Swinging In The Rain

(Continuing the story from last post:)
After thinking of (and attempting) many options of how to keep "The Chef' sign standing against the wind and rain, I decided on the most clever idea yet:

buy a plastic swinger sign frame. 

Swinging freely in shop    ©robinrkent

I noticed a small one used at the Town Offices, and then saw them everywhere. But do they come in a size and strength big enough for my 5 foot tall Chef? After calling Florida and Minnesota, I found a shop nearby.

I bolted front and back signs together with a horizontal post between them for the pivot. After slipping the sign over the crossbar, I nudged it a bit. It swung smoothly, like a well oiled machine!

Problem solved. Strong and neat. Happy artist. I couldn't wait to bring him back on the street in front of the Cafe Provence...

One hitch: the sidewalk isn't level. It pitches sideways to the curb and runs backwards down the street. The Chef was banging into the support on the bottom, not happy with the tilt.
After some fine tuning, (a full dimension 2x4 wired to the frame on the curb side), he's swinging again.
I will check on him now and again to make sure he stays 'straightened up and fly right'.

Cafe Provence was selected for the 2013 Editor's Choice Award (Best Food and Dining) in Yankee Magazine.

Mean Streets for this Outsider Art

Sometimes I get into a subject or theme, either willingly or not, and can't let go. Now it's street art. After finishing the rain barrel for the 'Connecting the Drops' street project (see previous posts), I'm revisiting my Chef sign for Cafe Provence here in Brandon.

With new town ordinances, the old piece I made to set inside the top of their existing sandwich board put him over the size limit.

Original sign

Building a new sign - taped chalkboard paint drying

The object of the new sign is to keep visibility. Parked cars along the street were acting like a crowd blocking the view at a concert. (Or a woman in a large hat at a poetry reading.)
So some width had to go to gain height and keep within regulations.
Everything went perfectly until, out on the street, he met the enemy: The Wind. He was overwhelmed. So now he's back in the shop and we're putting our three heads together to find the solution making him weather friendly. Curb side 'outsider' art isn't always as spontaneous as it may seem.

Come and Go

I can cross another big assignment off my list. The rain barrel mermaid has left and is ready for a bigger pond. Here she is, in the city far from home, with some fellow barrels ready for their newspaper interview.

Mermaid and me (center in red) with some from her class of 20

Every time I start an assignment, I learn something new. Mostly about art or technique.

This time, I was the lesson. The reporter made a game of guessing the art to the artist.

Mermaid eavesdropping to the Director's interview

He was surprised I made the mermaid. He thought a young dude to be one tagging street art, but this first hand experience made me pause. Do fine artists get this surprised reaction? Maybe the fine arts are more dignified. Or should I find a comfortable middle ground with looser paintings and assemblages, leaving street art to the young-uns? Nooo...don't like self imposed retrictions without good reason. I'll try to own the fact of who I am no matter. Maybe I'll turn into an eccentric artist when I do get old.

Talking With My Hands

Without photos of my work to illustrate my point, I am helpless. Why post words from an artist (still not sure of the type) without something to look at? I always read story books with the goal of getting to the next illustration as a child. Now magazines are my guilty pleasure.
I have deadlines looming, being the beginning of the 'season' here in Vermont. Lots of art popping up along with gardens and baby animals. More time spent in the shop and at the easel than at the computer or outside. Here is the status of the mermaid rain barrel. (You can read the last post for her back story.)

3/4 view of the pickle, er, rain barrel in process.    

©robinrkent

She needs to put her face on. Then some makeup. My mother used to say 'A little powder and paint makes a girl what she ain't.'

And the smell of pickled peppers (banana peppers I'd guess) when you unscrew her lid is devine. Makes you want to order a pizza.

I always start from black, so it's hard to see here, but by the end of the day, I should have her looking more photogenic and ready for her closeup. A nice flowing of mermaid hair would help as well. Will have to scout for just the right screen in the barn upstairs. Buttons for jewelry, etc, will be the final touches.

And that's a good thing: I'll have another post coming right up!

And Now Some Street Art Assemblage...

Finally on a full tilt roll with my painterly paintings. Newest one, above, is still in progress, but whined, wanting to be on the masthead. Will post the finished version when ready.

A vision of things to come?

A street art assemblage project is next.

Like the unfinished fine art painting above, I'll post progress on my art rain barrel commission here.

The Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District will mount 40 finished barrels on bases and stagger them from Church Street Marketplace, Burlington (our only Vermont 'city') down the hill to Lake Champlain's waterfront.
A few sentences about stormwater run off and its threat to the lake's health, posted next to each barrel, will help educate and hopefully entertain.