I have been a fan of furniture makers Andy & Aaron Sanchez for several years now, yet I continue to be surprised by each piece of furniture that they create.  No two pieces are ever the same, and there is always a story to be told in the craftsmanship of their work.  Their contribution to the 2009 Cody High Style Show was no exception.

From Andy & Aaron’s website… “Every year for Cody High Style we get an excuse to make a piece that is truly extraordinary. This years Cody piece, featuring reclaimed Redwood burl was no exception. The bi-level coffee table named “Paseo De Plata” or, The Path of Silver, displays a colorful abalone shell representing a mountain spring lake. The lake spills over onto the lower level in the form of strung pearls. The pearls flow into another Abalone lake, which in turn spill into a stream of silver.” 

Andy & Aaron create furniture with unparalleled quality & passion. Their work will not only last for a lifetime, it will also continue to reveal new stories to your family over years of loving use.

A BIG Welcome to Andy & Aaron Sanchez as new Cactus Creek Sponsors. They have a lot of great things happening in their family and also their business. I am very proud to have them on Cactus Creek site and I look forward to sharing their stories with you.  Thanks y’all!!! xo,fancy

** Click HERE for more from Andy & Aaron Sanchez **

** Click HERE for more **
Rustic * Western * Vintage FURNITURE

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Today we are wrapping up our week-long series from Guest Blogger, Diana Friend, all about Cody High Style.  Scroll through the stories below, visit the artist’s websites, and enjoy the pictures.  These artists are the finest craftsmen {and women} creating rustic furniture, fashion and art, today.  Their contribution to the progression of Rustic design will be enjoyed for years to come.  Thanks for everything, Diana!!

Sánchez is a tall man, and greets his admirers with an invitation ‘would you like to here the story (of the piece)?’ Of course many heads turn, as he recites the tale of a bear traveling the base of the wood, but is being chased by two dogs; so the bear leaps to the next level and travels up the “trunk” of the tree with the dogs howling at its base. The bear leaps to the edge of a “cliff”, as he points out the bear tracks hanging on the edge of the “cliff”. The dogs go nuts, and the bear climbs higher trying to escape, and jumps through a knot-hole in the wood and into the cabinet. When he opens the cabinet door, the shelves are filled with large stone fetishes of bears and other wood creatures.

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As we wind up our Cody High Style series I want to give a big shout out to Guest Blogger Diana Friend for all of her hard work writing these stories while she was in Cody!!

Diana is a creative word-smith, specializing in personality profiles. She is also a horsewoman of long stature, and grew-up on the Putnam Quarter Horse Ranch, Hoyt, KS, achieving an accomplished record in the show and rodeo arenas for nearly three decades. She has recently launched her freelance business, “Lucky Shu—always creative”, and takes a limited number of projects that including event management, writer/editor, photographer, and appliqué design. She may be reached at luckyshu.df@gmail.com.  Thanks, Diana!!

More from Cody High Style…

Howkola means “welcome friends” in Lakota. Tim Lozier has been a custom furniture maker for 18 years and is a Cody native. His entry was an incredible king-sized bed featuring reclaimed wood and leather tooling by Keith Seidel, a saddle maker who has a shop on Cody’s main street. Tim’s work is one-of-a-kind but follows the Thomas Molesworth traditions with Lozier incorporating his own personal style. His goal with each piece is to create something that will be passed-on to the next generation.  Click HERE to visit Tim’s website.

Tim and Tiffany Lozier ~ Cody, Wyoming
“Spring Creek” Bed ~ $9,950
Lie down and dream of a beautiful Northfolk campus.  Juniper fence posts anchor the hand sculpted driftwood pieces that replicate the mountain view from Spring Creek.  The talented tooling of Keith Seidel brings softness to the hardscape of the wood.  Enjoy and sweet dreams.

Click HERE for one more pic…

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More from Guest Blogger, Diana Friend, as we continue the Cody High Style series…

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Guest blogger, Diana Friend, brings us more stories today from the Cody High Style event that took place in September. This one is about the man who won it all this year ~ Cody High Style Best in Show!! Congrats…

Dan McPhail sure looks like a western cowboy, with his rodeo-creased hat and faded chambray shirt and blue jeans. But when Diane Ross introduced me to Dan, I heard a twang not usually found west of the Mississippi. That is because he is a Kentucky cowboy that has been designing western antler-art accented furniture, accessories and sculptures, seven-days a week, for over 20-years.

