Week Four: Painting, Painting, and Painting

  I said I wanted to paint and painting I am.

  For the majority of this week, I was adding more coats of paint to the hanging piece. There are five pieces all together and I had started and finished painting only three of them. With the other two, Dennis decided to paint those with fluorescent colors. For the fluorescent to really show I’m painting both sides with three coats of titanium white first. I was able to get one of the pieces done with white and start the first coat of the fluorescent paint.

  Other than painting, on Monday Dennis had me start sanding the piece that I glued together from the other week. Dennis had me start with the toughest grit on the table sander, he showed me how to run the piece through, then I did the rest. After I sanded the stuff off I switched to the lowest grit and sanded the sides again to get it even smoother. This process involves a lot more sanding, but that's as far as I got for this week. I'm sure I will continue sanding the rest soon.

                                 Before Sanding                                                                        After Sanding                                                   

  On Wednesday after I put another coat on the hanging piece. Dennis wanted to cut out more shapes on the laser cutter at Nextfab, I joined him. Before we left we cut some plywood down with the table saw so it could fit inside the laser cutter and inside Dennis's car. Dennis also showed me how to prepare a file on adobe illustrator for the laser cutter. When we got to Nextfab he gave me a tour of the location. Nextfab has a woodshop, 3D printers, Metal shop, and more. It's a nice little space for people to use equipment that might not have the immediate access to those things. There is a membership cost but Nextfab is a good resource to know about for when I wouldn't be able to use the school's studio anymore.

  A laser cutter is an interesting tool. Dennis showed me how to set up the file on the computer to be read through the software, how to select the material you'll be cutting, and how to focus the laser. Everything that needs to be done for the laser to properly cut. I did watch the laser cut the wood and yes, I found it oddly satisfying. When it was done cutting the wood, we took out the wood and placed the next one in. The laser took about two minutes for each shape to be cut out. It's definitely quicker and more precise than just cutting out each shape by hand, for Dennis's work that's important.

  Week four is done and I'm about halfway through. I'm still looking forward to learning whatever that gets thrown my way.     

Me watching the laser cutter! 😂

  

Week Three: Gluing and Painting

Busy week.

   I didn’t continue with the hanging piece on Monday. Dennis still wasn’t sure if he wanted to paint them with acrylic or to stain them instead. With the acrylic and the stain, I notice it’s a different texture and saturation of the color so, there would be a different effect with each option. I still had to wait to paint.

  Instead, Dennis wanted me to start another project, to start gluing layers of plywood together. First I had to make the gluing bases for the shape and size. The base is to help clamp the layers down while the glue is drying. Dennis pulled out a large board that has a surface similar of a countertop, he likes to use this for gluing things on for an easier cleanup. I took the shape I needed, took a compass and I ran one side of the compass against it and the end with the pencil would leave a line an inch away from the shape I was tracing. I was able to get three of the shapes traced out. I used a jigsaw to cut the large board into thirds. Then using the band saw I cut out each shape. I sanded the edges and I got to redeem my self on the table router to round out the edges. I made some wooden blocks as the legs for the base. The new tool I was introduced to this week is the Kreg Pocket hole jig. It allowed us to make the hole in the middle of the block so I could put the screw in from there instead of from the bottom. I rounded the edges of the blocks and Dennis showed me how to put the blocks on the base so I could dive right into that the next day.

  For Tuesday I went right into finishing the bases. Clamping the block to the base then screwing the two together in the pocket hole. When they were all put together Dennis came over to see them and to start the next step with me. He noticed I didn’t round out one of the edges on the base. Whoops. Luckily the edge I missed was on the top of the base and was easy to run through the router, no biggy. He then showed me how to wax the bases to make the surface smoother.

Dennis had four stacks of the shapes. One of the stacks was an older group and was put together a little differently then the other three. With each side having to be in a certain order Dennis individually labeled the sides and layer. The others had markings burned on to each layer which made it easier to keep track of. Each end had a hole in them to keep each layer moving back enough to make a curve. Dennis had me make a bunch of dowels to put in the holes that way they would stay lined up correctly. Then the messy part could commence, the gluing.

  Dennis walked me through how to properly glue each layer. We started with the older stack first. We would lay down the glue, then by almost painting the glue on each side of the layer, we would then lay it down on the other layer, all while keeping track which side to lay down is the right one. Therefore, the pencil markings Dennis had labeled on the stack made things a little difficult. When the glue ran off the edge covering the labels it made it hard to tell what label it was. Also, it was Dennis’s handwriting, at times I wasn’t always sure if I was looking at a number or a letter for the side. We did wind up laying a layer upside down and since we already glued it, it was difficult trying to get it back up. We had to use scrapers to pry it up. We paid better attention after that. After getting through the stack we clamped them down all over to make sure everything sticks. Sanding glue off is difficult so we wiped off the sides where the glue had oozed out to make things easier. After lunch and into Wednesday I finished gluing the three other stacks. 

