I decided to change the sizes of my pieces for my upcoming Tree of Life show. Somehow as an artist one always wants to go bigger. My Vision – BIG! But there are the size limitations of my wide format printer (it had seemed so big!) and then the limitations of the framing/stretcher system I use. And big is scary. Mistakes are bigger mistakes – waste of materials and money, the effort chalked up to Learning Experience rather than a finished, satisfactory piece. But I’m ready to go up a notch.
So I plan for the new sizes. New sticks for the stretchers to be bought. New ¼ in. masonite templates to be made so that when I cut the substrate –pellon– the corners will actually be right angles (measuring exactly is embarrassingly hard!). Then I realize (after I’ve already asked my friend to cut the masonite) that I need new work boards. These are boards I use to tape the pellon on while I add my various goos, gels, paints and potions. Because they all need time to dry between coats, I tape the pellon to work boards so that I can move them easily around the studio. Bigger pieces means bigger work boards. So Kind Friend cuts the new work boards. There I am wrapping them in plastic when it occurs to me that the new boards are so big they won’t fit in the board storing slot in the shelving system. My huge, fabulous, organized studio and where are these going to live? Sigh.
It would have been so much simpler to stay with the same sizes. I think I’ve planned so carefully, but one thing leads to another. The boards are going into a temporary shelter. I’ll solve their permanent housing the next time I do a studio reorganization. For now it’s on with The Show and with whatever other unknowns are lying in wait for me down the path.
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