The Hall Part 3 - Building the mirror and coat rack

When we first moved into the house, we found a dismantled dining room table in the attic. It was made of veneered wood but the wood under the veneer looked pretty nice. I am not sure but it might even be oak. I saved not only because I save everything but because I knew I wanted to use it in a project some day. Another thing that the house came with was an assortment of mirrors.

I thought that this was the perfect project: to build a sort of built-in mirror / hall tree for the front hall. I began by sanding down the wood, removing most of the rough spots and all of the finish.

I made a very simple frame and then stained and finished it in much the same way that I finished the rest of the wood in the house. For the mirror frame finish, I used tung oil instead of the typical varnish though.

What is nice is that the finish allows the character of the wood to come through but there is also quite a bit of distress visible from its former use as a table top.

I mounted the mirror in the frame and then mounted it to the wall with butterfly anchors. Two screws are also installed, top and bottom, through a stud in the middle of the wall. It is very sturdy and isn't going anywhere.

I used brash washers and screws for mounting so it has a simple yet classic detail.

I was originally fretting over getting expensive fancy hooks from one of the restoration companies but couldn't choose so I ended up at Home Depot and bought something inexpensive instead. I installed two hooks on either side of the mirror for coats and two double-hooks at the bottom for keys and umbrellas.

I am ultimately happy with the hook choice. Hopefully this will keep stray jackets off of the furniture as well!

I finished out the room by hanging one of the prints that I made last summer. It is great to have this room finished!

Experimenting with Monotype

On most Saturday mornings, I like to relax by drawing or painting. This past spring, I got the notion that I would take on printing as well so I started experimenting with monotyping. I've always enjoyed sketching and liked the idea of trying to capture nearby views in print form. There is a permanence to the print juxtaposed to the quickness of a drawing that I enjoy about the monotype process. I also enjoy the chance affects that occur in this printing process. You don't always know how the printed image will come out or if it will come out at all so when you reveal the print, good or bad, there are always some surprises.

Monotype is a printing process where you ink a plate and then create a single print from that plate. For those that want to get into the nitty gritty of it, there is also a distinction between monotypes and monoprints. Monotypes are prints made from plates that have no permanent marks on them, they are unique and one of a kind. I began my first prints using a glass plate, some Speedball ink and a small sheet of glass. I applied the ink to the glass and used a reductive process to remove ink from areas that I wanted lighter in the drawing. I then printed it. It was a disaster. The ink didn't adhere to the paper as it seemed to dry too quickly. 

Glass plate with ink drawing on it. It looked so promising. What did I know? 

Disaster: printed drawing was too light and had no definition.

I decided to do some more research to determine what I was doing wrong. After a couple more tries, I've worked out a process that seems to yield good results. I first changed my ink to an intaglio ink by Akua. It stays wet for a long time so have time to work and know that the drawing will still adhere to the paper. I do the initial drawing on either a glass plate or a piece of palette paper. I then transfer the drawing by rubbing, with a bone folding tool, the printing paper over the ink image. 

I use both an additive and subtractive process to draw. I have found that starting with a black ground of ink has worked best for me. I then remove or add ink to create the drawing. I use a palette knife, paintbrush, and charcoal blender to draw with. I also keep toilet paper and wet ones on hand to remove any excess ink from tools or the drawing. I print on Strathmore 80lb drawing paper. The smoother the paper, the easier the printing process but I like the drawing paper best.     

My tools include a roller, palette knife, paintbrush, charcoal blending tool, palette paper, Akua intaglio ink, wet ones, and toilet paper. 

My subject matter is typically a local landmark, street or park view. I choose a view and create a sketch from it as a study. I then go to work on the plate or palette paper.  

Pleasant Home, a National Landmark in Oak Park is one of my subjects.

Composition / sketch study of Pleasant Home

Ink drawing on glass plate.

Final print of Pleasant Home drawing.

Sometimes I am happy very happy with a drawing but things happen in the printing process that create a faulty image. Too much ink can create blotchy areas with no definition. Not enough ink can make the drawing appear washed out. Not applying enough pressure when burnishing the image can cause printing issues as well.

Inked drawing of landscape. I thought this was going to turn out great. Unfortunately there was a little too much ink on the palette paper and it created a bit of a mess. 

Printed landscape image with too much ink shows smeared and blotchy results.

Printed landscape image of a plate that didn't have enough ink so the result was light and had little to no definition.

After a day of printing, I only had one image that I was happy with. You win some, you lose some. 

