Lost and Found III

(Above:  Lost and Found III. Custom picture framed: 18 1/2" x 18 1/2". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Found objects include: a decorative, slotted serving spoon; a red, beaded coaster; eight, light blue insulin lancets; blue and yellow, plastic napkin rings; keys; vintage capacitors; eleven, pink ladybugs that were once a decorative part of a set of shower curtains; two, clear tape discs; three different brands of beer caps; two small clothespins; two thimbles; garter hooks; gold hooks and eyes; rectangular brass metal pieces; beads and buttons. Click on either image to enlarge.)

I brought all sorts of "stuff" to the workshop I conducted for QSDS (Quilt and Surface Design Symposium) in Columbus, Ohio ... including one or two of the red, beaded coasters.  I've had them for months and months.  I never thought I would ever use them.  Yet, one of the participants laid out an amazing design using one.  It was so happy and cheerful.  I had to challenge myself to work with a vibrant palette, and this is the result.  I'm very pleased with it ... especially since I also found places for the pink ladybug shower hook embellishments.  I never thought I'd use them either!  Everyone learned something in that experience!

(Above:  Lost and Found III, detail.)
 

Mandala CXXVI, CXXVII, and CXXVIII

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXXVI. Click on any image to enlarge.)

In anticipation for last weekend's workshop, I completely stitched Mandala CXXVI.  I brought it still attached to its stretcher bar ... which was several inches larger than the finished piece ... in order to stitch the button edge without the needle running into the stretcher bar.  This piece served as my demonstration for removing it from this larger stretcher bar, stapling to the smaller stretcher bar over which I had already glued a piece of acid-free foam-centered board, and stitching the two layers together ... in order for the weight of the objects to be evenly distributed over the entire surface.  (If this doesn't make sense, please see an earlier blog post regarding my presentation techniques!)  It's often difficult to put into words these instructions.  It is far simply, especially in a workshop, to actually SEE the process.  So ... this piece was finished with workshop participants watching!  I even brought the float frame and a label for the reverse side!

(Above:  Mandala CXXVI.  Custom framed: 17 1/2" x 17 1/2". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt.  Found objects include: A Maxwell House coffee lid; four, blue dyed wooden Tinker Toy connectors; all sixteen chess "black" side chess pieces (that are actually brown/wood); four old hole-punches; garter hooks; eight, touch-less door openers; eight, polished wheat pennies; four brioche molds holding red and blue plastic bottle caps and beads; and buttons.) 

All the participants in the workshop got a section of this same, old quilt ... already stapled to a stretcher bar but carefully marked for only a 12" x 12" area for stitching. The smaller size is obviously easier to stitch in a workshop situation!  As another example, I did one too!

(Above:  Mandala CXXVIII. Custom framed: 13 1/4" x 13 1/4". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt. Found objects include: A spiral from inside an old clock; keys; gray, white, and tan plastic bottle caps; blue plastic insulin lancets; and buttons.)

Mandala CXXVIII was the piece I designed, stitched, and finished during the workshop.  One of the participants was able to tell me that my "little blue things" were insulin lancets!  I had no idea that the round "heads" twisted off to expose a tiny piece of metal!  These tiny things pierce the skin of diabetics in order to draw a small drop of blood for glucose monitoring.  When they were donated to my stash, I was told they were "medical" devices that had passed their expiration date!  That's all I knew.  Now, I know just how important they really are.

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXXVIII.)

This small piece was intentionally designed so that it could hang as either a square or a diamond ... another point I wanted to share with the workshop.

(Above:  Mandala CXXVII. Custom framed: 20" x 20". Found objects hand-stitched to a section of an antique quilt. Found objects include: A glass part of a lamp stem under which is a small sieve; six, vintage ice cream treat/Popsicle refrigerator trays; six gold flatware spoons; eight touch-less door openers; vintage blue plastic numbers and cent signs; six, white dominoes; six brass circles salvaged from old trophies; six sewing machine bobbins; four, upside down, disposable ashtrays on which were stitched four, rusty stars; and buttons.)

Finally, I brought along Mandala CXXVII in progress. This was an important demonstration piece because it allowed me to show how some of the objects are stitched together before they are attached to the quilt.  In this piece, I drilled holes in the refrigerator trays first.  Then, I stitched the dominoes, trophy circles, and bobbins onto the tray ... before stitching the tray to the quilt.  I did the same with the disposable ashtrays and rusty stars.  Basically, the corner "element" was stitched together before it was attached. 

