Boots
the weekend. we had a million people, they all love my work, no one bought anything. What do they think? I'm a bleeping museum? I need sales, not compliments. Yes I know my work is good. What have I broke my back for the last 20 years? I KNOW it's good. I'm glad you like it. TAKE IT HOME with you, yes, you absolutely DO have a discrectionary income, especially if you are travelling here from Alaska, South Carolina, Texas, New York, Louisiania, Arkansas, Virginia,etc, etc, etc.
Whatever. Artwork-- @#$(^$% whatever. Clients --@#%*( &^&&^#) Whatever. I'm tired of it all. Let me just make my art. It is fucking great art and I'm sick and tired of people crying they cannot afford it. Of course they can. My prices are absolutely affordable for what they are getting. And my collectors deserve my work at these prices. They'll never be this low again. Honestly.
Oh, Boots. That would be THIS latest dog I am trying to adopt. And everyone who knows me knows I would be the perfect MOM for humans, except I happen to prefer cats, dogs, horses, and maybe even llamas and goats.
Here's a link to Boots, the latest pup I am trying to adopt. We'll see. Have lost several favorites already.
BOOTS!Want to adopt Boots. Doesn't she seem like a good choice?
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2nd Weekend
The electricity went out in last night’s storm a couple of times so the computer went down. I woke up today to a ton of spam...I don’t get much spam at all so I was really surprised. Wonder if the 2 can be connected somehow.
Down at the new place Leonardo is putting up barn wood (from the back fence that is falling down) up over the peaks where they had fake tudor-style trim boards. Wow is it ever looking great! Guess there won’t be new pictures until Monday or Tuesday as I have the Tour the entire weekend. Monday Leonardo’s going wood-cutting with our new friend Amos.
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Purple Works!
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Movie paintings, house, peaches, chokecherries
Since we were down the mountain much shopping ensued—the stuff you buy seems way more expensive when you can only go in and pick it up once a month or so! Geez, oh dear, keep me up here on the mountain, I spend too much money in town. Lotion, conditioner, soap, and bubble bath really add up! Not to mention art supplies, beads, and oh yeah, food. Paint for the new place!
Speaking of which I think we may have finally found our trim color. I like it, husband likes it, the third try! If the house likes it it’s a go. Deep violet. A true purple. Darker, not lilac, yet just cool enough to offset that warm, rusty brown of the adobe. I’ll get up and give it a go tomorrow....see what we think. It’s a Home Depot color though, so if we like it we’ve got to go all the way to Santa Fe to replace—and since it’s our third try I bought a quart rather than a gallon (no matter on the other 2 gallons, though, one is perfect for bathroom color base, the other can be used in kitchen. Just because we have adobe, all white? I don’t think so! Gallery, yes. Otherwise, not necessarily so). Also got a sunny but not-too-bright yellow to go in the carport area. It’s a little niche and is just off the sunroom (my new studio) so want it to be light and bright, not dark like the main house color. This area will neither absorb or repel the sun so color need not be “functional” in a physical temperature sense.
I’m learning much more than I ever wanted to about septic systems, roofs, insulation, heating systems (we’re going with hydronic radiant heat in the floors with kiva fireplaces for entertaining and ambiance purposes and most likely we’ll be doing much or all of the installation ourselves). And no, it does not have to be all that expensive—we’re looking to run it off the regular domestic hot water heater. May purchase a hybrid heater—Polaris—we’ll see. Yes, we are talking to professionals. Speaking of such things we heard back from our septic guy and it looks like we’ll be able to have a regular system, not a closed system that would have to be pumped out every month. Thank you!
Tomorrow I have to put my laundry away, clean the back room (the one that is not public, it gets attention last!) and make a peach and apple cobbler! Decided to try cobbler rather than pies—many, many peaches from our tree in our new place, and our neighbor brought over apples—apples thrive up here as well as peaches and plums. We have a little sprig of an apple tree on the back lot at the new place, we’ll nuture and in a few years that one will be producing fruit as well. Plus, there is the best fruit tree nursery up here in Truchas...don’t know exactly where but it is reported to be the best in the state. Eventually I would like a cherry tree as well. And there’s a wild chokecherry growing at our current place—will find out if we can take a cutting or a seed...and we’ll start one of those as well. I remember the chokecherry tree from my childhood in Montana—loved it! You can make syrup from the chokecherries, and to the delight of a child, it is sweet and berry like, but if poured over eggs & pancakes it turns the eggs green!! All you need is ham!
