Stranded Steel Core: A Thank You Note

My new cello strings arrived yesterday and they are beautiful. Each is smooth wound in titanium or tungsten and silver; metals as pretty as as their names. Inside is a stranded core of thin steel strings bound together. They are strong, durable, and clear-voiced. They are not affected much by temperature and humidity. To tell the notes apart, they have silk strings of blue, gold, red, black and purple winding around their ends. They look like friendship bracelets.

They are friendship bracelets. My friends bought them for me when my old strings were unraveling. And see, I am my strings unraveling. I have been stressed about money and running out of it, trying to stretch what I have. I haven't gotten to the point of questioning my decision to quit my dream job (and the unfulfilled personal life that went with it) eight months ago, but I have spent weeks grateful for my roommate's generosity with rent. And I have spent nights awake in worry or asleep in nightmares.

Staring at my beautiful new cello strings this morning, I feel this: Somehow, I am smooth wound in titanium, tungsten and silver. My stranded steel core of friends will stretch and sing with me in to this unknown future. I will withstand the temperature and humidity changes with minimal re-tuning. I will be strong, durable, and clear voiced.

Thank you Katrina, Leta, Lilita, Justin, Hittl, Sean, and Dylan. Thank you Sue. Thank you. 

Foothill Roots Farm Mural Update 8: It's done!!!!!

It's done!!!!

"This mural is a gift for my friends Diane and Pat and the people of Meadow Vista who love vegetables.

Muralist: Diana Caplan      Assistant Muralist: Brent Klava

Painted with help from Gene Cain, Laurel Bollinger, Diane Bollinger, and Pat Bollinger.

Thanks to Sunset Ridge Mandarins, Gene Cain, the Kerns, the Lowrys, and Janet Root."

This morning to finish up we wiped off the dirt that had dripped down on the painting from the top of the shipping container and then raced to put the finishing topcoat on before the sun came over the trees and heated up the surface too much to paint. We did it. 

Brent has been such a help for this whole thing. At one point when he was away working, he wrote me a love note that talked about how he wanted to support me in this next phase of my life, this art and music phase. I thought he meant emotional support at the time. Neither of us realized that it meant he'd be be here for every day of painting. At some point I called him the Assistant Muralist, and he liked that. I like to tease him and say I meant to say Muralist Assistant. Either way, without him, this mural would be nowhere near done and I'm so thankful for all his help.

There was a time around the beginning of July where it had been four months since I had been researching mural painting and telling people I was quitting my job to do art and music and I was gonna paint a mural, and it started to feel untrue. Like it was just talk and I was never gonna actually do it. I had a couple of days of feeling like a poser, like I was just telling myself and others this story to seem cool. It was such a relief when I finally bought the paint because then I knew it would happen. And then it did. And now it's done. And I love it. 

Here's some more details:

Worms.

Basket of acorns under the black oak.

Falcon greeting folks at the covered bridge.

Cute tongue.

It's done!!!! I'm so happy and proud and excited. 

Foothill Roots Mural Farm Number 7 Update: More Progress

Brent and I painted until dark today, and then kept painting with our headlamps. I took a picture of the mural before it got dark though. Before I show you that, check out how nicely Pat cut up these leeks:

Impressive leek cutting. Anyway, here's the mural:

I know the picture sticks out of the blog frame when I make it this big, but I don't care. I'm excited about how the mural looks.

Here's a closer look:

And closer:

Whoah, that was too close.  You can see the dirt streaks.
No ones' perfect. 

Foothill Roots Farm Mural Update 6: Speed bumps

Um, this happened:

We got back from rafting the Grand Canyon (which was awesome, by the way) and found that the paint and primer have been blistering. Agh!!! How could this have happened???

The surface of the shipping container was real dirty when we got back, so I hosed it down. Could the rapid cooling of cold water on the sun warmed surface have caused it? Could it be that the primer has been exposed too long? Could it be the hot sun warming the mural? Sometimes it gets so hot it will burn your hand. Could it be the rain that came down while we were gone? What's happening? Why? Because we have no answers and don't know what to do about it, Brent and I ignore it and paint other things. 

Brent puts the leaves on the tree in the top right corner. I put Falcon the horse, in the field across the creek.

There is a sign on the fence that borders the field across the creek (in real life) where Falcon used to live. It says "Falcon, Gone But Not Forgotten". I never met Falcon, but I guess he used to come up to the fence right where the trail goes by it and greet people. He's touching noses with a coyote in the mural. The idea of Falcon living out there in the field alone makes me a little sad. Horses are social and get lonely. My own horse spent a lot of time being lonely because we didn't know horses are social and didn't really think about it. I think it makes me sad mostly because I still feel guilty about my horse, Canela, being lonely for so many years. Anyway, Falcon is in the mural now.

