12 Days of Bison Day 3: "The Chair"

Hello and Happy Saturday!

Good morning everyone, and welcome to day 3 of of our "BisonFest" 12 day celebration. I am really excited about today's offering, I think we have something exceptional that was handcrafted by someone we really love and respect.

So, this happened last night...

I just dropped mail today at the post office, we fill large mail sacks to make the hauling slightly easier... and in case we haven't met yet, I am fat and my beard is pretty white and getting kinda bushy.

As I was hauling a couple of sacks inside, a small boy.. maybe 5 years old started yelling "It's Santa! It's Santa!" and within a few seconds the postal clerks and the 27 people in line all joined in.

I might have given a good hearty "Ho Ho Ho!" on my way out.

True story.

Best of Bison: "The Chair"

This rustic rocker is made from a 44 inch 16 spoke old steel wagon wheel. I cut off all the spokes, cleaned the rocker channel and welded a flat strip down the center, and replaced the spokes. Additional spokes were cut out to use as the framing for the circle bison under the seat. The wood is repurposed hardwood, stained in black to set off the copper finish. The arms were heated and bent to the shape of bison horns. Rhonda Frasier.

I have watched Ms. Rhonda sharing the from the beginnings of this piece. She has shared the entire journey from beginning to end, it has been a dramatic rollercoaster, including breaking her foot, smashing her hand, and burning the crap out of herself while welding... and the story won't end here, someone can end up owning this amazing tribute to the American Bison.

We are going to try something different with this piece, if you are interested in owning it, we are going to have a sealed bid auction. (There is a reserve price, but I don't know what it is.)

Please send your best offer to allaboutbison@gmail.com

Also, I cannot recommend her website "All About Bison" enough, it is one of the best repositories of bison history and knowlege anywhere.... I use it for reference all the time, and find myself just wandering through the 350+ pages of interesting facts and stories.

The Beginnings:

Cut the wheel and formed the rockers and the horn detail arms:

Getting closer:

Just about finished:

A bit about Ms. Rhonda herself, from her website www.AllAboutBison.com

Rhonda Frasier Bio, she is from Texas owns and operates Frasier Bison LLC with her husband Tim. She also solely and diligently manages All About Bison ® which offers historic and contemporary information available for publishing that has grown to 350 + pages about both North American and European Bison. The web site began as a personal research journey for Rhonda and has evolved into a source of bison information sourced by researchers, students, and authors that are credited. Within the All About Bison® website is ‘The Buffalo Drum News’ which reports all the news about bison, available for republishing, across the planet monthly. The Buffalo Drum News is made up of sections for reader conveniences such as Tribal, States, Countries, Legislation, Ecological and others that identify the bison news article focus or location. She also has fun with sections such as ‘Drumin’ Up The Past’ which posts a historic article archived in All About Bison that relates to modern bison conversations happening in the news. Guest bloggers are also welcomed in the Buffalo Drum such as ‘Just Plains Funny’ and others that wish to contribute. All About Bison and its dedication to Bison information is free to readers and subscribers and is work that is its own reward in Rhonda’s view.

Rhonda has always been an animal lover and advocates regularly for the wellbeing of them to be put first by people who affect their lives. She began with dogs and horses and always wished to become a veterinarian. She has been involved with barrel racing and cutting horses and was nick-named ‘Ace’ by her husband for the calming effect she had on high-strung young horses. She raised and trained working stock-dogs and became educated and proficient in equine reproduction. Bison first came into her life with a pet named ‘Boo-Boo’ who needed rescuing, and so began her affinity for the animal. She has always taken up for the underdog, and see’s the historic circumstance of the American Bison, and sometimes some modern-day Bison, in that way. On her small Gainesville Texas ranch, you will find old horses that have earned their retirement, barn cats that don’t earn their keep but ride buffalo,Buffalo Kitty dogs that are family and of course Bison, including a herd of pretty lucky rescue-orphans. She has become very knowledgeable about rearing orphans, but with a self-imposed responsibility to them and their successful return to a herd. She is a good welder, and when she is not repairing something, she is moved to build things like the life-sized metal sculpture ‘Demise’. Demise is a metal art rendering of a mature bull based on a Frasier Bison herd sire and a bull named Mr. Big. The sculpture symbolically includes materials and pieces that represent contributions to the decline of the species during the Great Slaughter Era. She (is) All About Bison ® all the time!