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What a weekend!
I have never had so many visitors or such positive feedback in all my cumulative years doing Open Studios in the Bay Area. This was truly the right place for us to come to!
I was exhausted!! Went to bed at about 8 o’clock in the evening!
Today we had a gallery visitor knocking on the door before I opened. I had to close for awhile and go down to the other house to wait for the gas man. I sat out in the front yard and made a nice little drawing while I waited. It’ll be the first to go into the photo-frame—a 15-picture room divider. I decided to fill it up with little drawings for sale. I’ll do as many as I can by next weekend and price them the same as the little prints. $95. This one is of the Morada on the corner. Who knows? The drawings might turn into paintings at a later date as well.
I notice there’s a new artist in town, renting the old post office next to Tafoya’s. It might be a friend of Peggy & eRic’s (yes, that’s how he spells it) that we met at the picnic up in the forest a while back—he mentioned he was moving up here but I thought he was going to rent the old dance hall. I’ll stop in the next day or so and see what’s up and who’s who.
Now must get back to the studio.
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High Road Art Tour
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Trout!! Drift??
It appears they are part of many creation myths, ranging from Ireland and Scotland to Egypt (Egypt seems surprising to me) to Canada and beyond. Maybe even China!
I am presently engaged in an art project involving trout and though I grew up catching and eating them, otherwise I know surprisingly little about trout. But yum, they taste good! Do not overcook. Quick sear, keep moist, bit of lemon.
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Taj Mahal, Taos Hum, and Rain
We went into Taos today to pick up paintings & prints from Barry Norris Studio. Oonce again Rustam and Jessie did an ab fab job with my work! Everything is gorgeous. We now have prints of Monument Valley, Out by Cordova, and Mission Church. All just brilliant. Mission Church is a small painting. I got life sized prints thinking they’d look small (16” x 16”) they look HUGE! There IS a border. I think I’m going to have to give a call and order some 8” x 8”s. Anyhow, if you like any of these, order now—the Tour is coming up on Saturday and things are going to go fast!
Then we stopped by TaosSounds, an Amoeba-style record shop here in Taos founded by none other than Leonardo’s old Starry Plough (Berkeley, CA) drinking buddy, Robin. Arrruuggghhh, matey, the more a man sails the more mates you meet in far ports! Or maybe the more it’s tha' ya meet yer fate! (Ladies too, of course, but that’s not pirate talk! And wasn’t yesterday National Pirate Talk day? I believe it was.) For those of you not familiar with Ameoba—it’s a shop in Berkeley that buys, sells, trades, stocks things as old as uh, Cassette tapes for anyone who remembers what those were, as well as VINYL (go ask your grandpa). Woo Hoo!
Then onto K-TAOS Solar Center—you know of course that K-TAO is either the first, the only, or the most famous radio station in the US operated completely on solar power? Or maybe all three. Just go to www.ktao.com and do your own fact-checking. You can also listen online. Although KPIG of the Bay Area claims to be the first radio station to stream. Who’s counting? Not me—as long as I can get all my stations wherever I am! It’s all good baby-dj.
Now, my wrap-up of the Taj Majal concert? Well, the usual Dos and Don’ts. No-Nos include: Cameras, drinks, alcohol, intentions....blah, blah. So like a good girl I leave the pint of José at home, along with my camera, etc.
