These images are scant reflections of the sanguine spirit that prevailed that weekend at Pakit Liquidators in Bend, Oregon. (See previous post for more background.)
Captions for the snapshots: The big bird was created by two lady welders--it's not often you get to use those two words in tandem--and they were a constant joy. We laughed about hiding the tape measure. "NO MEASURING!" they'd say if they happened to walk by. I'd occasionally visit them as a tape measure cop, seeing if they were packing any Stanley heat. They were just having a blast, making the sparks fly.
One of the larger scale projects was the boat, built by Dave. The arcs are from garage door rails--aha, you say, now you recognize them!--and the rest, just Pakit flotsam and jetsam. Mechanical types know that the side flanges of these rails often have bearings built in, and he used two of them and threaded a propeller shaft right on through. The low angle of the sun here tells the tale: He's about done with this. It was a startlingly graceful creation.
My effort is shown, sun likewise low, and the busy background makes discernment of the elements difficult. In the next post I'll put up a formal portrait of the finished product.
Completing something like this is a game of stages, sort of like Beethoven's 4th symphony. (I know, that's a stretch. Just listen to the last movement. It will bring you to a new level of understanding of the final hesitant steps of this endeavor.)
After two weeks of display at the Old Mill District in Bend, the more mobile projects were displayed at the weekend Earth Day celebration downtown.
Once I got "One Thing Leads To Another" back to the shop, it was difficult to ignore the sirens' keening wail. I occasionally had to pry myself away from bass work and pull out a few drawers of Stuff and Fasteners and, much like the archetypal al fresco artist, lean back and hold out a vertical screwdriver and squint past it at the "canvas." Never knew why they do that, but I tried it and I felt very official. Then I'd say, "What the heck" and bolt something on.
Next post: Portrait of the done work.
No comments:
Post a Comment