Day 169 - 365/2014

Day One Hundred Sixty-Nine

Earlier today Juana came with me to LIFT while I tried to figure out why my Art-o-mat machine keeps having problems.  I think several factors are in play...one of them being the high humidity this week.  It was working fairly well when we left.  This is an old machine and it might be time to replace a pricey part...I hope not...but for now it seems to be okay.

There has been a storm approaching for the last few days and a few people I know have been feeling the effects of it...I have been, too.  Today it finally broke and rained like crazy.  I guess we had a severe weather alert (I wasn't aware of it) and driving home through the area where I used to live I ran smack into the heart of the really bad storm.  It was pretty scary and tense for a few miles but I finally passed out of the area and things gradually improved as I got closer to home.  All of this stuff has really wreaked havoc on my knees/shins/feet/back/head today.  Then my sister came over and we ran a couple of errands and by the time we were done I was having a pretty hard time getting around.  Picture Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford on a bad arth-a-rite-us day...that is me tonight.  And that is kind of why I didn't get much done today.

I did, however, tape the Creatura Lupus Ursus into the frame I have been papering -- to see if I want to do anything else to it.  I think I really like it as-is.  I will spray matte varnish on it over the next couple of days and then take it (along with the other two pieces I got into the Members Biennial Exhibition at Paint Creek Center for the Arts) out to Rochester for the art drop off for the show.

Here is how the frame turned out and how it looks with the collage.

One of the corners on the back side.

A detail shot to show the creature and the bluish paper both in the collage and again on the edge of the frame.

A closer view -- front legs/belly of the creature and the bluish paper in the collage and on the frame.

The piece overall.

This turned out better than I had hoped for.  I like it a lot.  Now I just need to varnish it (spray matte finish) and add the hardware and hanging hardware on the back.  Yay!

Day 168 - 365/2014

Day One Hundred Sixty-Eight

Man.  I must say that if nothing else, I am very pleased with myself for actually completing the papering of this frame.  I really figured I would abandon it (like I usually do when trying to "fix" frames) and have to run out very quickly and secure a frame for this piece.  Good for me.

Tonight I added some of the bluish leafy paper from the collage to the inner edge of the frame.  I may have to do some additional touch up of the lighter paper...but we'll see.  I know I will be trying to dull down the color a bit and then spray varnishing it...but I'm getting there!

Ready to get to work.

I needed to cut one straight edge on these pieces so that they'd be neat against the edges where the two papers touch.

But first -- I forgot that I needed to do some touch up/fill in spots.  I wasn't sure how I was going to add the bluish paper when I was doing the first stages.  I knew I wanted to use it, but I wasn't sure where the edge of it would be.

The touch up pieces in place.

The bluish paper added...I think it is going to work.

Dryer, but still wet.

I can not believe I completed the papering of this frame to this point.  I really expected to ditch it.

I am quite pleased so far -- and I am quite happy with the corners.

So now the hard part is not setting the canvas into the frame to test it...I don't want to undo any edges or get the frame stuck to the canvas.  Patience, Took.  

Day 167 - 365/2014

Day One Hundred Sixty-Seven

Today the house painting crew was here to do prep work for priming.  They masked off metal and plastic parts, put frosty plastic sheeting over the window and papered the gutters and light fixtures.  They also removed the downspouts and did a lot of caulking and filling holes.  The cats are quite befuddled about not being able to see out the windows.

Tonight I put a layer of paper on the back side of the frame I'm working on for Creatura Lupus Ursus.  I hadn't thought about it...but tonight's work went fairly quickly and a lot more smoothly because all of the angles and curves are in reverse.  And mitering the corners was a breeze with no dip in the middle.

I believe I will use less paper on the back side in the finishing part because you won't see it.  It will look decent, just not as layered as the more visible parts.  I marked where the holes for the screw eyes go -- why drill new holes when these are really good.  The paper should dry whiter than it looks now -- it is still very wet in these photos.

Day 165 - 365/2014

Day One Hundred Sixty-Five

Today before Terri and Juana and I got together I put a layer of decorative paper on the frame for Creatura Lupus Urusus.  The frame is very chewed up in places and the paper covers those spots really well.  I plan on probably darkening the color of the paper a bit once it is all dry...I still have quite a bit more to do as far as papering goes...this is just the first layer on the front.

The papering took about three hours...a lot of tearing and gluing small pieces, and a lot of surface to cover.  I will keep working on it this weekend so that I can work on the color and get the varnish on it before it needs to be taken to PCCA for the Members Biennial Exhibition.

Later this afternoon Terri and Juana came over and we went to the Northville Art House to see West of Center.  Then we went to Mr. Thai for a late lunch/early dinner (very yummy).  Next we went to Riverside Arena to a fundraiser for the Detroit Derby Girls.  That was a lot of fun but the photos were too dark and somewhat blurry...low lighting conditions/long exposures on moving subjects.  And after that we went to Tuscan Cafe for coffees and more conversation.  Such a lovely day with good friends!