We come into the ticket will call line. The tix are under Ghost Pony Gallery. They can’t find. They ask for credit card name. I go artist last name. I go married last name. I go combo last name. They can’t find us. The guy says “Oh well, here’s a stamp, just go in.” Huh? No tickets. No bag inspection. No lie detector. No pat down. No cavity search. We get into a concert with NO SEARCH WHATSOEVER and completely WITHOUT TICKETS!! ---Now we definitely DID buy them, we paid our $25 per...but how nice is that? You cannot get into a concert ANYWHERE in the Bay Area without an escort from your parole officer whether you have one or not (cause you MIGHT at some future time). Not only that, they didn’t even ask about our pocket-knives, let alone try to take them away. And you should have seen the cameras flashing all night!! Did anyone get asked to leave or cease and desist? Nada, No, Uh-Uh. Duh, the band was eating it up.
The venue? Lovely lawn, bring chairs, they give tents—total capacity? About 600 tops. We had a crowd I’d estimate at around 350 to 450 because of the driving rain. Gawd!! It’s like Taj Majal played Freight & Salvage in Berkeley and 60 people showed up. No matter where you were in the entire place you could see the sweat on the musician’s brows!!
WE FUCKING LOVE IT UP HERE!!!
Oh yeah, but don’t move up. The natives will hate you and it’s really, really harsh hot in the summer and it’s really, really harsh cold in the winter, and the natives will hate you and it’s icy up here and a million miles to anywhere (this is all actually true!!) BUT do come visit us, cause we’d love to see you! And you really, really can’t move here ‘cause we still need friends to stay with when we come down to the city!! You see where I'm going with this...
Slainté!
PS EVERYONE WHO KNOWS LEONARDO—remember tomorrow is his BIG-0 birthday---give him a call!!
Oh yeah, it rained the whole time and I forgot about the Taos Hum. Just Google the Hum, it's famous, find out about it for yourself.
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Time ticks away!
I need to get some painting time in! I have work to finish for this darn tour and all I’ve been doing is running around and administrative tasks. Arruuggh. But the printers called and instead of running proofs and having me run into Taos again (it’s an hour, one-way), they are printing up finals on my OK. They did such a marvelous job last time we only adjusted one, I think. So I told them to go ahead with it, that I trusted them. That saves me 4 hours minimum right there AND I’ll have new artwork in prints for the tour.
Labels for the work on the wall, gotta wait for Leonardo on that one so he can make up names & prices for his pieces as we go along. A couple last-minute artwork move-arounds. Painting!! Finish up the matt cutting. Find a place to store stacks and stacks of magazines. Hide the painting supplies and take down the big table. Mop the floors, mop them again on Friday. Sew another panel for the covering over the kitchen. Wash the existing panels. Find the video-cam charger! That’s not so much......
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Sunny & Crispy
What a beautiful fall day. It's sweater-cool out there but the sun is crisp and bright. Apples are on the trees--I guess I'll make a pie--I have a big bowl of them on the table. Must go check on the peaches on our tree!
Thursday night we're going to see the Taj Mahal Trio in Taos, Friday is hubby's 'Big-0' birthday and dinner is planned at Rancho de Chimayó.
I'm framing up a couple of the small gicleé prints today. Picked up two fancy gilded frames from the art store the other day.
And I got a new strand of turquoise, this time not brilliant blue but a fabulous murky greenish color--want to string those up for my turquoise necklace. I'll go ahead and sell the blue turquoise necklace--it looks positively weird with my eye color. The greenish beads should be just the ticket. They have blue smudges so they're all quite interesting.
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Sunny & Crispy
What a beautiful fall day. It's sweater-cool out there but the sun is crisp and bright. Apples are on the trees--I guess I'll make a pie--I have a big bowl of them on the table. Must go check on the peaches on our tree!
Thursday night we're going to see the Taj Mahal Trio in Taos, Friday is hubby's 'Big-0' birthday and dinner is planned at Rancho de Chimayó.
I'm framing up a couple of the small gicleé prints today. Picked up two fancy gilded frames from the art store the other day.
And I got a new strand of turquoise, this time not brilliant blue but a fabulous murky greenish color--want to string those up for my turquoise necklace. I'll go ahead and sell the blue turquoise necklace--it looks positively weird with my eye color. The greenish beads should be just the ticket. They have blue smudges so they're all quite interesting.
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added pix
Added a couple pix to today's post--updated Trishtown too--with a new rant about the leather place, nevermind, old news.
