New Digs!

Thanks to the "spring flood" in our basement, my old art room has been cleared out and the renovation begins! Yes... it is Christmas time and yes... it is promised to be finished within the week according to my very capable assistants. They are in charge of this project and I have no doubt it will be accomplished. The cabinets are in their shop and are in their way... incentive. But I missed the demolition pics! Dang.

Budding artist

Another of my bass goals was to inspire kids and adults alike. That's why I made it interactive. I thought it would inspire budding musicians. But, as with most of God's inspirations, there was more to it than that...

My nephew has always been the creative sort and he spent time with us during the crunch in July. He was busy in the shop with me and created his own sculptures. Cool!

Going once...going twice...

SOLD! The buyer is a VERY nice person, too. It was, of course, a bargain, but the piece is loved and appreciated and I'm very glad she was the one who bought it. And.. it isn't unusual that these art fundraiser events sell great art at bargain prices (if the artists don't buy them back). And... my piece was one of many bargains that evening. And... I reached my goal!

I put my art out into the world... Contacts were made... I was introduced to some very successful Omaha artists... And, I think, my work was noticed by them and by others. On top of all that, since the buyer is building a new house, she has arranged to keep my piece (her piece now) at the Heller Art Gallery there in Rockbrook Village until her house or landscape is ready for the sculpture to be installed. So... I will also still get to display the piece publicly for some time. Kudos to Heller Art for their great generosity!

Heller Art has been very encouraging, too. And if you have never been there, you should go... they have some great art available for purchase. I may even see if they will show more of mine.

Miles to go before we sleep.

We're exhausted...we're from out of town...it's really late...

After searching everywhere we could think of that was open at that hour, we settled for a temporary fix. Somewhere there are some little nuts that fit our little screws (misplaced in the rush to deadline), but tonight we must smash nuts to fit.

So we can go home...and fall into our nice soft beds...at last...aah.

Yes, that's a forklift.

We had to bring our own forklift to unload the bass. Those things are REALLY HEAVY! But we got everything unloaded and put in place. Even distant relatives (in miles only) came to see us and the bass, of course. After it was strung, we were off and running again. designerGina arrives at Eppley tonight! We are all anxious to see her.

The deadline cometh...

...and it passeth us by. As I said in an earlier post, deadines and I have never been friends and it really doesn't seem to matter if I start early or late. Even this self imposed deadline was unfriendly. But I called the Rockbrook officials and they agreed to wait an hour later than they had planned for me. This gave us time to finish up, pack up and head out!



And I think my GREAT assistant has GREAT legs, too.

Makin' music

The notes are clamped on and it's lookin' good...but looks can be deceiving.

The brass notes went on without a hitch. Then... it was time to attach the crystal notes. Not so easy. There is a BIG difference between heating copper tubing and heating copper foil when soldering! Duh!

It was a huge challenge to get the tube hot enough to melt the solder and get the solder to stick to the note, too. Of course, it did NOT help that we were bumping deadline and needed to be on the road to Rockbrook! STRESS!!!

Had I had more experience with glass, I would have known to attach wire hooks to the note and just BRAISE the hooks to the tubing like I had braised the brass notes to the tubing. Learning curve. Next time I'll know better!