What motivates Nate?

 

 

I enjoy creating: taking something in its raw form that is neither beautiful nor useful and making it into an object of value. Applying my skill and my vision, when I'm done with my labor, people like the result. I am pleased that my effort creates usable art available to others. Knowing that I rescue a piece of wood that otherwise would simply decompose and disappear, I transform it into a useful object that can be handed down from generation to generation if desired, then I am satisfied.

 

 

 

What inspires Ned?

 

 

I like seeing how a piece of wood develops and what it turns into when I process it from a rough, log into a refined and usable board. When we go through the stages of milling the log, planing, sanding, and finally applying the first coat of varnish, then I have my reward. To see the grain and color come out of the wood is truly inspiring. When someone loves one of my boards, I feel that my work is a pleasure indeed.

Business Analysis

We sat down today with our business mentor, Jenny Kochert, to reflect on our experience this weekend at the Tioga Art Festival. We looked at our sales and synthesized the many comments and suggestions from both shoppers and other vendors. After much analysis and brainstorming, we have put in place achievable goals and have lots more to research and ponder in the coming month.

We presented a combination birthday and gratitude gift to Jenny: a personalized board of course! We appreciate you, Jenny. Thank you for sharing with us your deep entrepreneurial experience and inspiring our plans for success.

What a brilliant first show!

We enjoyed our weekend at the Tioga Arts Festival, and now we can call ourselves "Award Winning Artists," having been recognized for our "Outstanding Achievement in Art Production: Youth Exhibit" by the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFFA).

We have many supporters to thank, particularly fair director, Karen Koegel, who is a whirlwind of inspiration. She enthusiastically supported the first flight of our entrepreneurial wings. Limor Herb of the GFFA coached us in the art of engaging customers and marketing our work to patrons at the show. Thank to Dustin Adams, Curriculum Specialist for Alachua County Schools, who saw the benefit of including homeschoolers in the show for the first time this year; and Sunny Heo who provided on-the-ground coordination.

Numerous other artists at the show praised the quality of our work and our conversant ease in talking about our art. Chris Tatum of Tatum Custom Woodwork took a personal interest in our work and has offered to mentor us in our development as woodworkers.

Don Geiger also gave us useful tips, and has put us in touch with The American Association of Woodturners.

Many hopeful customers signed up for our Free Give Away. We drew a name out of the crystal bowl, and have put in a call to the winner. Hopefully we can soon post a picture of her receiving the winning piece, a beautiful cedar serving board.

Many thanks to the support of family and friends on Facebook and all those who stopped by personally. Building a business requires perseverance and persistence. We were exhausted by Sunday evening after talking and smiling for fourteen hours throughout the weekend.

Our gratitude also goes out to Jenny Kochert, our faithful business mentor and return customer who believes in what we do and who we are.

And lastly, where would we be without Mom and Dad? Well, we wouldn't even exist for starters, but beyond that, they support our passions, making the way for us to develop nobility of heart and hand, and grasping every worthwhile opportunity that this life has to offer. This is just the beginning....

Tioga Art Fair 2015

We've been working hard making serving boards and wall hooks for the Tioga Arts Fair. Karen Koegel, the fair director, was kind enough to let us show as Student Artists, giving us a big break into a big show. We appreciate this entrepreneurial opportunity to learn the business skills we need to get our work into the hands of new customers.

So far, so good. It's a beautiful day and people are signing up for our Free Give Away drawing for a rustic, two-tone cedar board. Nate just sold a beautiful piece of spalted Florida hickory from a tree that our neighbor discovered fallen when he was out on a walk in our woods.

Butcher block is good stuff

The raw lumber we use is sustainably gathered from trees that have fallen for natural reasons, harvested from family land primarily in Florida and also throughout the southeastern US. The timber is rough cut by Dad using a chainsaw mill, then we use a jig saw and plane before we finish each unique piece by hand sanding. When the boards are glossy smooth to the touch, they are sealed with a non-toxic food-grade butcher block finishing oil. We do not use any stains. Each finished piece of wood features its own natural grain and color.

Kiker Brothers' Boards have a variety of uses including hors d'oeuvres, sushi, cheese and crackers, bread, candles, center pieces, and trivets -- yes, they are heat resistant.

These treasures are natural pieces of Florida history drawn from our land, provided to beautifully grace any table. Each of these functional pieces of art represents hours of labor and love...the perfect gift.


 

Could this become a business?

OK, so after the hundredth exclamation of, "These are gorgeous. You should sell these,” it finally started to sink in. We decided to launch Kiker Brothers' Boards in 2011.

Our hobby

For several years we made boards as gifts for friends and family. Everyone would exclaim, “You guys do such a good job. You could sell these.” But for us making boards was still simply a hobby. Look at that piece of cedar that looks like a gator. That made a great gift for a student graduating with her PhD from the University of Florida. Here we are giving one of our boards as a Christmas gift to our beloved piano teacher.

 

Learning to work with wood (2009-2011)

We are always interested in what Mom and Dad are doing, especially if it involves tools. Mom's serving board was of great interest to us. "Can we make one too?" we asked. Why not? If we could help to build a house, we likely have the skills to make serving boards. Sure enough, we showed some natural talent as apprentice woodworkers, plus it was fun.

As we continued developing our skill, each brush stroke of the first coat of oil created a stir in the workshop. We would hail Mom and Dad with the call, "Come quickly! You've got to see the new board...the color...the grain...it's beautiful!"

 Here is a picture of us with our homemade sushi served on the first board that Mom made.
 

Window sills gave us an idea

We installed the planks that Dad chainsaw milled as windowsills throughout the house. They turned out beautifully. Mom, who is always looking for ways to use off-cuts rather than to toss 'em, picked up the remnant of a window sill and a thought came to her, "If I finished this with butcher block oil, it would make a beautiful cutting or serving board." It worked!

We learned a lot while building our house

We participated in every step of building our house, learning about working with wood, safe use of tools, perseverance, and hard work!

Birth of an Idea (2006-2009)

In the course of clearing land to build our family home, we had to take down a pretty little red oak and a grand long-leaf pine. Our Dad did not want that precious wood to go to waste, so he invested in a chainsaw mill and found that he could mill a pretty decent plank. We used some of the homegrown planks for windowsills and interior features during the final stages of building.