Vanished, Gone, Over

Well, it took more than a week, but Second Seating has vanished from 20 N Chenevert. The place, on the inside, is once again a stark grey metal building. Once again, it is all potential and ready for a new vision.
I had little idea of how much work it would be to move everything from the space, largely because I just hadn't thought it all through until the process was under way and I always underestimate the time it will take to accomplish tasks. The day after Thanksgiving, Bobby Schlitzberger arrived to haul off the 1000 pounds of compressed aluminum cans that made that wonderful table base for those sensational light fixtures made with salvaged oil drilling pipes. Irma moved her truck back into the space the afternoon after Bobby hoisted those 30,000+ cans onto his truck and drove off.We continued our efforts to dismantle Second Seating on Monday when Craig and Luis came to remove all the painted walls and cart them off to a warehouse where they'll rest until I find a new place and make a new space. They also took down Ted's painting that stretched over the ceiling and we rolled it up in plastic. We packed for two days, endlessly it seemed. There was just so much stuff in the installation that we'd put there over a month's time. I mean, it took Jeff and me over a day to Windex all the dishes and assorted bric a brac from the big banquet table and then wrap each item and pack away in boxes. Everything was layered with dust - no glass in the windows, so the Windex part of packing was essential. Pretty gritty in the space. Jeff and I shook the giant patchwork tablecloth out in the middle of the street during a red light and then folded it up. It weighs a ton and filled the back seat of the car. Offenhauser folks carefully wrapped and carted off that stunning table base they designed as a play on the chrome arches they fabricated for the Galleria's Post Oak Blvd.The place began to look worse and worse as things were boxed and made ready for moving. Looked like a random dump for awhile. I spent a lot of time with a pair of leather gloves on picking up what must have been several thousand oyster shells and tossing them in plastic crates. Victor Rodriguez and Victor, Jr. came and took down all the marvelous parrots.On Wednesday, the electricians cameto remove the track lights and conduits, plugs and wires. Another crew arrived with their ladders and down came all the big chandeliers. I'd untied the ropes of filigreed Clorox bottles and packed them away in big trash bags.We got a late start moving things out on Thursday. Irma's truck was in the front of the space so we carted everything that was left through the patio and on to Craig's trailer. Hey, and the port-a-can was picked up while we were loading the trailer. Everything happens at once. While we delivered a trailer load to Sonny's warehouse (thank you, thank you for the warehouse space), Jeff and Moises vacuumed the entire exhibition space. Sonny asked what I was going to do with all the oyster shells. I said I wasn't sure and he said, "Those shells are for road making." So he called his neighbor and asked if he'd like to fill the potholes in his parking area. The answer was yes and so the shells have already found a few home in a warehouse parking lot off Telephone Road. Not that I didn't save a few which are now covering a table on my screen porch.
Irma's building sure looks different than it did for most of this fall season. Second Seating is now totally gone. Just a memory. Amazing what color and light can do to transform a space and make folks want to return and linger.That may be the biggest lesson about all of this. It is possible to create a very special space that draws folks in again and again, just because it makes them feel good. Inspires me to do it all over again. And again.
After I write thank you letters, many, many, many thank you letters to all the people who made Second Seating possible.

Chandelier Day - Que Bonita!

Today was a wonderful day. Tony Mejia and his crew of three came today to install a dozen chandeliers. And install they did with very tall ladders and a roll of chain that Modelle bought for them. Tony and his crew were very efficient. I'd planned well and the electricians had done their work, so there were no major problems. It was all about moving things a foot to the left or on to the beam on the right.
Mark Ellis is working with me and we make a great team. He has a good eye and we see when things can be better if moved that 'inch to the left' or lower or higher. He tends to like lower and I end to like higher, but we work it out.
Victor Rodriguez arrived mid-afternoon with his parrot pinatas and son Victor. The parrots are fantastic. We were all getting on so well together that Tony and crew even stayed on a bit after they'd finished their work so that Victor could continue using one of their ladders. Everyone there was engaged and I think part of it all is because this is a fun and unusual project. I mean, who has chandeliers like these?
Just after 4:00, Irma's cooks and kitchen staff came in for a look before leaving for the day. They entered so slowly and carefully, as if they were coming into a strange new land. I'd say they were transfixed and I heard, "Que bonita" more than once. The warehouse has always been so grey and filled with odd bits of furniture. We are transforming the place day by day. And it's really fun.

