"Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the type of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig." - Malcolm Gladwell Outliers pg 150
Monday, November 26, 2012 at 06:01PM "My memory carries me back to a certain evening ... in Buenos Aires. I see him; I see the gaslight; I could place my hand on the shelves. I know exactly where to find 'Arabian Nights' and Prescott's 'Conquest of Peru', though the library exists no longer. "
Jorge Luis Borges, 'This Craft of Verse'
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 03:25PM Its been a busy few weeks here on the Mountain - I've been split between prepping the studio for winter and work on Promontory. I'm hoping to wrap that project up in the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to the detail work that moves slower than the initial building process - including the sign that will adorn the top of the piece. For now though, here is a look at some of the work leading up to today -
This is a view of the underside of the structure before I began closing in the internal tank form.
Pictured here are all of the coves built up - and inbetween the upper and lower level there are drains that run from the center of the form out.
Filling in the interior walls...
And then adjusting where the tank will sit and building a mount on the interior.
After constructing a mount, I began cutting veneer to start filling in the grid on the tank, square by square.
I began in a checkered pattern so that I would be able to use the clamps as long as possible on all sides.
And after closing in the sides, I began to piece in the top.
Then, using glue, I created faux welds and unleashed my inner Seurat in making the tiny rivets on the tank. Because the veneer was so absorbant, the rivets had to be done twice.
And here, the tank has been given several coats of iron infused paint. It waits to be painted several more coats of various polychrome before being rusted out.
More to come - and back to work for me.
DJF
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 09:11AM 
I wanted to share some more in progress shots of 'Promontory'...
Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at 08:58AM 
Hello all!
This last Friday I set up a show at Walters State CC in Morristown TN. The gallery space was this sweet spot at the entrance to their library. It was a great day- and while setting it up I reflected on the sea of people who have helped me get to that point. Teachers, family, friends. It was great to step back and look at it all and to see them all there. A big thank you to Amy Evans, Susan Roberts, and the library staff.
Hope you are all off to a great start this morning!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 11:55PM 
Right before the sun sank behind the ridge line this light came pouring through the studio window as the day bid adieu.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 12:24PM 
After a day of floods, a day of blue. The kind of Mt blue you find yourself jumping into the air, higher each time, hoping to find yourself suspended in it- swimming above the trees. So far, no luck.
After spending an inspirational three day Busman's holiday at The Center for Craft Creativity and Design's think tank on a new model for apprenticeships, I've returned to the shop invigorated.
Promontory was waiting there in the shop, and after making it an accidental Van Gogh for a moment, I continued working on it's structure. The framing is near completion. Here are a few pics from that...
If you make it to the clouds today, let me know.
Dustin