House Project part 11

For a long time, Thanksgiving has been the number one food holiday in the United States, a meal that can be as traditional or intercultural as you want it to be, as long as the table is full. In recent years it's been noted that SuperBowl Sunday, though not sanctioned by the government, is a de facto holiday and considered number 2 in terms of food consumption- anything that can easily be consumed from the couch while watching tv. For the number 3 holiday in terms of food consumption, I'm going to suggest Mardi Gras. For some people it's more about the music, drinking, and general chaos, but I can't separate Cajun food from the rest of it, and as has been noted here before, Studio Arrabbiata celebrates the hot and spicy of all cultures.

More traditional food was on the menu for later, but up at the Studio in the early afternoon I got things started with a chili dog from the Windmill (above), right across the street. Not super spicy, but good juicy, crunchy, messy pre-Lenten fun.

Time for art. Lacking any preconceived ideas for color in the scene, I went looking for ideas in a favorite source of inspiration- magazine photos from about 50 years ago. I like the idea of the house in this print having been lived in for a long time, perhaps once so full of stuff that the occupants never had the opportunity to repaint the walls or change the carpeting. I brought a few old magazines with me to look through. The page below is one I'm considering as a starting point, especially the photo at the bottom of the page.

My main goal today was to continue my experiments with paper and wood. The little prints I pulled a few days ago were dry enough to work with. I cut one into three pieces. The first piece (anti bacterial soap and salt shaker) was glued down to the wood (one of Molly's birch plywood scraps from her tables) before coloring. The other two pieces were colored with watercolors first, then glued down to the wood. In all three cases I used some pH neutral PVA (white glue), spread very thinly on the wood. The total vegetation killer is glued on the whole back, while the mousetrap is only glued on the paper margin around the printed area.

In all three cases, the colors look fine, not affected by the glue in any way. Any of the three would work for a short term solution to mounting the piece, but right now I'm leaning toward the mousetrap option. I can slide a shaped piece of neutral paper behind the house shape, which will probably be a little more archival than gluing the print directly to the wood, which tends to be a little acidic. Plus I can choose the best colored copy to mount.

From there I drove around the county, investigating materials that I may need in the coming weeks. At an art supply store I found my favorite brand of watercolors for sale, but more expensive than the catalog price, so I passed. Took notes on paper types and prices for possible use in my planned upcoming workshops in Ocean Grove and Belmar, so not a waste of a trip.

Next stop was to get some lumber for my house project. Based on the size of the house print, I figured a wide plank would be the best way to go. Back in the Studio I had made a measuring strip from a piece of paper, marking both the size of the paper and the image itself. Checking that against wood on display, I found that a 1" x 10" plank (which of course is actually about 3/4" x 9" for those who aren't regular woodworkers) would be a good size, leaving a healthy margin on all sides to glue the print down. Took home a 6' section- more than I need, but that was the smallest size, and if I make a mistake cutting it, I have extra to work with.

After that, I could finally call it a day. Went home, put on some zydeco music, opened a beer, and enjoyed a nice big portion of my homemade jambalaya. Nice and spicy way to finish this Mardi Gras day. The art will continue tomorrow, but the food will be considerably less plentiful and exciting .