Both of two pictures are in today's post over on Trishtown.
Debbie Demo says Check it Out. 3-1/2 Stars.
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Takin' down the walls!
Now taking down a wall made of sheetrock is not too big a deal. It’s dusty, hard work, but one does not require a sledge hammer. Plaster walls, I should say “Quickrete, a form of concrete, because that is what they use here and they call it “plaster” is hella hard, hella heavy, and doesn’t really resemble plaster in any form. I busted through that wall using a 10 or 12 pound sledge hammer that felt like it weighed 40--one little hole at a time. I was going to work on the wall for an hour or so but three and a half hours later I finished up with the help of my husband ‘cause that was a bit much even for Ms. Debbie Does Demolition. We took down the framing with the studs which were actual, full-sized, rough-cut 2” x 4”s. It is now one room. And wow is there a lot more light in there!
We’re considering going with radiant heat in the floors—it comes recommended highly from those folks up here who have it. We could eliminate those ghastly gas heaters, still put a couple of kivas in, more for atmosphere than for heat, reduce our carbon footprint, our heating bill, our wood consumption, and still retain that cozy southwestern charm and sit before the fire on a cold winter’s night.
I gathered up a copy of that 1982 Survey and an advance copy of our Warranty Deed for the septic man. He picked those up today, will be picking up our permit tomorrow. Tomorrow is in-studio day for me—at least until mid afternoon. Leonardo will begin tackling that huge pile out back and making dump/recycle runs. He said one of our neighbors who offered his services at $8 per hour is starting to look like a go!
We had a couple delightful gallery visitors today. A couple white-haired ladies who came knocking during our deluge today—it’s been hot and dry for maybe two weeks now but today we woke up to cool, overcast and cloudy autumn weather, and by early afternoon it looked like we were going to need Noah’s ark. We weren’t open, but they caught me between Taos and the house so of course I invited them in. They loved everything, signed up for the mailing list, and promised to tell their friends in Georgia about the museum show.
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Great Opening!
I had to go into town to get documents from the county yesterday afternoon (and had to wait and wait, of course) then on to Taos to pick up the paintings from the digital studio for the show. (Have to take them back Monday so we can proof against prints) so was a bit late opening the opening. People were waiting at the door! Lucky for me Therese’s gallery was open too, so they went over there first.
Today we’re a party waiting to happen. Usually we don’t get anyone from out of town, if so only one, so unless our friends from Taos show up this evening I don’t know that there’ll be any attendees. Normally I only do one opening but since Therese was opening her gallery for the first time this year we thought we’d do a big blow-out. But....she did not get her postcards done in time! Ah well, if no one comes by then it’s picnic fare!
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Inside House Pictures
Inside House Pictures! You can see what we're up against as well as what we've gotten done so far.
According to how houses are measured for real-estate purposes it's a 2500 square foot house. According to how I measure it for useable indoor space (not counting the garage, porch, and carport even though they are covered) it is 1200 square feet. Roomy, in any case.
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Autumn is here! and other news
Went into towns today, both Taos, to drop off a few more paintings for prints before the High Road Tour, and then down to Santa Fe for supplies, etc. Yes we prefer Taos, but it is small (one reason why we like it) but when hardware store, art store, grocery does not carry our standards, oh well. Another 65 or a hundred miles is nothing out here. If you can make it there and back in a day, that is. We logged 160 miles, not counting driving around in towns and that translates into about 4-1/2 to 5 hours driving time plus about 7 stores shopping trips (and I don't even want to think how many hundred dollars)--and that's all in the average of our week to ten-days to two-weeks trip into town.
Picked up the new trim color for the house. Leonardo loves this one but I am completely not convinced. It looked like it was heading toward a domestic dispute so I stood down. Well, we’ll just paint it on and we’ll see. There’s far more to worry about than that. In any case, I agree with him on the point that it is better than the orange that we both agreed on and then both agreed it would not work. This is a sage-y green. I’m totally OK with that, but this is SO subdued. I wanted something with a bit more zing. The same basic color, just a tad bit brighter is all. Or purple. Purple would so rock.
