wood burner

With the studio finally re-sided, I could get back to work. I can’t believe how many delays got in my way on this particular project, but I’m in the home stretch now! I was so excited when I found the “new to me” fabric store in Junction City. Remains of the Day is a store full of scraps. Literally! Ok, they have some bolts too, but mostly what they specialize in are the remnants from the local RV manufacturing businesses that kept Junction City booming before the economic down turn. Though some of these big RV builders went out of business long before the housing bubble burst, their fabrics remain all cut up and ready for resale at this little hole in the wall store.

Remains of the Day

Goes on and on…

It’s quiet storefront did not prepare me for the Aladdin’s cave of wonders that seemed to go on and on! I was pleased to find such a local treasure and the owner, Jeff, was very helpful! Facebook link here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Remains-of-the-Day-Fabrics/485790398146044

I had a great time choosing many fabrics for the next set of wings. Once again I walked out with more than I could use on the project, but it was hard to say no to all those fabulous colors and textures.

Helpful Mike! Take note of the fabric he's holding for me. You'll see it again in a minute.

Helpful Jeff! Take note of the fabric he’s holding for me. You’ll see it again in a minute.

When I finally got a chance to work on the wings, rather than re-use the pattern from Winged Chair #1, I opted to create a different set of wings. I perused some of my notes, looked at wings on the internet and sketched out some ideas. Then I made a pattern out of butcher paper and cut it out. I traced the top side on one board, flipped it over and traced out the other wing for a perfect symmetrical set.

New pattern, all cut out and ready to go!

A woodworker friend suggested a new glue for me to try… the hot glue was ok, but not the best solution for long term integrity, so I gave the 3M formula 77 a whirl. I was skeptical at first as it seemed like a sketchy hold, but by the next day, the fabric I tested was holding solid and tight! It took me a few days to hunt down a dealer for this stuff. Some on-line outlets wanted $25 a can plus shipping and you had to order 10. Criminy! Then, while shopping for re-siding supplies at Jerry’s, (our locally owned DIY home improvement store) I found it for the much more reasonable price of $10. There is no accounting for this difference, but it does serve to prove that it pays to shop around. It also mystically “proves” that I had to side the studio before I could finish this project. Hmmmm.

3M magic!

Well the wonder glue has it’s own issues… while it holds well, it comes in a spray can. I couldn’t have worked with it indoors, but with the weather nice, it wasn’t too hard to step out when it came time to spray. Of course, now that means we have another problem… overspray. Sigh. I really don’t like being so meticulous with my work. It slows down my ju ju.

Figuring out what goes where.

I started to lay down some fabric but was making a mess with all the spray business. I thought about my handy little glue gun, but damn it, the spray glue works… and it works really well. So I knuckled under and took the time to cut out and apply an intricate series of masks to each portion of the wing. Then did it again for the other side. All with a one time use. Most tedious.

Masking off areas I don’t want glue all over.

Am I suffering for my art? YES!

I really disliked that part, but adopted a “Que sera sera” approach and just did what I had to do. Through it all, I was listening to an awesome book on CD, so after a chapter or two, I didn’t even notice the wretched task. Once the fabric started getting layered, the wings began to take shape! I was still using the brayer to smooth the fabric, but without the bulky hot glue oozing everywhere, (not to mention burning my fingers from time to time) the profile of the wings were sleek and flat.

Smoooooth!

As I began hot burnishing the edges, I remembered that I forgot to paint the wood. Oops. It worked out ok, I just painted them later… though much more carefully.

Hot burnish.

I propped the finished wings on my easel and took a look. Hmmm…. something missing. I didn’t want to add bric a brac, though I did think about sequins or stones or some other fun application. But ultimately, I am a painter, so out came the paints.

Not exactly fabric paints, but that never stopped me before.

I began letting loose a bit more than the first set of wings. I’m pretty happy with the results so far.

Dots? Why not?

The chair itself is waiting for a thorough going over, and I’ll have to make some decisions to paint or not… but until then, here’s where the wings are for now. Consider this “Stage 1”. Next post: “Stage 2”.

Snazzy!!

Sometimes creating art is easy. It flows smoothly and emerges beautifully and before you know it, there it is, finished and lovely. And sometimes creating grinds away at your soul, abrasive like sandpaper, wearing down the edges until you’re left with a little pile of shavings and dust and you wonder if it was all worth it. When I have days like this, I set it aside until I have the strength of spirit to revisit my monster and sand it down some more. Or sometimes I persevere, doggedly determined to win the fight.

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but either way you gave it your all. And funny thing, whether you loved the end result or not, I find that there is usually someone out there who loves the monster you hated. And often as not, there is someone who hates the darling you love. Art is so subjective. As much as I would like it if other people loved my darlings and hated my monsters right along with me, years ago I gave up on controlling my audience. Once it leaves my hands, it’s out of my hands.

The Winged Chair project is still unfolding, but with my cement failure grinding away at me, I had to find another way to win. So I turned to the tool that has come to my rescue on countless craft projects.

Thank you Arrow products!

Ah, the lowly glue gun. How I turned mine eyes from thy trigger and hot sticky messiness! You rescued my project from the depths of failure and have redeemed yourself as the maker of high art. As I turned towards my trusty side-kick, the project took off again. Speed is of the utmost when using hot glue and I had to develop some new skills rather fast when it came to smoothing out the feathers of fabric. The glue oozes out in thick wads and cools so fast, the only way to flatten was to run the brayer over the fabric in short bits… often gumming up the roller, necessitating the scraping of glue bits off before moving on to the next part. I figured it out though and was able to concentrate on my work as the cement fumes were no longer an issue.

Art, like building, is sometimes an exercise in problem solving. When I figured out that building a house was just a series of problems to solve any intimidation I had thinking that a woman couldn’t do the same thing melted away. Women are excellent builders. The only thing stopping us is us. Ok, some good upper body strength comes in handy, but there are ways around that too if you think and… problem solve!

So, next problem on the table was the brocade. Such a picky fabric. First it didn’t take to the cement. Then it unravelled mercilessly. I stopped that nonsense with a judicial application of Gorilla Tape to the back, a good deep press with the brayer and voila! Clipped those wings right out.

The backside of brocade sheathed in Gorilla Tape. Good stuff!

The hot glue didn’t bind the edges of the fabric as well as the cement, but I remembered a little crafting secret and used a match to sizzle off loose threads. Ok, there are too many threads. Hmmm… what do I have that could melt the fabric edges?

Caution: tool gets HOT.

Why my wood burner soldering tool should do the trick. Not only that, it began to crisp up the edges and remelt any scraps of glue. Aha!! I liked that effect so I began to draw on some of the fabric with the burner.

Just starting to darken (by melting) the tips of these feathers.

A flurry of feather shading began at this point. I used the burner and permanent markers to define some of the edges. I added some embellishments… maybe more to follow, I’ll have to stand back and ponder that for a bit. I want to get both wings together before the final touches.

Getting there!

Scout takes a snooze through most of this. It’s been raining like crazy so she’d rather nap.

Next post will probably be the finished product, so it may be a few days. This project has really gotten into my skin… hopefully not with any toxic chemicals! Still, I find myself thinking about it and wondering what the next one will look like. This morning I even had a few moments where I wondered how I’d feel sitting in a chair like that. Would I hear better? The wings will probably bounce some sound around. Would I feel like an Angel? A Queen? A Fool? A Genius?

I like that last part. I’m going with that.