Craftsman’s art flags inspire as “Burnt Glory”

BREWSTER – Anyone walking into the Harvest Bazaar at the Brewster-Pateros-Bridgeport Senior Center last Saturday, Nov. 2, could not miss the large display just inside the door of colorful American flags fashioned and finished from wood.

When Chelan craftsman and Navy veteran Gary Rittenmeyer first saw one hanging in his friend’s shop a while back, his immediate thought was, “I can make one of those.”

Since then, Rittenmeyer has made 114 of the eye-catching wooden flag works of art and sold about 80. 

“I gave the first five away to friends,” said Rittenmeyer. “I was asked to donate one to a local fundraising auction, and it sold for $250.”

Rittenmeyer has donated a half dozen to fundraising causes, and they sold for an average price of $250. Now, he sells them for anywhere from $160 to $225.

Rittenmeyer said some buyers might balk at the $200 sale tag, but he is not getting rich off that price.

“With time and materials, if I sell one for $200, I make $12,” Rittenmeyer said.

That is easy to understand the small margin when he describes the process that goes into making one:

Flag stripes are cut and ripped to length and width, burned with a torch, dyed, and attached together with braces. A border is added next, then the stars glued on using a template. Coats of boat varnish are applied to front and back and a 20 lb. test wire hander added.

This brief description does not include a near-page full of individual steps required to cut, fit, and finish each piece of wood that makes a completed piece. Rittenmeyer said he uses various grades of lumber, from finished pine to barn boards, pallets, fence wood, and other repurposed materials.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media