For the love of building

We are all builders.  We build our lives, our dreams, our relationships, our homes etc. Building is a fantastic metaphor for what we do in life. Building happens with every passing day. I have been building every day I am alive which is for 13, 281 days according to my daily morning pages where I keep track with every entry. Between work and play I combine the two and get to play by building some more, but this time with toys :D

Here is my latest Lego star Wars time lapse assembly video.

I set up my Canon T3i facing straight down to the floor on a tripod. I captured each frame using Dragonframe software on a green screen. I imported the footage in to After Effects where I keyed out the green and added the generated star field background. The left and right audio channels are two different pieces of Imperial Starship audio at two different speeds.  Now that my fun is over, it is time to get back to the build.

I spent an enormous amount of time with this view of a spindle sander.

In this particular case, we had to pull an all night session without the assistance of anything but Monster sports drinks and an extreme motivation to beat the clock and make the deadline.  By the end we were all a bit delirious and definitely slipping past the fogginess of being sleep deprived. The last time I remember doing this, I regret it. This is the very skill I trained for 4 years during art school and repeated hundreds upon hundreds of times making videos and working on film festivals for the past decade plus. I thought I had grown out of it. lol.

A beautiful stack of wooden bones to sand and piece together.

I got up early to get a quick start not he day. Alas he took two hours before I could get my friend out of bed and get to working. The previous day I lost 5 hrs waiting so today I gave myself an additional hour before wasting the two. Not only is time money, but we really had no extra time to spare in this case. Came in and a bunch of the work was nicely stacked and waiting for us to get down to business.

Getting the base and a working plan together.

The most important thing to get right when building is the foundation. From there you can begin to build up with confidence. Take time to ensure you have a plan and that it is going to work.  "Measure twice cut once."  We had to assemble and epoxy the base as it doesn't sit flat on the floors and we need a stable foundation to assemble the remaining pieces of the sculpture.

 I like to keep organized, here is the next section laid out in numeric order.

Each piece is individual, and so well designed, I can't believe how well the assembly went. I kept track of every piece and marked the master list. Amazingly doing this allowed me to find which pieces were missing or mislabelled. One point for Virgo power and organization. When making something one of a kind, usually there is some give, some mistakes to repair, some finessing that is necessary. This monster was so well planned out for the previous 6 months that we didn't run into the normally expected issues.

See the handy home made mallet.

This is more like ship building than carpentry of construction. the base foundation curls up and kind of looks like a beautiful leaf shape.  Blocks are used to hold up the curves at a precise height so that the final sculpture does not sage and will fit tightly together in the end. Pegs are used to hold it all in place then we take them out, open each joint and glue up each piece with quick set epoxy. Though it wasn't that quick and it did not set up so the heat was cranks dint eh studio to the point of it almost being unbearable and we continued with the work.

Planning the next step, yet another challenging part.

We had to imagine how the final sculpture would appear in space and plan out how to assemble and mount the pieces based on flat drawings. The Epoxy base was setting up so we had to carefully work around the parts we glued together. Each individual piece had to be measured, marked and mounted individually.

It is so hot, but Brendan keeps working in full garb.

 Each end piece has a different corresponding scribe mark to use the Festool to cut a hole for a domino. this festal cutter is awesome, and dustless so we can work in a much tidier shop for the remainder of the assembly. Some were mounted tight with a glued in domino while others were left open and loose for fitting into place. That is a lot of cutting and scribing on 90 pieces that interlock with each other.

Here is one of the many corner joints being drilled for dowel pegs to hold it into place before glue application.

The pieces fit together so well, kudos the the time put into planning and crafting the parts. We go around and piece it together, scribe the lines, cut the holes, mount the dominos then assemble the pieces followed by doing it again and again until all 90 pieces are fit perfectly together. At the halfway point it is about 2 am. I usually get to sleep before midnight, we are all starting to get silly. This stage of delirium is followed by a second wind, a feeling that on can conquer the world and keep going, then there is an abrupt a dip, quietness and soreness, pain and tired that is when you need a small break and pound back an energy drink. Then the whole cycle begins again.

After midnight is when Jim starts to shine. 

We have to pull up our pants and keep focused because there were only a few more hours left and much more work to complete before the truck was going to pick up the piece to deliver to the gallery in Edmonton.Amazingly it got assembled and glued up, just in time. I was beyond tired, but my loyalty shows as I worked my ass off to get it done and did not back down from the challenge. It was insane, especially because there were power tools involved, but we all came out with every finger intact. Although I bashed mine pretty hard with the mallet at one poitn an kept working thru the swelling and pain.

The artist inside his nearly finished sculpture.

What a tremendous project and learning experience. It was well worth it! To see the beautiful lines of this Ash constructed piece, you will have to go to Edmonton and see the Alberta Biennial show, the work is by Brendan McGillicuddy, check out his website and other creations here. 

Now onto the next project, what to build…….

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.

Speaking of employment…...

Speaking of employment……

Currently, I am helping out at Brendan McGillicuddy's studio helping him fabricate a large sculpture piece for the Alberta Biennial. We have just a few days left to get this massive undertaking complete. It's fun, I get to do some hands on stuff and utilize my many wood working and sculpture skills. The gruelling deadline and long days really remind me how much value my training has been and how much I love hands on studio work above all else. I am having a great time and can't wait to see the completed work assembled and ready to ship to the show that opens to the public this Friday.

 Here is the team as we carve away the individual pieces for the sculpture.

I began teaching my Alberta College of Art and Design Drawing 1 course this week-end. I have a really good feeling about this group, they were open and friendly right out of the gate. Often, on the first day off class makes student feel a bit awkward and uncertain but the confidence level was high an the drawing skills were already above my expectations. I usually look forward to waking up early Saturdays to spend my time int he classroom, this also keeps me responsible and out of trouble Friday night.

