Well, then, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Still Not Dead

Also, still not finished with that project. Today might be the day, though. I think it's just down to fixing in those last 8 pieces of glass. You know, the ones that don't fit anymore? because the wood changed size due to moisture content, or paint, or whatever? Yeah. Those. Anyway. That.

So.

While I'm all busy cursing about that, I'll leave you with this. In Vienna, Austria last week, there was lots of art-boggling, and a purchase was made of a fine art print from Michael Ferner. This is my second M. Ferner print, the first being the two koi print from back in January.

I am now going to point you to his web site. If you do nothing else, simply reload his front page over and over, because the images there are gorgeous. The dragons, the bamboo, the seahorses, the owl. These are some of my favorites.


This is a tiny image (from his site) of the print we bought in Wien last week. Never bought a print with a pedigree before! The print itself is largish, for us, anyway, 70cm X 150cm. It's going to look very, very cool hanging in our Laubengang, which is a long hallway thing, paneled entirely in wood, with windows and doors along both sides.

Waiting For Glue To Dry

Since I'm waiting for glue to dry in a non-euphemistic, non-metaphorical way, I thought I'd muse on some of the lessons I've learned from this project. It's not over, but since I just bribed myself to work on with an offer of a trip to the office supply if I finish it today, it must be close ('cause it's back to school sales time, squee!)...

One thing I've learned is, this is probably a prototype. I didn't start with a plan, I started with some nice plywood from the 50¢ scrap bin at the hardware store, and some shards of glass I'd painstakingly removed from a broken window here in the apartment. I had many different ideas along the way, and it moved forward very haltingly. And slowly. Part of the slowness was not actually knowing what came next, and having to have a good long think about that. I think the longest was almost a month.

If I had to build it again, by drawing a plan from what I've got now, and making a shopping list, and doing this like a proper project.... it'd most likely be a weekend project, or even just a day project, depending on what I chose to finish the wood / materials. I may test this bold claim. The closer it is to finished, the more sure I am that I can do better, faster, and with greater satisfaction at the end. I can't really 'save' this one, but I could go for a mulligan and be happy with what I get out of it. What I can't do it for is cheaper – this one is constructed almost entirely out of stuff I already had on hand, or clearance bin items. The only things I paid full price for were hardware (hinges, knob, latch).

Another thing I (re)learned is that prototypes are totally worth it. Although maybe next time I should do it in cardboard or something. In art we call that a maquette, or a 'mock up' if we're not being pretentious art school dorks.

In no particular order, further learned things:

• cut the glass first, cut the holes for the glass after
• hot glue does NOT work like caulking (don't ask)
• slate is surprisingly hard to find
• have a variety of fastening hardware on hand
• there's a reason some kinds of hardware come in a minimum of 100 quantity
• sand before sawing, between coats of paint, and after pulling the splinter out
• if you think something will make a good picture, it probably will
• measuring is not just for chumps
• a project that won't end is hugely inspirational - I'm FULL of other ideas now!
• cheap wood clamps are even worse than you think they'll be

Perhaps the most painful part of all this were the times I didn't have the right tool for something. Doing projects without a fully equipped shop can be fun, especially when you manage to work around a tool or process. A person can feel quite clever when Making Do. (See my contour gauge a few posts back...) but... it's those times when I'm mis-using a tool that I feel like ass. When I'm using a tool for something it was simply not intended for, and I know it. Or when I know without doubt that the problem I have can ONLY be solved by having the right tool, which I can't afford at the moment. Or that the problem I have can ONLY be solved by having a quality example of the right tool, which isn't in the stars at the moment. Those times are a bit frustrating.

Today's Time, As Distance

Today I replaced some set screws on my scroll saw, and set about cutting several meters of wobbly line into a one meter flap of hard wood.

It was kind of fun.

Tomorrow... less fun stuff. Finishing-up stuff. I spent way too much time today trying to get sticker glue off the hinges. And make the hinge screws work. The problem? They're a bit too long. Meh.