Friday

Mark emailed me some photos of the Second Seating kiosk at the Visitor Center at City Hall. Sure looks good. Just got an online listing on Glass Tire and someone told me there's a listing in Paper City. All good news.Reassembled the Clorox chandelier this afternoon. After we photographed it for press prints a few months ago, it grazed the ground too many times and was just filthy. We took it all apart and Modelle washed all the white tablecloths on which I'd strung the filigreed bottles. So today, I remade the piece and it's looking beautiful.

First of the Flock of Parrot Pinatas

The first of the feral parrot flock is beautiful. Laurie photographed the bird last Friday night, so now we have images for Kelly and Sherri to use as they design the postcard invite. Moving right along.

What a Good Day

Name the good things. Naming is a good thing. Naming makes it real. So here goes. First, Second Seating got another sponsor today. Sometimes - once in a while - it is so easy (note: it always means an infusion of heavy duty energy on my part, whether easy or hard) to make a case for supporting this exhibition, especially when the person on the other end of the line is responding and understands just how their business can make a contribution to the whole of it. So it was this morning. I heard, "I'll commit to this," and after the phone call, I burst into tears just as I did when the check from Diverse Works came in the mail. That check was the first one given to Seating Seating and I cried a lot that day. I notice that real tears come when I've been working very hard and someone puts a seal of approval on all the efforts. I am astounded when it happens. The tears are about affirmation.
By the way, that bit of aerosol art above is Gonzo247. He picked up his dinner table and four chairs the other day and I suspect they may look rather like this.
Early this afternoon Texas Journey AAA magazine called and they will put a Second Seating listing in their September issue. That's really good news. After that second jolt of 'wonderful', I went to pick up the first parrot pinata from Victor Rodriguez.
It's delicate and more intricate than I anticipated. So, the big really big pinata chandelier he's making next with its five to eight foot wing span will be remarkable . Victor and his brother Manuel and I will meet at Irma's next week so they can ascertain how this big parrot chandelier needs to be for the scale of the space. Think tremendous. And just so you know, there will be a flock following along as if they'd flown in from the back door to Irma's patio. We're doing this all in honor of the feral parrots that live and fly in Houston's East End.
After picking up the parrot, I spent time on the floor with the big calendar mapping out a timeline. Irma and I have two weeks to remove all the stuff from the exhibition space and fix the leaks in the roof. Then, I've have the space cleaned, meaning the floor will be power washed, the walls dusted, all ready for a few dry walls and the electric work.
All of this good stuff after a day which I spent going over projected expenses for the next two months. Numbers make me more than crazy. I have a hard time trusting them. Are they real? Do I have enough?
But today, this day is a good one. That metal building will be transformed. It's all in my head and I wish I could paint a picture so others are able to see what I see.

Thursday

Brought home another tub of oysters shells. That makes four tubs and more to come. I go each day now to pick up more. The shells are all off behind my studio (which was my garage) and I don't think the stench or the flies are bothering anyone. I'll pour a little Clorox water on them from time to time and let the sun and heat and bugs take care of things.
Catarina was over today to sew on the banquet chandelier. I hardly know how to describe it or photograph this piece. It is so bizarre and yet it seems to work. Here's a photo of it but really needs to be hanging against a simple background. Have no idea what kind of light bulbs I'll use with it.

I did get more light bulbs for the oil pipe drilling parts that I had made into lamps. I them them and not sure whether they'll be on the floor or on a table during the exhibition. They come in series of one, two or three all linked together with transparent wires. The idea was a good one.

Also baked some more dishes today. They'd been 'drying' on the kitchen counter for a day after being written or drawn on. Can't remember where I found those two painted red compotes, but I like them and drew with gold all over them. They looked gorgeous in the oven.
Have to get busy on the invitation postcard next. I am meeting with the folks at Diverse Works tomorrow and that's a good thing.

Work on Sunday

This vase may be what happens in the center of the chandelier. Needed red and I remembered this vase. Will ask the chandelier man about putting a cup or ledge in the center to hold the vase. Could then leave it as an 'urn sort of icon' or put fresh flowers in it. If one could drill a hole through the bottom of the vase without breaking it, it might be wonderful to have a center light bulb like the pistil of a flower. The red is good and the shape of vase/urn lends a serious note.
A dear friend saw the chandelier late yesterday afternoon before we went to supper and became tearful. She said it seemed 'so right.' Whatever did it suggest to her? Whatever, I consider her response important. It means that this chandelier is evocative and good. I'll carry on with it and wait impatiently for the parrots to arrive.
The setting of the vase within the chandelier was the first thing I did today. The other thing I did was remix and glue down a photo collage, making it darker and denser than it'd been before. I've got it under heavy books now as the glue dries overnight. Will take a look at another unfinished collage and see where it goes.
Tomorrow is a busy day of phone calls, again lining things up for the exhibition space, for tables to be made by others. My list is long.
I am beginning to feel 'in the zone.' This feeling may save me and I hope I'll continue to stay in that place by just working steadily forward. Doing the next thing and then the next thing after that. Focused and steady.

