Chair 1 Upholstering (1), D-D Collab (1)

I'm back with some exciting work to show you.

I accomplished three tasks today. Multi-tasking in the shop takes some skill--mostly thinking on your feet and finding ways to balance new projects with ongoing projects.

1) I bent the traffic sign for Chair 1 to form the seat. The bend is placed where the seat ends and the interior of the knees rest. It provides a smooth transition and a comfortable place for the legs to rest against the front of the chair. I didn't extend the traffic sign to the floor, mostly because it would result in the loss of transparency through the chair, and weigh it down unnecessarily.

These traffic signs are precious material to me, like rare wood or genuine gold. I try to treat them that way. I felt myself hesitating to bend the sign out of fear that is would destroy its beauty. But I took the necessary precautions, and overcame that fear. I like the result- I hope you do too!

2) I cut two signs that were too wide. I cut them with a large tool so I can cut them appropriately and accurately with smaller tools. Basically, two street signs were 3' 2", and I needed them to be 3' 0" to cut with the step sheer. So I visited the wood shops and asked Mr. Giles Tomson, one of the wood teachers, for his help. He showed me how to cut both signs using the table saw (circular saw on large table), which is a much larger piece of equipment for cutting than we have in the metal shop. It was very successful, considering the table saw is infamous for "kickbacks," when the object you are cutting shoots back at you.

3) I'm starting another side project: a collaboration with my friend Daniel Lev Coleman, a very talented "fine arts" man. We're making a wall piece. I am taking part of the yellow traffic sign and "opening it up" from the center like flower petals opening to reveal a flower bud. Daniel will create a sculpture coming out of the negative space. Here is a concept sketch Daniel sent me:

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-Deej