Another painting framed

Now that the big show is over, I am getting into the far corners and ferreting out things to finish up. I had forgotten I even made this frame, black over red ground, water gilt liner. I don't even remember if it was intended for a particular painting, but I put this one in it, it looked good, and I can check off another project on the list.

Yes, another one in the "Wiscasset Psychic" series.

Yes, I do windows.

Had I only known at the beginning of the project how tedious window sash repair is, I would have gone for replacements on the first floor, as I did on the second. Of course, even at that, I wish I had decided on replacements for the second floor BEFORE I repaired all the sash up there.

But, all good things must come to an end, and I have taken out the glass from the sash of two more windows, and will now scrape, repair, repaint and reglaze. When this is done, only two more windows left!

Shrewsbury Art Festival

The Artist Guild of Shrewsbury ( http://www.artistguildshrewsbury.com ) held their firt arts festival at Dean Park in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. Not a bad showing for the first time out, and the weather was perfect. Artists could rent individual spaces, or show work with the group under a pavillion.

Smoking at Old Sturbridge Village

After a business meeting, I helped some other members of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration (www.hsead.org) with a decorating project at our new research center at Old Sturbridge Village (www.osv.org).

Smoke decoration is done by using a sooty candle or lamp (we get the candle to produce more soot by holding a large nail in the flame), letting the still wet paint or varnish trap the soot on the service. The swirls of soot leave a "marbled" appearance. One drawback, as you can see from the picture, is that you need to have the item above the smoking candle, and for these cabinet doors, that made it a three-person job.

Will post more when the doors are re-installed. For more about the group decorating the building, go to: http://hsead.org/OSVblog/WWHHT.html

Union Antiques Festival

Union, Maine is the site of the Maine Antiques Festival every August (www.maineantiquesfestival.com), and we were there again. It is outdoors mostly, or in sheds or under tents. It ranges from the formal to the primitive, from the high end to, well, whatever. The displays are not usually elaborate, but some put in more effort than others, and at the end of the weekend you have a nice layer of wind-blown dust over all.

The weather this year was just about as good as it gets. We had a good time, sold some stuff, and got to display some of the gilding work.

Restoration Update

Here is an update on a 19th century frame I have been working on (http://forthillstudios.blogspot.com/2011/07/applying-compo-ornament.html). Gesso has now been applied to the ornament.

It's not that these processes are that time consuming individually, but in order to have some semblance of a rational work flow, I try to group tasks (and I was making and applying gesso that day). And of course, since it is my own property, it can sit in storage for quite a while before getting worked on.

Wiscasset Psychic

I have been working on a series of paintings of a storefront - formerly a succession of antique shops - now a psychic's establishment. I was attracted by the night-time view, which seemed like a perfect subject for Edward Hopper. What gives this a twist is that the proprietress is now involved in a case of elderly endangerment - police claim she left an elderly woman in a motel cabin without adequate care; the psychic claims that is not true, and that the woman is a family friend. The unfolding story will perhaps motivate me to work on this series some more.