Our gate is finally arriving tomorrow. Two ten-foot gates, to be exact, as our driveway is 20 feet wide. And we’ll have to get a roll or two of horse fence because the cattle wander over from the neighbor’s unfenced place. The goal is to keep the horses and cattle out (who are free-ranging by land-grant law) off our property so that we can grow roses and garden and anything else without them all trampling and eating and spontaneously fertilizing said flora. We thought we were good with the gate until I was up on the tall ladder painting the house when I saw over the roof--six of them just amble through where the back fence had been.
Yeah. Not only the joys of home-ownership, but the joys of home-owner-fixer-upper-ship. You just have no idea the full extent of your task until you fix one thing and discover five other, related disasters. Hey! I’m a quick learner! We’re still happy we did this! And I’m hella handy with the WonderBar (a mini-crowbar with a nice flat edge that gets under just about anything, and a hook on the other end that puts hammers to shame whilst pulling out the smallest nail, even one with the head shaved off.)
I’ve got a bunch of pictures of the house in progress (so far) and I’ve got a notebook, finally, to paste in receipts, pictures, blogs, etc, I just don’t have any time to put it all together. I’ll get y’all another photo phriday up on Trishtown when I can but don’t hold your breath for another several days to a week or so. Things are nuts around here with all this stuff going on.
Oh yeah--anyone know how to scare up a survey from 1982? Don't surveys get recorded someplace? County Courthouse? I need to find one, don't want to pay for a new one.
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Sweet Freedom!
Then I’ll get down to the PO and get these exhibition announcements in the mail, pack up the last show, go have a look at “Bertha” the trout carving that we’ll be painting for Hooked on Art, and then see if I can get behind a paintbrush today.
Late yesterday afternoon a whole group of us artists/gallerists along County Road 75 caravaned up to the mountain and had a BBQ cookout and a bonfire and a few beers. Played a game of wiffle-ball—it was way too much fun! Good ju-ju amongst this group.
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I got my life back!
I'm not going back to the leather place.
I'm keeping my eyes open for something else.
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Paintings in a movie!
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WAAAY ARTIST PARTY
We went to the most awesome party in Taos tonight and it wasn’t because it was the only party we’ve been to since our going-away parties thrown for us in Oakland in January--! It was the coolest house in Taos, populated pretty much exclusively by artists—many in the “Taos invites Taos” art exhibition—both an exclusive invitational and a standard in Taos every autumn. Beth, whose husband was once president of California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA, was there, (that was the school two of my closest friends went to—I went to rival San Francisco Art Institute across The Bay in San Francisco), there was ceramic sculptor Misty Gamble, OMG, I love her lovely/creepy/accomplished/insightful work! (I told her to get in touch with John Casey from Oakland, she hasn’t met him yet and her studio is like three blocks from his!)...her website is: www.mistygamble.com.
My husband used to drink with all his buddies at The Starry Plough--she was tender at that bar, and until meeting at this party in Taos, 1200 miles away from Berkeley, CA, and give or take five or more years, neither she or he knew they were both artists! She is stopping by on her way to a 12-month fellowship up in Maine. (I told my husband that every bartender is an artist of some sort! Or waitress! Or leather-worker.)
We also met Mino’s partner Maria—what an absolute ray of sunshine! This woman is the definition of joye de vivre! (forgive me if I spelled that wrong, my French is a bit rusty) And I got to meet our host, Michael Miro’s wife Heather.
What a fabulous evening! Downside, one hour drive there, one hour drive back...on those curvy high mountain roads with CATTLE, all the damned CATTLE ALL the TIME. No wait. We love that. OK, just not at 11:30 pm after one or two beers—We go to partys—we look at all the goodies, we wish we could have a margarita. We eat the FOOD!! Cause we have to drive home one hour on curvy, dark, wildlife-laden mountain roads.
That’s why we keep fixin’s at home! No driving time from kitchen to couch.
Thank you Michael and Heather Miro for de noche mucha especial!
(google michael miro , he’s a furnace glass artist as well!)
