Repurposing an Art Caddy

November already? Time seems to pass in ways that defy human perception.

I haven’t had much opportunity to draw or paint lately, but over the last few weeks, my art space has been another kind of project zone. Project #1: the annual or semi-annual organization overhaul, which always takes the better part of a week. During this, I emptied an art supply caddy–one of many that friends & family bestowed on me as a wee bairn, filled with bright colored pencils, paints, and pastels, and the obligatory small metal pencil sharpener. Rather than chuck the caddy, I thought I’d convert it into artwork storage (project #2). All it would take was adding 4 panels to prevent papers from sliding.

“All it would take” — ha. Na bi gòrach. (Scottish Gaelic for “Don’t be silly/stupid.”) Of course it took more than that. DIYers, let’s get ready to roll.

1) Remove black plastic art supply holders/lining. (Please excuse any funny-looking images; recently some blog images have started to appear stretched while others do not. Not sure why WordPress is displaying them differently.)

2) Remove or smooth as much of the hard glue that held liners in place. This involved a razor blade, flying glue chips, sandpaper, and safety goggles.

3) Cut fabric rectangles to line the box.

4) Glue fabric to interior of box.

5) Cut used mat board for panels.

6) Glue panels to box — the trickiest part (getting them to stick and to keep them from falling down).

Books, old awards, wood, and old mat board were all called into service to keep the panels from falling while the glue dried.

All done? Nope. I had to reglue the rightmost panel so that papers wouldn’t fall to the center when the caddy closed. Then it was done. Whoo hoo!

Here’s how it closes. Isn’t expanding storage great?

Presently it is only storing air because I am in the midst of project #3: sorting & digitizing hundreds of drawings from middle school, high school & college (plus some more recent things). This weekend alone, I’ve recycled 2 piles of dog-eared, battered, & other sketches I don’t feel inspired to keep. Apparently an artist’s work is never done, even when not making art.

Maybe the next post will be an artistic yearbook/blast from the past. ‘Til then, thanks as always for reading.

Wintry Week One

Just more than a week has passed since I came back to the bluffs at Principia College, and what a week it has been! Things are swiftly scurrying along (squirrels and shivering students as well as writing work & program development) as afternoon temperatures approach Arctic averages.

Arctic alliteration notwithstanding, this wintry Week One bore witness to several art-tic adventures.

  • Terry Treble: After examining the proof copies and consequently editing them more extensively than expected (there’s that alliteration again — I assure you it shan’t abate), Terry Treble Music Adventures Books 1 & 2 are ready for their first official print run. I’ll post details, including how to order them through MusicLearningCommunity.com, once I receive word from MLC that the books are printed and bound. In the meantime, click here for a preview.
  • Centralia Carillon: (More alliteration!) As you may know, I was commissioned by the director of Centralia Carillon to complete a drawing of the bell tower to place on their programs. After comments and clean-up, ’tis complete! Right there’s the thumbnail. (It’s larger in life, about 5″ x 9″.) CentraliaBellTower_frame
  • New projects: (Alas, less alliteration.) Illustrating a counting book for young children featuring a farm boy, goats, and pebbles.
  • Website work: (Additional alliteration!) Modified a few things and set up… *drumroll*

Captain’s Log Subscriptions! Readers can now subscribe to updates via the subscription page or the sidebar. If you subscribe, please check your email for a message from Draws the Eventide — read it and weep confirm. (Kidding about the weeping.) Cue 18th century fanfare.

Also, as articulated in a prior post, I made another paper Olaf. As promised, he dons his “In Summer” hat and carries his cane. If he’s feeling dapper, he can hang his cane on his arm. (It’s not glued.) My brother is very pleased with his happy snowman, but perhaps not the room traffic he now gets — clusters of Frozen fans knocking on his door and exclaiming. But it’s worth it.

PaperOlaf2A

PaperOlaf2B

Big post. Bigger smiles.

Swing into Spring with Snow-laf

It’s still wintertime, but spring semester begins again at Principia College! That means back to tutoring, evaluating, and all that other writing support, not to mention all the music, art, and story-building I fit in the rest of the day!

That also means the captain’s log will again update semi-regularly.

So, to swing into snowy spring term, I commenced another craft. Specifically, after spending nearly a week at Disney World (a great place to take a sketchbook, by the way) and hearing my brother sing “Do you want to build a snowman?” and other lines from Disney’s Frozen nigh incessantly, I asked him if he would like me to make him an Olaf to hang in his dormitory room.

Here he is. Made yesterday in the USA. It’s amazing how much lighting can affect a photograph.

PaperOlafA PaperOlafB

It can even make noses like little baby unicorns’.

PaperOlafC

And back to big again.

PaperOlafD

In fact, Olaf came out so well that I decided I would make another with the hat he wears when dancing in “In Summer” — that one will go on my brother’s dorm door, and this happy snowman will go in my office so more people can see him.