I say finishing-up stuff, as if I think I might finish this sumbitch some day.

A girl can dream, right?

Shotgun Updating

Check me out, two posts in one month! It's starting to get crazy around here!

The formatting on these pictures is going to make me nuts if I goof around with it. So I'm not. Here's the rundown.

Couple sheets of paper with barely visible sketches... sketches for my next couple of projects. Hopefully those projects will be visible.

Bunch o' sticks.... if you can guess what tool I made there, you win a prize!* Double prize if you can guess whether it worked or not.

The re-do on the frame / edge. It took much less time than the first time, and is a thousand times better, but I'm still cross to have had to re-do it. Ahh, well. Live and learn. And re-do crap sometimes.

Quick watercolor painting to test out a brush brought from Beijing by a friend who visited there recently. That sucker can lay down some SERIOUS paint! Highly diggable. It will be my go-to brush of choice for watercolor tidal waves.










224214152 - sorry I didn't answer your question sooner, more pictures to come... behind the windows are pigeon holes.... square openings (16cm I think, a bit deeper than that?).

There will be more pictures when I have the front panel opening and closing and stuff.

Yes.





* There is no prize.

Polar Expedition Thought Lost Heard From At Last!

New Fixation - Fyodor Shekhtel

Fyodor Shekhtel
Originally uploaded by Igor Palmin

Russian architect / designer. This is Art Nouveau at its finest. It makes me sigh.

What's cooler than flowers?

vlashton-2110263280_rectified
Originally uploaded by golanlevin

Flowers that have been made, the way the mafia can make someone.

Check out this Flickr set. It's flowers that have been unrolled through the magic of a custom software built just for that purpose.Some of them are very, very nifty landscapes. Most of them are still clearly recognizable as flowers. All of them are very striking images. I think you'll like this stuff.

How These Things Begin (sort of)

Here's my sketch for the 16 windows of the
previous few posts. It's kind of similar, and
kind of ... gestural. Doing the drawing functioned more to give me the sense of what kind of lines I wanted the frames to have, than to give me the precise shapes for each of the 16 windows.

In some ways this stuff would all be easier if I were the type to plan my projects out to the last and tiniest detail before beginning to execute, but I have tried that in the past, and invariably been horribly, horribly frustrated. Because when I plan that way, I give myself no leeway for adapting to the unexpected. Materials or processes that don't work out quite as planned. When I do that much planning, I damn well expect it to work out like that!

On the other hand, when I do it this looser way, just kind of rolling with the ideas as they come, I tend to change course a bit *too* much, whether things are working or not, and I tend to waste time and effort and often materials. In this method, I have to be very careful to set firm deadlines and I have to set budget limitations, material limitations, and lock down how many changes I let myself make along the way. Project managing, basically. That turns into a tough line to toe, because it wars with my desire not to stifle creative urges. (The alternative being, frustration because my creative urges make it flat out impossible to get anything done, ever.)

If at first you fail, try, try again...

Tried to post this four times yesterday, and somehow the post got wiped out four times. Finally I gave up and took a little nap instead. I'm sure you understand!

What you see here are two panels of wood with sixteen different shaped holes cut in them. Each hole has a corresponding glass piece, and a matching wooden frame piece. The glass goes inside the hole, and the frame piece sits on top.

Since cutting out the sixteen holes, it has taken me almost two weeks to get the sixteen pieces of glass cut out and ground to fit.

Two damn weeks.





What yo are looking at here is a closer view of a single glass-frame-hole set. Click through to see it a little larger.













I have learned a valuable lesson in that time. Several, in fact. First, never ever try to cut out glass in shapes like these. Because it's a pain in the ass.






Second, if I do something like this again, I'm going to cut out the glass FIRST, and then do the wood cut out and fitting AFTER, because sanding wood to fit something is a hell of a lot easier and faster than sanding glass. Not to mention safer!