(Above:  Detail of Mandala CXXVII.)

This piece was also an excellent example of how elements are pre-drilled.  There were lots and lots of holes drilled for this piece.  As a result, participants had no fear of drilling their own holes!

(Above: Detail of Mandala CXXVII.)

I didn't actually finish this piece until I got home.  Although Mandala CXXVII can hang as a square, I like it even better when hung as a diamond! (Below!) I'm now already at work on my next piece.

 

QSDS 2022

(Above:  "One Woman's Trash Transformed", a two-day workshop at QSDS in Columbus, Ohio. Click on any image to enlarge.)

It is always such a pleasure to return to my hometown, Columbus, Ohio to conduct a workshop for QSDS (Quilt and Surface Design Symposium).  The setting is ideal ... the Columbus College of Art and Design. Participants stay in the dorms, eat in the cafeteria, and have 24/7 access to the most perfect studio space ever!  

Originally, this workshop was written for a four-day experience.  I thought long and hard about what had to be cut from the agenda. Finally, I decided to cut only my own Power Point presentation! This meant that I had to really "watch the clock" and seriously "push the envelop" to get everything accomplished!

(Above:  The table of "found objects" for participants to use for their own mandala.)

In two days, everyone managed to make greeting cards from old, cut-up artwork, magazine images, upholstery scraps, and a selection of 1973 wallpaper samples. I brought the note cards, envelops, and professional "crystal clear" bags that seal ... in two different sizes.  Everyone made at least two wooden thread spool ornaments too.  I brought 11" x 14" mats with "crystal clear" bags and plenty of fusible fabric straps.  These things became an instant design challenge as well as a ready-to-sell piece of artwork. Old keys were tagged with an inspirational word ... and shadowboxed into existing frames.  Lots of yarn was zigzag stitched into cording ... and cording was stitched into a fiber vessel.  (The finished vessel went to one of the participants ... randomly!  But, the most exciting part of the workshop was the process of turning a table filled with "found objects" into a small mandala.

(Above:  A participant stitching her Found Object Mandala.)

Thankfully, Steve came along on this trip.  He did all the driving and helped unload all this "stuff" into the classroom.  Yes ... we brought EVERYTHING used!  It's a lot but it is so worth it!  Participants didn't have to bring anything ... which is a good thing!  At least two of the participants flew to Columbus.  They needed their suitcase space for themselves, not for the items on a lengthy supply list!

(Above:  A participant zigzag stitching on the fiber vessel.)

For two days, I really pushed the workshop forward.  It was exciting and fun.  In the meantime, Steve went to the Columbus Art Festival, the art museum, and the zoo.  He also visited our old stomping grounds, the Ohio State University campus.  Then, we packed up.  The return load was a lot lighter because everyone in the workshop did such a great job of using the provided supplies!

(Above:  Participants stitching.)

Unlike many fiber art workshops, I set up the room a bit differently.  Participants don't have individual tables.  They sit and stitch together.  This allows more space around all the "work stations".  It also means that conversations are easy and friendships are made!  I really hope to see these great people in the future!

(Above:  A participant and her Found Object Mandala.)

By the end of Sunday, two of the participants had their mandalas totally stitched, removed from the first stretcher bar, stapled to the smaller/finished stretcher bar, and ready to hang on the wall.  The others weren't far behind.  Personally, I finished the one Found Object Mandala that I brought already stitched ... as a demo for the finished presentation ... plus, I finished the one I started as a "how to" example ... plus, I finished my next piece too.  I'll be blogging them soon.  By the way, I'll be conducting this workshop as a three-day experience at AYA Fiber Studio in Florida this coming November 30 - December 2, 2022.  It will happen directly after a two-day HOT workshop, November 28 and 29!  Come play with me!

Christmas ornaments and workshop prep

(Above:  A boat load of embellished wooden thread spools.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Sometime in early February, I started wrapping old skeins of yarn around my collection of vintage, wooden thread spools ... but only when attending Bill Mishoe's weekly auctions (Tuesday and Friday nights). Sometime in mid-March, they were ready for their buttonhole stitched edges ... top and bottom ... but still only when at the auction house.  Sometime around April Fools Day, I started adding the decorative stitches.  I've also done this while riding in the van ... like when my solo show was delivered to Artisans on the Square in Greenville, GA or when taking the recently finished Peacock Feathers to the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville. 

