Shiver me timbers

A hand crafted Cornish driftwood sign with the caption “Shiver me Timbers!”, which has been hand painted using waterproof ink markers. The original phrase “Shiver me timbers" is an exclamation in the form of a mock oath usually attributed to the speech of pirates in works of fiction. It is employed as a literary device by authors to express shock, surprise, or annoyance. I draw the lettering by hand in pencil and when happy with the completed lettering, it is scanned and then re-traced and vectorised in Adobe Illustrator.

The traced artwork is then superimposed on to the wood, using carbon transfer paper. The driftwood sign comes complete with brass eyelets and a white macramé rope tied at both ends with a fisherman’s knot so the sign can be hung from anywhere! These can be easily removed if required and fixed from the reverse side. The driftwood featured in this product was found on Praa (pronounced 'Pray') beach near Penzance in South West Cornwall, up against the cliffs at Hendra following a storm.

The wood itself has been bleached in a large bleaching tank for two days and then rinsed and then left to dry naturally before being slightly sanded to avoid injury from splinters or rough edges. The sign is then painted with a pale blue wash with exterior matt emulsion and when dry two coats of exterior varnish are then applied should the sign be hung or displayed outdoors.
The origins of some of the sea fairing phrases I use in my work can be found here:
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/navigation/nautical-terms.html