Planning An Escape

It's been too long since I've had a change of scenery, and I'm planning just that. I need to get away, I need to be alone, and I need some distractions. Luckily my artist friend Helen is going away over Thanksgiving and she needs a petsitter for her little dog Redford, and her two new poodle puppies! How could I resist the allure of northern California and two puppies?

Hopefully all these projects that have made me so crazy over the past few months will be installed and off my mind.

Today I am painting three abstracts (the ones I forgot about) and delivering the abstract I painted yesterday that will be turned into digital wallpaper.

Had some major complications with the carving. The casting estimator got the numbers wrong and now it's not even close to being affordable for room art. It's possible that we'll have enough time to get it to China for casting, but that's a long way off, and decisions can be made after model room (Nov 1). We're doing the first one here, that's for sure.

Still doing last minute prints for Texas Clinic. I have one 46' wall left to lay out, and I'm done with that. Can't wait to see what turns up in my inbox today.

Using What You Got

I'm in my last phase of printing images for Texas Clinic. Instead of starting over from scratch developing new photography to combine with paintings for digital constructions, I am using photography that I already created for a different job. Why reinvent the wheel, right? I am creating these the same way that I do digital mockups, cutting and pasting, really.

It's good to be working on something that doesn't have the level of anxiety of the carving. I took photos of the final piece before I delivered it to the mold makers yesterday. This is a nerve-wracking process. First I have never worked in that medium before (foam carving). Second, I've never had this company make a mold, and third, we have a Nov 1 install date. Yikes! Even my client called me last night (after work hours) for reassurance that it's all going to be good. How the heck do I know? We're all doing our best and trusting in a good finale.

Fresh Air

I've been cooped up in my studio for so many months that it was great to get out and breath some cool morning air with 26,000 of my closest friends. Race for the Cure has become a giant commercial venture. I'm wondering how much money actually gets donated. It was like a county fair with booths and hawkers. I didn't put my name on any mailing list. And I discovered I probably need to buy one size bigger shoes. yowch

On Sunday I took another day off (between coats of varnish) and went to the Edom Art Festival in East Texas. I was there years ago, but haven't given it much thought since. Then my artist friend Cheryl McClure recommended it and off I went.

Now it's Monday already. I've got one coat of resin on the back of the carving, and four layers of varnish on the front. I had intended to put resin on both sides, but then it occurred to me that the resin would level out and fill in the carving details. Glad I though of that before I did it!

So it's off to the mold makers today. Yiikes! This is the scary part for me. The carving will be destroyed by the mold making process. I just hope they get a good mold.