Mary Poppins Weather Vane at Disneyland

We just recently received photos from our nephew, Todd, and his wife, Jacki, who made a trip to Disneyland with their niece and nephew. We mentioned that we had a Mary Poppins Weather Vane on display on Main Street and if they saw it, would they take pictures and send them to us. This they did and I have attached them here. Mary Poppins Weather Vane

Chinese Zodiac Weathervane Webpage

Here at West Coast Weather Vanes, we have started to develop Themed Weathervane webpages to better assist our customers in selecting the right weathervane for their unique lifestyle. Over the years, we have discovered that most people choose a weathervane based on their interests or passions. With over 700 unique West Coast Weather Vanes designs from which to choose, this can make the selection process somewhat challenging. 

To assist prospective customers in finding the perfect weathervane, we've started grouping together some of our weathervane designs according to particular interests to help get our visitor's creative juices flowing. This has been a fun process for us as well as we've discovered new ways to think about our own work as well.

Our newest Themed Webpage is based on the Animals in the Chinese Zodiac. In doing the research for this new webpage, I learned a number of interesting things about this age old tradition. Please check out our new webpage and let us know what you think: Chinese Zodiac Weather Vanes.

To date, here are links to come of our other Themed Weather Vane pages:

Astronomy Weathervanes

Sports Weather Vanes

Storybook and Literary Weathervanes

Commemorative Weathervanes

Special Holiday Weathervanes

Plant Themed Weathervanes

Sailboat Weather Vanes

Wine and Viticulture Weather Vanes

Some of the pages we plan to add in the future include Endangered Species weather vanes, Desert and Southwestern Themed vanes, Northwestern weathervanes, Southern State weathervanes, Gardening vanes and Bird Watching weathervanes.

Please let us know what you think of these pages and if you have any suggestions for Themed Pages we can add in the future.

Scary Cat Weather Vane

Scary Cat Weathervane. For those who like their cats scary, here is a new weathervane design for you! Our customer for this weathervane opted for us to give the cat red glass eyes and then added optional red glass globes to complement it. Needless to say, he is a big fan of Halloween, not to mention cats!

 

Moon & Stars Weathervane (aka the Man In the Moon weathervane)

This Moon and Stars weathervane was made for a couple in Los Angeles. They had just completed a landscaping remodel which incorporated a new river rock stairway. We made their Moon vane with optional gold leafed stars and the streaks in the comet’s tail. They selected light topaz translucent glass jewels for the Man In the Moon’s eyes.

Our customers also sent us this photo which captures the Man in the Moon smiling approvingly at the lovely rainbow.

Squirrel Weather Vane customer photos

We recently received some photos by a customer of ours in Southern California. They have one of our medium sized (two foot sculpture piece) Squirrel weathervanes. They placed it a top a two car garage in a lovely garden setting.

There weathervane was made in traditional copper with optional gold leafed accents to match the creamy markings on the squirrel's underside and the body of the acorn. This squirrel also has brown glass eyes with black pupils to give it a more animated appearance.

Radio Talk on KZSC

If you'd like to hear my recent interview on "Artists on Art " with Nada Miljkovic, it is now posted on her website. In it, I talk a bit about our work here at West Coast Weather Vanes and talk about the upcoming Three Cups of Tea Santa Cruz fundraiser. Hint: if you skip to minute 2:45 in the interview, you'll miss some of the of the general announcements, etc. that precede it.

Mary Poppins Weathervane - Some new photos

We just received in some photos of a Mary Poppins weathervane we made for a customer in Southern California. The vane was made as a Christmas Gift for his wife and was mounted on top of a second story deck. We made this Mary Poppins weather vane with translucent glass eyes and gold leafed accents.  

This is a medium (two-foot sculpture piece) weathervane. Here you can see a shot of it from the driveway.

Here are a few more photos of her, showing some details on her face & hat, shoes and carpet bag.

Stagecoach Weathervane - Work in Progress Photos

We are currently working on a major weathervane project. It is a six-foot long Stagecoach weathervane. It consists of two teams of horses, a Butterfield stagecoach, a driver and a guard riding shotgun and a landscape feature. The entire weathervane will take more than two months to build, polish and gild. Here are some work in progress photos. 