One of the things that some artists have done is to go back into the monotypes with pastel or watercolor to add additional character to the drawing. Edgar Degas is famous for this and is probably the foremost master of the process. Another favorite of mine who mastered this process was the American artist, Milton Avery. At some point I might start experimenting with color but for now, I am happy learning how to control the graphic quality of the simple printed drawing. I've collected some of my favorite monotypes and pastels on Pinterest if you are interested. Below are a few of my more successful attempts at printing from the past few months:

Monotype view of Oak Park Avenue

Monotype view of alley next to the Scoville Block.

Monotype view in Thatcher Woods.

A busy week, a very busy week

I think I've planted more plants and done more yard projects this week than I have done since back in the days when I used to work for a landscaper. After a busy week, I sadly admit, I am not cut out for this line of work anymore.

The week began simple enough with a small mosaic project I did with my daughter. She insisted on placing all of the pieces of glass herself and I helped by fishing them out of the concrete when she pushed a little too hard. It came out nice and looks great in the garden. It was also a very simple project to do. That's where the simplicity ended. Since it was a long weekend, I decided to take on some work with a friend helping at another person's house. This was a bit more ambitious than the plant moving going on at the Tiny Bungalow. New patios, planting areas, walkways and eventually a pergola are included there. It is almost done but we'll likely be working on it for at least another weekend. Once its finished, I'll post some photos.

Also, since I won't be free for the next few weeks, I had to find a little free time this weekend to get the garden in at the Tiny Bungalow and to start all of the container planting. In the back, the raspberries are looking great (hopefully we'll paint some new artwork out back in the near future). This weekend, we put in some tomatoes as well as pumpkins, cucumbers, and potatoes. We'll put in some basil later this week or next.

Most of the garden looks pretty good except for a small area out front where I have put down some seed and just put in a hydrangea. Hopefully that will fill in by the end of June and stuff will start to flower. Until then, I'll be lucky if I have time to water the yard so I am not too worried.I put in a modified version of my clay pot Branchusi in the side yard. I hope to do something a little more elaborate out front later this summer.

Painting

I had a couple projects planned for the weekend. I wanted to paint one side of the garage each day, I have a big non-house related project (which I'm sure you'll read more about in the coming days), and I had hoped to start my fall landscaping. I've resisted the urge to move plants around most of the summer so it's time for me to go crazy.I finished one side of the garage and like the color. I wish I had gone darker with the gold color but I can live with it because it is a huge improvement. We are having ANOTHER spectacular weekend here so I decided to start attacking the landscape. I want to expand the beds in the front and move some stuff from near the garage in the back, out front (I have a major garage project that I want to be ready for come spring).Just as I started digging the new beds in the front, my daughter approached me, saying that she wanted to come outside. She wasn't interested in gardening so I tried to engage her in something else. "Want to paint?" She was excited. What kid can resist cups of paint and a big paint brush? We decided to re-paint the art windows on the back fence with animals. She wanted a squirrel, a purple dog, a green cat and a sunshine. She went at the sunshine and the dog and filled in the blue skies and I helped her do the rest. Her dog ended up looking more like an octopus but it looks neat and she's starting to understand the back-painting technique, which is great.

A full day in the yard

I spent about 12 hours in the yard trying to do some major overhauling today. I made some progress on the back and got about half the front yard done. I stopped work because it started thundering but then the sun came out again. I didn't have the energy to finish so I did an art project for the back fence with my daughter instead. With the art windows and the hanging baskets, I think the fence looks nice. I am sure in some circles, folks might think it looks trashy but I think it brings an air of elegance to our plastic-filled yard.While working in the flower beds, I added a lot of the compost I have been making (actually, the little worms and other things have been making it, I've just been putting the stuff in there to help it along). The compost seems to be a huge success. It is litterally infested with earthworms. I swear that there were a few in there that scared me - HUGE. I tilled it into the beds I dug up. My wife exclaimed, "thank God we don't have boys." Hopefully this will make for happier plants. I think I moved about 25 3 gallon containers of the stuff. Not bad for one year's worth of kitchen and yard waste. Time to start over. I prepared for the day's work the night before at a local "temporary" nursery buying plants, mostly perennials. They had some really nice plants labeled native. I got some more black eyed susans, delphinium, and shasta daisies. I got three of the native plants but I can't think of their names. I better keep the little tags with them so that I can remember what they are in the future. As they flower, I'll blog about them. I want to throw down some more seed but haven't done that yet. I filled in here and there with some marigolds and alyssum and otherwise made do with transplanting what I already had. Can't wait until everything takes root and is bigger next year.