Category Archives: Commissioned Art

Rocky Mountain High

Commission Art Piece Finds Home in Aspen Colorado

Recently I had the great pleasure to deliver this Commissioned Flute to a home in one of my favorite places to be… Aspen Colorado. In fact this is one of two flutes that I made for customers in Aspen that we delivered during our visit just a few weeks ago.

Crafted from Alaskan Yellow Cedar this flute featured Sapodilla Totem Rails and a Mustang fetish also crafted from a piece of Sapodilla. For this project we crafted a hand made cabochon made from a remnant piece of Catlinite (Sacred Pipestone) that came from a pipe project I had been working on. Hand shaped and finished to a statin sheen this stone was finally bezel set in Sterling Silver and then inlaid into the body of the flute.

The stands are one of our new stand types that are both functional and simplistic in design. For this project these stand cradles were also made from Alaskan Yellow Cedar. The bottom of each stand has a felt pad to protect stand and surface they are set on and the cradle area also has felt padding to help protect the flute itself. These are very cool little stands that you can set on any surface for display without having to do any mounting.

This was a beautiful sounding flute tuned in the key of D# because of its larger bore. The long aesthetics of my hand crafted flute designs make for wonderful functional art displays while also possessing the soft wonderful voice that an Alaskan Yellow Cedar crafted flute delivers.

Texas Juniper Flute Ready for A Home

TEXAS JUNIPER WITH MUSTANG FETISH

Check out this bad boy… This 1″ inch bore six hole flute is crafted from clear Texas Juniper.  This image really does not do this flute body justice.  I have always loved the color ranges in a nice piece of juniper and this one is no exception.

This flute features Maple Totem Rails and scheduled to have my Mustang Fetish.  Still time to choose a different species for the Mustang but Maple will look real nice.  Also add a hand made cabochon to make this flute completely yours.

Tuned to E @432Hz this flute as a nice deeper voice and sounds great.  Final shaping and tuning is complete and I an now in the finishing stages.  The finish will be a high gloss finish and accented with our hand cut Bison lace.

If you are interested in this flute CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Port Orford Cedar Flute Finds Home in California

This is one of my favorite flutes I have made this year.  I have posted information about this flute before offering what I consider to be the best flute of 2020 so far.  Crafted from Old Growth Port Orford Cedar this large bore flute feature Sapodilla Totem Rail and my Mustang Fetish also made from Sapodilla.

Highlights of this flute was the addition of a hand cut Wyoming harvested Elk Antler cabochon set in Sterling Silver.  The 1″ inch bore of this flute gives it a deeper voice tuned to D @440 Hz.  Leather accents is our Wyoming handcut Bison lace.  Nothing fancy just a really nice instrument.  Simple Elegance achieved!

The new owner of this flute lives in Riverside, California and it is scheduled to ship late this week.  I will miss this flute in my shop!  As with all of the flutes I make I hope this flute bring them years of personal enjoyment.

If you like this flute as I do please visit the link below as there is a sister flute to this only crafted from Alaskan Yellow Cedar but features the same totem rail design and Mustang fetish.  If you think you might like to peak then CLICK HERE for more information on the sister flute available.

As always this flute is available for commission.  I still have some really nice Port Orford Cedar blanks.  Contact me at “Sales@Jacksonholetim.com for more.

3 New Flutes Under Construction

Available to Reserve Now

This past year I had the opportunity to build several flutes that were painted with acrylics and finished with a high gloss lacquer.  These flutes were the first time I actually painted a flute rather than finishing it in its natural wood tones.  To say the least these were a hit with customers.  All of the flutes I made and finished with acrylic colors were crafted from Old Growth Alaskan Yellow Cedar.  Yellow Cedar makes a beautifully tones flute and the extremely tight grain of the wood makes it perfect to paint and finish.

Gloss Black! Alaskan Yellow Cedar Flute with Maple Totem and Rails. Custom Elk Cabochon

I have just started 3 new flutes with  7/8″  and 1 1/8″ bore, maple totem rails and the popular Mustang Fetish also crafted from maple.  One is Black (1 1/8″ bore) , one Orange and one Red (both 7/8″ bores).  These three colors where the most popular of the flutes  I made last  year that were painted.   I plan to add other colors later this summer after these are done.

Big Red! Alaskan Yellow Cedar Flute with Maple Totem and Rails

If you are looking for a new flute that is not only beautiful to look at but sound wonderful and easy to play consider reserving one of these flutes to call you own.  Price point is $245.00  per flute for the 7/8″ bores and $285 for the black 1 1/8″ bore flute plus shipping which typically runs around $18.00.  Each flute ships with a protective bag.

Just Orange! Alaskan Yellow Cedar Flute with Maple Totem and Rails

If you would like to more information on any of these flutes under construction reach out to me by phone (307) 690-0427 or email me at “sales@jacksonholetim.com”.

Butterfly Fetish

 

I have just completed a new custom fetish for a new customer.  In this case the customer had an already purchased flute and wanted to add a new totem to her existing flute.  She has a connection with Butterflies and she reached out to me and requested a custom fetish to be made.

Shaped But Unfinished Butterfly Fetish

To be truthful I had never made one with this design before and I really was not sure how it would turn out.  I cautiously accepted the commission after explaining my concerns to her.  She gave me complete artistic freedom which was important.

My art tends to be more whimsical than a literal translation of the design idea.  This butterfly fetish was hand carved from a single solid block of Old Growth Maple.  It was hand shaped and finished with a clear high gloss lacquer.  It will ship with some of our hand cut Wyoming Black Bison lace.

All in all this was a fun project and I am actually pleased with the results.  I must admit that when I sent pictures to the client I was as I always am… concerned how it will be received.  She was very kind and really seems to like the end result.

