Project by Mark A. DeCou | posted 05-03-2008 05:15 AM | 6868 views | 0 times favorited | 5 comments | ![]() |
![]() |
——————————————————————————————
This cane has been SOLD.
Welcome Surfers:
If you are surfing looking for a special walking cane on the internet, go toward the bottom of this posting where you’ll find a list of canes that I have built that are ready to ship immediately. Also, there are links to several more customized canes that have already been sold to give you ideas for your own commissioned cane.
You can reach me by emailing to:
[email protected]
Or you can visit the DeCou Website
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
I’ve spent a lot of time making canes over the past few years. I don’t do them full-time, but rather as fill work in my furniture commission work, and when someone commissions a new walking cane.
Whenever I have shown my canes at a show, I’m generally asked how I got started building walking canes.
The short answer is, “I thought they would be fun.”
The long answer is “Bryan’s Story.”
If they are interested in hearing more (not always), I will tell how I started making canes on the request of a nice married couple that I met on a church-building short-term mission trip to Mexico City in the early 1990’s, maybe it was 1993.
Several years after our trip together, their son-in-law was diagnosed with bone cancer. Since he was tall, and young, and didn’t want to use a cane, he conceded that if they could help him find a special one, he would use it.
So, the family started looking for a special cane without much luck, about the time that they heard from others that I had quit my corporate office job and started doing woodworking full-time. So, they contacted me after what might have been as many as 10 years, and asked me to make a unique cane for Bryan.
I had been thinking of building canes, but just hadn’t decided to do it yet. Their request was an easy answer for me, “of course I will.” So, I built a prototype cane first to figure out the process and pitfalls, and numbered it #1. Bryan’s cane is numbered #2.
Sadly, about a year later, Bryan lost his battle with bone cancer, and the family asked me to build his casket. Building his casket was another first for me, but a very honoring request to fill.
I am thankful that I was given the chance to start my cane making journey with Bryan’s cane, and his memory and the situation is a special event in my life.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Cane Sample Slideshow: To hear Music, click the Speaker Icon
————————————————————————————————————————————-
More Walking Sticks & Canes:
If you go to my Mark DeCou Website you won’t find very many canes pictured there. I do realize that I need to invest in improving my website, but until that is accomplished, here are few more of my canes posted at lumberjocks, thanks for your patience.
Handmade Finished Canes For Sale, Ready to Ship Now:
ETSY.com Online Shop Inventory: Click Here to Visit my Cane Inventory Page
Some Cane that are Unsold:- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick, Serial N0. 2009-06
- Folk-Art Carved Pirate Face Cane -Serial No. 2005-16
- Folk-Art Carved Mountain Man Face Cane -Serial No. 2006-03
- Fancy Barley Twisted Ebonized Oak & Elk Antler Cane, Serial No. 2009-05
- Rustic Natural Walking Stick, Nanny McPhee Movie Inspired, Serial No. 2009-07
- Fancy Dress Cane, Curly Ambrosia Maple Handle with Black Spiral Shaft, Serial No. 2008-21
- Fancy Dress Cane, Walnut Bamboo Inspired Shaft, Buffalo Horn Laminated Handle, Serial No. 2008-23
- Scrimshaw Artwork Walnut Cane -Serial No. 2008-08
- Red Oak/Black Lacquered Twisted Cane -Serial No. 2008-14
- Red Oak Barley Twist Walking Cane -Serial No. 2008-15
- Walnut Ball-Top Dress Cane -Serial No. 2008-06
- Walnut Cane with Chrome Ball Knob -Serial No. 2008-20
- Carved Thumbstick Hiking Sticks with Composite Malachite -Serial No. 2008-24
-
-
- Bishop’s Carved Walnut Crosier
- Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson Themed Walking Cane
- Carved Oak Leaf Walking Stick
- Folk-Art Smiling Wood Spirit Face Cane w/ Elk Antler Handle
- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick
- Folk-Art Pirate Carved Face Cane w/ Deer Antler Handle
- Cartoon Character Taz, Folk Art One-of-a-kind Art Cane
- Sculpted Wood Spirit Face Cane
- Folk-Art Wood Spirit Cane w/ Elk Antler Handle & Scrimshaw
- Folk Art Mountain Man Face Cane
- Shamrock Wood Spirit Irish-Theme Face Cane
- Walnut Wood Spirit Face Cane with Antler & Turquoise
- Collection of Face Carved Canes
- Moses-Inspired Face Carved Cane w/ Antler & Turquoise
- Shepherd's Stick, Carved Border Collie Welsh-Style Dog Show Trial Stick
- Carved Oak Leaf Walking Cane with Scrimshaw Artwork
- Amazing Grace Music Notes Carved Cane
- A Lady’s Elegant Red Long-Stem Rose Carved Cane
- Prairie Fire Hand-Carved Hiking Thumb Sticks
- A Folk-Art Carved Albatross Head & Snake Walnut Cane
- Carved Folk-Art Walking Cane; 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' Story Stick with Scrimshaw Artwork-
-
- Apache Chief Geronimo Folk-Art Face Cane
- Folk Art Native American Face Cane Set
- Apache Chief Cochise Folk-Art Face Cane
- Folk Art Carved Cane of Shoshone Chief
- Indian Guides Chief Big-Red-Cloud Hiking Stick
- Apache Chief Cochise #2 Folk-Art Face Cane
-
-
- Scrimshaw Art Trophy Buck Deer Head
- Scrimshaw Art Walking Cane: Praying Mantis Insect
- Scrimshaw Art Walking Cane: Floppy Eared Bunny Face & Walnut Barley Twist
