Hands # 2

Offering, Gwen Buchanan

This line drawing was worked from a photograph taken with my web cam

... wonderful tool for self portraiture.

I like the simplicity of Line drawings..  

... attempting to describe Foreshortening, Contour, Outline..

... chewed fingernails are a bad habit...

"To see a World in a grain of sand,

And hold Heaven in a wild flower,

To hold Infinity in the Palm of your HAND, 

And Eternity in an Hour"

from Auguries of Innocence,1... by William Blake,  1757 - 1827

7" x 9" line drawing, micron pen, 65 lb.  Canson  Universal recycled acid free paper

To All Those Who Work With Their Hands... Hand #1

Hand with Pen, Gwen Buchanan

For the next while I will be posting a series of  HANDS   I drew during the last 2-3 months...

..

 There will be versions in line, paint, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink..

on plain and colored papers, rough brown paper  and watercolor paper.

This is a drawing of my hand with a pen I have had so long I can't remember where it came from,

but I like the way it feels and lays in my hand when I use it.  

I remember I was wearing that thick orange sweater to warm up 

as my hand was cold from keeping it so still in order to draw it. 

"Reason is our Soul's Left HAND"

To the Countess of Bedford,1... by John Donne, 1573-1631

approx. 12" x10" on brown paper and colored conte.

...created here in our DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry Studio in St. Martins, 

on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick,  Canada

How to Make A Headboard

Bohemian Headboard ... Medieval influenced

....from things you may have laying around the garage...

First you get that old door you have been saving 

that didn't fit any of your doorways and it is too nice to cut up.. so there must be another use for it..  and you were sure it would come in handy sometime... well now is the time.

...this is a 5 panel.. not sure of the age ... but it is old and it has an aged hand applied grain so it is special to me cause someone already spent a lot of time on  it before someone else threw it away.. 

It helps if it is the same size as your mattress.... or you can trim it on either end if need be.

Then you gather all your leftover thick gauge sheet steel...
we used 2 ga. which is about 1/3 " thick...

(what? ... oh... come now, everybody has sheet steel cluttering up the place, right?) that has  rusted and seen better days from lying behind the barn for years...

 gather up some big old heavy nuts and bolts... and grab your drill with the oversize drill bit .

..just leave any patterns formed by neglect on the surface of the metal.. 

it makes it more interesting and tells a story of the life it has had and where it has been.

.. you will also need to cut the steel into shapes you find appealing.. we like this gothic arch shape.. 

 and make sure they are spaced so the design  fits all the way across the door/headboard to be...

 we used an oxy-acetylene torch for cutting the steel... leaving a slightly uneven edge

 then a hand-grinder to smooth and buff up the edges for contrast... 

this steel had originally been black so the shine around the edges really emphasized the shape.

...maybe you also have some old angle iron (this is 3") to use for the the corner posts.. that is nice and sturdy ...  

and maybe some parts off an old haycutting machine... never know what is out behind the barn..

of course some folks may think this makes the headboard look more like a torture devise 

but we'll pretend they represent little decorative spindles...
  I really like the combination of these diverse gathered materials.

... put a coat or two of varnish on the steel so the rust doesn't come off on the bedcoverings or you...

clamp on a couple lights because now there is something to lean on to comfortably read your books

and Voila... 

you have a Headboard of some unusualness that will stand the test of time.. and you have cleaned up your garage and behind the barn at the same time...

...Sweet Dreams...

This is a link to a Carved Headboard that I made a long time ago.