While I worked on the PN backdrop, the Cobalt crew was working on a 30 ft X 10 ft installation for the New York City Historical Society. Here is Joan showing the "elevation" that they are working from.
Here is a closeup of the work they are doing.
Here is a closeup of part of the prairie and sky finished.
And I am finished with the drop! At 3:30 pm on Friday afternoon.
And Saturday I'm flying home exhausted but exhilarated! I enjoyed this bookstore in the Minneapolis airport.
Here's another view of the big house where I stayed.
Here is the sprayer that I used to paint the whole sky. "Joey" and I had several major battles before we came to terms! (All their sprayers were named)
Here's all the paint that I mixed - underneath another one of my test canvases.
This is Joan, the full-time scenic artist in the studio. She and I had many good conversations as we worked across from each other in the paint mixing room.
Here is the entrance to Rachel's alcove office.
Here is the pretty lake and village of White Lake, about 10 miles from the studio. It used to be a very popular resort spot for New York City folk, but those high times disappeared in the 70's and 80's.
The back porch entrance to the main house.
Being Cobalt Studios, of course there has to be a kitchen window filled with cobalt glass trinkets!
Here are several of the students working in the kitchen. The students cooked the meal each evening, which I got to partake of - and the meals were excellent!
A student piece in the living room of the farmhouse.
Every studio has their mascot - this is Ginger! Sweet dog who knew to walk "around" the drops. There was also a studio cat, Winnie - as all bad cats do, she tiptoed across the drop soon after I had applied some paint! That's one of my test canvases behind Ginger.
This picture was taken soon after I had started work on the prairie portion - which didn't happen until Thursday around 4 pm. Wednesday night was the crises point when I really didn't know if I'd finish by the time I had to catch the Saturday 6 am flight home. But the sky took the longest and once I was done with that, we knew I'd finish.
Another view of my paint mixing table.
That's Rachel, the owner of the studio, waving before she heads into her office for paperwork. She was at the studio every day from 8 am to usually 11 pm.
I cut up some old mop tools to create a stenciling effect for the prairie grasses.
Here's the big farmhouse where I ate and slept - gratefully after full full 16-18 days working in the studio.
Here is the drop after Stephanie (full time help at Cobalt) and I applied the sizing coat of elmer's glue and water. As this coat dries, all the wrinkles in the drop disappear like magic and the surface is taut like a drum. 4 fans were placed at "bridges" to help the drop dry with air flow going underneath the drop.
The paint mixing room where I spent the majority of time - getting the colors to match the design, then mixing the paint to match the color formulation.
The sink and I became intimately acquainted after the hours I spent there too washing out brush after brush, paint stirrers, strainers, and mixing containers.
Here is the drop after I have about 1/2 the sky paint applied and I have cartooned off the bottom prairie section so as not to get overspray.
A cool cool fountain in the Detroit airport - the arcs of water would break and the remaining stretch of water would follow the arc to the end and partial arcs of water would shoot out and follow the arc path - really cool!
Everywhere I turned were scenic pieces from old shows or student work as Cobalt Studios also has a 2 year scenic design educational program. The week I was there was the orientation week for the 7 new students, all women, aged mid 20's.
The outside of the studio which was located a minute's walk down through the woods behind the big farmhouse.
The front entrance to the studio.
