KJ Bateman

  Hoya krohniana "Black" Part of the Plant Portraits series 

This quite handy device is for copying irregular shapes in buildings such as fitting flooring around pipes or odd corners. It's made up of many thin steel pins that move individually. This was in my dad's double decker red tool box that we brought back from Eastern Washington. My dad built rustic side tables from wood felled on his property.  I've never used it for it's intended purpose, but it's fun to play with.

Finally, a tool I actually have used. It's a Speedball brayer for rolling ink over plates, metal, wood, or linoleum,, prior to printing them. I don't love it, but it gets the job done. This is the size that works for a small home studio. I still miss the big, big rolling brayers we used in art school for lithography.

As a requirements for high school graduation, my son had to complete senior projects. He and a friend decided to make T-shirts air brushed designs. We bought this set second-hand from a guy who lived on a tiny island on Lake Washington that is connected to the mainland of Seattle. I had no idea this place existed. We parked at street level and entered the backyard of the main house. A long flight of steps led down to lake level where a little guest house nestled on the shore. I was so envious. 

We have four of these wheeled devices and they are a blessing when moving heavy furniture without scratching the wood floors. At one point,  I even kept them under my mother's old dresser to facilitate moving it around the living room when I rearranged. That dresser has gone to my daughter's house and four of these little beauties are available for other redecorating projects.

The first vehicle I chose and bought for myself was a used Datsun pick-up truck with a stick shift. It was turquoise. I loved my truck. I still remember the smell, a mix of vinyl, dirt and oil. I had sedans after that but never felt any fondness for them until we bought a minivan which I liked so much I named it named Baby. I loved Baby almost as much as the truck. I had the truck in Southern California where the open bed didn't matter. Baby was perfect for Seattle and I hauled a lot over the years: art supplies, my inflatable kayak, building supplies, and people. There is something so satisfying about being able to haul big things around. Baby was a perfect companion for 20 years. When it was time to replace it, I wistfully thought of a truck, but the truck landscape has changed greatly from the 70s. What would have been a large truck is now called a small truck and big trucks are monsters perfect for taking that hay out to the back 100 to feed the cows. To see someone ...

There are a few pulleys downstairs in the basement. I suspect these were for some project for the kids to haul things into the playhouse or across the yard.