Like It Never Happened

 Ya'll will have to excuse me for doin' a little braggin' but, since I had shown ya'll the beginnings of that restoration project, I wanted to show the final results as well.  I was quite pleased with the way things turned out.  The first image is a before and after collage of a couple of areas and then the finished pieces on the end.  The individual photos are just larger versions of those in the collage.

 I do have to admit though, unglazed ceramic is probably one of the easiest materials to repair.  The non-shiny surface is easily matched with paint and so repairs become virtually undetectable.  It still requires good attention to detail though.

This is the only restoration job I've ever done where the artist was still alive and I was able to communicate with them.  That was cool.  I emailed these images to Mr. Fleming with a little note and he replied with a very sweet response.  He said he was amazed at the quality of the repairs and forever grateful that I took the time to do such a good job.  That was really nice and I'm glad he seemed pleased.

The school also seemed very happy with the work and quickly accepted my second bid on another broken sculpture when I got it sent in.  This next one though is going to really test my mettle.  It's a large chunk of cast glass, something I've rarely worked on, and has to be done just so, or else the repair can be easily seen.

When I was still in construction I joked often that I could fix anything from a busted ass to a broken heart and there were a couple of times that I was really sweating bullets to pull some repairs off.  Ha!  But I always managed to do it.  This is gonna be one of those times too, I think.  But I enjoy it.  It's a challenge to restore these objects to their original appearance.  Jobs like this pay pretty good too and I think I may treat myself to one or two modern textbooks I found on restoration.  I have several books on the subject but most of them are quite old and many of the materials and techniques are not used anymore.  I may not be able to attend a school for restoration but I can certainly buy their books and keep myself up to date.

So, not much going on around the house right now.  We are trying to get the garden cleaned up for fall and maybe plant some stuff.  I am way, way behind on fall crops but I might get something before winter.  I hate to not have something growing at all times.  Even salad greens can add a good zip to meals.

The little Buff Orps are not so little anymore and we are letting them out into the yard now to try to get integrated with the big girls.  The youngsters are still pretty shy but they are doing good and really having a blast being out free-ranging.

We are finally getting some rain now so maybe I won't lose any of my dogwoods.  I've got to get my flower beds cleaned up too.  I've just let everything go to poop lately.  Oh well, needing to get everything cleaned up is just a good reason for me not to sit around, which is still incredibly painful to do.  Hopefully everything will be resolved by winter.
Hope things are cooling a little where you are.  I walked outside this morning and it was almost like fall.  I admit, I really hate to see summer go, but the cooler weather is delicious.

The Art Of Falling Apart

 Although it may certainly sound like it, the title of this post is not about me!  This is the new restoration job I have in Birmingham.  And yes, these are some peculiar sculptures at first glance but I think with a little knowledge of their history they make more sense.  These are two (see below also), wall-hanging sculptures that were created by Southern artist Frank Fleming for a particular private school in Birmingham.  If you check out the link you can see much more of Mr. Fleming's work and the wonderful animals and iconic southern imagery that runs through all his work.  You an also get the idea that his work is quite pricey, and you'd be correct.  Most of his work is cast bronze but he does do some work in clay and these are made of a mid-range, white stoneware.  So, how did a school come up with the funds to purchase work of this nature?  Well, basically, it's a private school for rich folk to send their kids to and the campus and buildings are full of sculptures and paintings, mostly by Southern artists.

I have long been a fan of Mr. Fleming's work and, if you once again check out where and who collects his work, you can guess that this is an honor and a privilege for me to be able to restore these pieces.  I really enjoy doing this kind of work and always feel great satisfaction in completing a job where you can no longer tell there is anything wrong with the piece.  I've joked around that I have always thought I would have made a great counterfeiter, because I can usually replicate the style of anything I repair, but since I don't really want to go to prison I'll stick with this.  I would really love to expand and do more work like this, maybe even outside of Alabama, but it's not every day that somebody busts a big sculpture, thank goodness.