Port Orford Cedar Update

I wanted to update a previous post about this Port Orford Cedar flute that I have been working on.  As of this post I have completed the Mustang fetish and it is in the last stages of finishing.  Crafted from the same Sappodilla as the totem rails the combination works nice with the natural colors of the Port Orford Cedar.

New to this flute will be the addition of a hand cut Elk antler cabochon.  The antler was harvested from our own Wyoming Elk herds here in Star Valley area.  This cabochon is being set in Sterling Silver and then it will be inlaid into the body of the flute as shown in the feature image above.

One other small adjustment is that when this flute was first voice I thought it would end up a D tuned to 432Hz.  Well it is still a D but 440Hz was better suited.

This flute is available for purchase pre-completion for a significant savings in cost.  After completion the price point will be higher as it is only then I can total the man hours.  CLICK HERE for more information or CALL (307) 690-0427 or EMAIL me at sales@jacksonholetim.

Port Orford Cedar Nears Completion

Port Orford Cedar, Sapodilla Rails & Totem

Currently I have been working on Two 1 inch bore flutes crafted from Old Growth Port Orford Cedar.  This particular flute is just about done other than final finish choices and some tweaking on the tuning.  Which on this flute is tuned to “D” @ 432 Hz.

I really cannot get enough Port Orford Cedar as it is one of my favorite woods to craft flutes from.  This one has a very pleasing deeper voice giving it a soothing melody.  The totem rails are crafted from river reclaimed Sapodilla as it the Totem or Fetish itself.  Once again this flute will feature my signature whimsical mustang.  This time I am crafting it out of the same Sapodilla the totem rails are made from.  This should be a stunning yet eloquent flute.

Currently I have this flute finished with a Satin/Semi-Gloss finish but more than likely it will end up with a high gloss finish.  Although this is a fairly large flute the finger holes are positioned with comfort in mind.  This flute like all of our flutes will ship with a protective bag as this recent completed flute did.

The price point has not been set and there is still time to add adornments such as hanging horse hair, feathers or even an inlaid cabochon.  Port Orford Cedar is almost impossible to get anymore… this is a very nice wind instrument just about ready for a home.

If you are interested reach out to me via email @ Sales@JacksonHoleTim.com or call or text (307) 690-0427.

 

Orange Alaskan Cedar Flute Headed to Texas

Just finished this Orange Acrylic painted flute hand crafted from Alaskan Yellow Cedar.  Tuned to the Key of F# @440 Hz this flute has a wonderful tone.

Maple Totem rails and my whimsical Mustang Fetish crafted from a piece of Port Orford Cedar.  Black Wyoming Black hand cut Bison lace and shipped in it’s protective bag.  All in all a really nice flute project!

Orange is the Color

Earlier this year I started on a new journey of flute making. For so many years I have focused on the aesthetics of the natural wood and how it finishes as God’s eye intended. To this day most of the flutes I craft are in this vein.

Last September I decided built a flute for the 2018 Western Design Conference held each year in Jackson Hole Wyoming that was different than I had done in past shows. This flute was the first flute I painted a color and in this case I chose high gloss black. I loved it so much I decided to build another one just like it only with a 7/8″ bore flute while this one featured a 1″ bore.

Black Flute Sound Sample

Flutes like the one shown here have a lot of man hours in them and thus typically a much higher price point. This flute found a home in Nashville Tennessee early this summer. I have since built several others one in Red and another in Gun Metal Blue. But the flute I am working on now shown at the top of this post is for a customer in Texas who was a Texas Longhorn fan. However the color this time for me was inspired by a 1972 Orange and White Chevy pickup truck.

Big Red Sound Sample

This new orange flute features the same design as the others in that the totem rails are crafted from Maple and the whimsical mustang fetish is crafted of either Maple or Port Orford Cedar. The flute itself is made from Old Growth Alaskan Yellow Cedar which produces a very nice sounding flute. Listen to the samples of the others provided and here how nice these flutes sound. The 7/8″ bore makes this a very nice sized flute in your hands.

My goal with these new flutes is to make available a very nice flute at a price point that is affordable and yet a bit different. Of coarse we can bling them up but I think this new line of flutes offers something most artists seek and that is “Simple Elegance”

Port Orford Cedar with Sapodilla Totem Rail

From time to time I come across a flute project I did for someone else and as I look back on it I get excited about how the flute came out.  One of my favorite woods to work with is Port Orford Cedar which is not easy to get anymore.  But I do have some stashed away for special occasions.

This flute was made for a client in the Cave Creek Arizona area and I really liked how it turned out.  The customer wanted to have a flute that voiced an “A” @ 440Hz.  As most of you know I live in the Yellowstone Basin here in Wyoming so our altitude and weather patterns are quite a bit different than the desert region of Arizona.  Building a flute in Wyoming and shipping to Arizona and hitting the mark for tuning is always a challenge.  All in all I think I was able to get pretty close.

What I like about this flute is the simple elegance it embraced and the mix of the Sapodilla Totem Rails, Cutting Edge inlay and the Maple Mustang fetish it was a really eye appealing flute when finished.  Easy to play and sounded wonderful.  We recorded the sound clip here in Wyoming after it was finished so check out the voice of this flute in the clip below.

Commissioned projects are always fun yet stressful to do.  This flute project was one I really enjoyed.  I would love to work on another project like this one again for a new customer.  Maybe that customer is you?  Let me know what you think of this flute in the comments below.  If you would like to explore a flute for you similar reach out to me.

Port Orford Cedar Native American Style Flute Tuned to A @440Hz

Port Orford Cedar A @440Hz Sound Clip