Saturday 2 May 2009

Almost Finished

The happy chair is almost finished. It has been fun and I have learned a great deal from the experience ... things that work ... and things that don't ... how brushes, pens and paint behave ... the difficulties of working on rounded surfaces ... and on and on ...

I will do the piece of blue above the dancing starfish last ... it will be difficult because the seat is in the way ... and I have a couple of other small chalked in drawings to paint ... and then I will polyurethane the whole chair a couple of times to protect it from the inevitable bumps and scrapes it will endure.

I am anxious to get at the desk which is next. I am looking forward to working with flat surfaces again.

My hermitage is demanding more time than I have been giving it what with tax time and a flu bug (no, not piggy flu) and the after effects of having three dogs in the house all week. My floors are coated in gritty sand, clouds of shed hair float everywhere, and I have just finished the second full load of dog bedding and towels. All my rugs are outside getting fresh air before I vacuum them.

And all the messes that need work are showing up since the spring thaw. One of the mastodons melted and fell onto the the side of the road yesterday and frightened Kenya half to death. She must still think they are prehistoric creatures even though the frozen waterfalls have been there all winter.

The garbage and recycling trucks still cannot navigate my road and I can't get the road repaired for another month. The remains of the old cottage look like a scar on the landscape which needs to be covered in gravel first and then topsoiled so that I can start to create a garden down by the water ... but again nothing can happen until the road is fixed.

6 comments:

Tamarak said...

We saw the great chunks of fallen ice last night when we drove in to pick up our smelly dogs! Were you and Kenya near when they fell??? We wondered about how surprising it would have been to have witnessed that!

The chair is absolutely fantastic! I love it...I want one!!! I am happy that you have had such fun doing it! The idea you have for the deask is wonderful too!

Thank you so much for keeping the boys for us...we had a much appreciated mini break from life in Montreal!

Oma said...

You are very welcome ...

I have finished the painting of the chair ... decided (after two abortive attempts to produce first a rising sun and then a rainbow) that the sky over the starfish should be a starry night sky ... so it is. I think it is appropriate that between the bottom of the sea and the night sky is the person sitting in the chair ... maybe it will encourage that person to encompass the richness of the world.

The mastodon fell before we got there. Both Kenya and Shea were completely spooked by its great shape lying there menacingly when we walked by.

deb said...

I have a friend here that keeps a look out and has her friends do the same, for old kitchen chairs...ladder backs, etc. You can pick them up for 5-10 dollars each. She paints them and sells them for 60-70...

Oma said...

Deb ... or anyone else who cares to weigh in ... where does your friend sell the chairs?

Also, are her chairs as labour intensive as this one was or are they a simpler design? (of course labour-intensive for someone whose painting is like working with the shakes and wearing mittens is different from the painting of an artist!) Could you take a photo of one to show me?

Kerry said...

The chair is fabulous! It looks so fun!

Oma said...

Mud Mama ... i think the Wild Thing and Nature Girl will be its biggest fans.