The school recently did a large remodel/ addition and during the transition of moving these pieces were damaged.  As you may be able to see, they are rather delicate in construction, extremely heavy and awkward to move, so it's not surprising to me that this happened.  And when you throw in some construction workers that are not used to dealing with such it can end badly.  Having been both an artist and construction worker I can see both sides and understand the issues involved.  And I have sympathy for both sides involved. 

When I work on things like this I also have to laugh a little at all the times I was ridiculed for getting a degree in art and for working in construction.  "What can you do with an art degree?"  "You ain't got any business working in construction"  Blah, blah, blah.  Then all the people that laughed at me go on to complain about how they hate their jobs but can't quit because they owe so much money and don't have time for this or that.  And I just laugh as I enjoy my day and the satisfaction of doing a good job and then I go home to my paid-for home that I built.  Haha!  When I was graduating from high school I would have never, ever thought I would have ended up in the careers that I did but it's been almost magical how things have worked out for me once I decided to follow my heart and not what other people said I should do. 

I have found all the connections to this job interesting also.  Most of you all know that the construction firm I used to work for went completely out of business.  Well, a few people such as myself, just retired from the business but most of the others went to work for other companies or in related fields and one superintendent that I worked for several times is now this school's head of maintenance and construction.  I had done one large restoration project on one of his jobs for Brice and so he knew I could do the work.  He told the school officials, you need to get this lady to do the repairs and so they contacted me.  It's also another great example of how the men I worked with have always helped and promoted me.  If you always really try to do your best and produce a good product I believe people will notice and they will remember.

So, the first thing on a  project like this is to clean everything well.  I also requested that they go ahead and install the pieces in their new location so that I could do my repairs in place.  That way there would be no chance of things being broken again when they were moving them to install.  And as it turned out, there were a couple of new, small breaks in the moving. 

After cleaning the puzzle work begins.  Mr. Fleming requested a certain type glue to be used and turns out it was what I use anyway.  The trick to putting something like this back together is that you use very little glue.  If it squishes out when you put the two pieces back together then you used too much and not only is it messy but the volume of glue will keep the pieces from fitting as tightly as they should.  Sometimes the crack is going to be visible and sometimes it will virtually disappear.  There is also the inevitable chunks that end up missing on a project like this.  I use a two-part paste epoxy to fill in these areas and the cracks.  Works great and you can usually never see the finished repair.  Well, if you know how to work it that is!

After the broken pieces were reassembled I then started reattaching the pieces to the main structure.  That is painter's tape you see holding pieces on until the glue sets.  The glue is also a fairly quick setting type but I like for something to be holding it until it is completely cured.  Now, the epoxy paste never quite matches the color of the clay or material so I use a color matched paint to hide the repairs.  I hate to use paint on a piece but that is usually all you can do.

Oh, there was one other fun fact of this job:  If you have read my blog from almost the beginning, you may remember when I worked on The Big House.  I did a number of fun restoration projects on that job and it is just down the road a piece from the school I am working at now.  (That'll give you an idea of just how wealthy this area is) In fact, the man that owns that house now went to this school and as he used to walk by the Big House on his way to class he would tell himself that he would own that house one day.  Or so the story goes anyway.  When I was browsing through Mr. Fleming's website I looked at the "news" section and recognized The Big House from several photos showing some large, outdoor bronzes he has done on commission recently.  I have also done work at several other houses in this area over the years and it's kinda funny how I keep getting work to come back to this particular area.  I am as poor as a church mouse compared to these people and it's an interesting world to occasionally work in.  I'll try to get a few photos of the surrounding area next time I'm over there.

Pure Morning

Another one of my failed attempts to capture the ethereal quality of the morning light here. You just have to see it in person I guess. I went out for a quick morning walk today, before I get started with some work. It is a little muggy but still a nice day, although it may get rather warm later. I hope to get the last little bit of siding up over the clerestory windows this weekend before I leave on my road trip.


