Stone Mother Two

The last piece I finished for the January show at Foster/White Gallery, Stone Mother One, I delivered just an hour before they closed for the holidays. At that point I was exhausted, my in-laws had just come in to town, and it was in the middle of the holidays. I told them at the gallery I just wasn’t going to be able to finish the other piece in time for the January 5th opening.

But after a few days at home with the in-laws watching tv and my kids watching youtube, spending time at the studio didn’t seem like such a bad idea. A few hours there made me think I might be able to get the piece done after all. Not for Monday, January 2nd or even for the 3rd, but maybe for Wednesday afternoon or even Thursday morning of the opening. However, I couldn’t ask the gals at the gallery because it’s closed until tomorrow. I sent them an email and I’ve been working away but I may hear from them that that delivery date is just too late. If so, I’ll stop pushing myself so hard and they can have the piece for the back room gala mid-January.

Part of the reason I thought I couldn’t get this piece done was that I was having trouble with the welded frame. It just wasn’t quite right and I knew I was going to have to monkey around with the pattern to get it to look good. I went back to the paper pattern, cutting and taping and tweaking it to make the shape look balanced and the curves make sense. It was hard and not much fun. I actually took a hack saw to the steel frame and bent the metal back in one spot. At one point I seriously considered turning it into a garden trellis. But slowly it began to make sense. Ultimately, will it be worth it to finish this piece or will I always think it’s not quite right? No way to know without finishing it.

cutting and taping and tweaking

my hack saw job

So I just keep working. After all the effort that I’ve put into the piece already I want to get it done. I designed it to be a companion with Stone Mother One and I’d be disappointed if it didn’t finish it because I took a few days off.

Today I got the fabric panels done and started on the stitching. Tomorrow more stitching. Wednesday should be stitching the panels onto the frame. Delivery Wednesday afternoon? Maybe, that is, if everything goes according to plan.

can I turn this into a finished piece in 3 days?