All Over the Map

From bird houses to guitar cases!

I should have taken a photo beforehand. On the left, is a secondhand guitar case that was showing signs of wear, especially the back which had scuffs and many scratches. 

It's the front that will be decorated but, as  Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty realized, the rear view had to look as good as the front.

So using black leather dye, I made the back look new.

The green masking tape is holding trim in place that I reglued. It had been held in place with several pieces of electrical tape. I would call that a "fix fail."

Interestingly, the secondhand case, a bargain at less-than-half price, is for an Epifone and indeed, should fit my guitar, however, if you look at the two of them side-by-side, the one bought today is slightly different. The neck is narrower, as well as the head. And the brass hardware is in a different position. The former owner said that he'd had the case for two years. I haven't tried my guitar in the new one but the interior is identical, a lovely dove-grey fake fur.

Hope to get a start on this one tomorrow. The other one, the one the former owner called a York model, I would like to do decoupage on using black and white photos from old magazines and newspapers. Guess I'll start looking for those.

Father's Day Bird House Detail

A better look at yesterday's Father's Day bird houses. I had been using pastel colours but primary colours certainly stand out.

Think of how lovely a gift customizing just one and presenting it would be.

Something as a house-warming gift, perhaps.

Father's Day is for the Birds

These are the two bird houses I painted for Father's Day. Problem is, the shellac didn't dry over night as I expected it to. Just too much humidity in the air. So on my way to my father's this morn, I hung the bird houses in my van to give them a bit more chance to dry.

Below, is an interesting design created in my coffee cup this morn.


I have done four of these bird houses and assembled them along a wire in the back yard. The perspective is very strange here. There is an oblong bird feeder between the groups of two and there is a larger bird  house on a silver pole that I restored last year. Note how lush everything is since we've had nothing in Ottawa but rain for the past month.

Experimenting with Envirotex Lite

Envirotex Lite is that coating you see on bar tables and over some art work.

I tried it before but was not suitable for keyboard art. Would no doubt work with the Sculz.

But right now, am interested in whether or not it will work on guitar cases.

Using black foam board, I applied some of the substances used on the hard shell guitar cases and then my compadre/accomplice added some sequins, cats eye beads and Chinese rice paper
before drizzling on the Envirotex. What it is is a two-part solution mixed for two minutes and then poured or painted over whatever it is one wants to have a hard, glass-like surface.

This experiment was entirely worthwhile as it appears that this is going to work. The coating actually intensifies the colours and what is meant to glitter or shine shows through.  It gives the illusion of depth.

It creates a permanent hard finish that screams
ART.

Still Life with Raccoon

Call me lucky to be on such convivial terms with local wildlife. 

Dying Wood

Yes, why paint and have it peel off when one can dye wood.
Of course it remains to be seen if the rain takes the colour off.
Mixing water with paint thinner and stirring in one Dylon Cold Dye roundel, didn't really work. Water and paint thinner do not mix. The actual recipe called for methylated spirits but not having any denatured alcohol or ethanol, I made do with the paint thinner.

It was interesting as the paint thinner stayed on top with no dye in it and it wasn't until it was used up that the dye suspended in the water transferred to the bare wood. I had scraped the stairs a week ago but purposely left some on the stairs to give a rustic look.

What I am hoping is that the paint thinner that went on the wood primed it and then when the colour was finally being applied, it was sinking in.

It may rain this eve so the proof will be in the pudding.

Strung Out!

Better than being strung up!

I think I've run out of guitars and cases to show 'n tell about and since I
was riding the rails lo these past two days, I don't have any photos to share.

Guess what? I do have a photo to share. I call it, Still life with Lamp, Bullet and Michael Angelo. There's Munch in there too, along with a soft-case which holds a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar. Nothing with a note-worthy name, alas.

What is interesting about the bullet, to the right of the guitar case, actually, it is a shell, is that these are quite common and could be purchased for around $30 at Cohen and Cohen's, a scrap dealer here in Ottawa that has since closed their doors after decades of being in the biz.

I thought I had a one-of-a-kind curio but I noted an entire doorway full of these brass-based, honed wooden tip items a few years ago and was disappointed that there were others.

What these are, I believe, is they are replicas of actual shells, filled with cement so that they weigh the same and they were used in training exercises by the military.

At least, this is what I've been told.

Of Strings and Things

Still life with lamp shade.

Double your pleasure, double your  fun.
Ukulele, bonus!

When Storage Becomes an Issue

You may recall when storage of keyboards became an issue and floor-to-ceiling shelves were the solution. It's a bit more of a struggle with larger items such as guitars and cases. What you see is by no means all of them. Like peanuts at a party, they are.

Powder room attendees are surprised and amused to find an electric guitar on a stand in the bathroom that doubles as a toilet paper holder.

I just have to make sure I don't electrocute myself getting in and out of the tub. 

Yet another, tucked away. This one is broken and being saved for a project.

What doll?

A Small Guitar Case

The first thing I said to the person selling the York case is, "Oh, it's small." It did seem smaller than my acoustic case and sure enough, in comparing them side-by-side, the Epifone case is much larger.

The man called it a York but it could be something else. There is nothing on or in the case to indicate what brand or where it was made. The Epi case, on the other hand, had a tag that proudly said that it was made in Canada.

This brass floor lamp has a perfect shade.

It will shortly be rewired and put to good 

use.