I love to put detail in our projects. But each time I seem to get carried away. A good looking idea on paper often proves to be a whole lot of work.

For the grape vine that winds around the brick arch is proving to be just such a project. It didn’t take long to weld the steel frame. The electrician quickly has the challenge if his life to thread the thick conduit for the necessary cables to power the monitor for the bar servers that will attach to the end. One the electrician had wormed in the conduit and threaded the cables it was time for us to work out magic.

Applying the galvanized mesh skin proved to be a tough challenge – one of our toughest yet. Now we begin the sculpting process before going on to paint.

Stay tuned…

-dan

With the two workshops now behind us we have picked up where we left off at the Fox and Hounds Pub. Many dimensional signs await final placement in our shop. Onsite the contractor and many trades are finishing their work allowing us to start our final finishes at last.

In the entry we are down to final painting and glazing. The carpet arrives on Monday in the Restaurant, meaning we have plenty to do before then. But the carpet will signal the time to begin hanging the dimensional eye candy that awaits in the shop – ready to go!

In the bar area we are working hard to finish the beams and woodwork. Next up will be sculpting the knarly grape vine that winds around the brick arch.

In the pub the fireplace is reciving final finishes. Tomorrow we hang the dimensional family crest permanently.

Stay tuned for more progress pics soon…

-grampa dan

Each sign and feature we are creating for the Fox & Hounds Pub does a variety of tasks. Branding, of course is the primary function. The signs must identify the business. As clients move through the space they must be reminded of where they are. The signs and identity must be memorable. But each of our signs also tell a story. We call it fictionalized history. It is all based on a true and believable story. 

The Fox & Hounds Pub history goes back, almost two hundred years, to England. When the pub was built in Aldergrove, British Columbia, some of the original timbers, from the original Fox & Hounds pub were used in it’s construction. This is the basis of our story. But like all stories it has grown richer and more elaborate with time…

The original founder of the Fox & Hounds Pub was a huntsman of course. When he came to Canada, back in 1812 (the year the British beat back the Americans in the famous war if that same year) he settled in the area we now know as Aldergrove. There were foxes a plenty in those woods in those days. He used the large timbers to build a small pub and named it after his favorite pastime. The little pub prospered through the years and was passed down from generation to generation. As the town grew the building was added to by various craftsmen. Some were skilled with fine tools, others were more basic and built of heavy, rough hewn timbers. Some built of brick, others were masons who used local stone. Through the years the family provided great service and the business prospered. As with every building that dates back two hundred years, some of the walls have settled a little in places. Not everything is totally level or plumb after all these years.

The artwork, signs and features are all in support of this story. Anything that does not fit is simply not there. Everything else does it’s job seamlessly.

The family crest that hangs over the fireplace give us plenty of information. A stylized fox and hound, typical of this style crest, flank the shield. The ‘P’ is for the Paul family. A crown signifies the ties to merry old England. The Latin phrase, PUBLICAN EXIMUS, speaks of the most excellent service the Paul family provided since the year of 1812.

The crest is now done. All we have to do is finish the fireplace where it will hang.

-dan

The Paul family crest for the Fox & Hounds Pub is coming along nicely. Yesterday we laid on the Coastal Enterprises primer, adding a little more texture with a small brush to the scroll, edge of the shield, crown and the letter ‘P’. This was allowed to dry before we painted the base color of a nice warm cream on the scroll and wood grain background. The shield received a metallic red. The outside border received a brown paint.

Today I added the gold to the fox & hound. Then it was time to start the first of the glazes. The shield received a purply red color. The wood and scroll got a yellowish tan for it’s first pass of glazes. Both glazes were gently wiped down to allow the under color to shine through. 

Tomorrow I’ll start in on the next glazes. working up from the lightest color to the darkest, gradually including more and more of the crest. By the time I am done it will look like it is 200 year old – just like the story we are telling. By carefully designing the project with lots of texture the painting process is relatively quick – less than two hours in total.

 – Stay tuned…

-dan

We made good progress on another of the projects at the Fox and Hounds Pub today. The archway was painted up by one crew as Bec & I worked on the fireplace. She mixed wonderful batches of concrete while I spread it on the fireplace face. After lunch we carved in the bricks. Tomorrow we’ll polish off the bottom portion and the one ‘timber’ on the right side. The other timber on the left has to wait until the temporary bar moves to it’s new permanent home. And we have to jump back to the beams above the new bar to finish the concrete work on that on Friday.

-dan