Job? I don’t know. I might go back Monday. I might not. We’ll see. I'm adjusting attitude. To the point where I realize I am doing THEM a favor. Yeah, I'm looking for employment but I am not desperate and I don't have to tolerate abuse. And I am stellar at what I do. I am really, really good at everything I do.
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A BLEEPING Job
Right. The job came along at just the right time. I’m an artisan. I’m learning to work with leather (not too many tricks there, in case you were wondering.) I’m never going back to the corporate world. That’s what I said, yes it is.
I may be reconsidering.
9 t o 5, paid lunch. Right. 9 to 5, eat lunch for half an hour on the cutting table. No breaks. No phone calls. No internet. At least in admin work I can get in a call to the Water people, the construction folk, the septic tank guy. Here? I might as well be in a sweat shop. Actually, that’s exactly what it is. A leather sweatshop.
The work isn’t all that bad. The boss is high strung—so no matter what you say or ask...it is wrong. Whoa, no stress there! No breaks. Did I mention no breaks? We work for 4 hours straight, busy, busy, busy all the time. Probably the trade is paid lunch, no breaks. OK, half an hour lunch at ten bucks an hour, what’s it cost me? 5 bucks. Actually it probably costs me more to work there in art/house productivity loss than I get actually paid—what’s ten bucks an hour after taxes?
Hell, I might as well paint my motorcycle black and rob convenience stores!
Why is it the less you get paid the harder they expect you to work?
I’m going to be thinking of alternative solutions. I like the idea of leather house, but if they don’t do way better than this real soon...I’ll walk. Trouble is, I’m used to earning $60K a year. Down here twelve bucks an hour is good pay for professional jobs. That’s what I worked for 25 years ago! Need new ideas!
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Day 3
This afternoon we ran down into Santa Fe to take a look at some oak flooring—we found an entire room of just exactly what we need to fix that hole in the floor in the corner. Same wood, same color, same size. We just have to pull it up. Sigh. We also got some KILLER antique and handmade doors for the place! A rich person in Santa Fe is remodeling their house and their trash is our treasures! No-- really—this stuff is NICE—I’m curious as to what they’re replacing it with.
We’ll go get the flooring on Wednesday. Tomorrow I have to try to get a whole bunch of people on the phone, try to get the electricity turned on, begin soliciting bids for the septic system, contact the gas people to come up and look at the (admittedly ugly) situation and tell us what has to happen to get the gas flowing from the (probably new) tank into the house, and inspect the heaters to see if they are even viable or if we must replace.
Then Wednesday the flooring/doors. And Thursday, begin a new job. Why, oh why did I say Thursday and not next Tuesday? Because they asked me for last Friday and I felt a lot like you do when you are driving along at a pleasant pace and some big truck gets behind you and menaces you to pull over because they aren’t allowed to pass. That’s why. And one of these days I will learn to just say “I’’d love to join you but I can’t begin for another three months because I actually have a life.” Or whatever. Honestly. I should have given myself a few more days.
When it rains it pours. When your wishes all come true at the same time you are not allowed to complain.
Now, about finishing up that Tehachapi painting.....the press releases...the laundry....the dust in the corners....
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The Other Lumber Company
I should probably explain about The Other Lumber Company. There might be one or two people reading this blog that know about it but it will shed great light for others.
Back in my early to mid-20’s five of us, myself included, launched The Other Lumber Company in Rickreall, Oregon. We managed to survive for a few years. We dismantled houses. Mostly old, old houses. We did not tear them down. We dismantled them carefully, piece by piece, de-nailed and trimmed the lumber and re-sold it in our lumberyard.
We also sold fixtures, hardware, windows, doors, glass doorknobs. Antique mouldings, most of which had long ceased to be milled, were a particularly good source of income for us.
I have been involved in every aspect of house dismantling from tearing off the roof, to pushing down walls (a chainsaw or sawzall is required first!), removing plumbing and electrical fixtures, gently, oh so gently prying up tongue-and-goove hardwood flooring (it is inclined to splinter), and yes, taking sledge hammers to those unsalvageable bits.