These two close-up shapes are the two worst of the lot, I think I had to cut these each four or five times to get pieces that did not break and become useless.

Not Slow & Steady... Just Slow.

I have not disappeared from the planet, I have been actually working on this thing. Slowly. Veeeerrry slowly. Partly because working with the Dremel to grind the glass down aggravates the nerve pinch in my neck, and partly because I've gotten a bit frustrated... trying to cut out shapes like these from glass. It's not easy, my glass cutter isn't great, I'm not a fantastic glass cutting expert, and doing things that potentially fire glass shards all over the universe is the type of activity one tends to limit in terms of timing and location. If you see what I mean.

However! I believe I have finally –finally!– cut all 16 pieces, and gotten them ground to fit, and manage any further fitting by sanding the wood down a little. And I have learned a valuable lesson about (next time!) cutting the glass FIRST and cutting the wood AFTER because it is so much easier to shape the wood than the glass. Dur.

The two pieces that you see close-ups of here are the two that gave me the most trouble. One, I had to cut 4x and the other I had to cut 5x to get usable pieces. All the other attempts had broken-off corners (or middles!) that were of no more use to me than a monkey with only four asses. I had to burn the laboratory down.

I'm not dead, I swear!

Been working on this project a long time, and I *am* making progress, but it's slow going. Partly because I'm inventing the wheel here. The oddly-shaped wheel. I'm not working from any kind of a real plan or anything ('cause I'm an idiot like that), and this is my first project of this kind, and it's almost certainly over-ambitious for being the first of its kind and also fairly spontaneous.

The sixteen holes, sixteen matching wood frame pieces, and sixteen custom fitted glass pieces have taken me (in round numbers) a long goddamn time to get cut and fitted. A couple of the glass pieces had to be re-made several times.






Here you see close ups of the two worst. I think I cut one of these four times, the other five times. These two shapes *nearly* had me convinced to abandon the glass altogether in favor of something more... reasonable. But i










The great thing is, I'll be thinking fondly of this project every time I handle anything acidic for the next couple of weeks. It is amazing how a teeny tiny little cut can be utterly below radar until you go to squeeze a lime or wash a window with some vinegar based cleaner solution.

Step 1 - Collect all the underpants!

I've just finished the scrollwork for a picture frame I've been wanting to make for a while. I don't think this is the frame I originally dreamed of, but it will be cool anyway. And I can always make more! I like this very much, although it is pretty far from done. Next time I'll probably keep track of how many hours go into something like this. I didn't this time, but I know it was *many*.

That's 4 pieces of thin plywood that were stacked up and staples driven into the edges. The design was applied to the top layer, and I drilled holes to feed the saw blade into the interior of each enclosed space to cut out, starting with the smallest / furthest inside first, and working my way out. The last step was to cut the outsides, gradually replacing staples with tape so the stack would stay in alignment.

The roundy thing in the center, below the flash glare is a quarter, for size reference. Next step.... paint it, I think. Then paint something to glue it to.

Art, versus something I could do and get paid for.

Last week, it occurred to me that I could probably make some money by going to the fleamarkt on a Saturday morning, picking out some little prizes, and assembling them (on the spot), and (hopefully) selling them by the end of the day. At the fleamarkt. Somewhere in the intersection of crafting, performance art, recycling, and yard sale. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it could be quite fun. The fleamarkt is basically a pre-sorted landfill, so any and every random thing I could need or want to put into a project would be there. Lamp parts, coffee pots, thermos bottles, LPs. I am very fond of this idea. The only real downside I see here is that it is juuuuuust over my introvert / extrovert threshold. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it once and see if I can survive it.

Ideally, I wouldn't actually go there with a plan for a finished item, just see what's there and come up with a concept on the spot. However, for a first run, I imagine a basic plan might be a really good idea, so I'll at least know what tools to take, and what to budget for materials.

