Ask Me Help Desk - The Artist in you!

I am awfully quiet and a gal of few words you know?? :)

Naw, really? Get out of town! :D

Are you better now than you were yesterday?

Yipper! Thank you! You okay?

Tired as..

I did do something tonight that was fairly artistic, depending on how you might view it!

Am I going to get to view it?? Play on words, is it??

Don't keep me guessing Craig. I am only good until 1:30 you know?? LOL

T-minus 16 minutes and counting... ;)

I was plastering the holed and pitted primarily limestone foundation walls of a friend/customer's home. There is a certain artistry to doing it.

I took pictures today of a house with asbestos siding on it today so I could see the pattern in it for the Long Island Bungalow I am working on. Need to download them on the computer from my camera. The photo I am working from has new siding and the customer wants what was on it in the 1950's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

T-minus 16 minutes and counting... ;)

I was plastering the holed and pitted primarily limestone foundation walls of a friend/customer's home. There is a certain artistry to doing it.

Yes, I would say so. Take photos! :) I am a great one for documentation!!

The more we visit on this thread, the more I realize how much more art entails. I tend to work in a box and have tunnel vision sometimes. There really is an art to plastering, carpentry, texturing walls, etc.

I bet you are tired. How long did you work on it?

Do you mean that you are going to display the images here? If you do, and then also display you drawing of the house, it would be great to see the work that you have done in order to work at the piece according to the customer's specifications!

Craig, don't get me for posting out of sequence, OK? :)

Not sure if I will post it or not. No one seems to be posting work. I have posted enough to choke a horse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrebel7

Yes, I would say so. Take photos! :) I am a great one for documentation!!!

The more we visit on this thread, the more I realize how much more art entails. I tend to work in a box and have tunnel vision sometimes. There really is an art to plastering, carpentry, texturing walls, etc.

I bet you are tired. How long did you work on it?

I only worked on it about 4 & 1/2 hours today. Granted, it was cement work and very labor intensive, but, I was up incredibly late on this site last night! Got to quit staying up so late! :(

Unfortunately for this one, I haven't taken any before photos. There may be some portions that I have not worked on as yet that look as bad as the portions that I already have worked on, though. I will be working on this project again tomorrow. I will bring a camera.

The thing that makes it artistic, is because the surfaces of the foundation blocks had become so uneven because of weather and animal wear to them, that the brushing that I do on the plaster before it sets is kind of tricky in order to make it look just right. I am trying to preserve the look of the blocks in order to maintain the artistic and historical integrity of the home. I would say that the home is probably dated between 1885 and 1910.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrebel7

Craig, don't get me for posting out of sequence, ok? :)

I wouldn't be too worried about that. However, it is helpful when doing a longer reply to someone, to quote the user so that the sequence can more easily be seen. I especially do that when I know that we are about to make a page change and someone clicking on the link for the last page for a thread is going to be viewing the new page that has just appeared.

The above is an example of what I am talking about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

I only worked on it about 4 & 1/2 hours today. Granted, it was cement work and very labor intensive, but, I was up incredibly late on this site last night! Gotta quit staying up so late! :(

Unfortunately for this one, I haven't taken any before photos. There may be some portions that I have not worked on as yet that look as bad as the portions that I already have worked on, though. I will be working on this project again tomorrow. I will bring a camera.

The thing that makes it artistic, is because the surfaces of the foundation blocks had become so uneven because of weather and animal wear to them, that the brushing that I do on the plaster before it sets is kind of tricky in order to make it look just right. I am trying to preserve the look of the blocks in order to maintain the artistic and historical integrity of the home. I would say that the home is probably dated between 1885 and 1910.

