Painting: The Writer's Life

I had an art call (i.e., a painting and chatting video call) with my sister recently, during which I attempted a painting way beyond my drawing abilities.  Oddly, all the strange, squashed dynamics ended up pleasing me in the end.  A limbs akimbo, half-faced writer wedged into a cramped space with a typewriter seems like an apt visual metaphor for the psychological discomforts of the writing life.  

"The Writer's Life"
acrylic on paper

Another Mobile!

The beads

Having made some lumpy beads in a one-day pottery workshop, my sister wisely suggested it was time to go back to my art roots, and make a mobile.  In the proud tradition of the original Ugly Mobile, here's a new mobile/cat toy. 

Yes, the wire is a mess, and no, I'm not going to fix it. It was just a fun way to play.   

The kitten approves!  

Mobile testing

Woodworking Class - Wood Box with Hinges

The final project in the woodworking class was making a wood box with hinges. We started with two thicknesses of board - one an inch, and the other 1/4 inch.  We cut the thicker board (using either table saw or miter) into 4 equal pieces. Then using the table saw at a 45 degree angle we angled the edges so that they would fit together (as in how picture frames edges work). Next, we used the table saw again to add a channel in each piece.  This involved several passes until the 1/4 thinner pieces of wood would fit in the channel snugly.  

Then we measured the length of the channel and cut the thinner boards to be the right length to fit in those so that the thin boards fit in the channels top and bottom while the thicker boards, with their angled edges, all came together around them. Some adjusting was necessary then, as we discovered that the jig for the 45 degree cuts could be slightly off if sawdust got trapped in the corner - meaning the angle was off, meaning pieces didn't fit together well.  

When it seemed like everything was a fit, out came the wood glue.  After numbering each piece, we took it all apart, and taped the (thicker) sides together in a line.  We added glue to each joint and then wrapped them around the (thinner board) top and bottom, fitting them into the channels, and then added more glue at the remaining open joint.  

And - sadly, mine still didn't fit together quite right, despite re-cutting before, something I'd apparently missed when fitting things together pre-glue.  But it was close enough to bring out the vices and hope for the best, so I left it at the box at end of that class with many vices hopefully keeping it in the right shape while the glue dried. 

By the next class, it looked like this: 

Glued box - still 
with big gap

My teacher had removed the vices, and come to the sad discovery that they hadn't been able to overcome the fit issues.  Note the large gap in the edges.  So he upgraded me to a box that he had whipped together with leftover boards - which was symmetrical, prettier wood, and a more pleasing shape, and apparently took him very little time since he knows what he's doing and was far from his first box. So I got upgraded to being able to use that box for the Part II of box making, while my wounded original box became the demo box.  

New, teacher-made box, 
with my wounded box
in the background

Astute observers will now note that the boxes were actually just cubes at this point, since they were completely glued together. So the class started with cutting the top of the box off using the table saw - cutting three sides, and then carefully using a pusher to cut the last side. Despite my initial fear of the table saw, I did feel like I was starting to get the hang of it by then.  

Next up was lots of sanding, initially using the band sander and then the hand orbital sanders and then by-hand with sandpaper.  Once everything was sanded (not a short process), we moved onto hinges. In theory, hinges are simple: you mark the area on the box, use a chisel to create a space for the hinge to lie flat on each side, mark the holes using a pencil, drill in guide holes and then screw in the hinges.  

In practice: oof, everyone had issues with hinges not in the right space and box lids that were askew.  So we learned about using glue and sawdust to refill holes and trying to drill again.  And we learned that the screws for the hinges were really, really easy to strip. In theory, you can use a rubber band to help as gripper to ease a screw back out. In practice it was easier to leave those screws in and try to get the not-yet-stripped screws in a better alignment.  In the end, with lots of teacher assistance, four of the six of us were able to get the hinges more or less ok before we ran out of time. Sadly, I wasn't one of them, but I did go ahead and finish it with walnut oil and rejoiced in the wood grain coming to life.  And I took it home with one flappy hinge and a stripped screws, with the idea of using open studio (which came with the class, though I didn't make use of it) to come back and get things fixed if needed. 

