I hope everyone had a drama free gathering with family and friends whether large or small or formal or informal. We are masters of the informal ourselves. Food and family is what matters. We raised our two kids in a small house, our daughter and son-in-law raised their four kids in an even smaller house. Their current house isn't much bigger if any at all and contains 5 adults, 1 baby, 4 dogs, 3 cats, 1 lizard, too much furniture, and no room for a table. They are experts at balancing plates on laps. Food was plentiful and all the family was there minus two, our son who stayed in the city and grandgirl Autumn who is in the rainforest of Ecuador working on her final research paper for her semester of study abroad. So it was a good day.
Decisions have finally been made and progress is happening. I decided to stick with my standard, painting the shadow boxes black. I also decided to float the trumpet flower pieces in the shadow boxes so Friday I cut 4” lengths of trim and used the liquid nails to attach them to the plywood intending to paint the first one on Saturday.
the blue tape on the trim pieces is to keep them from being painted
I want the plywood behind the glass to have a matte finish, the trim glossy, so after the paint dries I'll have to protect the trim, probably with painter's tape (fingers crossed) to spray the painted plywood with clear matte acrylic. I'll see how that works on the one that's already put together before I put the second one together in case I may have to paint the pieces first.
So, Saturday, dawned cold, gray, and wet, a light rain but steady and supposed to be this way all day, currently 44˚ and not going to get much warmer. My desire to get the first shadowbox painted was at war with my desire to not leave the warm house for the cold shop. Well, I've waited this long to get those trumpet flower pieces finished I guess I could wait another day. Besides, it would be a good day to watch part 2 of Peter Jackson's new documentary Get Back on the making of the Beatles' album and documentary film, Let It Be (Abbey Road was the last album they recorded together though it was released before Let It Be). The first part was just over an hour long and we watched it Thursday night. We were going to watch part 2, which is about 3 hours long, Friday night but things happened and it was 9 PM before we were through with dinner and settled on the couch. And so that is what we did.
I got over to the shop today to start painting the first shadowbox and applied two coats but it's not going well. The spray paint is supposed to be paint and primer in one but it's not working. The soft wood of the grain is soaking it up and the hard part is not. I went out and got some primer but any other work will wait til Monday. I'll have to sand the black paint some before I apply the primer and also next week I have to put my display together and figure out what I'm taking and get it all packed for next Saturday. So another day with two steps back. I hope I get one of the trumpet flowers finished by then.
Small houses, cosy it works- I think my generation grew up in small houses and it was never an issue.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a lovely Thanksgiving gathering with family. That's the best. Interesting that your granddaughter is in Ecuador. I just read about an earthquake in Peru which may have been felt in parts of Ecuador. So now I'm wondering if she felt a little shake.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing the artwork as it progresses.
I grew up in a four room house, family of nine plus visiting aunts. No bathroom, outside privy. Couldn't all sit at the table together. I don't recall it being any obstacle at holidays, though!
ReplyDeleteI saw Robin's comment about the earthquake. I have a friend in Portoviejo, Ecuador who did feel it. She said that it went on for perhaps a minute, which is fairly substantial. No damage, though, at least in that area.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember best about Thanksgiving at my grandparents' house is that there was the big people table and the kids' table. They stretched the definition of "kid" so that even the 16 and 18 year olds had to wait until somebody died or moved to get a seat at the big table. But it all was great fun, and I don't remember any fighting, except when it came to the drumsticks, the wishbone, and the last piece of pie.
You did make progress--you made a decision on the background color for your artwork. That could have been a major stumbling block. Good call... trust what works! Glad your Thanksgiving was a happy one. It will be interesting to learn more about the grand-daughter's research paper. We have friends from Ecuadore! Take care and stay warm!
ReplyDeleteIs the Beatles documentary good enough to add Disney to our streaming services? Probably is.
ReplyDeleteI just can't wait to see your trumpet flower pieces when they are done. It's so interesting to see the whole process. What a huge amount of work with so many decisions and steps.
I think so. We enjoyed it. The premise of Get Back which then became Let It Be was to get back to their roots, more pure rock and roll that could be performed live which was part of what they intended. The band was already starting to fracture and they thought this would tighten them up again, performing together. Previous methods of recording didn't need them all there at the same time. They could record their tracks alone. The result was supposed to be a documentary on the process that would be on TV, a live performance because they wanted the album to be recorded live, and a book. They had one month to accomplish all that, come up with 11 - 14 new songs, rehearse, and record because Ringo was set to start filming The Magic Christian and the guy they wanted to do the recording had another gig he was committed to. So it was interesting to see how the whole thing evolved, the song and lyric writing, the working out of the tunes, their interactions. The TV thing didn't happen though the documentary was released as a film and the live performance almost didn't happen for various reasons but it culminated in their rooftop performance and the actual album wasn't released until about a year later and after they had broken up.
DeleteI watched a part of the Beatles documentary but after awhile it got a bit boring. I was surprised that I wasn't just riveted to the screen as I was a huge Beatles fan back in the day - going to all of their movies and screaming my head off for "George"!! I will give it another go tho...
ReplyDeleteWe watched the whole thing, didn't find it boring. I would have like to been able to understand more of what they were saying as their accents made it difficult for me.
DeleteI did not realize how much work it can be to get something like this done. Also, paint finishes do require a close eye. Good luck down the road. Yes, I am not crazy about visiting tiny houses like my son's. I cannot move much.
ReplyDeleteI once read that the secret to a good party is to hold it in a space too small for the gathering. I have also thought that it's good to raise a family in a small place, too. Everyone learns to interact, to live and let live. Lovely, as always, to see your art process.
ReplyDeleteI think about those two boys that conducted the first mass school shooting in Colorado, both raised in big houses, rooms distant from their parents who had no idea what they were up to or what was going on with them. Small houses make that sort of thing unlikely I think.
DeleteI finished raising my two in a tiny cottage, and it didn't help. LOL
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about the paint problems. The cold might be a factor too.
I'm glad you went with black! I think if I'd been raised in a small home I would probably have been more outdoorsy because I'm introverted. I had my bedroom to escape to in our house. It would probably have been better for me if I hadn't!
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