“I had not been out west,” explains McPhail, tipping his hat to the back of his head. “So when I built my first antler chandelier, I thought I had invented the concept—boy was I disappointed when discover I hadn’t (invented antler chandeliers).”

So, even though he had not been influenced by other’s antler creations, he learned that creating each piece is “elk challenged” he strives to create something that reflects simple western design. He conquered the challenge this year with his $8500, polished-antler peduncle chaise lounge, upholstered in pale green leather {ABOVE} winning the 2008 Cody High Style Best of Show Award. Of course, he began winning design awards back in 1996.

For more beautiful antler designs from Dan visit his website HERE.

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More from Diana Friend for our Cody High Style Series…

Unique furniture and Molesworth Reproductions

Santos Furniture was the last stop on the Cody High Style Studio tour. As the trolley pulled up to the adobe-style studio, Lester greets us warmly. Looking more like a rock star than a wood craftsman, the artists dress in a form-fitting black t-shirt, stonewashed jeans, perfectly coordinated with a classic black belt and boots. He guided us to a tall stand of wood poles that leaned against the building. He explained that he goes out into the mountains to look for the wood he uses in his pieces.

Entering the studio showroom, you immediately go into sensory over-load, as your eyes gaze the neutral palate of tanned leathers, wood cabinets, tables and shelves. Warm colors from Janet Bedford paintings and woven fabric used to upholster the furniture are strategically placed around the room. The loveseat has a ribbon draped on the seat that reads “Western Design Conference – Best in Show 2008.” The leather is handpainted (Janet Bedford’s work) and the cushions are framed in re-claimed wood.

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Another stop in Cody, Wyoming from Guest Blogger, Diana Friend…

The Cody High Style Studio tour gave front porch views of the private studios of Cody’s best western artisans on a beautiful September day in Wyoming. Tour directors from the Cody Travel and Tourism department and transportation on a classic trolley set the stage to experience the settings and inspiration of these areas artists.

First stop was 15-miles outside of Cody, and down and up the narrow Hitching Post Drive to Ron and Jean Shanor’s Wildewood Furniture Studio. Built on what’s left of Buffalo Bill’s original homestead, the shop is an artistic endeavor, made out of straw bales covered with concrete that they built themselves. With an R70 insulating factor, they also built their home and their parents’ home using straw bales construction technique.

Listening to Ron as he explains his home and his work proves he is part engineer, scientist, architect as well as artist. We were welcomed into the studio filled with wood, lumber, tools and furniture in various stages of completion. He talks about how he selects and gathers the right pieces of wood for projects during the summer and works inside during the Wyoming winters. He also shares that his work is his passion, and is always learning new techniques, like creating wood inlays. He passes around a scroll-saw blade that is so fine, I could barely see it without my glasses! He then proceeded to use the blade to cut-out a steer head from quarter-inch panels of maple, black walnut and zebra wood stacked together—cutting carefully, then taking them apart to create an inlay piece from popping the horns from one piece, the head from another, into the framing block.

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Continuing our Cody High Style series ~ from Guest Blogger, Diana Friend…

I met Steve Reynolds at the Style West Trade show and I must say his grandfather clocks give a whole new meaning to recycle.

Contact Steve HERE for more information.

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Here is another story in our Cody High Style Series with Guest Blogger Diana Friend… these boots from Lisa Sorrell are stunning and her website is superb.  Enjoy!!

The things mother’s teach daughters can open the doors to a fabulous career, as is the case for Lisa Sorrell. As a young girl, Lisa’s mom taught her to sew, a skill that became helpful when she married and moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma. Lisa saw a newspaper ad for a job sewing boots. She got the job, and ended up as an apprentice to the bootmaker and learned how to make custom boots.

A one-woman shop, each pair of boots begins with Lisa personally measuring and discussing her client’s needs and design ideas. The tools and time-honored craftsmanship take about 18-months to complete and deliver each pair. She produces about three-pair of boots each month.

A Master Bootmaker since 2005, she has won the Master’s Division of the boot contest at the Boot and Saddlemaker’s Roundup. Her work has also been featured in Tyler Beard’s books, Art of the Boot and Cowboy Boots, and in Jennifer June’s book Cowboy Boots: The Art and Sole.

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