After many days of testing scores of different images, settings and types of woods and substrates, I created the first images with the laser that I was happy with. At the same time, I’ve been testing various painting techniques. Tonight, I hand-painted these first two laser images to complete the first limited edition print. One I will keep to hang on the wall in the laser room, a benchmark of where this began. The other one I will present to my good friend Dave, who also embarked on an exciting creative adventure as the new year dawned. Now, this new creative journey truly begins…
Tile!
Tile work continues at a brisk pace in the Copper Crown Suite of the Hazelnut Inn. The complex upper-floor tiles were Matt’s project, with endless fitting and cutting. He did a fabulous job and is nearing completion on this floor. Peter is working hard in the bathroom, which his coming along nicely. By next week, Matt will begin working his way down the stairs. As that work proceeds, Jay is working hard to finish the painting on the lower levels. There’s more magic every day at the Hazelnut Inn. Stay tuned…
Ambitious success
In a week or so, a long-awaited documentary about the construction of Disneyland will debut on Disney, and this afternoon I got to watch a preview. The show will showcase the construction and many of the very difficult challenges that surrounded it. The documentary is going to be well worth watching, and I look forward to it with great anticipation.
Watching the Disneyland preview reminded me of how it felt when we worked on our own, albeit much smaller-scale projects. First among these projects was Giggle Ridge Adventure Golf, which we built in 2000. The mini golf was exceptionally ambitious for our family and little crew, taking every ounce of our energy, labour and finances. Looking back, I vividly recall how that dream brought us to the financial brink before we opened the doors. Thankfully, the project was a success over time, and we thoroughly enjoyed operating it for well over a decade. When we decided to return to our roots and concentrate solely on customers’ theme projects, the sale of the Adventure Golf helped finance our new shop, state-of-the-art equipment and our new house. Once again, we plunged into a season of high debt, long work hours and considerable risk. But we firmly believed in our dreams, worked extremely hard, and over the next years prospered. A decade later, we plunged into the deep end once again to begin designing and building the Hazelnut Inn. That project is now nearing its spectacular completion and is already being enjoyed by guests from near and far.
The truth is that very few people truly understand the challenging, untold backstory or the decades of hard work when they peek over our fence or that of someone who realizes an ambitious dream.
