A Shout Out for Ray!

I’m sorry to disappoint, if you were expecting an article on woodworking. This post is to help out a friend. A friend that I met through our blogs.

Ray Ferrer is an amazing artist. He is internationally known for his work. I have been following his blog for a couple of years now. His medium of choice is spray paint. Ray makes his own stencils to use for his paintings. That in itself requires a lot of talent, a good eye and steady hands. The color scheme for each picture changes; one picture could be in black and white while the next could be in many shades of one color or an array of colors. The detail in Ray’s creations are impressive to say the least. Please feel free to check out his blog at urbanwallart.

A few short weeks ago, Ray received some very unsettling news. He was diagnosed with having a brain tumor. With the love and support of his family, his friends and his fans, Ray is in a positive frame of mind. Ray continues to create more beautiful pieces of art. He is not letting this setback debilitate him in any way. Ray’s indomitable will to beat this is nothing short of inspiring. You can read more about Ray’s story here.

(pictures published with the artist's permission)

No one can deny the sheer talent that Ray possesses. If you would like to purchase one of his works, you can find his shop on Etsy. You can find some original pieces still available, or you could purchase prints. Over the past couple of weeks, I have looked on there several times to see if he has added anything new. He seems to update it often. I have found a few more that I would like to buy. I believe Ray is still offering a 50% off coupon, the code is ART50.

Rhian Ferrer, Ray’s loving wife and partner (I guess she takes care of some of the more technical stuff, just kidding guys), she has set up a gofundme site to help with the medical expenses. (A wonderful gesture like that even brought this ol’ hardass to tears.) It allows anyone who is willing, to donate money in order to help out. In my humble opinion, a talented man like Ray, a good and caring man, husband and father, deserves all of our help. After all, we were all put on this Earth to help our fellow man. If you are so inclined, an extra prayer for Ray and his family would be appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post about Ray, a good friend.

New posts coming soon.

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been having some rough times lately with one of my cats. He has been in and out of the vets. Last week, he had to be put to sleep. So this is why I haven’t posted anything. I will be posting again later this week.

Upcoming posts will be a special made box for a friend of mine, a couple of designs on Christmas ornaments and making a base for an antique treadle scrollsaw. Keep checking in to see which is next.

Templates

What are templates, you ask?  Templates are nothing more than a form you trace around on a piece of lumber.  It is a piece of material (plywood, cardboard, masonite….etc.) that you cut out in the shape of whatever you are building.  For example, say you want to build a box.  You have the designs already drawn up.  You layout the top piece on your piece of material that you are using for your template.  We will just say you are using cardboard.  You draw the top out on the cardboard. Then cut out the shape you have drawn.  Voila, you have your first template.  A template is used when you are planning on making more than one of any item. So if you are making more than six boxes, you can trace around your template for the lids to each box.  This will save you a tremendous amount of time.  All you have to do is lay the template on your piece of lumber and trace around it.  Then repeat this step for the lid to each box you plan on making. 

Depending on the dimensions for all the parts on your box, a template could be used for more than one piece.  I just made a few templates today, one of which can be used for two sides of a box.  Another could be used for all four sides.  This will give you less time laying out the pieces and more time constructing the boxes.  This helps in speeding up production.  Have fun and experiment with this!