Nyquist Photography and WoodworkingAugust Update 2019
Posted on August 24, 2019
Here are a few photos of my runic woodworking projects recently as well as a sunrise on the lift bridge in Duluth, MN and an encounter with a fawn in southern MN.
I am preparing for a busy September where I will have my work for sale at the Little Falls Arts in the Park, Hutchinson Art Show, and the Norsk Høstfest in Minot North Dakota!
Woodworking and Art Show Update
Posted on June 30, 2019
I have been working on woodworking as well as photography, but haven’t posted much lately so I thought it was time for a few updates. Some of these items sold at the recent Midwest Viking Festival at the Hjemkomst museum in Moorhead, MN, but there are plenty more to come!
Fall Woodworking Update
Posted on November 12, 2018
Here are a few project updates for my new woodworking projects this year. I tried to make a few new ideas including a burning log lamp and wood sided bags. I hope you enjoy the update!
Summer Woodworking Projects
Posted on July 8, 2018
Here is a quick update of a few of my recent woodworking projects from this spring and summer. The coffee table, sofa table, jewelry box, and magnetic knife block are made from black walnut wood which my great-grandfather cut and milled decades ago from our family farm in southern Minnesota. The oak desk/breakfast table is made from live edge wood that we milled with a chainsaw from an old dead oak tree on the same farm/woodlands of our family. The interesting character to the wood is from partial rot, weather damage, and insects and makes for a very unique piece.
Red Oak Slab Table with Black Walnut Butterfly Inlay and Runic Verse from the Vǫluspá in the Old Norse Poetic Edda
Posted on November 14, 2017
This end table is made from a chainsaw cut naturally fallen oak tree from southern MN. The edges are chiseled free of bark and rot and dried for over a year. The crack which opened up during the drying process has been held together by three black walnut butterfly inlays for strength and decoration. The oak slab is mounted on raw steel legs which also brace the cracks in the wood. Around the edge is an Old Norse verse written in Elder Futhark runes from the Vǫluspá in the Poetic Edda.
The verse reads:
Vǫluspá 3
Ár var alda
þar er Ymir byggði,
vara sandr né sær
né svalar unnir,
jörð fannst æva
né upphiminn,
gap var Ginnunga,
en gras hvergi.
The Seeress´s Prophecy 3
Young were the years,
when Ymir made his settlement,
there was no sand nor sea,
nor cool waves,
earth was nowhere
nor the sky above,
chaos yawned,
grass was nowhere.
The English translations are from The Poetic Edda: A New Translation by Carolyne Larrington. Oxford University Press. 1996
ᚨᚱ ᚹᚨᚱ ᚨᛚᛞᚨ ᚦᚨᚱ ᛖᚱ ᛉᛗᛁᚱ ᛒᛉᚷᚷᚦᛁ ᚹᚨᚱᚨ ᛊᚨᚾᛞᚱ ᚾᛖ ᛊᛇᚱ ᚾᛖ ᛊᚹᚨᛚᚨᚱ ᚢᚾᚾᛁᚱ ᛃᛟᚱᚦ ᚠᚨᚾᚾᛊᛏ ᛇᚨ ᚾᛖ ᚢᛈᛈᚺᛁᛗᛁᚾᚾ ᚷᚨᛈ ᚨᚱ ᚷᛁᚾᚾᚢᚾᚷᚨ ᛖᚾ ᚷᚱᚨᛊ ᚺᛖᚱᚷᛁ
New Runic Cutting Boards
Posted on November 2, 2017
Black Walnut and Elm cutting/serving boards with Elder Futhark and Medieval Futhark Runic Inscriptions from Havamal in Old Norse.
Recent Project Updates
Posted on September 13, 2017
A few recent cutting boards and the Dala Rocking Horse which I built for my niece! Cutting Boards are Black Walnut and Elm and two include runic inscriptions of Old Norse wisdom literature from Havamal.
Lake Superior Rock and Resin Tables and Wood-Burns
Posted on September 5, 2017
In preparation for upcoming Art Shows which I will be attending this month (in Little Falls September 9-10 and Crosslake September 30th), I have just finished two additional Lake Superior Rock and Agate Resin Coffee/End Tables, one with Black Walnut wood and the other, most likely, with Cottonwood. In this post, I have also included photos of some of my fan wood-burns from LoTR and GoT inspired Minnesota.
Cutting and Serving Boards
Posted on July 13, 2017
My most recent project was to make a variety of cutting and serving boards out of black walnut, oak, and cedar. Some of these boards are charred with a blow torch in an attempt at the Japanese Shou Sugi Ban style of cedar wood charring which I also performed on oak and walnut. The charring makes the wood UV, weather, rot, and bug resistant and makes for a unique look and interesting creation process.
Two of these boards have runic inscriptions of Gnomic/Wisdom sayings from Hávamál in the Old Norse Poetic Edda. The chosen verses for these boards deal with friendship and hospitality which I thought was most fitting for something which can be used for entertaining.
The axe/cleaver styled board has a verse which translates:
34. It’s a great detour to a bad friend’s house,
even though he lives on the route;
but to a good friend’s the way lies straight,
even though he lives far off.
Afhvart mikit er til ills vinar
þótt á brautu búi
en til góðs vinar liggja gagnvegir
þótt hann sé firr farinn.
ᚨᚠᚺᚹᚨᚱᛏ ᛗᛁᚲᛁᛏ ᛖᚱ ᛏᛁᛚ ᛁᛚᛚᛊ ᛁᚾᚨᚱ ᚦᛟᛏᛏ ᚨ ᛒᚱᚨᚢᛏᚢ ᛒᚢᛁ ᛖᚾ ᛏᛁᛚ ᚷᛟᚦᛊ ᚹᛁᚾᚨᚱ ᛚᛁᚷᚷᛃᚨ ᚷᚨᚷᚾᛖᚷᛁᚱ ᚦᛟᛏᛏ ᚺᚨᚾᚾ ᛊᛖ ᚠᛁᚱᚱ ᚠᚨᚱᛁᚾᚾ
The more board shaped example has the inscription:
47. I was young once, I traveled alone,
then I found myself going astray;
rich I thought myself when I met someone else,
for man is the joy of man.
Ungr var ek fórðum fór ek einn saman
þá varð ek villr vega
auðigr þóttumsk er ek annan fann
maðr er manns gaman.
ᚢᚾᚷᚱ ᚨᚱ ᛖᚲ ᚠᛟᚱᚦᚢᛗ ᚠᛟᚱ ᛖᚲ ᛖᛁᚾᚾ ᛊᚨᛗᚨᚾ ᚦᚨ ᚹᚨᚱᚦ ᛖᚲ ᚹᛁᛚᛚᚱ ᚹᛖᚷᚨ ᚨᚢᚦᛁᚷᚱ ᚦᛟᛏᛏᚢᛗᛊᚲ ᛖᚱ ᛖᚲ ᚨᚾᚾᚨᚾ ᚠᚨᚾᚾ ᛗᚨᚦᚱ ᛖᚱ ᛗᚨᚾᚾᛊ ᚷᚨᛗᚨᚾ
The English translations are from The Poetic Edda: A New Translation by Carolyne Larrington. Oxford University Press. 1996
Floating Log LED Lamps
Posted on June 30, 2017
Black Walnut floating log lamps with multi-colored LEDs controlled with remotes. All wood from southern Minnesota.
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