molding!

I finally put the molding in.  Ouch.  Everything hurts and I now know the true nature of the walls in the space but it's all starting to look like a real room.  I wish it had come out cleaner than it did, but for my first time and with only the internet and the kind folks at Home Depot to help me out, I think I did all right.  Tomorrow involves a caulk gun, fiberglass insulation, ceiling tiles, and some paint.  (That's all prior to dancing around in a costume after a few beers).

SPOILER ALERT: I will be dressed as the chicken lady for Halloween. Enjoy the video!

Here's some photos:

here's all the pieces, primed, painted, and laid out to dry.

EXTREME CLOSEUP!

E.A.S.T. (East Austin Studio Tour) 2010

I'm participating in the annual East Austin Studio Tour.  Each year, studios in Austin's East side of town open their doors and welcome the city to see "where the magic happens".  

This is my first year doing it and I am very excited as well as nervous and anxious to get everything done.  I'm really excited to be 100% in my space so I can manically create more pieces.

Here's a sketch of an upcoming ring:

My film debut

I made some jewelry pieces for the upcoming horror film, Boneboys.  It's a gorefest about cannibals and I made a cast sterling silver ring of a pelvis as well as a spinal column necklace.

The stones are synthetic rubies.  I love this photo! The ring looks like a little creature.

I cast the two pieces from plastic skeletons that the costume designer, Colin Wilkes, got at a dollar store or somethin' and added waxwork to both pieces to fill in gaps or make them look better.

I hand-carved the ring with a skeletal pattern to emulate bony fingers holding the tiny pelvis.

Here's the casting of just the spinal column:

Here's a link to the still photographer's flickr page.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/18795933@N06/sets/72157625199428104/

Setting up shop

For the first time, and mostly by myself, I've been setting up a studio in what, hopefully, will become a really rad space.

My previous business had been in my former business partner's home. This one is all mine, though,(except for the 15,000 + sq. feet in the rest of the warehouse) and I'm really pumped.

It's been a long, arduous process, but I am starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Laminate flooring is the newest beast that I'm still trying to tackle.

I used scrap boards to hold down the plastic underlayer while I was moving around the room.  You can see the hole in the wall in the far right corner and the disgusting floor underneath.

Previously, I was busy stripping paint from the door to the space. The construction company that used to be housed in the space had painted over the leaded glass with heavy layers of house paint.  They also left a moldy carpet that had been glued down with a really heavy adhesive.  Shit was gross.

Here's the door when I was getting started:

And here's the finished version:

My friend, Marie, did a great paint job. She helped me paint the room too.

I am currently searching for some lockers, a crockpot, a good desk or workbench, some toolboxes, and an amazing lamp.