We are currently experiencing a week of severe (for us) winter weather. With the freezing temps, blowing snow and howling winds, we are happy to be hunkered down in the nice warm shop - the perfect place for painting. There’s no shortage of surfaces to splash on the paint, with six large NEB’s wall panels in various stages of finish, from bare to ready to glaze. The entire painting crew will descend on the panels tomorrow and for the balance of the week. The goal is to finish these panels and have the shop cleared for a fresh new batch of work before Matt and I return from Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. Matt will join the painting crew for one day while I tidy up some designing and office work before we head off Wednesday morning. Happily, the weather in Tokyo is a whole lot warmer! Two more sleeps…
Coming together
Each workday, our marvellous painting crew adds more magic to the Under Hill Suite of the Hazelnut Inn. The permanent warm glow of the Tiffany lamps adds even more. The ceiling is now finished, and the crew quickly works their way down the walls. They are now finishing off the blend coats and will work on the glazes to bring it all together this week. As they reach the floor, the tile work will begin and should go very quickly. Peter and Becke have been gathering furniture and feature pieces to tuck into the nooks and corners. This suite is looking more magical every day!
Sliding feature
While the sculpting and painting crews have been busy finishing a wide variety of projects in the shop and over at the Hazelnut Inn, Keith has been toiling in the metal shop out back. His job is to stay ahead of the crew and fabricate the armatures for the projects that will move into the shop in the weeks to come. Keith’s current project is a giant ‘Old Woman’s Shoe’, which incorporates a slide for the kids who visit Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. To keep things safe for the kids and within code, we are building the giant boot around a commercial slide we sourced from a supplier. The giant footwear measures twelve feet long by four feet wide by just over nine feet tall.