Chandelier Underway

This is how I left the new chandelier today. I think it's beginning to take form though cannot figure out how the center will work, though it looks great with a bunched up bit of red velvet. Hung some more crystals too and I think with lights (Whatever kind of bulb? So many choices?), they will sparkle plenty.
Have turned the studio lights off and am going to dinner and the theater with a friend. I am tired and headachy, but it's been a good day.

Outlandish - That Would Be The Hope

Spending time in the studio today - when I'm not sitting in front of this computer - working and reworking on ideas for the new chandelier. It's the same process as when I crochet or make a collage, which is one of mixing and matching, looking, stepping back, returning, remixing, looking, looking. All the time open to those new ideas that jump into the mix like sparkling gifts from where?
A documentary photograph won't do the ideas or process justice, so here are bits and pieces of the whole. They better represent where I am headed. And I do not know yet where that is. But I know when I see something that I like, meaning, it works.

New Chandelier - A Flower, A Bird Cage?

It's high time to work on that chandelier base I had fabricated a month ago. It will hang over the banquet table that is covered with a 10 x 14 foot patchwork of fabrics salvaged from Hurricane Ike flood waters. I want to carry the theme of the salvaged fabrics up into the chandelier. This afternoon, I cut long bias strips from yet another salvaged length of striped brocade. Sewed a loose machine stitch down the center of the strips and then ruffled them.

Tried wrapping one ruffled length around a portion of the basic structure. Then began to wrap simple lengths of fabric around the bars. I liked both, but both need to be refined and I have to live with the whole thing for a day or two. And what sort of light bulbs will go in this piece. I am now leaning toward those long slender tubes that will mimic stamens in a flower. Maybe the whole thing can look like a flower?

Have no idea how all this will work and I suspect I will disassemble the whole piece many times, give up in despair at least once and then finally, something will look decent or maybe even exciting. When that happens, I'll act quickly with the hope that the chandelier will become wonderful.

At the moment, it's almost embarrassing to show these photographs. There is nothing finished about anything I've tried. It's all thought, concept, experimentation - what works, how to fold, what to ruffle, where to hang the crystals.

I have to keep in mind my friend Virginia Avery's advice: Excess is never enough. This chandelier has to look and feel over the top. I've ordered ornamental feathered birds for this chandelier, thinking they will reference the feral parrots that fly over the East End these days. Also because the basic structure of this chandelier lends itself to the concept of 'bird cage.' Note: I in no way want to cage the feral parrots. Off to bed. I can see this post is deteriorating because of the fatigue of its author.

Chandelier Inspiration in Instanbul

Of course. There are chandeliers in Istanbul and the great mosques and churches that I want to bring home for Second Seating. Yesterday I fell in love with Hagia Sophia and could have spent hours there, from early morning until evening watching the light, walking among the columns, staring down from the balconies to the great space below. The chandeliers were magical. Some were resting on the floor, temporarily felled by scaffolding and repairs. I liked their darkness and mystery, like giant wreaks in need of reclamation.

Later in the afternoon, we toured the Blue Mosque and once again, I was enchanted by the lighting and the way it was designed and constructed. Ideas for the chandelier man in Houston who is constructing chandeliers for Second Seating. All the lighting is so low - just over our heads. Perhaps ten feet in the air. And then the domes stretch upward, far beyond us.

Progress: Pictures are Worth 1000's of Words

Not much time to write, but time enough to share some new photos Laurie Perez took of the pieces for Second Seating that are complete or almost complete. The Clorox bottle chandelier looks ethereal and it's scale is fairly overwhelming, quite frankly. The Houston Dynamo soccer ball chandelier is unexpectedly wonderful - of course, I knew it would be wonderful. The banquet table with its patchwork tablecloth made with fabrics salvaged from Hurricane Ike flood waters is 10 x 14 feet BIG and gorgeously overflowing with a plethora of vintage objects and trash and treasure from the East End community.







Second Seating is four months out. Press kits have been assembled yesterday and today. Thank you, Kathie Easterly. They'll be in the mail tomorrow and totally done by Thursday. Then it's back to making art and checking with all the other artists who are producing beautiful stuff for this show.