30.3.09

scraping ribs...

The seats need to be recaned, but the big (first) job was going to be scraping all that old varnish off the inside of the canoe to get back to bare wood...I only have a day or two per week in the studio during the academic year, so scraping varnish is not a high priority, but it had to be done. I found a so-called 'organic' varnish remover which didn't smell too bad, and got to work. The remover takes an hour or so to act, then it's just scrape, scrape, scrape. Usually two applications were required, as the original 'varnish' was probably actually shellac, over which there had been added several layers of new varnish over the years. I could scrape for about three hours, then needed to do some studio work. I had a new piece in mind, so the scraping process was a good way to mull over the idea while actually getting some other work accomplished, which is how I like to work.

11.3.09

What every printmaker needs...

A canoe of course! Just the thing for moving a one ton press down raging rivers...Yes there might be a conflict of interests here, but in fact both the press and the canoe are superb examples of form following function, just different forms and different functions. I am in the process of refurbishing the canoe, which clues would suggest is a pre-1921 Chestnut (in 1921 the Chestnut factory in New Brunswick burned down, and post-1921 canoes are slightly different, so I'm told). The press is a 19th Century Ledeuil a Paris, a beauty to print with. Needless to say, the studio needs some reorganizing, but the press sure ain't going anywhere!