In this photo to your left, you can see some of the individual components of the stagecoach.
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In the next image you can see the interior of the carriage. The seats add rigidity and strength to the design

Here is a photo of one of the four horses that will make up the teams pulling the stagecoach.

These two photos show the stagecoach completed and ready to install onto the landscape feature.

Rabbit Weathervane Holding Carrots

Here are some photos a customer in Virginia sent us of their Rabbit Holding Carrots weathervane. They built a charming new two car garage with a cupola and wanted to put a Rabbit weathervane on top of it. They found our website online and placed their order with us to make it for them. The cupola has a nice standing seam copper roof on it which is a nice complement to the weathervane itself.

If you look closely you can see the light they installed on the roof to illuminate it at night. Night lights are nice because they allow you to enjoy your weathervane night or day. This particular weathervane was made in a combination of copper and brass (the rabbit's ears, cotton tail and the carrots are brass, the rabbit's body and the fronds on top of the carrots are copper). If optional gold leaf is added to the weathervane, it really catches the light at night and draws your eye towards the weathervane.

It is always a treat when a customer takes the time to send us photos of their installed weathervane as we so rarely get to see them once they leave the studio.

For more info, please visit our Rabbit Holding Carrots weathervane page at the West Coast Weather Vanes website. You can also give us a call at (831) 425-5505.

Three Cups of Tea Weathervane

 West Coast Weather Vanes is participating in an exciting fundraiser in support of the Central Asia Institute, a nonprofit organization founded by Greg Mortenson, the author of the acclaimed book, "Three Cups of Tea". Proceeds go to support community based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

We have created an exclusive custom copper weathervane especially for this event.  

The word TEA and the trim lines on the tea pot and teacups have been gilded with 23 carat gold; a tradition that first became popular in the Victorian Age. The gold will stay a light golden color as the copper patinas first a deep chocolate brown color and then eventually a beautiful turquoise green (like the Statue of Liberty). The “steam” in each cup is nickel silver and rests on an independent pivot, allowing them to turn independently in the wind, along with the teapot. Each saucer has a part of the lovely saying quoted in Greg Mortenson’s book, “Three Cups of Tea”, stamped into it.

THE FIRST CUP OF TEA, YOU’RE A STRANGER

THE SECOND CUP OF TEA, YOU’RE A FRIEND

THE THIRD CUP OF TEA, YOU’RE FAMILY

This weathervane is valued at $1495. Bidding for the weathervane will start at $600. Online bidding begins on January 25, 2010. The opportunity to bid on this weathervane and other lovely handcrafted items is open to everyone. For more information on the event and how you can participate in it, please click on this link: Three Cups of Tea Fundraiser

So, if you are looking for a West Coast Weather Vanes at a special price, this may be your chance. If you have any questions about this or any of our other weathervanes, please feel free to email us at info@westcoastweathervanes.com or give us a call at (831) 425-5505. 

Other organizations we support are the USO (United Service Organizations) and Doctors Without Borders.

Carousel Horse Weather Vane Update

Here is an update on my post dated October 22, 2009. The Carousel Horse has now been completed and I wanted to post some photos of it here. We are really happy with the way it turned out!

For more details here is a link to the webpage for this weathervane. Carousel Horse Weathervane

Porsche Carrera Weathervane

Porsche Carrera Weathervane - New weathervane design

Our Porsche Carrera weathervane was originally commissioned by a customer in Tennessee in 2008.He was building a new four car garage, affectionately dubbed “Garaj Mahal” with a 42” square cupola on top (see photos). We made the copper sculpture piece as a silhouette style weathervane in the medium size (two-foot sculpture piece) and we added optional gold leaf for the tail and side lights and palladium deaf on the door handles, hubcaps, headlightws, back bumper and side support. 

Our customer was kind enough to send us a great set of photos of his weathervane, taken at different times of the year, atop his new garage.

 

I particularly like the photo with the brilliant red Cardinal perched on the weathervane, regally surveying its domain!