(Above:  Ernie the Cat and the boat load of embellished wooden thread spools.)

The wrapping and stitching is fun and easy.  They also look so pretty in this wooden boat made by my friend Jeff Donovan.  (Please do click this link.  It shows one of Jeff's other vessels but also includes the most hilarious and truly fitting artist statement ever!)  Well ... when the boat gets filled, I know it is time to start transforming the embellished thread spools into ...

CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS.

Less that half the boat load is currently finished but I have plenty of time before November's Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show.  YES!  I'm thrilled to announce that my artwork was accepted again ... in two categories:  Decorative Fibers (which will be my Found Object Mandalas) and Basketry (which will be my Fiber Vessels.  I've secured a one-week, late July, art residency at the Rensing Center in Pickens, South Carolina in order to make lots and lots of cording for the fiber vessels!)  

Most of this week, however, has been in "hunter-gatherer" mode.  I'm conducting a two-day workshop at QSDS called One Woman's Trash Transformed.  I'm absolutely thrilled to be returning to in-person workshops.  Steve is driving me there ... so I'll be stitching more Christmas ornaments on the way!
 

Lola's World

Lola's World

(Above:  Lola's World, a site specific installation inside Gatehouse # 3 along Heyward Street, outside the former Granby and Olympia Textile Mills.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I'm excited to reveal my newest installation, Lola's World.  It started several months ago with a RFQ (request for qualifications) that included a Zoom meeting and lengthy application which was submitted to 701 CCA's selection committee for their Mill District Public Art Trail. After making it through this round, I was allowed to submit my proposal and eventually selected to transform Gatehouse # 3.  

(Above: Gatehouse # 3 with the Olympia Mill in the background.)

The five gatehouses were once the access points to the former Granby and Olympia Textile Mills.  The mills are now rental apartments, most for USC (University of South Carolina) students.  Each gatehouse is a 10' x 10' exterior, brick structures with a door on the back side.  Some of the gatehouses had only front windows; some only on two sides. Only Gatehouse # 3 had windows on three sides.  I was so pleased to have been assigned to this particular place.

 

(Above:  Installing wooden textile pirns inside Gatehouse # 3).

My proposal included this paragraph: 

The interior of the gatehouse will be transformed with hundreds of suspended, authentic, textile pirns (commonly ... though incorrectly ... known as "spindles"); a mass of unraveled sewing thread (floor); a life-size, quilted image of textile worker Lola Derrick Byars; and a framed quotation.

Like my recent Pirn Installation at the Cambria Hotel, I attached twine in different lengths to the individual pirns. On one end of the twine, a screw was held by a firm knot.  The twine was then wrapped around the pern and safety pinned in place.  This was done so that the perns didn't become impossibly tangled.  Seven boxes were used ... for different lengths ... from 1' to 7'.  One at a time, the perns were unpinned and screwed into the wooden ceiling.  Approximately 180 were suspended.

 

(Above:  The provided image of Lola Derrick Byars.)

Before doing all this, I had to create the life-sized art quilt.  A friend had the image of young Lola and sent me a high resolution scan.  Using Photoshop, I removed the background, uploaded my image to Spoonflower, and waited for the cotton fabric to come in the mail.

 

(Above:  Ernie the Cat helping to baste the fabric to synthetic felt.)

I ironed the fabric and basted it to a substrata of felt.  Ernie the Cat wanted to help. 

The piece was free-motion stitched in my studio.  (Ernie the Cat was nearby but camera shy!)

The entire background was stitched in small circles.  Black thread outlined and defined much of Lola's dress but not her face.  The shrinkage from the densely stitched areas can cause the foreground to pucker ... but I like this!  I know just what to do!

 (Above:  The reverse side of the art quilt showing the stuffing technique known as trapunto.)

I made careful slits in the felt and inserted additional pieces of felt ... effectively "stuffing" the area.  This technique is called trapunto.  It results in a 3D effect which increases the realism of Lola.

 

There was one other, important stitched addition to the art quilt ... an accreditation to the owner of the original photo. My friend promised Merelene H. Byars-Klutzow that any future use of the image would acknowledge her ownership.  Though Merelene died a year or so ago, it was only appropriate to thank her once again. 

(Above:  A stretcher bar with acid-free foam-centered board glued and stapled to the front.)

