Sea House Warming Hut: Interior This & That

2015/12/092015/12/0910 Comments

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Working on a wee Gotland sheep using, you guessed it: Gotland fleece and dyed black wool roving. The fleece is from Big Sky Fiber Arts in Montana; check out their wonderful selection of fibers, silk and prefelts. The wee (1.5 inches/38 mm) sheep will be an ambassador for Argo Wool Works :)

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It’s overcast, foggy and damp here in Nancyland today and the light is low. I wanted to used vintage photography as wall art in the hut, and have found some good imagery that sets the historical background of the area (real and imagined).

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This undated shot from before 1950 shows some of the headlands and other parts of the Sea House Pleasure Pier empire (now demolished).

I found this postcard of an old view south of the Warming Hut

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and decided to tint it

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but didn’t like how it looked on the wall. I’m showing it here anyway because I like the handwritten greeting from George to Tom.

And of course there will be this map from Cavallini & Company.

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It’s the same one that is on the ceiling of the Sea House Pavilion (2013), and the source of the color palette. The green, anyway.

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Merrily, merrily, merrily…
and with love to all.

Way to Start the Day

2015/10/283 Comments

Double rainbow, from the Pacific Ocean north to hilltop Daly City. About five minutes to appear, double, shimmer and fade away.

Sea House Warming Hut: Bar Stools

2015/07/292015/07/304 Comments

I’m using Kris Compas’s design tutorial to make the six bar stools. When she first posted it, I made two for the Sea House Pavilion. They’re so perfect.

New vintage chairs for the Sea House Pavilion. Come sit and watch the sun go down.

I used Woodsies rather than illustration board for the seats, because why reinvent a similarly-sized wheel?

I modified the seat back, and printed it out on card stock. I cut all the straight lines with an X-acto.

And then hand cut the curves with scissors.

Kris walks us through the construction process with such ease, it makes her brilliance with deconstruction and solution all the more remarkable.

I used one millimeter leather lacing to simulate the rolled edge of the metal. It’s smoother than crochet thread, and very pliable.

And here’s the first finished chair, ready for painting. Still undecided about the color. I’ll probably make all six, and pile them into to the hut around the bar. I don’t want them to be a focal point, and I’m also pretty sure I don’t want them galvanized. The interior will tell me, after there’s more… stuff.

Sea House Warming Hut: As above, so below

2015/07/102015/07/106 Comments

I visited one of the Warming Hut muses today: the living roof atop the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

It is a wonderland.

Those are whale bones drying in the sun, and views of San Francisco neighborhoods to the south.

The biggest revelation was what to do with the Warming Hut roof, in my ambiguous quest to add visual interest.

Criss-crossing the Cal Academy roof’s seven hills is a grid work of stones contained in wire mesh, like ley lines, to facilitate drainage.

They create a subtle framework, and could translate to 1:12 scale splendidly. I am so happy to have my answer!

Meanwhile, I’ve been building out the terrain under the the hut.

In addition to the air-dry clay boulders, tiny driftwood logs and beach gravel, I’m adding some scrumbly old brick foundations. They’ll be only mildly visible, but will add some mystery + history :)

And, it ties the Warming Hut to the Sea House Pavilion, which was staged against some brick ruins.

I’ve learned to do mortar a little better since then :)

The ruins of old brick buildings adjacent the Sea House Pavilion

Here’s the wee brick skunk works:

And one final work-in-progress mood shot:

Because I love the combination of gnarly real and simulacrum.

Input

2015/07/032015/07/032 Comments

Madeline (age: 2) came to visit and give her feedback on the Sea House Warming Hut. So gratifying to see her interact with the build and components. Her most enduring source of fascination, beyond the opening and closing windows and slider? And moving the deck furniture indoors and out? And loading the firewood into the stove? And watering the poppies with the miniature watering can?

How it was that the beach gravel was glued in place.

Draw your own conclusions, but never underestimate the apparently simple magics.

beginner mind

2015/04/242015/04/244 Comments

I keep company with a two-year-old — though not as often as I’d like — and this worksheet was in her cubby when I picked her up from preschool the other day.

Where to begin on how awesome this is?

Blue is her favorite color, so I expect she started her response with that. Observe the variety of her expression, especially the very distinct, staccato marks in the lower right. Those typically come with a lot of force and flair. The rhythm and dynamic articulation, begun in the second and culminating in the fourth form, are both exploratory and concise at once.

With the introspective addition of a bonny spring kelly green, the counterpoint line work defines a new dominion, again both expansive and self-contained.

I could go on, but that would just be silly :)

The point is, someone is telling you, with bold straight lines and dotted guides: this is your name, and how it is “written”.

How will you respond?

nancyland.com

mixed media

Tag: inspiration