Things I already know I'll need:

• camera (for documentation)
• something to sit on (there is a little drinking area there, that might suffice)
• a wide brimmed hat (there is no shade)
• some money to buy base materials
• some courage to talk to strangers about what I'm doing / trying to sell
• a basic tool kit (a way to cut things apart, a way to join things together, a way to clean up rough edges, a way to clean up dirty bits, a few spare parts, and whatever else seems like a good idea)
• ... other? A bag lunch. 'cause if no one is going with me, I can't just walk away from my project to get lunch, I guess.

Does this idea sound interesting at all? The Mr. wasn't really into it, but he's not really a Maker.

New! Content with actual content!

OK, last post, total cop out. Fortunately, I don't think anyone looked at it too closely! :)

On the topic of making a living as a gallery artist, versus not:

As I gather my application materials for this studio space thing, I have been meeting with some surprising internal resistance. I DO want the space, that is not an issue. My issue is what I do with my art. For a long time, I've been frustrated by the gallery art world. There are things about it that make me very uncomfortable.

A big issue - prices. It pisses me off to see a scribbled cocktail napkin going for $10000. Even though I think, well, good for them, that someone can make a living at art. In *any* way. But it's irritating. Because I know that if *I* scribble on a cocktail napkin, I'd be lucky if no one charged ME for the privilege of throwing it away. This is NOTHING to do with talent or skill. It's all about place / time / connections. That $10k napkin is a $10k napkin because that artist was in some particular situation to make it that way. Maybe it won't last forever, that situation, but the artist sure as hell will want to sell as many $10k napkins as possible in the meanwhile.

But I don't want that. Watch closely, because here's where it gets very squadgy indeed.

The thing I don't want is something I regard as crap going for a lot of money. Maybe I could make an infinitely superior scribble on a cocktail napkin, but if *I* think it is crap, I would die of shame before selling it to someone, much less displaying it publicly.

But the work I do, the work that meets my standards ... doesn't seem to be in much demand. There are only so many options in this situation. Create demand, change the work, or do something else altogether. (These options all assume I want to make some money with my work, which I do. Not so much for the money-have, but simply not to be a continued financial drain on my world.)

And that's where I get stuck. I know this studio space is a step in the direction of being that gallery artist. Fundamentally, I think it would be great to make money off my work, and that is an avenue that I could pursue. But I don't want to be the cocktail napkin artist, producing crap and selling it for mad money. It was pointed out to me that, in that context, the price is part of the piece. I don't like that. I don't feel comfortable with the meshing of value and aesthetic. Because I don't value money much at all. It is useful, but it's not interesting.

So... whether I get this studio space or no, I am going to need to figure out what I DO want. What IS a good exchange for my effort? How can I recover expenses without losing self-respect, which I can't afford? Knowing what I *don't* want only gets me so far.

Oh, and that picture is the beginning piece of the first complete object I will have made with my scroll saw. It's not very exciting, but I admit it tickles me that removing 18 tiny strips of wood makes 9 flat pieces of wood into a little shelf-esque thing.

everything and nothing

I have all kinds of things to post about, including current projects, some musings on making a living as a gallery artist (or not), and so on. But I slept poorly last night, and am not totally coherent. Also, my biorhythm says today, I does not brain.

So, I give you this little part of an image, which links to a gallery of some wild fantasy art. You may enjoy it, I hope you do.

Everything and nothing...

I have all kinds of stuff to talk about here, including some current-project show and tell, and a bit of musing on the subject of making a living as a gallery artist (as opposed to ... not). But I am not prepared to post those things right now. Instead, I will link you to some very, very cool concept art.

Portfolio...

I've been working on my portfolio for this studio residency application ... and because if I'm going to continue faking this Being An Artist thing, I can't really NOT have one. What you see here is a sample page from what I've been doing. It's not amazing, but it's a start. A whole bunch of these in one place actually looks like Something Official, anyway. That's gotta count for something, yeah?