  After finishing the last stack on Wednesday, Dennis had me help him with the commission piece to get it ready to paint on Thursday when a film crew from Comcast was to come in a film him painting the piece. I sanded off some of the yellow paint that had dripped on to the larger side. After sanding and vacuuming the paint off, Dennis showed me how to tape the skinnier side for a sharp edge. He warned me the concave side was the harder out of the two, but I thought it was the convex side was harder to tape. The hump at the tallest point was high for a shorter person like my self and tired out my arms. I was able to get it done and after we finished taping I left for the day.

Painting is Fun!

  Usually, it would be my last day of the week. But I had nothing planned for Thursday and I still wanted to paint. So, for Thursday not sure if Dennis was going to have me paint or not I came in on a whim. Luckily, he made up his mind about what to do for the hanging pieces and had me start painting those. For two of the smaller ones, I got to pick out my own color combinations. Red, Green, Pink on one and Blue, Orange, Yellow on the other. The larger one I used his color combination Red, Orange, Yellow. I was able to paint those and the first set I painted dried enough for Dennis to show me the next step before applying the second layer of paint. We took a 400-grit sandpaper and did a light wipe over the paint to get rid of the fuzzy surface before applying the next coat. Getting it smooth again I did my next coat for that set and then left for the day.  

  Well, I finally got to paint! I’ll be painting the rest probably next week. As far as this week goes, making the gluing bases was interesting. It was like making a little sculpture for a sculpture. It allows the gluing process to be much simpler while creating the piece. I’m noticing there’s a lot of little things that Dennis does to make his process easier while creating, especially since his work deals with a lot of repetition, things like the gluing bases will be used multiple times and help things move smoothly. I look forward for next week to finish the painting and maybe continue gluing.     

  

Week Two: Sanding and Rings

  This week I was able to start helping with projects. Since this is going to be a test piece it isn’t a big deal if I mess up, but If I don’t and if they look good they could wind up being the final.   

Small wooden shapes and wedges

  To start the day, I continued sanding the pile of wooden shapes from last week. Dennis decided to have a metal circle that connects with three of the shapes. Then he and I took the shapes and figured out the size of the circle he wanted and then I would make a wooden wedge that would connect the three shapes at the top. In the ring, he wanted to have the shapes sit in thirds of a circle. We measured where each shape would sit in the circle. I then took the metal rods cut them to size and with a roller, I shaped them into the right size circle. I screwed holes into the wooden shapes and looped the metal ring through. Dennis then showed me a trick that’s simple but sneaky. He told me where the two ends of the ring are cut to hide them in the hole of one of the wooden shapes that way the ring would seem seamless. Very sneaky, I will be using this helpful tip in the future. I did two more of those and left for the day.

  The following day Dennis had me make more rings for the larger wooden shapes. He helped with the first one, I made the second one. Then I finished making wooden wedges to hold the tops of the sculpture together. The rod was the right diameter. I measured the right height and where the thirds would be, then I cut out the thickness with the band saw. Dennis put a zero clearance insert in, that allowed me to get close to the blade and not have the little wedge get caught in the hole. I made a few of those, when Dennis decided to try another approach. We took the whole wooden rod and found the thirds then ran it through a table router. I never worked with the router before, so Dennis showed me how it works, the different bits that can be used for it, and how to change out the bits. We found the right size that we wanted and put that bit in. Then we centered the bit to the rod. Dennis did a couple cuts for practice, then had me run a portion of it through. The router I found was difficult when running the rod through and the first few inches that went through came out wavy instead of a straight line. I was able to get a few inches where it went through straight and was able to use. Dennis said it might be a difficult approach to take. I think it was just that I wasn’t prepared for the tug of the router and threw off my grip. I’m sure if Dennis were to have taken over it would have been better. But since I was able to get a few inches it was fine. He said trying things in a different way with a different tool is good experimentation. If it doesn’t work for that project at least you will know for another project for the future. I went ahead and cut the thickness out of the precut rod and put them on the wooden shapes.

The Larger and Smaller piece put together.

 Dennis wants this piece to be a hanging sculpture, so he told me to drill a hole in the wooden wedges and run a cable through them. He gave me bolts to put on the ends of the wire, then I crushed the bolts to stop the wire from running through. Then I did the similar process to make the loop for the other end. I ran out of bolts, so I ended the day with that.