So I know just how to get wood paneling off without wrecking parts of the wall or door jamb that one is inclined to save. I can sort out which wall is weight bearing and which can come down with no worries.
We even got written up in the newspaper a couple times—once in the Sunday edition with a full half-page photo of all of us in our lumberyard. I still have that. I saw it not too long ago—if I run across it again I’ll scan and post.
So there you see, I’m not just making this up. I actually do know how to rip, plan, and re-birth a house.
And there is really nothing quite so satisfying as taking a sledge hammer to a wall or a wonder-bar to a ceiling.
Do scroll down--I posted twice this evening--and see what we've accomplished already at the Pieterse Palace!
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Vigas Everywhere!!
I ripped out three rooms worth of drop ceilings today and tore holes in the front/gallery room and the kitchen ceilings. There are vigas everywhere!! The entire house is original adobe, most likely over a hundred years old. The adobe is the old, traditional kind, with straw mixed in. The only thing added on was the garage—which will be Leonardo’s workshop.
Tomorrow I’ll finish taking down the ceilings in the front room and kitchen and remove the firring strips—the 1” x 4” boards nailed to the underside of the vigas that the drop ceilings were attached to.
We have agreed that the front bedroom will be our office(s), the second and third bedrooms will become the master suite. We’ll knock out most of the wall separating them and put in a large arched opening between the 2. That’ll be our bedroom and kick-back room. Sofa, TV. We’ll have double doors in the archway (or curtain) to separate the spaces when we wish.
The hallway is useless space—we’re extending the bathroom out past the one bedroom door we’re eliminating from the master suite. On the outer hallway wall we’re knocking another hole and putting in another arched opening. Cause the wood stove was in the hallway! Duh. So we’ll put the woodstove in the same spot (cause that’s where the existing stovepipe is) but we’ll turn it around to face into the gallery and it will live in that arched opening. That’ll facilitate the heat/air flow through the whole house, and be a lot prettier and let a lot more light back there. What was once the hallway's back wall will become another place for showcasing artwork.
The door we're keeping for the master suite will be widened and shaped--yep, another archway. We will hand-build a double-door that is split down the middle as our entrance to that room. Oh yeah, so 'southwesty.'
In the nasty bathroom ALL fixtures will be replaced. We’ll knock out a weird little storage closet at the foot of the existing tub which, once said tub is removed, will allow room for the new (old) clawfoot tub.
Leonardo pulled up a bunch of icky carpet today and found an oak floor underneath in the front/gallery room. Well, except for the 4’ x 8’ plywood patch in the corner. Grandpa Del told us that the former owners had torn up the floor to burn in the wood stove. Sounds crazy, but both the former owner and his brother, who owned the place next door, died of drug overdoses. So there you have it. Maybe that sort of thing makes sense when you’re high. We’ve found someone in Santa Fe renovating their house and they have oak floor to spare. So we’re running down to take a look tomorrow. In any case, that corner is a prime spot for a kiva fireplace—so we could brick in that area.
A kiva fireplace will also go into the master suite.
I just love this stuff. I could SO be a house flipper.
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New Place
Vigas are a traditional way of making a roof support for an adobe. They are logs placed about every 2 feet across a room—usually sticking out through the wall. See my gallerypage on trishbooth.com—you’ll see paintings of some of those Viga ends. Latillas are placed on top of the Vigas, forming the ceiling. Latillas are smaller poles, usually aspen or cedar that are laid over the vigas. In the case of cedar they are sometimes split down the middle and placed flat side down. Google Vigas and click on "images" and you'll get many examples.
We will be restoring our vigas if necessary--usually just a sanding to get the grungy bits off.
We have one roof leak that we know of that will necessitate replacing some rotten boards—but remember—this place has been standing empty for five years or more—in severe hot, cold, and thunderstorms.
Once we finally move us and the gallery into the place we will give this one up. So if anyone wants a really cute little adobe in Truchas....
This morning we’re going into ABQ for the house-heating wood stove (as opposed to wood cook stove that we already have) and this afternoon I will see what is underneath a few other room’s ceilings!
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