This blog shows the folkart I make, my reproduction furniture and other projects. My studio/shop is in my backyard. It's a couple of miles off the main road in West Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada. When you come to visit make sure you see – the "Olde Times" Garden House Museum; Grandma's Attic; the Furniture Box; Grampa's Loft (antiques, old doors, etc. in my Dad’s old barn loft); and my World's Largest Egg Beater, certified by Guinness World Records.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Stained Glass Window - great room divider

    I picked up this stain glass window yesterday it was in two pices so i add two pices of bed frames for the sides. And add four steel bracket i had on hand. Could be used for a wall divider in a room its 38" by 72".

Horse & Pig home for the Winter

    My horse and pig came home last week from the summer over at Kingsbrae Gardens at St. Andrews by the Sea, N.B.
     The horse and pig are for sale.  same too for the wagon wheels aginst the shop.
See earlier post in this blog...

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Lots more new stuff

     Was on a pick this morning done alright. As you can see had a wild load on.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Whale bone stool

     I have this stool sold but thought I would show yas anyway. the top is a whale bone vertabrae. the base I used a milk separator bowl.  I painted it so that it looks like the ocean.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Rustic Frames

     Here are some photos of the rustic frames iI made.  I have different colors to match your art or picture.
Here's my frame price list.
Here's my frame workshop and storage room.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Father of folk art carved out legacy - Lloyd Oliver

     This article appears in this week's West Prince Graphic http://peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/publication/father_folk_art_carves_out_legacy
Lloyd Oliver with his popular goose decoys.
Tue, 09/10/2013 - 15:19
By Zack Metcalfe / zack@peicanada.com
     The late Lloyd Oliver has been called the father of folk art on PEI, and to this day people who knew him agree the title is deserving.
     “I think he was an inspiration to others,” said Mr Oliver’s younger sister Pearl Bell. “I really do, because he’d just take a telephone pole or something and saw it up into blocks. You’d just see a piece of wood one day, and the next day he’d have it all done.”
     Ms Bell said her brother built himself a home in Winsloe, PEI, and there proceeded to fill his front yard with his folk art, primarily carvings of birds. There he made a name for himself. For the most part his work was appreciated, but Ms Bell said not everyone was impressed. 
     “He carved mostly wild geese,” said Ms Bell. “Some people thought it was great, but the people in the community didn’t think it was great, because they weren’t used to seeing someone’s front lawn covered in carved geese. He must have done thousands of pieces. It passed the time for him. He had to be busy.”
     And Mr Oliver was a busy man. 
     As Ms Bell recounts, Lloyd began with taxidermy in his teenage years, growing up near Huntley. He fixed up an old chicken coop and used it as his work shop. People would bring him animal skins, and he’d put his sewing machine to work. He later found work as an electrician, a plumber, a mechanic, and finally he went to Red Deer, Alberta to become a minister, later spent time in St John, New Brunswick as an ordained minister. Ms Bell thinks it was when he moved to Charlottetown later on, becoming semiretired, that his carving really flourished. From there he moved to Winsloe.
      “He started in the 70s I guess,” said popular Island folk artist Karras Jeffery, who owns and operates of Back Road Folk Art. “Before that, people just did folk art for the hell of it. No one really sold anything, or there was no market to sell folk art. When Lloyd started carving, there was a market for it. He was one of the first people who sold some stuff.”
Mr Jeffery knew Lloyd for 12 years. Mr Jeffery makes a living from collecting “junk” and putting it to artistic use. He said Mr Oliver always had plenty of junk at his home, and Mr Jeffery often bought from Lloyd. They would take the time to talk about their common crafts.
     “He sold a lot of stuff,” said Mr Jeffery, referring to Mr Oliver’s success with marketing his folk art. “He was in Winsloe, and there’s a lot of traffic there. I don’t know how many decoys he had in his front yard; it was unreal.”
     When Mr Oliver passed, Mr Jeffery collected some of his work and created a display at Back Yard Folk Art. The collection includes signs, old articles written about Lloyd, pictures, and even some of his carvings.
     “I didn’t want him to be forgotten, and like I said, I like his stuff,” said Mr Jeffery. “I thought I’d buy his stuff and display it so it doesn’t become lost.”
     To this day, Mr Oliver’s carvings can be seen on eBay, the sellers asking for $5,000 in some cases, said Ms Bell. She said Mr Oliver moved to Inverness from Winsloe, and again continued his folk art.
     “He was brilliant,” said Ms Bell. “He could talk to anyone about anything...anything from religion to plumbing. He loved to talk to people. Everybody loved him. He was kind hearted. You couldn’t help but be kind to him.”
     She said he made an impression on people even without his folk art. He was installing plumbing and doing electrical work in West Prince before either services were commonplace. He would help people, and be understanding if they couldn’t pay him right away for his work. Ms Bell was told by people at the funeral home Lloyd’s funeral was one of the largest they’ve ever hosted.
     “I think he had a wonderful legacy,’ said Ms Bell. “When people hear I was Lloyd’s sister, they say, ‘oh he put our furnace in! He put our lights in!’ and they all thought the world of him. He was a great brother.”
     Lloyd Oliver passed away Friday, July 12 of this year at the age of 90.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Coffee & End Tables