After stitching and "stuffing", the art quilt was stapled to a stretcher bar over which a piece of acid-free foam-centered board was stapled and glued. 

(Above:  Lola, an art quilt stretched and ready to be framed.)

Once on the stretcher bar, the piece was put into an ornate silver frame.  Also, Lola's words were printed on a professional sign and framed similarly.

(Above:  The top of the art quilt with Lola's quotation on the signage above the Gatehouse door.)

Lola's quotation came from a document called 'The Industrial Revolution Comes to Columbia: Red Brick Beacons of Hope". In it, Lola recalls her childhood:

 We lived on a farm so poor it would grow nothing but rocks. My daddy cut cord
wood on the side to buy food. He heard about the mills opening in Columbia and
one day he just decided to load up all our belongings and us onto the wagon and
come to Columbia. He drove that old wagon onto the ferry at the Broad River and
crossed. We went straight to the Granby Mill Village in 1898 and he went to the
mill to get a job. I was eight years old and worked in the Granby Mill until the
Olympia Mill opened and then went to work there. We got one of those nice houses
on Fifth Street. I was an experienced worker when I reached twelve years of age and
could run eight sides. I had two new dresses and plenty of good food.

(Above:  The signage above the door in Gatehouse #3.)

I used only the one sentence from the fuller quotation. Why?  Well, the Gatehouse is actually locked.  Viewing for the coming year will only be through the windows. I wanted the words to be large enough to read.  By the way, my camera didn't capture the same coloration for the sign and the background of the art quilt.  They are actually the same!

(Above:  Found objects on the east facing window sill.)

Knowing that people would peer into the space from the windows, I decided to add a few found objects on the east facing window sill.  There are two miniature books, square cut nails, a crochet hook, scissors, a lid from a can of vintage silver cleaner, a lock with key, and a sewing machine drawer filled with WWII ration stamps, a salt & pepper shaker set, and a candy tin.

(Above:  Found objects on the west facing window ledge.)

On the west facing window was a narrow ledge. I placed a vintage crochet runner on it and then added several found objects ... including a vintage cloth tape measure, two embroidered handkerchiefs, a broken silver-plated serving spoon, an old pin cushion, a blue porcelain plate, another sewing machine drawer filled with clothespins and hanks of silk embroidery floss, etc.  

(Above:  Gatehouse # 3 after the pirns were suspended and before the rest of the interior was arranged.)

Putting the interior together was a challenge.  Why?  Well, the pirns obviously had to be suspended first.  There isn't room inside for "the stuff" plus the ladder!  I had to do all the "ladder work" first.  Then, I had to crawl around under the suspended perns in order to finish the installation.

 

(Above:  Looking upward to the suspended pirns.)

Wisely, I didn't suspend longer pirns near the doorway.  Directly inside the door, I placed an old shelving unit to which I screwed one half of an aluminum Z-clip French hanging strip.  The other half was on the back of the art quilt's frame.  The effect really works.  Lola is prouding standing in her own world.

(Above:  The northeast corner of Lola's World.)

The last thing done for this installation was to spread miles and miles of unraveled sewing thread over the floor.  This thread was first used in an earlier (2014) installation, Threads: Gathering My Thoughts. It's been in three other locations before now ... once at the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum in Arizona as that year's proposal winner ... once at ArtFields, a competition in Lake City, SC ... and once at the South Carolina State library.  Some of the thread was used for Exposed Threads, a 5' x 9' 2D artwork now at the Cambria Hotel here in Columbia.  Otherwise, all this thread has been stored in three giant leaf bags in a closet.  Lots and lots of people contributed to this stash of thread!  Thank you to all of them!
 

(Above:  Lola's World.)

In front of the art quilt, I also placed two vintage baskets.  A crocheted bedspread and a vintage quilt top were piled inside them.  These objects, certainly things that easily could have been part of Lola's life, hid most of the shelving unit's base.  I am very pleased with this installation.  My statement for the installation is:

Lola's World. Eight year old Lola Derrick Byars started working in Granby Mill shortly after her family relocated to Columbia in 1898. They came in search of steady pay, secure employment, and a better way of life than farming had provided. When Olympia Mill opened, Lola went to work there. By twelve, Lola was an experienced textile worker living in a nice Fifth Street house where plenty of home-cooked meals were served. The intimate scale of a gatehouse will bring to life the focus and concentration Lola needed for her daily tasks, one of which was the constant replacement of textile spindles.

