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Monday,
August 2...the heart
is delivered...I am very excited about this project. The delivery
team had to remove both sides of my sliding glass kitchen door
to get it in. The heart measures 5'9" tall x 5'5" across
and 3' wide...it weighs in at 400 pounds. So, you get the picture...it
is BIG! The kitchen was the only choice of a place to work
on it. My studio is filled with too many other projects. I can't
wait to begin. But...I have a convention in Rockford, Il. to
get ready for...so I have to try and be patient ...which is not
one of my gifts. |
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Monday,
August 2...Here it is
in the kitchen... Waiting for me to "prepare it". I
completely sanded it, then put two coats of white primer and
two coats of white top coat. I used high quality house paint
since it will be placed outside. You can see some of my mannequin
collection in this shot. The kitchen is not going to be as functional
as it usually is. The heart has taken over! |
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Wednesday,
August 4...This is a
strange looking picture. It is the drawing I am putting on the
heart on a projector. It is 12:01 am... I was so happy with it
that I decided to go ahead and trace the image with pencil. It
took about 2 and a half hours. (keep in mind I have to leave
the house at 10am to catch a plane to do the show in Rockford...and
I hadn't packed yet!) |
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Thursday,
August 5... I had to
add some paint after I got the pencil tracing done! I stopped
myself at 4:30am. I made it to the airport on time, but, needless
to say I slept the whole way to Chicago! |
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Monday,
August 16 I had to put
my painting on the heart "on hold" for a few days.
After the Rockford show I had to do another show in Cincinnati.
So there was no time in between. Now I have several days in a
row to devote to the heart. So check back and see the progress! |
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Monday,
August 16... Close up
of face. |
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Tuesday,
Aug. 17 I thought I'd
paint "Cleo", one of my many cats, to match the heart!
Just kidding...She seemed to want to be in today's picture! |
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Tuesday,
Aug.21... Well as you
can imagine I have been working non stop. The kitchen
floor was becoming harder by the minute while working on the lower
portions of the heart. I was so excited I was able to score on
a "end of the season" deal on a chaise lounge pad...$5.00!
It makes my life easier
and the cats think I got them a gigantic cat bed...so I have
lots of company while I paint. |
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Sunday,
Aug.22... Here is a close
up of some of the first color to go on the heart....and "Reese"
standing guard over the paint brushes! |
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Tuesday,
Aug.24... well the front
of the heart is nearing completion...and now, on to the back! |
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Wednesday,
Aug.25... here is the
back...I have these words painted on my kitchen wall and decided
they would be good on the heart. So now, it looks like I will
be spending "quality time" laying on the kitchen floor
again to do the bottom portion of the back! |
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Wednesday,
Sept. 1...Here is the
top of the "black and white" side...before all of the
little black squares and after...all those little black squares
took an entire day. They look great...but very tedious to do. |
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Thursday,
Sept. 2....here is a
shot taken from the floor looking up on the colored side of the
heart. I have learned so much spending so much "quality
time" working on this heart. One of the things that comes
to my mind now is that I grossly underestimated the time it would
take to complete it.
Designing it and getting the initial design on the heart was
the easy part. The harder part for me was all the "touch
up and tweaking" that really could go on forever if you
let it. |
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Saturday,
Sept. 4....Here is the
back of the heart. As you can see I have highlighted the words
"follow your heart" and "be inspired". For
the most part the heart is finished, the painting part anyway.
Now tomorrow I will tackle putting on the topcoat and varnishes...this
will be a 3 day project. The cats won't be involved...they
will spend the day in my "real" studio to
stay away from the toxic fumes. (there are not enough face masks
for all of them!) |
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This weekend my booth is at the
rubber stamp convention in Portland. Teresa is running it and
luckily her sister, Kathy was able to help her today. (thank
you Kathy!) It became necessary for me to stay home to finish
up the heart. The target date for pick up is the end of the week.
So the next
pictures you will see will be it going away....I anticipate I
will have very mixed emotions on that day. I will be sad to have
it go....but, it is meant to go out into the world and that is
what it will do.
I really appreciate all the emails
of encouragement I have gotten from those of you who have kept
track of this project. Thanks so much!
There is a very cool website
I want to make you aware of. It is done by a talented photographer,
Michael Speight, (who also is a "heart artist"). Here
is the link to it, http://www.sfheartphotos.com
He has done a fabulous job of documenting many of the hearts
that are already on display in San Francisco. I hope mine will
be on his site eventually! Michael also patiently gave me expert
advise on the topcoats to put on the heart, something I had really
no experience in. I was very
grateful for the help.
Until next week...I will be busy
doing the finish work. Take care everyone!
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Sept. 9, Thursday...Well the day has arrived for the heart
to go off into the big world.
The kitchen seems empty without it. I took a few photos of
it out in the yard before it left. The llamas were all napping
so didn't really get them in the pictures!
We had a champagne toast last night...(of course! How could I
not!)
I can't help but feel a little
sad as I see it driving away!
The next time I add pictures
will be when I visit it in San Francisco. I will post the it's
location on this page when I know what it is.
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Sept. 13, Monday...Today I went to San Francisco to "find
my heart" and also to attend a fabulous party at Teatro
ZinZanni. It was a great time put on by the Hearts in SF people
to honor the artists and sponsors.
So...my heart is installed at
Yerba Buena Gardens. Here is the link to it, http://www.yerbabuenagardens.com
If any of you go and visit my heart please let me know! It is
on the side of the gardens that has the carousel and in front
of the "Zeum".
The plan for the hearts are to
be on display throughout the city until October 31. They then
will be removed from their sites and brought together for a final
Public Viewing at SBC Park from November 6-8. At the public
viewing, the "Heartists" (their name for us!) will
prepare the hearts for the Live and Online Auctions. This should
be great fun and a good photo
opportunity to see the hearts all in the same place.
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On November 11, the Live Auction
at SBC Park will feature 22 hearts. The additional 108 hearts
will be auctioned online.
This has been a great project
for me....and hearing a presentation from the San Francisco General
Hospital during the party...I felt really good about how the
hearts will benefit this fabulous hospital....it is good to be
part of something bigger than ourselves!
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