The Arch

The arch completion date has been moved forward to this fall so it will be a busy summer in the studio. The highway department is donating road signs that have been damaged and the fish will be cut from those. The colors on the signs add a great dimension to the fish. The footings will be poured in the next few weeks and the fabricator will start cutting out the fish as soon as the specifiactions are completed. It really is a great project. The span has also been lengthed from 32' to 41'.

In spite of a really full work schedule between the painting demand and the arch, Nelson left this afternoon for a a photography/fishing trip to the Wind Rivers of Wyoming. He will bring home some great stories and hopefully some good subject for painting this winter. Unfortunately children grow up and have lives of their own so this is the first year that none of our sons is going with their dad, but the company is still good with Nelson's brother Hugo and brother-in-law Joe who just came back from a two year stint in Guam.

Art lessons start in the studio next week with the grandchildren, that adds a whole new dimension to work.

New project

A few months ago the town of Sandpoint ask for artist to submit sketches for an arch that would span one of the streets leading down to the Sand Creek. We have lived in Sandpoint for almost twenty years and have loved this community. It has been a really wonderful place to raise our family. Not only did the project sound like a nice challenge that uses both Nelson's artist and architectural knowledge; but its always nice to think that you might leave a little piece of yourself in your community . Last night Nelson got a call telling him that he had been given the commission. We are both really excited, so are our children.

The project will go in next spring. The whole thing is being put together with recycled donations. All the contracted work will be local. Thanks Sandpoint!

Catch Up

Nelson has been really busy the last few weeks. He has deadlines on three really nice and quite large pieces so he is painting like a maniac. He has been experimenting with varnishing his work. So far he has only varnished a few small paintings. I love the results. It brings a greater depth to his washes and layering of the pigmant. He will varnish the Jackson painting even though it will be under clear protection (I can't remember what material he decided on). He goes with seven coats. One of the drawbacks of watercolor is the damage moisture can do to the painting. With the varnishing the water runs off the painting like a dream. It's been a great discovery thanks to a friend who also paints watercolor Chuck Middlekauff. You can see his work at http://legacycontemporaryart.com. I am always amazed at how willing artists are to share their talents and techniques with others.

Friday Afternoon

When Nelson was practicing architecture he always gave his employees Friday afternoon off, paid. We had decided if we ran the world everyone should have Friday afternoon to spend with their families and it would make the world a much nicer place to live. Keeping with that tradition this is what we did yesterday on our Friday afternoon. This is a hike thats about eight miles called Gold Hill. We took fresh strawberries, crackers and cheese and a few tangerines. It was fabulous.

Update

Well the mural is "done". That means it will be put aside for a few weeks and be pulled out to have a fresh view of it. Nelson has been waiting for Michael to get home from studying in Israel, he has a good eye and can see what needs to be worked. Two other friends are great for seeing needed detail changes, Bud and his son, Tom Miller. I always give my two cents. Nelson knows that when he asks me to come out to the studio to look at a painting my first response is always "it's not done".

Nelson has been working with the mounting and finishing. So far the techniques he has learned and applied to smaller work have really pleased him.

Ta Dah

The mural is basically finished, Nelson and Ernie put it on the side of the barn to see how it looks and decided what needs to be tweeked.

Rolling it out and tacking it. The piece is huge.

From a distance.

It reads well.

Fun!

Studio/Nursery

Because Nelson's studio is a converted car shed he's not a bit fussy about kids and animals being inside. Over the years he has had baby lambs, calves, sick cats and dogs needing time to recover from run-ins with porcupines. Today I brought home fourteen baby chicks for him to babysit until they get big enough to go into the coop. He says it should gives his paintings an even more realistic "air" of country living.

Update

The mural for Jackson is really coming along splendidly. Nelson has reach the last bit of the painting but hasn't done the background or the sparkle. He has learned some great new techniques and finishes for watercolor. I am always amazed at how generous other artist are with their time, talents and techniques. A good friend of ours and a truly talented artist Albin Veselka http://www.albinveselka.com/ has been over numerous times to help Nelson with the baby moose. Nathan our grandson has also been helping this week. He's the one at the right, he paints right along with grandpa.

Jackson Piece Continued

This large scale work has posed some interesting challenges. Here Nelson is preparing to lay out the middle part of the work. He had to build a support piece over the window that faces Schwitzer. No view of the ski resort this week. The two boxes at the ends are to support the paper rolls. I was surprised at how heavy and bulky the paper is to handle. It is definitely a two man job. Because the piece is so big Nelson had to build a platform outside of the studio to project the image to the scale that is needed.

Here's a view from the outside. We are grateful the weather has cooperated.

Painting Upside Down and Right Side Up

The mural is being laid out and painted in sections. Nelson is finishing the first section minus the background. He needed to climb up on the table to get to certain pieces of the painting. Because the paper is so big it is a lot harder to turn. Nelson is loving the scale of this piece, he is having way too much fun.

Everything had to be scaled since he is using several different photographs to compose the piece. You can see from this photo he has been painting upside down.

Here he is doing the intial scratching on the first section of the painting. Tonight he will lay out the next section, it will be over eight feet long. That much paper is a lot to handle, it really ought to be a three person job but this afternoon we managed it with two.