Cedar salvage

We have informants all around town. Yesterday a friend phoned with insider information, "Our neighbor pruned his cedar tree. The cuttings are at the roadside, but the city truck is scheduled to come tomorrow. If you hurry, you may be able to salvage some of the bigger pieces."

Finding a home

We love to see our work go to a good home. Mandisa Haarhoff is the proud owner of this dramatic hook board. Many have admired it, but now it is hers.

New customers

Thank you, Tod Drost, for sending your parents by to say hello at the O'Connell Craft Festival today. We enjoyed chatting with them and showing off our handiwork.

A big thanks to Tiffany Griffith, O'Connell Center Craft Festival Coordinator, and customer of Kiker Brothers' Boards. We're proud to be the youngest vendors in the show this year. See you next year.

O'Connell Craft Festival at UF

Kiker Brothers' Boards set up and ready for a big day at the O'Connell Craft Festival on the UF campus, Booth 2030, right inside Gate 2 (southeast entrance).

Come say hello Saturday and Sunday, December 5-6, 10am-5pm.

Serving boards at home

A sample of some recent pieces in action. Our boards are finished with a food-grade butcher block penetrating oil and can be used for serving from oven to table. Kiker servers have a variety of uses including hors d'oeuvres, sushi, tea time, centerpiece, trivet...whatever you can imagine!

Working with our hands

One of the benefits of woodworking is learning to work with our hands. Knowing how to use tools safely, how to change blades, to choose the right tool for the job...these are skills gained slowly over time. When you're a kid, you have time in abundance.

Downtown Gainesville Art Show

We're set up at the Downtown Gainesville Art Show this weekend. Come find us in the Community Area next to the Cade Museum and the UF Imagination Station.

New display shelves

Working with Gramps on a portable shelf system for display in our tent. We're busy getting ready for the Downtown Gainesville Art Festival this weekend.

Special Order: a Mantle

One of our customers admired the rustic planks that we use for display, and her creative juices started flowing. At her request, we brought a plank of oak to test and see how it looks on the brick fireplace in her living room. Spectacular! She will soon have a Kiker Brothers' Mantle.

Our first Thornebrook Art Festival

We christened our tent this weekend, and boy did we need it. Friday night we had a big rain, but we arrived to a dry interior. Although the rest of the weekend was blazing hot, we managed to find relief with cold frozen yogurt and the distraction of meeting so many interesting people. We had a booth next to a really friendly artist from Pensacola on one side and from South Africa on the other, so we had much to talk about!

Lizard lounge

This fence post lizard is enjoying the autumn sunshine on a cherry log that Dad was milling. We will leave it out back to be a lizard lounge since the wood is not usable for boards. 

photoshoot

 

 

The results of a photo shoot. Our Etsy shop is on sabbatical, but plans to launch the shop again are underway. Photos of boards in action are part of the deal.

These images are also used to create "certificates of authenticity" which accompany each purchase, complete with beautiful full-color photo. Come visit us at the Thornebrook Art Festival this weekend to see our new marketing materials, and new boards fresh out of the workshop.

Getting ready for Thornebrook

Wood chips are flying in the workshop, getting ready for the Thornebrook Art Festival this weekend. The louvered door display for hook boards is getting a bath for the occasion.

Peine Golden Anniversary

At last we can publish the photos of our secret special order: a personalized board for the Peine family created to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Peines, for choosing us to craft an heirloom for your beautiful parents.

Long boards in the surf

Kiker Brothers' "boards" take a day off to try out some long boards in the surf.

Craft Show Frenzy

Ned Kiker is at the Country Club today, offering beautiful pieces for sale at the Gainesville Christian Women's Connection Luncheon.

So many beautiful pieces: honey locust, camphor, cedar, cherry, long leaf pine, oak, and even some granite complete the collection.

Check out the close-up of the iridescent golden camphor grain. Our last piece sold today. Don't worry-- we'll try to find some more. Those three pieces we had were truly brilliant.

Special order

We're having a great time working on a custom project today. The palette is a gorgeous thick piece of spalted hickory which we are preparing for a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. We won't post completed photos until after the presentation because we don't want to ruin the surprise.

Practicing and perfecting our methods of personalizing boards brings potential for discovery. Below, a piece of pine is adorned with a small embellishment while we test out a new method of paint application with stencils. The result is brilliant! New product ideas percolate in the creative minds of the Kiker Brothers. You saw it first right here, moments after discovery.

"Necessity is the brother of invention." We amuse ourselves with philosophical thoughts as we work with our hands.