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Thursday, February 26, 2015

We Made The Ithacan!



http://theithacan.org/life-culture/stewart-park-carousels-horses-receive-needed-makeover/

We made the paper! Here's the link to a beautifully written article about the project in The Ithacan, Ithaca College's newspaper. Written by Colette Piasecki-Masters, I think the article captures all the angles of this project. The interview was such a nice surprise in the middle of February, and it's great to see the support and interest of another part of Ithaca's community.


-Julia




Monday, February 23, 2015

Of Bondo and Bees

Some of these horses have been in quite bad condition, and the maintenance guys once again have been amazing with all of their expertise and cheerful help.  There's a handful of horse that have been so corroded by time and use that the aluminum was pitted and chipped, way beyond simple sanding and priming.  This horse was the first that needed Bondo, a putty usually used for car body repairs.  They were able to fill, sand and prep the worst spots to make a good smooth surface for painting.  Here is a photo taken after reconstruction and before painting, to give you an idea of the work behind the scenes:


But then the fun began.  We are in the heart of winter here, a long string of below-zero days and deep snow.  Myself and all of Ithaca are eager for spring, and so I made a nice spring-y, summer-y horse, with apple blossoms, bees and honey comb.  This also illustrated the cycle of pollination, of flowers to fruit and honey, and the importance of our local farming ecosystems.  Ithaca has a huge unique agriculture system of which we are quite justifiably proud.




I'm really happy with this one, I think she's really pretty, and I've nicknamed her Honey.  You can see the next horse in line in the background, another Bondo special, and in contrast that horse is going to be a winter horse (which has nothing at all to do with a certain movie involving lots of snow and ice and princess sisters and letting go and so on), all whites and blues and snowflakes.

You can see all of this in process at the History Center through the month of March as well, they have graciously extended our stay and I must say it's a great place to work.  They are open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from 11-5.

-Christi

Friday, February 13, 2015

A trip around the world: the carousel goes to India!

We had a really wonderful time painting at the Tompkins Trust Co., talking to many people and gathering lots of good comments and donations.  Thanks to everyone for that great experience.

Now we are also having a great time at the History Center!  We will be painting there for the month of February, and the people there have been so enthusiastic and welcoming.  We had a program last weekend where the Mays (former owners of the carousel) and Annie Campbell (the last painter) told their stories and put some of the history of the carousel and Stewart Park together.

I finished a horse this week, which had been in process both at the bank and the History Center.  This is a horse inspired by the colors and patterns of India.  I chose hot orange and pink colors for the saddle blankets, like colorful saris, bordered and patterned with bright gold.  For the saddle, I used traditional henna patterns, also called mehndi.  I had a great time working with these colors, although one technical problem came up.  Some of these paints really don't cover well, especially on the red end of the spectrum.  Both the orange and pink took about 6 coats of paint, with some layering of other colors to try to get a solid cover.  These are definitely not fine art paints...




The last photo shows the next horse, primed and ready to paint, on location at the History Center.  That one needed serious structural reconstruction...thanks to Rob at the the park and his expertise with Bondo.  Photos of that one to come next week.

The History Center is located at 401 East State St, in Ithaca, and is open on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays from 11:00–5:00.

-Christi