Barring Natural Disasters...

So many projects, so little time! I've wanted to re-paint the upstairs for over a year now but last spring's tornado put the kibosh on getting much of anything done besides activities involving giant heaps of wood and brush. This year I vow will be different!
So the twisted stalk above suggests the illusive color I am seeking for the walls- a greenish/bluish/bit of purple... is this possible? Maybe I'll have to paint veils of color over color? Maybe I'll have to lose my mind trying to capture that subtle shade? Maybe I'll just paint the damned walls white again! (But what shade of white?!??!?) Anyway, I can't do that until warm weather and the possibility of open windows return. Hurry Spring! (And minus the tornadoes, please!)

These samples have been hanging out for quite a while...
What else? Yes, the wall will be built- not THAT wall but the mosaic one behind our Blue Garden. (Getting Mexico to pay for it!! Hahahaha.) I have tons of plates and dishes, all waiting to be smashed and cemented, but this, too requires warm weather. is there anything I can do besides endlessly vacuum the carpet in the meantime? Of course I will confess (and no doubt waggish friends and family will confirm) that I don't spend undo amounts of time cleaning and fussing. Just as well, too! Who wants to be an artist whose tomb stone reads, "Didn't Get Anywhere With Her Art But Boy Was Her House Clean". Not me!
I will admit that a reduced work schedule and the cold weather have driven me further inwards, both physically and psychically and has been good for my "studio practice".  Robin the Good drags me outside to chase her and her beloved soccer ball around but it's cold and I feel like hibernating.
But when I return to the warmth of my studio, ideas flow and pieces are coming together. I am finishing "Only the Oligarchs" and preparing to add the crystals to the edge that will really make that piece sing. I am preparing to sew the backing on "Your Words Have Consequences"; not the most exciting phase but that piece will be complete soon. (Sometimes, art requires a bit of tedium. The sexiest part is mostly the conception.) And "The Stock market is Not the Economy" is finally coming together. i think I have the font right... not sure about the scale of the letters. Some tweaking in process! So I guess I'm busy despite being chilly and awaiting warmer days!

Bob's List

Bob never ceases to amaze me! He told me the other day that he had concocted a list... a list of some of the things that he'd been planning to do to the house. This was a marvel as we've made so many lists and done so many things, but so many more remain to be done. And as was discussed in an earlier blog posting, so many projects revolve around so many other things being done first. You know the complications; it's a home owners version of that old song about "the knee bones connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bones connected to the hip bone" and on and on. In this case, the starting point has to be my closet at the top of the stairs...
So this is what occurred on Sunday in really hot weather. We went to Home Depot and purchased lumber and plywood and metal tracks for closet doors. This will start the construction ball rolling as once the closet is complete, I can move my clothing from downstairs in my studio annex. That will enable a move of art supplies and a cabinet out of the living room and into the studio annex. The moving of the cabinet will free up the actual front door. Yes, we have one of those! So...
We came home and I volunteered to be the demolition crew. Bob gets to do all the building but I love a good mess. So I donned protective gloves, face mask, safety goggle and full body armor and went to work tearing out that nasty old sheet rock and decaying insulation and wood from where it was hiding behind a plastic sheet and a large painting of mine. The wonders and many uses of modern art!
What lie beneath was really pretty bad. I think I featured a horrid picture several years back when I attacked this area with bleach and attempted to stabilize a disaster created by the previous owners failing to deal with a big leak in the corner of the upstairs dormer. I carted away several contractor's bags of moldy sheet rock and pieces of stud that dissolved as I touched them. No kidding: we barely had a wall at all and there was day light showing through and yellow jackets coming in. Such fun when it's 90 degrees and stunningly humid!

But Bob got to have all the fun the next day when he suited up and repaired and replaced all that punky wood with fresh new 2 x 4's and pieces of plywood to shore up the wall. This corner had needed attention since we moved in so it was  good to just dive in and do it. Poor Bob worked all day reinforcing the wall. But it looks sound now.
The next step is to install new insulation and replacement sheet rock. Then Bob can frame out for the actual closet. There will be a shelf space up above to store blankets and bedding.

Here's his list. Lousy shot, but good things will come of it. Progress is being made.

Walla-Walla Wonderful!

Last night I paid a visit to Home Depot on my way back from work. I have personally never purchased so much wood. A nice young man helped me analyze and load every piece of wood individually. I had started with my shopping list that Bob had composed. I realized that 28 2x4's (8 feet long), loads of 2x6's 10 feet long, twelve foot long 2x4's... this stuff weighed tons! And the racks were way over my head. Thank goodness that there were few shoppers at Home Depot and I had help. Look at that pile of wood!
So this morning we started bright and early to finish up the long wall. And an unexpected friend stopped by and Bob had to leave to take his mother to the eye doctor. I thought we'd never get this wall assembled, let alone erected.
Bob got home well after 3:00 and we started to wale away. We finished framing. And Joe arrived ten minutes later. The sun was casting long shadows.

Bob went next door and called on our neighbors, who were crazy enough to offer to help if we needed any assistance in raising the wall. Meagan and her son CJ came over. Between the five of us, it was easier getting that wall up than any other part of the proceedings! It literally took five minutes.

Lookee there! It stands! Bob nailed up cross pieces and nailed in the sole plate and miracles of miracles! We have a wall...

Wowee Zowie!!! I got window holes, I got a partial studio! Huzzah for good neighbors and walls that stand!