Posts Tagged ‘sanding wood’
Repair Begins
No sooner had I dropped off Cyndie and Elysa at the airport yesterday, when I found myself sanding the siding boards on the shop/garage. Our treasured log professional, Matthew, showed up to unload his trailer of tools and his ladders, just as I was finishing my lunch. We kicked off the project of tending to our weathered wood with little in the way of fanfare.
Around the edges of the entryway roof over the shop door, the siding has failed to stand up to the abuse from constant snow and water contact. Matthew will be replacing boards where needed and working his chemical magic to fill voids and neutralize decaying logs where possible.
I put in time sanding spots where the previous coat of sealant had peeled up. Everything I can do to make Matthew’s job easier is money saved, and I do like to save money. Unfortunately, I also like to get the grass mowed, and I can’t do both. I won’t be able to give as much of my time to helping Matthew as I’d hoped.
Cyndie asked me to pay attention to her strawberry garden and try to pick berries before squirrels and birds get to them. She also wants me to watch the landscape pond and keep the filters clean. Which reminds me, I need to check the horse waterer for algae growth and regularly clean it while Cyndie is away.
Having Cyndie be away for so many days raises my awareness of how many things she normally takes care of this time of year. It gives me renewed appreciation for how much she accomplishes every day.
Ooh, I need to remember to water the house plants, too.
Only ten days to go until she returns… I hope I can keep everything alive, healthy, and running smoothly until then.
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Plans Change
I changed my mind. I wasn’t going to show my latest sculpture project until I was done but apparently, I’ve used up all my patience trying to train Asher lately. I’m not waiting any longer. It may seem like an illogical time of year to begin an idle pleasure that has the potential to occupy many hours when spring growth is happening faster than can be managed in a day.
Since when is artistic whim logical?
The trigger for me was the accommodating weather allowing me to work outdoors on creating wood shrapnel and sanding dust. I decided to see if there might be a heart shape hiding in this Y-section of a maple tree we cut down at some point.
It’s lopsided, so I’m trying to decide if I’m feeling moved to compensate for that or let it remain imperfectly balanced.
I chose to give it more attention yesterday because the air quality was poor due to Canadian wildfires and I didn’t want my lungs to suffer from my panting away on a bicycle. Since the air made wearing a mask worthy, I figured I might as well work on something that is incredibly dusty.
I hesitate to reveal the vision I have for the bottom portion because I don’t have a firm plan on how I will accomplish it. Maybe if I state it, doing so will add incentive for me to keep after it, one way or another.
I hope to achieve the appearance of a melting heart. There are so many times when I feel moved to say that something melts my heart. A visual representation makes sense to me.
Somehow, I will need to try to fit the next level of sculpting in between mowing and trimming sessions, because if I stop now, I may never finish. It would get added to my trophy case of umpteen other art projects that I started but have yet to complete. I’m guessing this risk is why I was considering not talking about the melting heart until it was actually a thing.
Well, self, the plan has changed and the challenge accepted.
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New Heart
It’s difficult to do a sculpture justice with a couple of two-dimensional images, but taking pictures of my projects allows me to keep a record of pieces that won’t stay in my possession forever. With that, I took these photos yesterday to chronicle the finished product of my latest woodworking endeavor.
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As I am wont to do, I’ve left the backside natural bark and shaped and polished the front into a heart shape from a piece of ash where the tree forked into two branches.
Completing this latest heart has inspired me to start over right away with another wood sculpting project from the variety of wood chunks I’ve stockpiled in the shop, salvaged from trees we’ve cut down over the years. I have a rough idea of what I feel like making next, but that vision will merge with the features of the wood I select to ultimately determine what emerges in the end.
Most often, when I put my heart into it, that is the shape that results.
I’m completely okay with that.
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Relative Something 