My first granite table

My first granite experience was in the solid surface counter top shop and Ken took over the business from my Uncle Mark and their other partner Bill. Ken decided to expand the business by offering Granite as well as Solid Surface which was called Durastone, (like Corian), a product that we made. One of the first things I learned about Granite was how easy it was to polish it and then I learned to cut and fabricate it. I took to it like a duck to water and started making my own little pieces of granite art. Fabian was the name of the man who came into the business to teach us how to fabricate granite and he was the primary fabricator of the granite and I was the fabricator of the Solid Surface, but I learned all the same and one day Fabian cut out this little round sink hole for one of the coolest under mount stainless steel bar sinks I've seen! The Granite leftover from the cut out is called Baltic Brown and it measures about 12 inches wide. I got this idea to turn it into a small table and I wanted to make it a little unusual! I wanted to glue on a 2nd layer of stone, but it was a different color. Fabian had trouble with it in the first place. He told me not to mix colors by saying, "we put joints in stone to hide them by using the same color of stone" and I replied by saying, "it's stone, you can see it, so what does it matter!" So I made what was in my mind and got the respect of Fabian anyway, because he said it looked cool!


The leg of this table is a branch from a Cherry Tree that I got from Carl, a good friend of mine. I was looking for something like this branch and Carl's father had just cut some of his tree's, so I went and chose a nice piece. The base is made out of Solid Surface and I had to pour it around the branch in stages, meaning that I couldn't pour it all at once, because of how thick it was going to be. Solid Surface is a man made material basically a plastic and when the Catalyst is mixed in, it causes a reaction to harden it and the reaction causes heat. It would have warped with the thickness of the base. It still warped a little and sits better on carpet rather than a hard surface. It is 25" tall and weighs 30 Lbs. The top is 11.5 " wide and the base is 18.5 at it's widest point(s).

A few weeks after I made this interesting table, our sink supplier saw it and wanted to show his friend. His friend had a store in Park City and he sold furniture but nothing like this. I didn't want to let him take it so I took a picture and gave it to him to show his friend. A week later, I received word that he had sold my table for a handsome sum! Shocking was more like it!! I was completely and utterly shocked when he told me it was selling for 10 grand and from a picture no less in a week!!! I was amazed! I was also amazed when I found out what I was going to get out of it, a mere $3,000 and I even spent 59 hours of my life making it, (It was my first, and it took some time to figure things out, it doesn't take nearly that kind of time anymore), but I was shocked that I was only going to get 30%, so I told them no and kept it. I have been called foolish and stupid for that decision, but I think that I would have been more foolish to have let it go and to be taken for every other piece that I've made since. I haven't sold any of them and sometimes wonder if I made the right decision, but I know that I did. I'm not that dumb. I have done my research and most middle men and/or sellers only make a commission of 25 to 40% not 70%. I know that I made the right decision and I would be more than happy to sell my work, but not to be taken for someone else's benefit.
What you see, is what I saw and each thing I've ever made, was a visual picture in my mind. I know that I have some kind of talent and I hope that it can help Amy and I out in the near future. I love what I can do with a piece of rock. I'm thankful for the talents that our Heavenly Father has given me and I hope that it gives others as much joy as I get from it. I am going to tell of each of my pieces one by one and as I finish one to the next, I'll be trying to sell them as well. We're going to sell this one, or at least give it a try, on ebay this week. I'm going to start it at that mere $3,000 and see what happens. I was also told of a place in Salt Lake that specializes in local artists work, so I will probably give that a try to too!

This is what it looks like in our house.