- Big & Tall Barley Twisted Oak with Scrimshawn Handle
- Walnut & Curly Maple Cane with Scrimshaw
- Scrimshaw Art Walnut Cane
- Fancy Barley Twist with Scrimshaw Cane
- Lady's Dress Cane, Red Oak, Walnut, Black Lacquer, & Scrimshaw Artwork of a Purple Cone Flower
-
-
- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick
- Nanny McPhee Movie-Inspired Crooked Walking Stick
- Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Cane
- Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Walking Stick
- Shepherd's Crook Hiking Stick
- Black Locust Tree Sapling Walking Stick
- Red BirchTree Sapling Hiking Stick
-
-
- Fancy Barley Twisted Ebonized Oak & Elk Antler Cane, Serial No. 2009-05
- Big & Tall Walnut & Maple Barley Twist Custom Cane
- Big & Tall Red Oak and Antler with Scrimshaw Monogram
- White Oak Barley Twist Cane
- Osage Orange Barley Twist Cane
- Walnut & Figured Maple Barley Twist cane
- Black Walnut and Spalted Sycamore Barley Twist
- Red Oak Barley Twist with Black Lacquer
- Red Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Handle
- Dress Cane, Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Ring
- Bryan's Cane, The Start of my Cane Journey
-
-
- Pink Ivory and Elk Antler Dress Walking Stick
- Coiled Ribbon Twisted Spalted White Oak with Walnut Handle
- Polished Black Steer Horn Upright Walking Stick
- Mexican Bocote Wood, Elk Antler Handle with Hand-Wrought Fine Silver End Caps
- Fancy Walking Cane, Camphor Burl, Maple, Bubinga, Whitetail Deer Antler, Inlays & Silver End Caps
- Custom Dress-Up Walking Cane, Walnut shaft with a Camphor Burl Handle
- Walnut & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
- White Birch & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
- Walnut Bamboo-Style Cane with Chrome Ball Top
- Walnut & Buffalo Horn Dress Cane
- Bird's Eye Maple Cane
- Spalted Sycamore Walking Cane
- Walnut Tall Knob Top Opera Cane
- Zebrawood & Walnut Knob Top Opera Cane
- Dress Cane Set, with several Material Options Shown
-
-
What is Scrimshaw Artwork?:
A Scrimshaw Art Journey: What it is & How to Do it; Five Simple Steps to Success
-
-
-
Click here to go to My Website page with Walking Canes
- Hatman Jack’s Wichita Hat Works in Wichita, Kansas
- Hutchinson Art Center in Hutchinson, Kansas
- Prairie Past Times Antiques & Crafts in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
You can contact these gallery stores directly and see what they still have in stock. They will ship to you if you buy something. If you prefer, you can also email me, as I keep fairly current on what is “unsold.”
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Still Want to See more of my work?
Start with each of these links, and they will take you to other organized lists of my other niche products:
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
(This text, all photos, project design, are protected by copyright 2007-2009, M.A.DeCou, all rights reserved and protected, ask permission first! Weblinks to this page are permitted)
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
5 comments so far
Karson
home | projects | blog
35270 posts in 5410 days
#1 posted 05-03-2008 05:22 AM
Mark: I swear you must have elves working in the back of the shop to put out all of the work you seem to be showing lately.
They look great.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †
Mark A. DeCou
home | projects | blog
2009 posts in 5415 days
#2 posted 05-03-2008 05:39 AM
Thanks Karson. Not all of them are new canes. I’ve been trying to dig out some photos that represent the cane work I’ve done, so that others can see them when talking with me on what specifics they want in the designs of their commissioned canes. I’m tired of emailing photos over dialup, so I started posting them, and then I can refer people to them who are talking to me about a cane. This gives me a complete list of the photos I have in one website, so that folks can browse and tell me what details they like in what cane.
Sorry for the over abundance of postings, just using the versatility and ease of posting on LJ to help me out some with my “catalog.”
I think I’m on cane #30 for this year, so there have been a lot of them so far in 2008. I have commissions for three more to do right now, and I expect there will be more this year.
thanks, always good to hear from you,
M
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
Mark A. DeCou
home | projects | blog
2009 posts in 5415 days
#3 posted 05-03-2008 05:40 AM
Oh yea, forgot to mention about how much more “work” I get done when I’m not sitting all week on the computer posting stories and articles, and how-to’s, and answering forum topics. Trying to make some “hay” while I have it.
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
TedM
home | projects | blog
2002 posts in 4742 days
#4 posted 05-03-2008 12:03 PM
Thanks for sharing.
-- I'm a wood magician... I can turn fine lumber into firewood before your very eyes! - Please visit http://www.woodworkersguide.com and sign up for my project updates!
Scott Bryan
home | projects | blog
27249 posts in 4831 days
#5 posted 05-03-2008 01:31 PM
Mark,
I agree with Karson about the elves. You are one industrious woodworker. To have put out 30 canes this year as “filler” work while building furniture and taking care of everyday household chores and running a business is indeed a busy schedule. Congratulations on your organizational skills as well as your woodworking ones.
Thanks for the post.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
Have your say...