Winter/Spring 2019
Historic Commercial
—custom Build Copper bar—
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Between Dave's excellent woodworking skills, Carlos's metal fab experience and the collective communication with management and bar architect Eric Cheong, principle at North 45 Projects, we executed a gorgeous new bar flaunting a copper top and base both trimmed out with richly colored mahogany trim. In-between the copper top and the copper base reads a poem in morse code hand painted on hand made tiles. The poem is written by South Whidbey Island poet David Whyte and reads in morse code"You must learn one thing, the world was made to be free in." The tiles were hand painted by Gabi Villasenor of Mixed Needs, based in Portland, Oregon.
Photo Credit:
Courtesy Captain Whidbey
The Process:
Information about bar tile courtesy Captain Whidbey Inn Management & Mixed Needs:
This custom bar tile mural acts as an abstract map showcasing the flora and fauna that can be found near the Inn and on the island. Starting from the left side, visitors will see seashells, seagrasses and underwater life and as they move around the bar, they’ll witness the natural progression to an onshore terrestrial habitat that focuses on plants, birds and native trees. Alongside the painted imag- ery is a poem translated into morse code. The poem was written by David Whyte, a Whidbey Island based poet.
There are roughly 700 tiles total and each was handpainted then kiln fired in our studio in Portland, Oregon. Each plant or animal on the mural was first sketched in pencil then painted with mulitple blues, yellows and lilacs to create a realistic and vibrant effect against the forest green background. In the following pages, you’ll find a trans- lation guide for the morse code poem.
