now completed my teredo worm chewed Pacific driftwood wind chime. Actually, the teredo worm is not a worm at all, but a sort of clam. It's clear from this piece of wood why those who own wood boats dread the teredo worm!

I've also just added a whole page to my new website featuring rusty iron chimes. Rust is beautiful! These are heavy chimes, and the rust evenly coats the chimes. Since the chimes are quite thick, it will be years and years before they rust away, so not to worry about that.

Like (almost) all my chimes, these have beach stone clappers. Great sound. Great beauty.

Spring-like Weather here on the Coast ~ Sale to Celebrate!

Snapshot section of my new website. To celebrate what seems like spring here on the Sunshine Coast, I decided to have a sale! Why not check it out? Treat yourself or a friend to something beautiful.

After such a l-o-n-g, cold, wet, dark and dismal winter, suddenly we have warm(er) temperatures and blue skies here on the Sunshine Coast. I can't begin to express how this has improved my spirits! That was one tough winter!

Of course, through much of the country people would scoff at the idea of 37 degrees even being called winter. But there is a dampness and a darkness here that truly can become a drag very quickly. And then it goes on and on until it seems it will never end.

Beside, I do almost all my work outside in unheated spaces. I can tell you that 37 degrees, or even 42, may not sound all that cold, but when you are standing in one spot handling copper tubing without gloves, it is cold.

So with the sun shining down, with the temperature climbing up, it seems like an excellent reason to celebrate. Just go to my website to take advantage of my spring sale. Add some beauty to your environment.

At last~ Decent light!

Beach glass inspired kaleidoscope wind chime. Five copper chimes with a beach stone clapper. For more information, or to bid on this wind chime, Click here.

It's been a long, cold, wet, dark winter. For most of my work, I'm outside in unheated spaces. So it's been hard. If it's not so cold my fingers freeze, it's wet, which makes working with wood very challenging. But the worse is trying to take decent pictures. For that, I need light!

At long last, the sun was shining yesterday and I broke my schedule of going to Vancouver each Wednesday to take advantage of it. The light was really great for only about forty-five minutes, and I can tell you that was a busy three quarters of an hour! I took over three hundred pictures (each piece gets numerous pictures, and then I choose the best of the lot).

It was worth it. There is no doubt that the image is the most important element for selling my work online. So I'm very happy to have been able to get some decent pictures. Now to finish sorting through them all, and to update those on my website, as most are not so great.

My new website is into version 4.5 now. It's getting there. More on that later.

Roof is done, Back to work

I needed to help the roofers put a new roof on our home. For over a week, things were too busy here to do much other work. But it is finally done, and I'm back!

At last I had time to put together a few large works. Above, a natural Pacific beach stone freestanding double wind chime. Below, a natural Pacific driftwood double wind chime. Both are suited to year round outdoor use, or consider using them indoors as kinetic art.

For more information, or to make an offer, for the stone Click here, for the driftwood, Click here.

Pride

Giant true verdigris copper wind chime with a natural Pacific beach stone top. 61 inches long, with chimes cut from 1 and 1/4 inch diameter copper. Sold, but you can read more about this or find other beautiful works by Clicking here.

Fairly often, someone emails asking if I can make something a little different. These are frequently people who have looked closely at my work, and like what they see, but want certain colors, or a certain size.

Recently someone wanted one of my wind chimes, but very large. As it happened, I had such a wind chime down at the bottom of my driveway as part of an address sign. It had been there for several years, and the copper had aged beautifully to an old penny color. I brought it in, took a few pictures, and also took some pictures of it hooked onto a large piece of driftwood I had. While the person who had written was making up their mind, someone else bought it.

That was a good thing, as it turned out the first fellow actually really wanted the chime to be verdigris. Also, that the old penny chime sold so quickly showed me that I should work more with these large chimes~ that there is a market for them.

I invested in a couple of lengths of this (Very) expensive large diameter copper, and got to work. It's always a pleasure working for someone who wants something amazing, but who does not know exactly what, as I appreciate a free hand when it comes to design. And I was not worried that he would not like what I put together, because I knew someone else would, and it would sell. As it turned out, he loved what I put together, and so I'll pack it today, and ship it tomorrow.

I'm exceptionally proud of how over the years I have developed the skills to be able to take an abstract idea ('I want a really large wind chime, maybe with something interesting on top'), and turn it into a concrete finished object of beauty. The longer I do this work, the more I like it.

Cool Wind Chime

I love this wind chime~ the most recent addition to my shop. I'm nuts about beach stones, so adding one into the mix is something that I like very much. Actually, there are two beach stones, since I always make a beach stone clapper, which sounds great against the copper chimes. For more information, or to buy this wind chime, click here.

Wind Chime Beach Glass Style variation

A pretty wind chime. A variation on my popular kaleidoscope style wind chime. It's surprising, but this one actually holds about three times more glass. The morsels are loose, so you can shake them into any position you like. Tung nut oiled red cedar. Eight copper chimes with my signature beach stone clapper~ Great sound. Learn more about this wind chime at my website.