Making a portfolio is kind of tedious, but I admit that it is helping me see how much I have done (because I'm having to weed out things that aren't the best, there are simply more pages than are reasonable), and it is reassuring to see that I am making good stuff, and I am making progress over time. And reminds me that I would like to get back to 3D now, please. (Come ON, studio space..!)

Click to see large, just like always. (... and then click THAT for the full size view!) Sometime maybe I can get all the pages up online so Interested Parties can browse my portfolio at leisure. As a side benefit, YOU will be able to get in it, too...

2 steps forward..... 2 steps back.

I've been working on that wooden knot all week. Today's work centered around un-doing the work of the prevous two days. How's that for awesomesauce?

Curiously, I find I am OK with this, for a couple of very specific reasons. First, knowing how to correct screw ups is a valuable skill. Especially if one can correct them to the point of hiding all evidence of said screw ups. In this case, it's not a perfect cover up, but it's certainly going to be close enough for government work. And I don't go through life pretending screw ups don't happen, I'd rather know how to cope, than not.

Second, I shot myself in the foot by being hasty about what I was doing, and it cost me in time, effort, and result. Which means this time spent putting things back on track is also time I can spend figuring out a suitable course correction. Don't know if I'll actually learn any valuable lessons in patience, but it seems possible, and it seems like I can be happy with the outcome of this project. Historically, getting pissy and abandoning stuff when I screw up is my M.O.

So, no picture today, you can see yesterday's picture for a peek at what it will (once again) look like by the time I stop working on it today.

Still going, and hopefully going somewhere else, too.

Still working on this. I did most of the shaping and rough sanding over the weekend. Now I need to get busy with the drill, wooden pegs, and wood glue, and get it assembled.

Or, wait, maybe the 2nd sanding comes after the pegs are fitted, but before the wood glue.

Man, I don't know. Can you believe I do my own taxes, and can't even figure out the order of operations for a simple woodworking project?

I did learn that I probably want to spring for a shop vac one of these days. A little one.

In the spirit of collecting moral support, I want to share another project I'm working on. It's not quite as concrete as what's in the picture here. I'm applying for a studio space in a local art-in-residence program. You don't speak German, and this is not posted in English this year, so I'll just tell you the deal... it's rent-free studio space for up to a year, there are 8 studios on the 5th floor of the building in the picture. The 6th floor has live-in studios for 4 artists, as well. I hope to do work I can't really do at home (glass, metal, larger scale...) and interact with other artists, maybe get some shows and contacts and possibly collaborative projects out of it. Assuming I get the studio. The application is due by 31 May, so I'm hustling now to get a suitable portfolio and statement together. Thought I'd missed the deadline for this year. I don't know if they extended it, or if I was just confused, or what. Not going to waste time worrying about that.

I admit, I felt much more hopeful about this before I knew how many people applied last year. I'm sure it's even more this year. I'm just not a competitive person. Probably what I need to keep in mind is that I don't need to be cooler than everyone who applies. I just need to be cooler than enough of them to get a spot.

Also, in the course of digging up the necessary info about this artist in residence thing, I also discovered that this city has some great resources for artists. I am going on Thursday afternoon to find out what exactly I'm allowed to do legally (given my resident and work status here), and what my obligations are in terms of taxes, etc. Good info, and they provide it at no cost. Even if I find out that I can't do anything, at least I won't be out any money for the info, and will not be stuck wondering what the deal is and how to find out for sure.

On the hoop

I don't have an explanation for what this 'is' -- what is it for, where is it going.... I just was seized with the urge to line out a design in needle & thread on cloth, and so I have. It's not *quite* done, maybe one more hour of stabbery. And then.... what? I don't know. Maybe I'll frame it. Or sew it onto something else.

The fabric is something like muslin, but stretchier than I expected. Which is to say, it probably is not muslin. This is what I get for buying scrap fabrics. It's lighter and smoother than the linen I'd been using, and it's not a bad choice, although it is basically see-through. I have been basically doing double-sided stitching (where it looks the same on the top and underneath) because the dark purple thread would make the top look kind of discolored in places.