I'm excited to see what goes in the other four gatehouses!

Six New Peacock Feathers

(Above:  Six, new Peacock Feathers.  Framed: 31" x 11". Layered polyester stretch velvet fused to recycled, synthetic packaging felt with heavy turquoise metallic foiling and a real peacock feather under an ultra sheer piece of a chiffon scarf.  Free-motion embroidery and melting techniques.)

In most modern, western cultures, peacocks are associated with Victorian era vanity. It's easy to understand this symbolism. Male peacocks strut their gorgeous tail feathers during mating season. The colors are dazzling. There's an air of confidence, beauty, and superiority.  I've witnessed this sort of elegance ... more than once.  It's striking.

Other cultures see peacocks as powerful. After all, they can attack, kill, and eat snakes.  I've never seen this and I'm pretty sure I never will.  That's okay.  It sounds sort of scary!

Peacocks are often symbols of royalty. In various Chinese dynasties, only the highest nobles and members of the royal family were allowed to wear the rare "two eyed" peacock feathers. Yet in other, ancient times and in many Indian and Chinese interpretations, peacocks symbolized ever-lasting life. This makes sense too. At the end of summer, peacock's molt; they lose their feathers and grow new ones in time for next year. In this sense, peacocks are like a phoenix rising from ashes. There is a sense of reincarnation in a peacock, and there are even Biblical legends that spin a tale about the peacock being the only animal who does not eat the forbidden fruit offered by Adam and Eve. In the 4th century Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna, Italy, peacocks are plentiful. They represent resurrection.  I've been to Ravenna twice in my life and that's likely when I fell in love with peacocks.

I like peacocks because of all these associations but most of all because a peacock is really just a pretty chicken. I've always gravitated to the elevation of the mundane into fine art!

(Above:  Composite image.  From left to right, Peacock Feather XXXIX, XL, and XLI.)

These six Peacock Feathers are $395 each and going to the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville this weekend.  

(Above:  Composite image.  From left to right, Peacock Feather XLII, XLIII, and XLIV.)

Installation in Seattle

(Above:  The Triptych, my artwork installed someplace in Seattle!)

I blogged about this commission a couple months ago.  I didn't have a decent picture though.  I couldn't capture this triptych while it was here in South Carolina because I seriously don't have a wall large enough on which to hang it ... at least not a wall from which I can stand back far enough to take a decent photo.  Now, however, I've got this great image!  It was sent to me from Seattle!  That's where the piece went.  I'm so excited to see it on the wall!

(Above:  Capitals on Blue and Tan installed in Seattle.)

Yet, the giant triptych wasn't the only thing that went to Seattle.  In another crate, Capitals on Blue and Tan went too.  I blogged about them HERE.  Like the triptych, I really couldn't get a decent image of these two pieces either.  Between the glare off the UV filtering epoxy and my lack of location, I really could only imagine how they would look when installed.  Now, I know! 

I'm honestly not sure where in Seattle these pieces are now hung but I'm so proud that they are there.  It was a wonderful experience to work with a professional arts consultancy.  I hope they seek me out again!

 

Exposed Threads and the Pirn Installation

(Above:  Exposed Threads, artwork behind the reception desk of the new, Cambria Hotel in Columbia, South Carolina.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I've been anticipating this blog post for more than a year.  It is so exciting to finally see the results of an amazing opportunity through NINEdot Arts, an art consultancy company that contracted for two, large commissions for Columbia's new Cambria Hotel.  From a proposal to negotiations on materials to the actual making of the artwork to presentation/installation, this has been an adventure that I just didn't feel quite right about sharing until it all worked out so very, very well.  Yesterday was INSTALLATION DAY!  Success!

So ... a team of professional installers arrived with a rental truck!  They carefully bubble wrapped the top and the bottom and carried the 105 pound piece to the truck.

At the hotel (which is slated for a June 1st Grand Opening), they carefully measured so that the piece would hang higher than the backs of the receptionists' chairs.  The metal hanging strip (also known as a French cleat or Z-clamp) was screwed into the wall's studs.  In the image above, this narrow, aluminum strip can be seen on the wall and also on the back side of the artwork.  As a professional picture framer, I had this all worked out well in advance.  I also had a careful plan for making this piece ... because ... seriously ... when asked if I could do something that measured 5' x 9' with exposed threads meant to hang vertically ... well ... I had to experiment before taking on such a project.  My experiment was shared on this blog.  ( I just didn't know if my proposal was going to be accepted and thus didn't mention why I was experimenting!  To read this post, CLICK HERE.)