But next morning, I attacked those hinges anew, and, after finding a couple of slightly stronger screws, using awl to fix the holes, and whacking the heck out of some stripped screws with a mallet to get them and the hinge more or less flat again, I got the box looking more or less box-like.  The top is still slightly askew, but it's better, and hey, at least the lid is attached. 

The dreaded hinges, finally attached

Yes it's still slightly crooked, but
the wood is awfully pretty

I learned a great deal in the woodworking class, though I confess, it's hard for me to learn in group settings sometimes - so many people, so much noise, so much sawdust inhaled - and amid distraction, my precision (never my strong point) and concentration goes out the door.  But the class successfully demystified power tools and gave me the capacity think about how to use them safely and effectively. The teacher (Mike) was incredibly knowledgeable as well as kind and very, very patient with our many questions and missteps. Yes, first projects are always a bit lumpy, and that's just the way things go.  Feeling like I can absolutely learn to do more in general means I also did things in my own home life like use the huge (previously scary) hedge trimmer to trim the enormous privet hedge (without losing any fingers), and finally replace the busted light fixture in the upstairs bedroom (without burning down the house).  That's maybe the best thing to come out of any class: knowledge that you have the capacity to learn and getting over your anxieties enough to be empowered to do things yourself and I definitely got that in this woodworking class -- along with a handmade cutting board, wood bowl, and wood box.  

Woodworking Class - Router Bowl

The next project in the woodworking class was a bowl made out of a solid block of wood. Full disclosure: it wasn't my favorite project. We started with a block of oak, and using ring-shaped plastic guides that we taped to the top, we used the band saw to cut the edges to a rounded shape and mark out the interior edges of the bowl. Then we used a large cutter bit on the drill press to scoop out the largest chunks that we could. Because you can't really overlap well with those large bits (or it skitters away - it's not a fun discovery), after that it was using the hand router to dig out the rest of the wood. The hand router gets sawdust pretty much everywhere. With good reason, our teacher warned us to wear clothes we didn't mind getting really dusty. Amid hand routering, I managed to ding up the plastic ring in some routing failure, so I could not use the ring as an edge all that well, and also I forgot to do a few laps to make sure I got everything at that level before adjusting the router for a different depth, the end result was that I had some lumps in the interior wall. Oops.  

At the next class, having already used the hand router to scoop out most of the innards of the bowl, we popped off the plastic ring and used the table router to round the edges of the bottom, top outside, and (most exciting, since you are working blind) top inside of the bowl. And then there was sanding using the belt sander at first (which unfortunately introduced cross grain lines, so another imperfection to sand down) and then the hand orbital sanders on those areas that were accessible, and hand sanding the inside of the bowl. By the time I got to that, I had a lot of weirdness to try to sand down into something relatively normal looking. For a time, I thought I would take it home and sand it more on my own, but after a point, I got over that, so when we got to the finishing time, I slathered it in walnut oil, and called it good.  In the end, while it's got issues, most people aren't going to see them in the detail that I did.  I took it home and popped it into use as a catchall for keys and it's ended up being remarkably handy.  

The bowl in its finished form

Woodworking Class - Cutting Board Project

I've long been afraid of power tools. The odds of me sawing off one or several of my fingers always seemed excessively high, particularly since I tend to get jumpy around loud noises. Still, as a person prone to creating, this becomes limiting, and limitations annoy me.  So I boldly signed up for a woodworking class.  

Over six weeks, we worked on three different projects. The first of these was a cutting board, and involved using most of the biggest and scariest tools.  After a short overview on safety (use the eye protection glasses and ear protection and remember to turn on the sawdust collection systems) we got straight into it with processing rough wood (which is to say, making them into flat boards with right angles). 

