a work in progress….
I have a lot of pottery equipment at home that’s just *begging* to be used. Much of it is lent to me & I want to make sure to keep it in good condition while I have it, so I figure I should really make it a priority to fire up the engines & kilns to make sure they stay (in the case of anything with an engine) well-oiled and in working condition.
This will be a LOT of work in prep as nearly all of the (many many pounds) of clay I have (both earthenware and stoneware) is kind of….. rock hard.
Here’s the skeleton for a sculpture or (sculptural) bird bath to be made out of lightweight cement. I have yet to do *any* cement work this summer & the warm weather is fast disappearing, so I would like to make a move on this project sooner rather than later….. cement is FUN but it’s also…. heavy & dusty & dirty …. and time consuming to make….. the time part is the part which has been slowing this one down. In many ways it’s a whole day commitment to decide to work on cement.
I got the urge to paint again the other week. I wanted to do something big to put in my bedroom & inspire me to take down those wall shelves I’ve been staring at for the last 5 years. 3′ x 4′ should do it, I thought ….. and set out to buy all the supplies needed to build & stretch my own canvas ….. sadly, I didn’t think abuot staples and ‘lo and behold, I ran out of staples not even half-way through the construction part ….. and, well ….. since I was determined to paint SOMEthing that day I went down in to my basement & dug up a (holy cow coincidence – it’s exactly the size i was looking for) painting that I’d started in high school, never really finished, never really liked & had been sitting down in the dungeon for so long I figured it couldn’t be too terrible to paint over it at this point right? right.
Here’s the outcome:
Not what I’d envisioned (neither colors nor style) but it’s nice enough. Note that I did take a picture of the high school painting for posterity just in case I was sad to lose it. Turns out that this is a vast improvement.
A pile of blue insulation board awaits cutouts and other such prep in order to be made in to cement bench molds:
There are at least two places near my hosue that just beg for creative seating. This summer, I hope, is the summer I actually *make* these benches.
I have nifty frame making tools:
Why not use ’em?
This has been neglected the past few months:
Bonus future project: There’s also a broken gargoyle in the background – he’s supposed to be used as a “template” for making a new one out of super lightweight concrete.
Here’s a nifty sign machien my parents found and saved for me:
It needs a little clean-up, and then it will be fun to play with, I think!
I have some sturdy shelves that I never intend to use as shelves. They came with part of the new cabinets in my kitchen. I think that each of these shelves will make an excellent wooden bench top.
This photograph does not do this piece of wood justice. I think that this will be a verrrry interesting coffee table someday.
(I almost feel like posting a picture of the scar on my arm that I have from attempting to move this large large piece of wood out of the trunk of my car all by myself. Lesson learned. Will ask for help next time.)
K, a Latvian friend of mine who’s an accomplished quilter, suggested trying out a sewing project….
Turns out my sewing skills have neither increased nor decreased for lack of use. I am still an average seamstress….. but I *can* follow directions! (the part that tells me what to sew together with what — I obviously did NOT listen to the part in the directions that said to choose stiff fabric)