If you have a use for this, let me know.

2nd storage crate, done.

Here you see the finished crate, as well as the sketch from my sketch book about how I wanted it to look. It's not quite as depth-y as I'd considered, but that's OK. I like the flat, graphic style, too. There are a few things I'd do differently if I were to do this again.

For one thing, the blue paint was not waterproof. Cannot explain it. The white, black, and red were all waterproof, and they all came from the same pack of paint. I was also going for a 'distressed' look for the black upper/background area, but instead got 'splotchy'... ahh well. I think I lost patience when the blue paint turned on me, and I just kinda wanted the project to go away. Ended up having to roll some sealant over this, and it picked up blue paint. Irritating!





But I'm not doing this again. I'm going to do one of the other two crates awaiting decoration. I think the next one is going to be a stenciled repeater pattern. With metallic accents and racing stripe.

Last sketch for today, I promise.

I know. Way more sketches than anyone cares to see. I like to post them here because occasionally I read back through my blog and see how things have change / stayed the same. Sometimes blogging is more like journalling, I guess.

More from the sketchbook

From the sketchbook

In no particular order, some sketches from recent times.

Progress continues!

MacBook for size reference!

I finished cutting out the individual pieces of this today. As of this moment, the plan is to shape and refine the blocks a bit before affixing them to something else. Probably another piece of wood, if I had to make a random guess. Most likely use the Dremel and other things to do the shaping. Haven't decided yet about finishing. Since it's plywood, there isn't going to be a lot of point in highlighting the wood's natural beauty, so paint might be the order of the day. If I really feel like doing a LOT of sanding, I might go for some glossy lacquer type thing.

And, yeah, before you sharp-eyed folks even ask, it is the same knot as on that painting from a couple of months back. I really like this one.

New saw, new project, new hopes and dreams.

New saw showed up yesterday, new project started today. I'm having fun, and looking forward to seeing how this turns out. I don't know why, but it really amuses me that the saw has a pictogram of a person reading a book. This must be my saw....

ETA - already had to play a round of Digging Through The Vacuum Bag To Find That Piece I Didn't Mean To Suck Up But Did. I hope I don't have to play THAT game again any time soon. Yech.

new toy!

I tried a smallish, probably too-complicated design with my shiny new pack of Pentel Fabric Fun wax dye sticks. It's like a pastel that can be used on fabric, and set into the fiber with a hot iron.

Predictably, they are inclined to be a little muddy in application, especially as they are *very* soft, and can't hold a point at all. So... any amount of precision I want has to be attainable with a tip the size of a pencil eraser. On the other hand, it sets REALLY fast, almost unbelievably fast, and does not bleed at all. And blending is pretty easy.

I tried to make transfers a couple of different ways, but it seems to resist that very capably. I suspect it sort of collapses on itself when it gets heated, so instead of transferring, I just ended up with a few little pills of color and a largely-unmarked cloth. Ahh, well. Will be working with shielding when I am ready to try again. Probably need to put the colors first and the black on top, which is the opposite of how I normally work.

Also on the worktop -

Painting the panels for another storage crate. Thinking I might use this one for paper... This has reached that stage where I hate it, and if I look directly into the abyss, I'll just paint over it and start again. However, I'm NOT looking into the abyss, I'm just filling in the lines with the paint as planned. There is still hope for this.

There are a couple of problems, though -- the paint is not holding its pigment. Surpassing strange, given that it's friggin' acrylic paint. So I'm going to have to put a sealer coat over this when it is done, and possibly the one I finished a while back, as well. Ahh, well. So much for quick & easy. Another problem is that there are a couple of 'sides' of the design that for some reason weren't colored in, and I'm not sure why, or what color to use, and I am limited by how much of these colors I have left. Oh well, not the end of the world. This will be happy when it is over.