Coffee table has a steel man hole cover in the center of it.  43"x43".  asking $525
 End tables or night stands 21"x21".  asking $340 for the set

New table for my deck

over the past couple weeks i built this table for my deck.  it ways about 600 pounds
so when i decided to make a durible deck table i went shopping at D&M Tools ( Dennis Gallant http://www.dmtool.com/ ) thru his scrap yard.  i came up with 2"x7" hollow steel strapping planks for the top and welded them together.  the legs are 15 year old potato cultivaters. heavy!
the ice bucket is a aluminum pale
 the new handrail on my deck are 2 old pumps

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

old style vanity

     here's a vanity i made last week.  i'm askin $785 each. sink not included (thats a fake sink)
the round mirror is reflecting stuff in my shop. its not a folk art painting

Monday, September 9, 2013

New kitchen in old style, Malpeque Cottage

     last week i put in this kitchen at a new cottage in Malpeque.  i built it in my shop. then installed it onsite.
 the corner cupboard (aka. pie safe) is made from and old spring mattress
 see the compost pale and stove cover on top of counter to get to it.
 the island has the sink and dishwasher

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Backroad Folkart on Canadian Pickers in November

This article appears today in West Prince Graphic http://peicanada.com/west_prince_graphic/publication/local_artist_gets_noticed_loretta
Thanks to folks at West Prince Graphic for the coverage...its very much appreciated!
Local artist gets noticed in Lauretta

peicanada.com -
Wed, 09/04/2013 - 05:15
By Cindy Chant
cindy@peicanada.com
For one local artist and ‘picker’, Kerras Jeffery, owner and operator of Back Road Folk Art, having a popular television show film at his studio was a bit of a surprise. Film crew and television hosts of Canadian Pickers visited Mr Jeffery’s unique shop in May, but the show will soon hit television waves this fall.
“I was really surprised what they were interested in and what they were not,” said Mr Jeffery, who explained how much of his furniture was not of interest to the Pickers due to the different climate in PEI compared to Alberta. “Because it is more damp here and very dry in Alberta the furniture would twist and turn so they were really interested in the antiques and folk art.”
According to Mr Jeffery, the production crew arrived on his doorstep at 9am and didn’t leave till 5pm. “I told the producer that this was only two thirds of what I have, but unfortunately they didn’t have time to see it all.”
Ten locations were visited prior to filming by scouts from the show and only three locations were used for filming.
“We were told of Back Road Folk Art, and indeed it is located on the road less travelled. I knew the trip was going to be worthwhile when we spotted a colourful tree of fishing floats from the road,” said one of the two hosts Sheldon Smithens. “We had a good chuckle at the giant egg beater in the yard.”
In 2004 Mr Jeffery built the world’s largest hand-held egg beater, which stands 14 feet, four inches tall. The egg beater was recognized a year later from Guinness World Records.
“I enjoyed the wheeling and dealing we did...I am a picker myself,” said Mr Jeffery, who accredits his travels and keeping his ears open as being the reason for his grand selection of antiques.
“We met the proprietor, Kerras Jeffery and he proceed to show us around his organized workshop...This guy is a master woodworker and that’s not all, he showed us an amazing assortment of bric-a-brac and odd bits and pieces that he accumulates on shelves. He then re-purposes them into odd and often humorous Folk Art pieces,” said Mr Smithens. “The ‘button windows’ he invented are simply beautiful, and ingenious.”
Mr Jeffery has not let the popularity go to his head. “The exposure is great.”
“Meeting someone as creative as Kerras makes this ‘treasure hunt’ so much fun.” said Mr Smithens.
The series premiered it’s new season Aug 26 on the History channel, however the show featuring Mr Jeffery will not be aired until later in November.