Not sure where the time has gone. Got quite a shock when I realised the date of my last post. I really have been burying myself in my work.
It’s even been a week now since my deadline and I don’t know where the time has gone.
Let me see if I can take you through how it all ended, it wasn’t without drama I can tell you now…..
On Thursday 20th, day after last post, I managed to get 8 of the 11 columns of paintings bolted together (see image to follow what I mean by that). Friday I went in early, as was my habit, to continue. My friend who is showing next to me was hoping to hang her work that day, two large 150cmx150cm photographs. But try as we might it wasn’t happening. What we hadn’t realised, with all our painting and making good, was just how bowed her wall was – we’d even used lining paper and wall-papered it trying to make it a smooth wall. There was only one thing for it, the wall had to be replaced!
Yep, thats right the stud wall had to come down, rebuilt and repainted! Originally only half of it was coming down, but as the technicians started they decided it’d be easier to re-do the whole wall. So with my friend and I as ‘lackey’s’ the wall came down. I joked with them that it would have to go back up in exactly the same place (my wall is perpendicular to this one and I had about 2in to play with currently!). As it turned out, there was some room to manoeuvre so the new wall was positioned a 2in back, giving me a little more confidence my work would fit, one good thing had to come out of this set back :O)
I was so relieved I hadn’t actually started to install my work, or any of us for that matter, as there was dust everywhere, thankfully mine were all wrapped up and protected.
Or so I thought, cause as fate would have it, on the Saturday – I didn’t come in, had work I wanted to get done from home – a length of 2×2 fell sideways and onto my paintings. Before taking the wall down I’d got two more columns built, so only had one stacked ready to build. This stack was where the wood fell. It went through the sheet and bubble wrap AND canvas. Yep I got a phone call to tell me there was an 8cm gash in one of my paintings.
Gutted goes no where close to how I felt. It was an accident, it could easily have happened when I’d been there. My friend was devastated, it was hard to console her. Until I saw the damage I had no idea how bad or what actions were open to me. But I did play out quite a few scenarios in my head over the rest of the weekend none of which were good.
Monday arrived and first in I was able to have a few minutes alone with my work, see the damage for myself and work up a plan to deal with it.
We were now way off schedule – having been way ahead only a few days ago – without the thought of re-painting a piece…. But thats where it was at. The tear was right, near as damn it, in the middle of the canvas.
I did have a stretched primed white canvas spare, albeit on a squinty stretcher. But I’d re-use the stretcher the damaged painting was on so I didn’t need to worry about that. I set about swapping them over so I could add coloured primer to the new one ready to re-paint the portrait.
When the tutor arrived – we had one of our cluster group meetings scheduled – there was a lot for him to take in, not least the fact that there was a huge gaping great chasm where the wall had been. My friend also brought to his attention the misfortune to fall on my work. He was of the opinion it could be repaired. That may as well be I thought, but (1) I didn’t feel I had the skill to know where to even start (2) I couldn’t possibly have a repaired one in the actual degree show.
Hhmmm…