  Wednesday, Dennis had picked up more bolts, so I finished making the wire to hang them with. We still had another ring that we could make, so he wanted to see how the smaller of the wooden shapes looked with the ring going on the outside diameter instead of the inner diameter. The outside diameter is the same size that I was doing for the larger shapes, so I went ahead and made that ring. I then put them all together with the wire. There’s an area in the studio where he told me to hang them up on to see them better. After hanging them up. He wasn’t sure what to do with them next, so he had me start sanding another project. He had me start with a grit of 120 and worked to a 220. I never really had to pay attention to much about surface texture before, this was new to me. It was oddly satisfying to see how much smoother the wood got after each grit. I sanded a tiny test piece then most of the larger piece. By that time my hand was vibrating from sanding, so I called it a day.  

  This week while starting to work on projects I learned a lot about different tools and techniques. The router was a new tool I never used before and learned the ins and outs of that. I do think I need more practice with it though. The sneaky technique of making the ring look seamless by hiding the ends in the wood was something simple but just as clever. Next week I’m looking forward to starting the painting process for the hanging project.    

          

Week One: Light Switches and Barn Shows

Drift #24
2014

I Started my internship Tuesday, May 29th. 

Week 1 

First here's a little about my Internship and who I'm interning for.

I'm interning for a Sculptor Dennis Beach. In a portion of his Artist Statement, he says “My work involves processes that transform materials, quite often plywood and paint, into objects that combine the beauty and order that I mine from our natural world. I edit, simplify, and bring out the essential elements from the everyday observation of nature.”

Wave #2
2011

I first met Dennis while doing a visit to his studio with my sculpture class back in February. My professor then mentioned that Dennis is open for people interning for him and to have help in the studio. I was interested in Dennis's work, I needed credits, and thought it would be a fun summer experience. My role as the intern is basically is to help Dennis with projects and to learn as much as I can. That being how to maintain a studio, learning a different creative process, working with different equipment, seeing another side of the art world.  

My first day I was a little nervous however, Dennis made me feel welcome. He showed me around the studio a little more in depth than what I got during the studio visit the first time. Showing me all the light switches and their hiding places, which switches to turn on and which ones to leave off, there are a lot of them. Also showing me where different tools should go, as he's finding things laying around and putting them away. He also would see and mention some of his work that's around the studio and would tell me a little thought he had about that piece. Either how he came to that idea or what his plans are for it in the future.

During lunch, his two assistants came in and I got to meet them. Andrew and Emily. After meeting them Dennis left for an appointment, I stayed to work with Andrew for a little bit to see what his role was and to help him. One of Andrews tasks right now is helping Dennis with a huge commission piece for Comcast. I helped Andrew move and clean the bases for the piece before coating them. I left shortly after. 

My second day I was told to turn the rest of light switches in the studio. Dennis then had me put on a clear coat of Varnish on the bottoms of six small one-foot sculptures that he wanted to put in a show that weekend, the "Barn Art Show" at Scarlett Thicket Farm.

After I finished with the varnishing, he had me help hang and to organize another piece he wanted to put in that show. The piece had originally been five circles in a horizontal line, but because the weather that weekend was supposed to rain, an artist had asked if she could use some of his space to put her work inside away from the rain. Dennis had rearranged his work to make the piece smaller. Instead of five in a row, he had three in a row with one on top and one on the bottom making a plus sign. He showed me how to put new screws in the wall properly for that arrangement. Then he had a smaller version of that piece that we used to decide what colors should go where. Once we decided what looked the most balanced and visually interesting I rehung the larger pieces in that order. 

After lunch, he wanted to go to the Barn where the show was being held to have an idea where exactly his pieces would go, how much room would that leave for the other artist and to talk to her one on one instead over email. He took me along with him. 

Dennis showed me the stone wall where his work was going to be. He then thought where the best spot on that wall he could go and have enough space for the other artist. The wall is old and made out of stone, there were limited options of where and how he could hang his piece. I never thought about having to change a piece of work, either because of conditions of the space given, rules about hanging things on the wall, rules about things being on the ground, due to weather issues, or to help another artist. It was interesting to see how Dennis solved that problem without too many issues. He then took another sculpture, one of the one-foot tall sculptures that we had brought along, he wanted to see where in the space he could put them. Whether if he liked to have them on a wall somewhere or would be able to set them on the ground or both. Once he figured that out he went to talk to the artist that had asked about the space. He was able to get his work to a spot on the wall where she would have half of the wall space. 

On the way back to the studio he made a side trip to another sculptor's studio for a visit. The artist wasn't there, but we took a walk around since the studio was in an open field with the remains of an old barn that is next to the White Clay Creek. It's a beautiful place to have a studio but probably gets hot and muggy during the summer. Not to mention there’s no indoor plumbing. 

When we did get back to Dennis's studio he had me start sanding some wood that had been burned by the laser cutter. I got through a small pile of those when it was time for me to leave. 

For just two short days I already feel like I've learned a lot about a process of working that isn't my own and just some situations an artist could find them self’s in. I'm looking forward to the rest of my summer, I feel like there are plenty more things waiting for me to learn.   

 

Pictures of Dennis Beach's Studio