And we're back...

Sorry about that folks.

Right in the midst of reviving this blog...and then absolute silence.

For over a year.

I'm sorry. But I do have a good excuse. I didn't lose my job or stop painting. But during the rush and frenzy of that show last posted I had a ton of doctor's appointments. And one day, in the middle of load in, my life changed. March 23rd, 2012 I was diagnosed with MS. You can read the details about it over on my other blog. 

Last year was a big year of adjustment. I was enlightened as to some of the issues I had been having, and now I had to learn to shift my thinking. As a woman in this business, I've found that I have to work extra hard to prove that I am capable. It's the curse of being a petite female in a physical career surrounded by guys. When you've been doing that for so long, it is extremely hard to admit you have limits. Limits that you cannot control.

And last season's schedule sucked. There's no other way to describe it without wanting to choke some pencil pusher without a clue. But it was a successful season. One in which I accomplished some big projects, including designing a mainstage production. Therefore I have lots of stories and pictures for you. I'll be doing Friday Flashbacks for a while to get caught up.

In the mean time. I am back on contract. Plans for the first two shows are starting to come in. And I'm getting started on a few small projects and continued shop improvement. I did a lot to my shop space over the last year, and hope to do some more this season. I'm sure when I get it just the way I want it, they will decide to move us to campus and I'll have to start all over again.

So hello. Welcome back. And here's to a season of on time plans/color, polite directors, cooperative designers, surprise increases in budget and actors who don't break everything they touch.

Day Eleven- March 13

Day of the frozen feet.

Painting the backdrop. It is a warmer day than it has been but the day is still overcast/rainy/chill. Of course it is also the day I am painting in my socks. The cold is seeping up through the concrete and into my bones. In between layers I am standing in front of the heat vent trying to thaw my feet. Even two layers of wool socks is doing nothing. I told the boss that *when* we move the shop I want radiant floor heating.

But anywho here is the progression of the back wall. It is a very wet and watercolor approach to the painting. All the green areas are intended to have a layer (or more) of painted erosion cloth over them.

 

 

 

 

Once dry I pulled the staples and rolled it up.

Layout rock and first of the four trees. Oh these f*cking trees.

Day um...Ten- March12

aka...the day I forgot my camera.

This is also the day of strike for Time After Time. I remained at the shop to paint, but I did help unload the trucks when they got here. I also unloaded the surprise lumber delivery.

The back wall is an odd thing in this show. It's sortof a ground row, but one that is nearly 12 feet tall. So it's sort of a wall too. The designer really wanted a seamless look, so what we decided to do was paint a large run of muslin and stretch it over the flats that create the wall in space. Again, because we have to get the whole set into the space through a standard door, this was the easiest way to go.

I used the top row of flats with the hill edge to layout the muslin. Apparently 140" muslin actually means 138", which means we lose some of our edge to wrap. We'll have to trim down the tallest hilltop. Once I had the top of the wall marked, I primed the fabric with a tinted primer.

Then I based it with the yellow ochre base coat. Using vine charcoal, I sketched in the color transitions that I would be painting next.

Day Nine- March 9th

I started the day by spraying a few more coats of sealer on the floor. While that dried, I continued to goo the rock.
Once it was safe I picked up the floor and labled it on the back as well as on the drawing. There's less chance of screwing it up if you go overboard. Carpenters tend to be notorious for not really paying attention to small differences in the painted finish, and there are a few sections of the floor that could easily be switched around.

I'm thankful I laid down the plastic before the floor went down because it saved a lot of heartache regarding gluing it to the paper. Once it was all cleaned up it was time to layout the fabric for the back wall and starch it.


I went home feeling pretty good that the floor was done and up. Now it was time to make cake pops for my daughter's birthday party.

Day Eight- March 8th

I hate Jute. (just so you know)

I finished cutting the jute for tree foliage while wracking my brain to figure out how the hell we are going to pull this off.

I coated the rock with Jaxsan roofing compound to give it some more strength and make the plywood top seem less plywoody.


Paint pattern on floor.
 The designer showed and we played around a bit with options. The final process ended up being extremely uncomplicated and fast. I laid down pieces of the erosion cloth radiating out from the areas where the trees are going to be placed. Then I sprayed a dark green with a hand pump sprayer, keeping away from the outer edges of the cloth to avoid a hard edge. Pick up the cloth and repeat. It idea was to position the cloth as if it were the root structures of the tree along the forest floor, as oppose to just random areas of texture. It really gave a beautiful look to the organic areas. Can I just say that wet jute smells awful. I'll sure I'll elaborate on it later when I'm doing the rest of the erosion cloth for the trees and back wall.

 

 

Once I sealed the floor all sorts of subtleties and depth crept through.  Even though I still liked the walk of fame area better before the spray to lighten it, I love the overall look of the floor. And besides, done is my favorite color. ;)









The one thing left to do on the floor is the brass dividers between the types of terrazzo. The paint pens I will be using for this are reactivated by the poly; so to avoid a smeary mess, I'll be lining it in space after installation.

And a Happy Birthday to my little girl. This is the day she turns one year old!

Day Seven- March 7th

Wrapping up the floor...or as far as I can without the designer here.
  He wasn't sure where he wanted to go with the next step so I had to wait for him to come in. So I jumped projects and moved onto the rock. Our master carpenter made the rock and did the  bulk of the foam carving. I went in at the end and finessed it all. Then we started gluing on cheesecloth over the foam to give it some more strength. The actors will be climbing all over this rock, not to mention all of the stuff that is going to be rolled on and off stage. I'm looking to make the finish of the rock as indestructible as possible. Oh, and the whole thing has to be in pieces that will fit through a standard door. (Well actually the whole set does. That is the hitch in this load in).

Gluing cheesecloth over the foam on the rock.






When all that was done I started cutting all the erosion cloth that will be hung in strips from the grid to represent the tree foliage. Yeah, this sucked. Horribly.

 

Day six- March 6th

Floor, floor and more floor.
  Again...an amazing lack of photos on this day. I must have forgotten the camera.

Then I had a little fun finessing the carving of the rock. There is something very satisfying having a big bread knife in one hand, a rasp in the other and going to town on some foam.