The first machine up was a jointer, which creates 90 degree edges if you run your wood through two sides.  It's loud, but reasonably unintimidating as you use pushers to move the wood through, so the odds of hands near blades is small.  The jointer gives you flat edges that make it easier when you move on to the planer.   

The planer - also loud - takes tiny bits off with each pass through until the two opposite side are flat and parallel.  You can set the height you want to for the final piece as well.  It's not speedy, but it's effective.

The miter saw and table saws are where I get more nervous - large blades, right there.  The miter, most often used for cross-grain cuts, you bring the blade on a swing arm down on your piece.  On the table saw, as the name suggests, you move your piece over the blade built into the table.  The table saw at the Maker Space studio had an impressive safety feature where if it sensed skin, it would immediately lock the blade -- so you might get a scratch, but you would not lose your fingers. You would be out the cost of the blade replacement though, as you need to put in a whole new cartridge if the blade locks. Aside from fingers, kickback is an issue if you're holding the piece of wood in such as way that the energy of the saw lifts it in an unexpected direction.  This is not good, and somewhat alarming (yes, I found out, and quickly corrected).  Like the jointer, you use pushers to move the wood through, keeping the blade well away from your hands.  

After getting the general process for how to process wood (one way - there are many) using the joiner and planer, we got to choose from processed boards and think about what kind of pattern we wanted in our cutting boards.  I chose three types of wood (cherry, walnut and something white - birch, I think) and cut the boards into strips using the table saw (!).  I kept my fingers, despite being awash in nervous sweat.  

Once we had all the pieces (of various heights - the rule was everything had to be a minimum of an inch high, and the multiple pieces together had to be at least 12 inches across, but length and height varied), we got out the wood glue and went to town with a gluing fest and vices.  By the end of the first class, the cutting board in process looked like this: 

Glued cutting board
busy drying

The width the individual pieces and the board overall would stay the same, but the length of the board and height changed the next week as we finished the project.  

In the next class, we freed the board from its vices and used the miter saw or a jig on the table saw to make the cross cuts to remove the jagged ends, and then got to work with lots and lots of passes through the planer to get each piece flat and the same height.  

From there, we moved on to the table router which, for those who aren't in the know (e.g., me until recently) is how you make rounded edges.  It's also another opportunity to have kick back and wounded fingers if you're not careful (though I and my class remained unscathed).  If you move your piece too slowly on the router, you get burn marks (which you'll have to sand out) and if you move too quickly, it might chip out, so you have to find the Goldilocks speed. I didn't find that, so mine had some burn marks. The router is a bit persnickety and getting the bit at the right height and keeping the wood on the bearing took a little doing.  

And then there was sanding.  We were short electric hand sanders, so I did a lot of my sanding by hand (which wasn't the worst in some ways, as it is quieter, though my sanding wasn't the best).  You go through three types of sandpapers to increasing higher grades.  Then do a quick wet down to lift the grain, let it dry and sand some more. So much sanding.  

Because one of the pieces of my cutting board had a mild split in it wood has character), I also learned the sand & glue trick - add a little sawdust (you'll have plenty) to wood glue and it fills in quite nicely so you'll barely see it.  

And then there is the best part: once everything is the shape you want and smoothed by sanding, you get to put the finish on.  For cutting boards, food grade mineral oil is a good option.  We slathered them up and watched all the texture and grain suddenly come to life.  Then we rubbed still more oil into the thirsty boards, and left let them dry.  

By the time I got the board home the following week, the final product looked like this: 

Finished cutting board ready for use in my kitchen (along with two house plants)

The cutting board is a great first project, using a great many tools and creating something that feels satisfyingly finished at the end.  Care includes occasionally oiling it with butcher block conditioner (food grade mineral oil and beeswax) and never ever putting it in your dishwasher.  

Stained Glass Class! - Flower Panel

The next project in stained glass class was creating a glass panel.  I got to choose from various design options, and then took those designs to the stained glass store in Frederick to get supplies - glass for the piece, solder, and copper foil. Glass shopping becomes ridiculously absorbing as you ponder color, texture, and opacity, along with how the colors all look together.  