Labor intensive is right! Yes, you probably do need to get some rest for your day tomorrow. I am not one to sleep much either but it takes a toll when busy days await. Do take your camera. I bet you can find some areas that you have not worked on yet to show the difference. It is great advertisement for your talent. Always have a portfolio of the furniture you refinish, instruments you make, houses you restore. (My 2 cents worth anyway! :)

My daughter lives in a house built in 1915 I believe. I will send photos soon if you like. All hardwood floors, four fireplaces, etc. The previous owners while keeping some things the same, have added on to it. I have just been learning the past two years about the importance of maintaining the artistic and historical integrity of the older homes. Crystal's home is on the historical home tour in Tulsa but "nothing notable "happened there! LOL Just that is has a history. Hey, if we live long enough maybe we can count as needing to be maintained for artistic and historical value!! LOL My great uncle lived to be 108, died in his sleep on Easter Sunday morning. His brother died at 104 and their sister at 99 I believe. The oldest was the oldest WWI Veteran in Missouri prior to death of course. As you can see, it is after 1:30 and my communication skills are dwindling. Ha.

Seriously though, I and I am sure many others would enjoy seeing the process of what you are doing. Is the surface smooth, textured, rough, etc. How would you describe how the restoration surface will appear?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrebel7

Is the surface smooth, textured, rough, etc. How would you describe how the restoration surface will appear?

Instead of being the "most holy" foundation, I hope to make it look more like the way the foundation was. That would be mostly large blocks of limestone that have a very, shall we say, wavy appearance. Not quite the chipped brick look but more curves to the surface than it being perfectly flat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrebel7

Craig, there is nothing wrong with your memory! ;) I do use the dremel tool on my Ostrich Eggs, dipper gourds, and bird house gourds.

Didi, you be careful if you use the router. I have a table saw but I think I have used it one time. Scares the bejeebees out of me.

Well, then, now I have resources for learning dremel AND router! :) I have a table saw but I am selling it. I like my band saw and mitre saw. It's fine for the things that I make.

Where do you get your ostrich eggs? Maybe I should get me some ostriches? Actually, my uncle has emus... that should work! :D

Hugs, Didi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

I wouldn't be too worried about that. However, it is helpful when doing a longer reply to someone, to quote the user so that the sequence can more easily be seen. I especially do that when I know that we are about to make a page change and someone clicking on the link for the last page for a thread is going to be viewing the new page that has just appeared.

Yipper! I did do that but still got slammed. It was on another thread, not this one.

I will keep it in mind about the page change but I doubt I will know exactly when that will occurs. It usually surprises me. LOL

If more than just, as example, you and I are posting, or just Didi and I, etc. I generally use "quote" so as not to cause confusion to the reader. I know in the beginning, it helped me when reading the posts to follow better so I did that early on.

Always good to know these things. Always a learning process, just don't expect people to get bent out of shape so easily. You know what they say, "Stay flexible so you bend and don't break!!!" Good advice, don't you think?? :p This thread has just spoiled me I guess. As you have said, there is a oneness to this thread and I appreciate it so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

Instead of being the "most holy" foundation, I hope to make it look more like the way the foundation was. That would be mostly large blocks of limestone that have a very, shall we say, wavy appearance. Not quite the chipped brick look but more curves to the surface than it being perfectly flat.

I am anxious to see photos. Don't forget! What tools do you use to make the wavy appearance?

Hey look who just popped in!! Hi Didi!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clough

What say? :confused: I think the old hearings going too! :(
Ditto that for Didi!! :) Best to watch it with any power tools or even if they aren't power tools!! I have sawn into my fingers and drilled a 1/4 inch hole into a finger when I was repairing a chair years ago! I feel very fortunate that I can still play!

Oh, Craig, you have NOOOOO idea! I tend to be a wee bit accident prone, remember?? :eek: Tonight I was cutting potatoes with a huge knife and I kept having images of me cutting my finger off. I... ummm... have done that more than a few times. :o (Well, not the entire finger! Heehee... but I have removed about 5/8 inch from my left baby finger and have had stitches in at least 2 fingers and a thumb on my left hand and one finger on my right. Sigh... just a WEE bit accident prone... not to worry!)

:rolleyes:

Hugs, Didi