Sawdust in the hour glass

or

these boots are made for walking,

or

walk a mile in another persons shoes

The aftermath of studio labor.

Before heading to the studio, I had an optometry appointment followed by a hypnotherapy session that I booked the preceding week. I need healthy eyes to be an effective visual artist and my mind to overcome personal obstacles. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, the Doctor is convinced something happened in a past life that in order for me to move forward must be removed, that being said, it could just be the subconscious hiding something beneath layers like an onion.  A suitable metaphor for the work we are doing int he studio right now. My fingers are crossed time is of the essence as we peel away layers of wood and this artwork slowly comes to fruition.

Brendan has an impressively confident and steady hand.

There are 90 complex and individually designed segments to fabricate based on a #D renered design outputted to blueprint from MAya.  Its hard enough to wrap ones head around, we won't really see it take shape until the final assembly.  Last night we got really, really dusty removing material. Masks on, studio filled like a foggy British morning. I love this shop and getting back to my roots and working with wood under an insane timeline.  If nothing else we learned how to work under pressure at ACAD in order to complete the task. Often staying up super late the night before.

We are an effective team, there are three stations set up, here Jim is grinding away.

Step by step we must maintain order in this undertaking for it to come together. The pieces are curved and a challenge to create. The further we get the less reference to the original block, and thus it gets harder and harder to stabilize and handle the pieces.  The reason we are in a crunch is that the lumber that was ordered was delivered very late which means the start time was shifted much later on the project. Luckily, this is not any of our first rodeo's.

Brendam Mcgillicuddy  making it look easy.

What I love about Brendan's attitude is that he is focused while maintaining a calm demeanour in the face of pressure, any normal mortal would crack under this deadline, instead he makes us tools when we don't have them…..

Made in the blink of an eye.

These are the mallets he quickly made from some scraps of the Ash.  Jim and I named them, as if they are our girlfriends right now, Jezabel and Madeline.  They are effective, reliable and trustworthy. they are also spending the most time with us right now. lol. Clearly the mind goes a bit when one is so focused and working diligently, it is good to have the right tool for the job. Alright, its after 8am and there is a long day ahead, back to work.