Armed with supplies, at the next class we set up our boards (wooden borders held in place with pushpins around the paper design) and started cutting and grinding.  I made what looked like good progress in that class - progress that ended up being deceiving. Many of my shapes were close-ish to correct, but you can't fudge the fit for a panel as much as you can in a suncatcher, as it all has to end up in that square space somehow.    

Progress!  Note original blue color
the top right corner

I did like the deep red I selected for the flower, and the texture of the green leaves.  I wasn't in love with the blue - it didn't quite fit - but I was at peace with that.  

What I hadn't counted upon was breaking the remaining blue glass, meaning I didn't have enough to fill in the background.  

The teacher saved the day by volunteering a piece of glass from her stash.  And so the tulip in the sun image became more a tulip in the rain.  

Checking out how the
new glass will look

The new blue and clear glass ended up working well.  And I managed to get all the pieces cut to more-or-less the right shapes.  But my tendency to err on leaving things too big showed in the lots and lots and lots of edge grinding to get all the pieces to actually fit in the frame.  

The teacher assisted with some expert cutting, and eventually, all the pieces fit and I got to take my board home, where at my leisure, I foiled each pieces. Copper foil comes in rolls with one side sticky, so you simply press it onto the piece, hoping to keep it as centered as possible, and then press the edges down.  The copper gives the solder something to stick to.  

Pieces fit into the frame and foiled!

During the last class, we all returned with our freshly foiled pieces and soldered our hearts out.  I managed, of course, to burn my finger once (the glass heats up in the process).  My piece has very thick solder lines because of some large gaps (filled first with extra foil), but solder covers a great many ills and it ended up being fine.  Once front and back were soldered, the teacher helped up add frames (mitreing the edges and sliding them on) and hanging hooks, and voila! I was able to take the finished piece home and hang it in my kitchen window. 

I have a new respect for how labor intensive stained glass work is.  Happily, sun through glass is always pretty, and distracts lumpy solder and other imperfections.  I'm pondering future projects and whether I should invest in a glass grinder of my very own -- but have resolved that first, I need to complete my other class I took this winter: Introduction to Woodworking.  More on those projects next.  

Stained Glass Class! - Bird Suncather

 I took arty classes this winter to keep myself afloat in these weird times and learn something new.  The first effort was in learning how to make stained glass.  

We started a small project in the first class: cutting, edge grinding, and foiling pieces of glass for a simple suncatcher.  My cutting skill was, let's just say, inexpert, so there was lots and lots of grinding to get the pieces into shapes that more or less worked together. 

We soldered the pieces together in the 2nd class, and added a hanging hook.  The end result of my little bluebird of happiness is festive, if not expert: 

Foiled, but not yet soldered

The finished product up in the window, now soldered
together with hanging hook attached

There are skills to both glass cutting and soldering that I've clearly not mastered, but light through glass is always pretty, so I'm pleased with the piece nonetheless.  

In my next post, I'll show you the larger 8 x 11 panel project that I worked on for the remainder of the sessions.  

Baker Artist Portfolio

 

Baker Artist Portfolios, a program of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, sponsors free online artist portfolios, so I made use of their swanky setup.  You can see some of my art here: 

https://bakerartist.org/portfolios/cynthiadaffron

Plant Hanger Upcycling

 A new job has cut into my random crafty arty project time, but I had a moment this weekend to make a weird little plant hanger for my new spider plant bought today at the Baltimore Farmers' Market. The many, many things left by the former owners of my house (the purchase was an estate sale) included the iron stand (an old lamp? -- very heavy) and the faded purple ribbon that, thanks to a little knotting, became the hanger.  Not gorgeous perfection, but functional for now, good enough to give the little plant room to grow.  