And the black-eyed Susan's are blooming again. I like them because they bloom in the spring and again in the fall here. Lots of flowers are blooming right now actually. Ugghhhh, I dread winter. I know it is still a ways off but I hate cold weather. I am definitely a southern girl. I wold shrivel up and die if I had to move to a northern climate. When I get back from my trip I am going to have some spend some serious time and effort splitting firewood.

Restoration on the weathervane continues. You can see here where I have cleaned and straightened this piece and am applying a new coat of sealer, which is just beeswax and linseed oil. The upper part that looks darker is where I have finished. I hope this church is happy with what I have done. I think it is going to look good. I have to install new ball bearings for this thing to rotate on and finish the sealer and it will be done. I spoke to our general superintendent and he said as soon as I complete this project I will be laid off again for a time but we do have some work on the horizon at least. They want me to help set this piece back on the roof of the church, which should happen Wednesday or Thursday and then I am off and free to go on the road.


Hopefully I will have some small progress on the house to post soon also. Hope you all have a great weekend too!

Catch The Wind

This is my new project that I started on today. Biggest freakin' weather vane I've ever seen. It will be about 20 feet tall when I am finished. Did the cleaning today and straightened out some of the bent up places you see. It's a combination of stainless steel, bronze and copper.

A big storm did this. It's not taking near the time I thought it would so I may be finished with it by Friday afternoon. If I do finish it early and they have no immediate work for me, which is very possible, I have decided that it is time for a very big adventure. Everybody say, "Road trip!!!!"

Best I could do to show the whole thing. It's a very interesting piece. When I restore an original sculpture like this I always try to take the care with it that I would want somebody else to take restoring a piece of mine after I'm gone. I think it is going to turn out well.

This afternoon when I got home, I felt compelled to walk down to the spring, just to see how things there were doing. When I got there I was a little surprised to see that the water was so clear, you could see rocks about 18" below the surface.
Been a long time since it's been that clear. As I crept closer to the edge about 8 little frogs jumped screaming into the water, probably peeing all the way. Oh well.


*Donovan

Lie In Our Graves

Long time readers know that from time to time, I do some restoration work around the state. Today I finally had the time, and good weather, to do a job that I bid on some time back and was able to finish in one day, so it was extra good. I have actually done work in several historic cemeteries and working in such places always causes me to reflect on so many things. This is a very old cemetery of much historical significance, very near the downtown Birmingham area. Everyone here from princes to paupers. Several Alabama governors, mayors and one very well-known madam from the early 1900's.
The fence here is what I repaired. Sorry no pics of finished work. A friend of mine who is a stone mason did the stone repair. He is actually the one who introduced me to cemetery work. This mess is the result of a car wreck; someone going too fast around the sharp curve that runs by here. Probably being chased by police. Unfortunately, these grounds are located in a very unstable part of town so you have to be aware of the situation and on the lookout for suspicious/ dangerous behavior.
We also repaired one other spot in the fence that was the result of frozen turkeys being hurled through the air at a high rate of speed. 18 lb. frozen missiles that wrecked havoc amongst the tombstones and fence area. Seems a fellow stole a transfer truck full of turkeys right before Thanksgiving in a nearby area, the police gave chase but he could not quite make the same sharp turn. The truck flipped and spewed the turkeys all over the streets and cemetery. The overseer here said he kept finding turkeys strewn about for days afterward.
The grounds are filled with beautiful, old monuments of all kinds. Saddest I guess, are the varieties of lambs that usually mark the graves of children. It is such a pretty place that often times people come just to walk or sit and relax under the enormous magnolia and oak trees that cover the grounds.
Many of the markers and mausoleums are in dire need of repair but grant money or donations by patrons are hard to come by. Many of the graves are so old, that the families have long since passed away or moved from the area, these distant relatives forgotten.
But many are in fine shape and the architecture of the structures are a fascination in that you will rarely see such craftsmanship in modern times.
I can't help but to wonder about the people, that I know I am stepping over, as I go about my work. Did they live a happy life? Did it end tragically? How will I feel about my own life when I know my time to lie here is drawing close? If, I even live long enough to think my time might be near.