For more information, please visit the webpage for this weathervane: Porsche Carrera Weathervane

National Association of Independent Artists article featuring West Coast Weather Vanes

We recently had a nice article written about West Coast Weather Vanes in the National Association of Independent Artists’ Fall 2009 newsletter. This excellent organization exists to support, publicize and educate artists who make their livings independently, primarily via Arts and Crafts Shows around the country. West Coast Weather Vanes was an active participant in this venue for the first twelve years of our existence. With the development of our website we were gradually able to transition away from art and craft shows to the internet as our primary means of reaching our customers. However, we still hold a warm spot in our hearts for these shows and the many friends we made over the years doing them. If you are a newly emerging artist or craftsperson, or even a practicing artist in need of new horizons, please check out this wonderful organization.Link to entire NAIA article

Godzilla Weathervane

We had a lot of fun working on this Godzilla weathervane project. This weathervane was originally commissioned by a big Godzilla fan. His Godzilla weather vane went a top a cupola on a new barn he was building.

To create the design, we incorporated some of Godzilla’s most well known features. First, Godzillais a daikaijū, a fictional Japanese giant monster. We made our Godzilla with a slightly modified head and lower body of a Tyrannosaurus, a triple row of dorsal plates somewhat reminiscent of a Stegosaurus, the neck and forearms of Iguanodon and a tail and skin texture similar to a crocodile. Godzilla was originally believed by many to be green and is frequent depicted in artwork and film this way. Because copper patinas green over time, our Godzilla weathervane will eventually take on his ideal coloration.

Our customer opted for optional gold leaf to enhance his appearance. In the Godzilla depicted here, we gilded parts of his atomic flames, teeth, belly, parts of his dorsal plates, claws and toes as well as sections of the arrow tip.

Because we make each weathervane sculpture piece to individual order, our customers can order an all copper Godzilla or pick and choose which parts of the weathervane they would like leafed with gold and/or palladium leaf. 

Standing Donkey Weathervane - New customer photos

We recently received some nice photos of our Standing Donkey weathervane from a customer in Southern California. They built a new 900 square foot barn with a steeply pitched roof and cupola. They selected the Standing Donkey weather vane in part because of the book, “Sylvester & The Magic Pebble by William Steig (for which he won a 1970 Caldecott Medal). It was their daughter’s favorite book. 

  

Carousel Horse Weather Vane

The Carousel Horse weathervane is a new weathervane design about which we are particularly excited.

It was commissioned to go atop the Silver Beach Carousel Society’s new Carousel in St. Joseph, Michigan. While it can be made as an all copper weathervane (see drawing), we are adding optional gold leaf and palladium leaf to make it truly extraordinary (see drawing).

The horse has translucent glass jewels for its eyes and in its armor. I’ve enclosed several photos of this weathervane as it was being made so you can get a feel for the artistry that goes into such a weathervane’s construction. When the gilding is done I will post some more photos.

Because of the complexity of this project, two of our senior journeyman weathervane makers worked on the Carousel Horse's construction. Here is a photo of Victor shaping one of the horse's legs.

Here are the two halves of the horse's head. The hand shaping of a weathervane is where a true master of the craft can showcase his or her skills. All this shaping is done with rawhide hammers over oak posts. No molds are used. Because of this, no two weathervanes, even when made by the same craftsman, will ever be exactly alike.

Thomas had the task of making the horse's armor. Here you can see several of the pieces he has completed. There are individual glass jewels of different colors ornamenting the armor.

In this photo, Thomas is fitting pieces of armor to the horse's body. In this photo you can see the different colored glass jewels more clearly.

This final photo in the sequence shows Thomas and Victor with the completed carousel horse weathervane. The next step will be to polish it  and start adding the gold and palladium leaf. I'll be sure and post photos once that process is completed.

What might we be missing?

When I first read this story, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Perhaps it will get you thinking too. I don’t have an attribution for it but the Washington Post is cited in the article.

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. 

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days earlier, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

The questions raised: 

1.         In an unexpected environment, can we perceive beauty? 

2.         Do we stop to appreciate it?  

3.         Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . . How many other things are we missing?

Fiddler on the Roof Weathervane 

Welcome to West Coast Weather Vanes

Welcome to our West Coast Weather Vanes blog. My name is LizAnne Jensen, and together with my husband, Ken, have been creating custom copper weathervanes for over 21 years. This blog will showcase some of our latest designs, share photos of our weathervanes on some of our customer's homes and businesses and share other interesting weathervane facts, stories and observations.