I also shared the giant frame ... but didn't exactly say what it was for!  It's big!

Building the frame was only the first step.  Next, a white floater frame was built to fit inside the frame.  This was done in order to have "a ledge" on which the three, interior frames could "sit" and to which the three, interior frames could be permanently attached.  For these three frames, Plexiglas was cut and caulked into place.  Steve and I also sat each one on a flat surface and poured a little water into the shallow depth ... to make sure nothing leaked!  This was seriously important!  Why?  Well ...

The next step was to pour UV filtering/non-yellowing epoxy.  We couldn't risk this expensive material leaking out.  One by one, we worked mixing the solution ...

... pouring it into the frame ...

... and kneading piles of unraveled thread into the epoxy until the surface was covered.

Steve and I did this in the later afternoon, after our business Mouse House closed.  By the next day, the epoxy had dried and had attached the thread to the Plexiglas. This allowed a vertical presentation with no visible means of supporting all the exposed threads.  In the photo above, Steve is showing the reverse side on the left and the front side on the right.  All three sections were then put into the large, ornate gold frame with its white floater.  

Attaching the three interior frames and the French cleat was tricky because this had to be done on the back side.  At 105 pounds and with the three sections liable to fall out if tilted downward until attached, Steve and I had our work cut out for ourselves.  The piece was finished a couple months ago and has simply been waiting for INSTALLATION DAY! 

(Above:  The Pirn Installation at the Columbia Cambria Hotel.)

Although I wasn't the installer for Exposed Threads, part of the contract for the other lobby artwork specified that I would install my Pirn Installation.  Now ... many people refer to these textile mill objects as "spindles" but according to my rudimentary research, these are "pirns".  (Here's a Wikipedia definition with an image.)

 

I was asked if I could come up with an original idea for an installation that would link two interior columns and provide a "view" from the main entrance to the reception desk.  Thankfully, I already owned a box of blue dyed, wooden pirns.  I bought them at an auction despite having no real plan for their use.  I had 343 of them.  These were supplemented by another opportunity to acquire more than 1000 wooden ones.  This worked out very well because one of the interior designer's choice for wrapped wool was the same shade as the blue pirns.  Thus, the brown/wooden ones were used for the blue yarn.  (No ... I didn't select the colors.  This was part of the process of working with a design team, construction people, hotel management, and an arts consultancy!)  Yet, the idea and the working plan were mine.

 

My action plan was to first wrap the pirns with yarn.  There were two shades of turquoise, two of rose, and two daffodil yellow.  I wrapped them last September while at Guadalupe Mountains National Park as their artist-in-residence.  Next came attaching the twine and knotting a screw to the end of the twine.  Ten different lengths were used ... and put into ten different, marked boxes.  Because the twine would impossibly tangle, the twine was wrapped around the yarn and safety pinned in place.

 

Most of this work was done while watching television.  (Ernie the Cat is actually inside one of the boxes when Steve took this photo!)  Like the Exposed Thread, this work was completed more than a month ago ... and just waiting for INSTALLATION DAY!

Steve and I arrived at 7:30 AM.  In my mind, I hoped that we would be able to finish before the construction crew closed the building at 5:00 PM.  With a total of 500 pirns, I knew that if we managed one per minute, we'd be working for just over eight hours ... and that calculation didn't include bathroom breaks or lunch!  Yes ... we were both a little nervous!  (Okay ... I had permission to return today but that was "Plan B"; I really wanted to stick with "Plan A!")

I started in the center with the shortest pirns.  Then, I went to the ends and (going back and forth from end to end) worked toward the middle.  Steve and I unwrapped six to twelve pirns at a time.  Steve stood on the shorter ladder and handed them, one at a time, up to me.  I used an awl to start each hole.  It took a few attempts to figure out how NOT to let the twine twist around the electric screwdriver but soon we had a nice system going.  It also took a bit of planning as to how best to deal with the light fixture and the air in-take!  Thankfully, Steve and I work well together.

By 4:00 PM WE WERE FINISHED!

There is a perfectly beautiful, meandering and organic feel to this installation.  Even the hotel manager was impressed.  All the artwork has labels too!  I'm very, very proud of this project.  Below are two detail shots!