I can't believe we would

Lie in our graves

Wondering if we had

Spent our living days well.

So, consider this a reminder; spend your living days well, the best you can. Hug and kiss the one next to you. Laugh at stupid things. Be silly sometimes. Forgive everyone and pray that they will forgive you. Life sucks sometimes for everyone. I learned that lesson many years ago but when it's over, and it always passes too quickly it seems, there ain't no gettin' it back.

*Dave Mathews Band

Progress Report

They finally set the 3 chimney pieces I made for the Big House. This corner piece is one of them. I was very pleased with the fit and color. I don't think anyone would know they were not original; I really got lucky on these. These were set while I was away from the job sick but the guys did put a small little time capsule of sorts inside one the the pieces. Many thanks to Pablo who suggested the idea! Charles, the mason foreman, made a little canister out of PVC with a screw on end and put a letter inside telling about all of us and the date etc. and a few coins that were minted this year.
This is the view from the other side and the piece next to the corner is one of mine too. I really wonder if anyone will ever find the stuff we put inside and if they do, what year will it be?
This is Charles, the foreman; he and his crew did a fabulous job of setting the pieces and reworking all the chimneys. I hope to get a good group photo of everybody before the job is over.
This is part of the wood work off of the front of the house that I have been working on. This piece is small enough (about 4' tall) that I could take it to my studio to work on it. This is one of a pair of these heads that go over the front entrance to the house.

Different Kind of Flowers

Since things are still slow on our house, I thought I'd show a little something I've been working on at the Big House. This is some of the fascia board on the front eaves of the house. These are about a full 2" x 14" oak. As you can see, parts of it are split pretty bad and in alot of areas those little rounded pieces in the middle of the flowers has fallen off. I am having to fill all of the splits and holes with a wood epoxy stuff and recarve the missing details. I love it but its pretty slow going.
This is a close up of one of the better preserved areas. I cleaned this spot up and filled the cracks and then made a mold of the flowers to use to reproduce the missing parts for other areas. That took a couple of days but was pretty cool. I used this rubber mold stuff that will stay in place on a vertical surface when you paint it on. After you put enough layers to have the mold about 1/4" thick, you back it up with plaster and then peel everything off and bang! there you go! Now I can make bunches of these flowers or section off certain parts of the mold if I just need part of a flower or whatever.
As for our house, the structural engineer changed a couple of little things about the truss but it is still basically the same and Allen priced and ordered the steel today for it. It was not as bad as I feared, cost wise. So, we should be working on that this weekend and I will have lots of photos of that. As soon as we have that thing fabricated, things should pick up once again. It has finally quit raining here, which is great for work, but now everything is about to burn up.

Life Is Sweet

Sometimes it just all comes together fine! I can't believe I hit these this close. There was joy and dancing in the streets! Well, in my studio at least. Obviously, the one on the left is the old one and the one on the right is mine. The color could have been a little darker but there is some variation throughout the chimney pot and I think they still have to clean the originals some.
The dimensions all the way around were pretty good; I was off about an 1/8" on one side of this one and the 2 straight, middle sections were about 1/4" more narrow than the originals but at least they were not too big. I did, however, have one small problem. Under my hand in this pic is a pretty good size crack, plus some personal info I wanted inscribed in the piece just for ego purposes. I just got too anxious in the last firing and went a little too fast with the temperature and so that is what happens. They came through the bisque firing fine because I really took my time etc.
This is one of the middle pieces I did up next to the old corner. They all matched pretty good; I would say within 3/16" on the profiles and outer dimensions. You can see that bad crack in the piece in the background. Fortunately, none of the cracks made it to the face of the pieces so no crack will show when they are installed. I don't believe the cracks will ever pose a problem because the clay was fired to vitrification so they are not porous anymore. To compare, a flower pot is only fired to about bisque temperature (still porous) and therefore, can still absorb water and freeze and crack etc. I believe that was what happened with the old pieces.
These are the pieces right after the bisque firing. I applied a dark red slip as opposed to a glaze so they would not come out shiny, just the dark color. Then I wiped off about half the color to even it out and get a stained appearance and fired them to the final temperature of about 2,300 degrees. The clay just left bare does turn a nice dark brown but these needed a pretty good shot of red to match, so therefore the slip.
This is just how the 3 pieces fit together. They fit tighter though; the mortar joint is only about 1/4". I believe the guys at work were kinda suprised that I actually pulled this off. I am too to be honest. I always run my mouth about how I can fix this or that and then just sweat bullets until it's over. The architect approved them yesterday and hopefully they will be installed before someone drops something on them.

