I am delighted to report that my recovery from my neck surgery ten days ago has been rapid and amazing. Chronic aches and pains previously endured are gone. The feeling has largely returned to my hands. Freed from pain, I have a lot more energy. The toughest challenge is to not overdo things as I continue to heal. My family and crew keep a close eye on me to make sure that happens. I look forward to being able to drive once again by the middle of next week! In the meantime, I am spending lots of time at my design table, dreaming up concepts for a variety of projects we will be tackling in the future.
The balance
Building a project like the Hazelnut Inn is a delicate balancing act. The housekeeping staff desires smooth and plain surfaces to allow for perfect cleaning without worry of wearing out paint. As creatives we want to include as much texture and complex details as we can imagine. The compromise solution is to keep heavily cleaned areas such as bathrooms and kitchen as plain as possible. In the bathroom there will be ceramic tile to about five feet up the walls. Theme work in these areas will be limited to heavily grained ‘wood’ beams. Above these beams we will sculpt ‘dirt’ banks with rocks and tree roots, similar to the main room of the suite. Because we are tiling, the lower surfaces can gently curve in one direction to provide interest without making the task too onerous. Keith is currently busy in the small room, forming and welding up the steel pencil rod armatures that will define the shape for the lath and concrete work to soon follow. By the end of next week this area should be ready for sculpting. Stay tuned…
Day 2 sculpting
Hand-sculpting every square inch of a large room sized project is no small task. Add in complex curves, huge boulders and many smaller rocks along with scores of twisted tree roots to take things over the top. We start with the ceiling and everything upside down for that is the hardest part of the job by far. They trowel on a ‘prime’ coat of mud, wait for it to kick and then follow it up with a thicker coat. Once this sets it is time to carve in the textures. The welded pencil rod armature and all of that carefully hand tied lath suddenly disappear and take on a physical form. It will most likely be the end of next week before the room truly makes sense but it is already starting to come into focus. This is going to be the most charming and distinctive room you’ve ever seen. Stay tuned for more progress…
