Friday, June 13, 2014

finished...and a selfie


I woke up this morning at home, having finished the work in the shop, with the backache that tells me that I have been working too long and too intensely without taking the necessary breaks and stretches, the downtime, I need.

It was an unsatisfying last week. I got the work finished but I'm not completely happy with it. I decided to go with 1/2" tempered at the last minute because the client's glass man recommended it though I usually work on 3/8" laminated. It is more difficult for me to order that as the wholesaler has instituted a minimum and this did not meet it. I could still get it but they would add $50 to the total. Now I'm thinking I should have just done that. I wish I had done what I am used to.

Because I don't like the way the background came out. The four panels I did the two previous weeks came out great but they were annealed (not tempered) and laminated is made from two pieces of annealed.

two of the four cabinet panels

The point is that the cream etch I use for backgrounds sometimes reacts differently with tempered glass. I say sometimes because I know this has happened before but I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened every time on tempered. I don't think. We don't work on tempered that much.

Bored with the totally unnecessary details of my work yet?

Anyway, these last two panels are for the customer in Maryland for whom I was doing Chesapeake Bay flora and fauna. And I recommended doing the background (whatever you think is best, he said).


It looks OK, I guess. My grandson said it looked more like water but it wasn't the softer mottled tone I am used to. It was more varied in tone, more mottled, it doesn't fade into the background. It's too busy for the carved elements.

I wanted the last work to be satisfying and this wasn't. It was hot and I was tired at the end of a long slog in the shop. Instead of finishing with a flourish, I feel disappointed.


We still have to deliver the panels to the company that is going to crate them and deliver them and I want to take pictures with the tripod that we forgot to take with us this time.

But, we are done working in that shop. And we are done sleeping in the house. I think. We brought back the rockers on the porch and the birdbath. Still have lots to fetch.

Next week I think we are going to take down the Dresden porcelain chandelier. I don't remember exactly when my mother bought the chandelier but I can't ever really remember when she didn't have it. It always hung in parents' bedroom and I have always loved it. Still do. And when she died there was no question who was getting it.

It hangs nicely from a 10' ceiling in the old house.


It will hang from an 8' ceiling out here above the dining room table.




14 comments:

  1. that is the most disappointed look for your selfie to project! BUT you have that magnificent chandelier. WOW that is the best object ever! So happy making, so, cheer up- that thing will light up your life to be sure!

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  2. Very nice chandelier, a one of a kind. I like the 1st panel, it looks like Beardstongue in the lower right corner.

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  3. These panels look beautiful to me; I bet the clients will be pleased. I know what you mean about the 50 bucks. If it makes the difference between being satisfied with the outcome or not, it's worth it.

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  4. Ever had a client with as critical an eye as yours? Probably not more than one, and that was back in the beginning, before you remembered to say "You'll love it." They're beautiful.
    Moving that chandelier will be some job, but worth it.

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  5. Are you familiar with the UUs? Unitarian peeps. you should sell those panels to them. They would like them.

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  6. you are your own worst critic. but i'm sorry you're disappointed. i like that very unique chandelier!

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  7. I know what you mean about the busyness but honestly, I think I could look at those panels for hours, discovering new things in them. They are beautiful.
    So is your chandelier.
    And so are you. Cheer up, sweetie.

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  8. Maybe you had a certain result in mind and are having trouble seeing something different instead. Like everyone else who has commented, I think the clients will be pleased with your work. I would be.

    This moving stuff is hard work. I have been working two weeks straight to help get my daughter's house in shape to list for sale [which I now have her permission to write about] and the job kicked my butt. Everything has to be done at once and there is so much to do. Give yourself credit for all you've accomplished and take a break; if you can't afford a whole day, take a couple hours to do something that makes you feel good. I took myself to the movies one evening in the midst of all of it because I needed an escape, even for just a bit.

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  9. You are your own worst critic! The panels are wonderful! I think they're beautiful. That's a beautiful chandelier...

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  10. Oh, Holy Hannah, Ellen! The screens are lovely but that chandelier knocks me out!

    I just love your creativity and your drive -- but please be good to your back!

    Take care of yourself

    Pearl

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  11. Nothing worse then spending a lot of time on an art project and then not being happy with the result. Unlike a painting, glasswork cannot just be done over! I think it is lovely, but I can see it seems busy when compared to other work you have done. Glad to hear you moving is slowing down. You do look tired.

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  12. That IS an amazing chandelier.

    I always hate it when something doesn't come out the way I wanted it to -- a photo or a recipe or whatever. But sometimes if I can let go of my expectation and look at it objectively I can appreciate it more. I think your nephew who said it looks like water was right on the money -- it's an unintended special effect!

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  13. Sorry -- grandson, not nephew. :)

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  14. What a gorgeous chandelier! I don't know what I expected, but this was way more fun :)

    I guess I can see what you're talking about with the difference in the panels, but I still think those last two are fabulous.

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