Only Time Will Tell

In the afternoons and evenings I have been working on these chimney pot replacement pieces. I have really been wracking my brain on the calculations for shrinkage etc. God, I hope this is right! That's alot of work down the drain if I have screwed up my measurements. Anyway, this is one half of the corner piece. I have rolled out a bunch of slabs and then used a pattern I made to cut out the pieces and then joined them together. The putting together is the easy and fun part. You have to score the edges by scratching it with a fork or whatever and then putting a little water or slip on them and pressing it together. Then you come back with a sculpting tool and kinda smear the edges together. That's what has made that pattern in the joints there. Then you go back and smooth clay in the joints to fill it back up flush and pretty it up.
The 2 halves came out real close in size and shape to one another so that was promising. The holes cut in the sides are partly so I can get my hand in there to do the seams inside.
And here it is finished and ready to start drying. I thought it came out pretty well but it's going to be a nerve wracking deal to let it dry and fire slow enough to keep it from cracking. It seems much so bigger than the original but this stuff shrinks alot more than you would think. Or at least, I hope it does! Fortunately, I keep records of the before and after measurements of the other stuff I make so I think I have an accurate idea of the size. Now I've just got to match the color....
I tried to post this stuff last night but Blogger was not cooperating and then the Internet here just went down. We were having some hellacious (sp?) storms yesterday and today too. We had golf ball size hail here and it just beat my poor little mums to pieces before I could get them inside the store. Oh well, at least I didn't have stuff coming up in the garden yet.

Higher and Higher

The stone masons have started the restoration of the first of the chimneys on the Big House as I'll refer to it from now on. They've got some major scaffolding going on for this part and I'm glad I didn't have to help build it. I don't care much for scaffolding work. I don't mind heights, it's just really rough work. I believe there are 5 chimneys on the house and most of the chimney pots are actually in pretty good shape except for this one. They are really beautiful and since they are made of clay, I have a special appreciation for them. Every one of them is different also.
As you can see, one corner piece here is gone and then there are 2 middle pieces that are broken also. They were planning on using some type of patching material but then, Yours Truly ran her mouth and said I could make the missing or damaged pieces, so they said OK! that would be better. I have less than 2 weeks to do this because to keep a good schedule the scaffolding must be down in that time and once it's down, it ain't going back up there.
Here you can see almost the whole chimney pot. I guess they are each about 7-8' tall and were made in Wales. Someone came in years ago and attempted some kind of repair and that's why you see that white crap smeared in each of the joints. I don't know if it's caulk or what but whoever did that just needs the hell beat out of them. It's going to take a lot of work to clean that up.
The mason foreman took off one good corner for me to use as a pattern since they are interchangeable and then one middle piece. It is severely damaged but I can still see how they went together. I am firing some test pieces now for color and believe I will be able to match that part almost exactly. Building the piece to the right size is going to be hard because clay shrinks about 10%, so I have to make it a little bigger and estimate how much its going to shrink. There is not alot of space in the joints either so I've got to hit it pretty close. It's a one shot deal too because they can't wait on me to make more if the first ones I make blow up or something when they are fired. But there's no pressure or anything!
This is a pair near the damaged ones that is still in good shape. I think they are really work of art in their own right. Well," a little less talk and alot more work", as they say on the construction sites.

