More On Hall of Fame

Here is another entry for the More On Hall of Fame. This is a close up photo of the back leg join from a very hansom oak arm chair, circa 1890.

This leg join  has three kinds of glue on it, dried stripper, Four split wood dowels, four 3" long nails and five 3" long brads.

Here is the probable story of this chair.

It was originally constructed using wood dowels and animal skin glue. Over time the glue started to let go, this caused the chair to squeak when someone sat in it. To "fix" the squeaking, someone squeezed more glue into the loose joins, this acted like a wedge that helped to spread the joins further apart. Then someone added a few 3" large nails, which they pounded directly into the solid wood. This split the wood and caused more glue joins to fail.  Later someone submerged the chair into a strip tank. This removed the painted finish that someone had applied to the chair and also filled the all the joins with paint stripper.  With all the joins now loose the person refinishing the chair shot every join with enough 3" long brads to kill the squeaking. 

All this chair ever needed was to be simply dismantled, cleaned, and then reconstructed with animal skin glue. Basically, a day at the spa.

 

Vermont Studio Center, Making the decision

When I applied to the Vermont Studio Center way back in June of 2008, the economy and my life style were a bit different.

When I was granted a partial grant to attend VSC, it kind of threw me for a loop. I knew I would go to VSC if I received a full grant to attend, and that I would apply to some other residency if I didn't get a grant. But it never occurred to me that I might receive only a partial grant, or that our family income this year would be cut by half.

So for the last few months I have been walking the fence. Should I go, or should I put off doing an artist residency for yet another year?

Well, the VSC deadline for the deposit is next week. I have been filling up pages with pros and cons, and having long talks with friends about the extended finical hardships that this month in the woods would create.

Then a patron of the arts, who will remain anonymous, made a generous donation to the Send BFS to VSC fund. So now the issue finances have been reduced to a less head pounding red beacon, and I can now focus on the art related merits of this a enterprise.

What do I want to accomplish with this opportunity? Well that answer is in the pages and pages of notes I have been generating for the last few months. Hopefully VSC will be just the place to flesh out some of those ideas.

Speaking at the Texas Library Association Conference

I've been practicing on my portion for the presentation "You have a What? Preservation of the Unusual Objects in Your Collection." 

This is one of the programs for the Texas Library Association 2009 Conference. I am presenting with Carol Roark who is the Archivist at the Dallas Public Library.  The program is being hosted by Michelle Mears who is the Archivist at UNT.

I am speaking about the importance of knowing what your items are made from and on the effects of slow damage. That's a lot of info to cover in just 20 minutes. So lots of slides and quick talking. 

There are some slides posted on my web site as well as a list of resources.

Just Below the Skin comes to a close

Just below the Skin closes today. I'll start dismantling the installation and filling all those tiny nail holes on tuesday. The opening had a great turnout with Steve having to flick the lights at 9:30 to get people to leave. 

I am hoping that I will get another chance soon to install Just BElow the Skin in other locations. Because of the way this project is made, it would be a new experience in each new location. 

Art & Seek, Artist Studio Tour video

Art & Seek is continuing their exploration of Dallas Artist's studios. Last week Besty Lewis stopped by my studio and shoot a few few feet of video. They have now posted that on their web site. Click HERE to see it.

Just below the Skin a River Flows

I have a new wall installation in the Mighty Fine Arts Project Room. The opening is Feb 21st and it runs throw March 22.

This new project is basically a layman’s representation of the epidermis stratum (human skin). It is constructed using a stack of old watercolor paper, a pair of scissors, a hole punch, a color copier, some nails, a bit of string, and a 9 foot long wall. There is a complete artists statement at www.BradFordSmith.us.

Make Space for Artists at the DMA

The Dallas Museum of Art asked me to be one of three judges for the Make Space for Artists: Design a Studio competition. I'll be handing out cash prizes tonight.

Above is my attempt at using Google Sketch Up to create a 16 X 16 foot studio. It fills up pretty quickly.