European Starling

A birder friend of mine correctly identified this bird as a starling (specifically, it is a European Starling) which is a level of success that doesn't usually happen with my representational painting - so I'm pleased about that.  

A Rare Instance of Successful Baking

I'm not sure I have ever actually made cupcakes before, but I had a sudden hankering a few weeks ago when faced with a cupcake tray at a store.  And so I made cupcakes that, despite going off recipe (substituing yogurt for milk, olive oil for vegetable oil) came out looking and tasting like yummy cakes.  

I also went off-script with the icing, opting to just melt some chocolate chips and mix in yogurt - which also, amazingly, came out quite well, a little more mellow than the hardcore sugar of traditional icing.  

And yes, I forgot to take a picture before I had sampled one.  Yum.  

Side note: those paper cup liners are the best.  No trying to pry them out of the tray or messing with greasing and flouring - they were worth the tiny investment.  

Feisty Females of Fells Point tour

Last Saturday, some friends and I braved crazy winds (and lovely sunshine) to attend the Feisty Females of Fells Point tour run by Baltimore Heritage.  Covering a broad range of women over hundreds of years, our guide Robin talked to us about (among many others): 

Mary Elizabeth Lange (1784 - 1882), a French-speaking Catholic originally from Cuba, who founded the first African American religious congregation in the United States, the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore.  Pope Francis recently declared her venerable, another step forward in becoming a saint.  

Barbara Mikulski, former US Senator of Maryland and former resident of Fells Point, who found her way into politics by way of successful activism to keep a highway from being built in Fells Point.  

Billie Holiday, American jazz singer, who spent part of her turbulent childhood in Baltimore.  The house she lived in now has a plaque, and the street features several beautiful murals of Lady Day.  

We also passed by several women-owned restaurants. Sofia's Place European Deli is owned by Sofia Para who has been selling perogies and other tasty items in The Broadway Market for over thirty years.  Cocina Luchadoras's owner made waves more recently by posting a sign in Spanish that suggested President Trump is no intellectual giant, which generated death threats from those who disagreed, and brisk sales from those who wanted to offer support after those threats.  

The tour ended near the Baltimore American Indian Center, a nonprofit originally founded by Lumbee Tribal members in the late 60s to support the many members of Native American communities then living in Fells Point. Much of the American Indian population eventually moved away from the city, and the nonprofit began to focus on heritage preservation. Archeological evidence points to Paleo-Indians living in the Baltimore area from at least the 10th millennium BC. 

Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams Exhibit

Some friends and I went to the amazing Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams exhibit at the BMA shortly after it opened.  As the exhibit flyer notes, "Born in Baltimore in 1948, Scott grapples with profound social, historical, racial, economic, and personal challenges that concern society at large in dazzling beadwork, sculpture, textiles, jewelry, printmaking, and performance."  I strongly recommend checking it out.  

Killed a Tree to Write a Book

 

Today I printed out the uncompleted draft of the possibly endless novel I've been writing, off and on (mostly off), for years.  

So this is what 89,000 words, 280 pages, looks like when you print it out.  It's a big stack, and drained an entire printer cartridge. (Note to self: buy less crappy printer someday).  

There are, I am aware, massive problems that need to be corrected. The largest of these is writing at least 50 pages to complete the (in the words of Anne Lamott) shitty first draft.  There are also many, many hanging and sometimes contradictory plot threads that require trimming and weaving.  

I am hoping that being able to hold the book in my hands and scribble on the pages will allow me to hold it in my head and actually finish it.  Aspirations are low: I've no dreams of publication much less fame, fortune, and a Pulitzer.  I just want to finish it because I need to know what happens to these characters, need to figure it out, if only for myself.  

Carroll County Art's Council PEEPShow

Below, a selection of entries from the Carroll County Arts Council's PEEPShow.  Now in its 17th year, it is a popular fundraiser.  Expect long lines, free admission (though you are encouraged to buy voting tokens so you can vote for your favorites), free stickers, and great fun.  So. Many. Marshmallows.