Purple Haze

I'd hate to see the size of the toad to go along with these things! I thought these were pretty cool though. There are lots of neat little touches all in this house and then some stuff that just really makes you wonder....
There are several of these little windows down on the lower levels and it just creeps me out to look in them. I just expect there to be some bony hand reaching out at me or something. There are a bunch of rooms down in the lower levels of the house that are empty (or full of animal heads, like hunting trophies) and we are not sure what they were used for. Most of the living and bedrooms are on the upper 3 floors so it makes you wonder what all the lower stuff is. We know part of it was servants quarters. There are a couple of rooms down in the lower levels that several people have said (unknown to one another) they got a really bad or ominous feeling when they went in them. The main front doors to the house are boarded up for protection, so we have to enter through a lower side door and go down this long, dark hallway to this spiral stairway and then go up to the main levels to open the house up. Then we reverse this to lock up when we leave. The other day we were leaving and I had to go out by myself and I got about halfway down the hall and I heard footsteps behind me! We had scared ourselves already by talking about all the stuff so I was creeped out to begin with and when I heard the steps, I took off runing to the outside door! I turned around when I got outside and saw it was just the man who lives there. He either got a good laugh or thinks I'm an idiot.
This is the view from the house looking out over Birmingham. I will try to get a pic from the roof of the house. It's really incredible what you can see from there.

Everything Put Together Falls Apart

So, this is the house I have been working on since going back with the construction company I used to work for. Part of my own business is restoration work and whenever this company has a job that involves such things they let me come back and do some work for them. This is actually the back of the house here. Since this is a private residence, I'm just trying to show some anonymous areas of the house. It's really hard to describe this house; you just have to see it in person and then it takes you a while to really absorb it all. In this pic you can see 5 different levels within the house but I believe there are 6 or 7. About half of the house is underground. All of the windows are leaded or stained glass and they are being taken out and repaired and cleaned. All of the mortar between those stones is being replaced over the entire house and it gets a new slate roof. I get to do alot of the repair to the woodwork there on the outside.

This is the same side just lower down; I wanted to show some of the gardens below. This is also one of the creepiest houses I have ever been in. I swear, we all have the heebie-jeebies going in this thing. I will try to show some of the interior later but it's just like a dungeon in parts. It was completed in 1928, I believe, and the man who built did not get to live in it long when the Depression hit. He lost his fortune and in an effort to save what money he had, he lived down in the lowest levels and survived by eating rabbits and stuff he caught from the grounds. He could not make his last mortage payment though and the bank ruthlessly took the the house and threw him out. It was sold but the 2nd owner died in a plane crash before he could completely close the deal. The 3rd owner's wife went blind while living in the house and it was sold again. The 4th owner's wife was murdered in the house and he died shortly thereafter. The 5th owners got away without any trouble I think but they eventually sold it. The 6th owner suffered a major financial downfall and had to sell the house at a tremendous loss. It is on it's 7th owner now.

Almost all of the house is in need of major repairs. All of the stone paths and patios are going to have to be taken up and relaid. The craftsmenship in the house is extraordinary though. It was just neglected for too long.
This is a great example of the stone work in the drives and paths. There are 2 parking areas that have this design work in them.

This has been a rough week as I have been getting up at 5:00 a.m. to get to this job and then I get off at 3:30 and go to Allen's job and have worked until sundown for him laying stone. Then another old friend of mine died Monday evening. I had been trying to get in touch with him but now it's too late. So, ya'll do me a favor and call a friend you have not spoken to in a while and say "Hi".

We should be framing walls this weekend on our house so I should have pics of that soon and some more drawings maybe.