These offcuts create beautiful lines and remind me of why I like drawing so much.

I have also volunteered myself as the room monitor the free Extended Studies figure drawing drop ins that happen after my Drawing 1 class in my classroom. It is not instructed, this should give me a chance to do some figure studies during the session. ACAD has also offered me yet another course opportunity this summer, and this time I get to teach painting, finally, my dreams are coming to fruition, I have been wanting to teach painting for some time, it should prove to be a nice and messy class which makes it extremely appealing and very fulfilling.

The organization of this clamp rack really excites my inner virgo nature.

I added the LinkedIn app to my cell and finally updated some of the employment information there. I guess it is about time, I do not intend to let this get out of hand like face crack however.

Brain drain, you figure it out.

***My thanks and Gratitude go out to  my friend KT (Karilynn) for going over my current grant application that I am writing for the AFA. It sure helps having another pair of eyes on ones writing and the improvements made makes me feel like I've got a chance. I have never written a grant for visual art o painting. The ones I've gotten in the past have been for media arts/animation. Fingers crossed this new Jury likes what I have to offer.

DISTRESSED SIGN PAINTING

I took a week-end workshop at Swintons Art Supply (http://www.swintonsart.com) taught by Rick Janzen of Streamline Studios (http://streamlinestudiosinc.ca)  and a wicked local sign painter in the sense of the traditional trade craft.

We started out finding about the history and Rick told many great stories about his experiences. There were many book references and lots of photos of past work to look at. He introduced us to the tools of the trade and all the materials etc. were included in the workshop fee = wicked!!

I have always wanted to learn the skills of the traditional sign painter in order to better perfect what I hope to do in my work. I've taken up many of the skills, from transferring lettering, hand painting on glass as well as learning airbrush. I've done a few murals and some signage(see earlier blog post or visit my website for reference) Brianbatista.com. 

We rolled out some poster paper and began with layout and design of hand painted signs.  I decided to make a sign that I can use at my comic expo booth or elsewhere I offer custom work.

Then I was lucky enough to get to try out his electro pouncer. This is definitely something I'd love to have in my studio, though at around $500 its a little rich for my blood. for now a luxury item I can try out. It used electricity to burn holes int he paper. How it works is you stick paper to a piece of metal using magnets. The electro pouncer has a ground wire that gets attached to this metal backing. You turn it on and use it like a pen. It pulses out a little arc which burns holes. So cool. A couple of people got shocked, which isn't that shocking, handle with care!

This paper is then put on top of the surface. Take a chalk bag and tamp the surface and the chalk will go thru the little holes and create an outline to follow that can easily be removed. This is a great way to transfer a design. here I am using white chalk but if the surface was light or white I would use crashed charcoal instead.  Once the designs transferred it makes it much easier to paint, plus I still have the pounced paper design if I need to make multiples.

Here it is mostly painted.  It takes a lot of brush skill to do this well. Something that only time and practice and bring, as in any real skill worth attaining. I ran out of time to add other colours and outlines but I do intend on working on the sign more and adding some more decorate elements and maybe some gold leafing before distressing it.

What interested me most about this particular workshop is the DISTRESSING part.  In my sacred images paintings I try to get that aged antique look. Often it is tedious and labor intensive requiring lots of techniques and time. This on the other hand was quick and effective. First we need to age the wood so that the ground doesn't look so fresh. there are so many ways I found online to do this from vinegar and steel wool to what we did, which was way easier, stain it with raw umber paint watered down.

After the initial drying we applied wallpaper paste to the surface. This will act as a resist for later when we begin removing layers. I used this heavy duty dryer to speed up the process. Aesthetically speaking, the wear on a sign would be more around the edges and more around the top due to weathering so more paste should be applied there, the middle would have much less distress. rick gave us many fine examples and ways about thinking about how to distress the work to look realistic.

 Then you put on your design. You can use a variety of transfer methods or go the old fashioned routs and draw directly on it like I did.

I created a second test panel where I painted a letter on a fully painted background whereas the first I chased in the background. I designed this letter B based on an old rosewood style font I have always admired. another transfer method is to rub the back of the paper with charcoal and then place it down and go over the lines on the front. This pushes the charcoal on the back onto the surface with the traced design.

Here they are painted in. I decreased the contrast between the off white and black to show bleaching by the sun. The colours I used are harmonious with one another and are heritage colours.  With little time I raced to paint these in, they are rough but it is not going to matter once the distressing comes into play.

Here they are after I finish with the two distressing techniques we learned. I like them really aged :D

The first method is to use a warm water soak to loosen the wallpaper paste and then using a floor brush or nail brush with short strokes to lift the paint off the surface where the wall paper paste is applied. Its wet, wild and fun and works fantastic.

I love how this lake sign turned out by one of the other participants.  Did I mention these are water based paints but it works equally as well for oil based paints. It is the messiest part of the process which is why we put down black plastic garbage bags.

We also tried block ageing which added to my tests. It is a way to make it look as though the painting is peeling off without having to life the paint, instead you add paint of the wood colour on the top. Here rick is further ageing his sign.I think the more distressed the better, as long as you can still make out what the sign says. It was a fun time and by the end of the class we had some pieces to be proud of!

Photo by Rick Janzen

I am so stoked about what I learned, I am pumped to apply it to my practice. I already have grand ideas and an extensive list of stuff I want to do so be prepared to see some major output in the coming months  after I finish all my teaching gigs and I can get back to the studio. I can't stop thinking about it, so much so I skipped past the remaining El Salvador trip inspiration. If this class comes up and this interests you I highly recommend the course.

Until next time = :D