And so are these confounding paint blisters. I finally decided we should pop them and scrape the paint off, re-prime those spots and re-paint. I'm afraid we won't get it all done by Saturday when Brent and I have to leave again. I'm afraid the mural won't be done before the weather really turns and I can't paint anymore. I'm afraid the paint will keep blistering and peeling off. I'm afraid the whole mural will peel and fall off, hundreds of dollars and hours and hours will fall to the ground in little colorful flakes. 

But whatever. There are bigger things to fear. Like having a scorpion on your shoulder. That then runs down your shirt. On the inside. And stings you. That actually happened to Brent while we sat in the van after getting off the river. 

Another thing to fear is finding out the sugar in the cookie dough you just mixed up is actually salt. And now there's not enough butter left for a full batch of cookies. That actually just happened tonight to Pat. He figured it out when Diane tasted the cookie dough and promptly spit it out. Honestly though, that scares me less than the mural falling apart. 

Something interesting: After we peeled the paint/primer off we scrubbed it with Simple Green to get our finger oils off so the primer would stick. Here's Pat's mom Gene, washing the spots. 

Notice they are blue after their scrubbing. There is another layer of white paint or primer under the primer I put on. It's covering up a bunch of blue and red paint that was already on the shipping container before I got to it. All the paint blisters are on this under-layer of paint. Very interesting. At least to me. 

Anyway, it's late and I'm ready for bed. Here's one last picture of the blue spots getting primed again. We'll see what happens.

Foothill Roots Farm Mural Update 5: Pause on work.

Well, just a quick update.

Here's what the mural looks like right now:

It's happening!

Also, there's still time to get your name in the mural as a supporter if you donate $25 or more before the mural is done! A number of lovelies have donated and it really helps a lot!

Here's some close-ups:

I'll post more when I get back! Yay!!! 

Foothill Roots Farm Mural Update 4: Get your name in it!

One thing I've learned in taking on this project: It's expensive to paint a mural!!! Over the last few months I've spent about $450 just on supplies.  

The majority of this amount ($410) is primer, paint and varnish. The rest is things like brushes (the rolly kind and the brushy kind), photocopies, pencils, cleaner, things like that. My mom and some friends lent or gave me a bunch of supplies so I didn't have to buy those: grid paper, a tape measure, sanders (which I ended up not needing), facemasks, a long handled roller holder thing, paint pans, etc. And Diane and Pat borrowed a pressure washer, which was awesome, so I could blast the moss off the surface. That was super fun. But anyway, I was talking about money.

I've been so excited to have the opportunity to paint a mural that I've been happy to spend my own money on this. I feel like it's giving me awesome experience and exposure as an artist. I get pretty much complete creative freedom. I get encouragement from Pat and Diane when I start to get nervous and have doubts about this or that. I get to support their farm, which I just think is so wonderful. I had this idea that after the mural was painted I would fundraise to make some or all of the money back. Because people would see it and love it and want to give me money, or something. Not sure what exactly I was thinking. It has occurred to me that that's kind of silly. If I start fundraising now, people who donate money can have their names in the mural!

So here's the deal: if you donate $25 or more to the Foothill Roots Farm Mural fund before the mural is finished (this is a moving deadline here), you can have your name in the mural as a supporter. 

If 18 people donate $25 each, that will cover the cost of supplies!!! If more people donate, it can start to cover my gas costs! Yes! If even more people donate, well, gee, maybe I can afford to keep painting murals! Maybe I'll paint one for you! That would be such a dream for me. 

How to donate:

• In person: come by the farm! 
• Mail: cash or check made out to Diana Caplan, 2314 Estes Rd., Chico, CA 95928 (if you are excited about getting your name in the mural, this is not the best option).
• Paypal: you can send money via paypal to my email address, which is simply my name with no spaces at gmail dot com.

I quit my full time job a few months ago so I could dedicate myself to art and music for a year. By donating to support the mural, you are supporting me as an artist and you are supporting the Foothill Roots Farm and Pat and Diane as farmers. You are also supporting similar awesome endeavors that may take place in the future. I'd love to be able to paint more murals to support more causes. 

Thanks so much for reading!!

Foothill Roots Farm Mural: Part 3

CRASH!!!!!

The loud thud and subtle earth shudder woke me this morning.
"What are Diane and Pat doing down there?" I wondered from my bed in my tent on the hill across the creek. I assumed it was another shipment of woodchips. Real heavy ones.

Wrong. It was this:

"Start the harvest day off with some excitement, hey?" Pat shouted to me from where he and Diane were already collecting lettuce heads, even while I was still stumbling sleepily from the hill. No kidding!

Yesterday rained and thundered on and off all day. Pat blamed it on me, claiming I brought the storms. Not one to be pushed around, I cleverly retorted, "Me?? No."

I took advantage of the rainy day to finish the design for the mural on my little scale grid paper. So the schedule has shifted, and that's okay. After spending so much time outside in rain and lightning with students for so many years, I thoroughly enjoyed being in Pat and Diane's dry home, drinking tea and drawing coyotes.

On Sunday, before the rain kicked in, I did manage to prime the shipping container, Diane helped me cut away the blackberries in the work space, making it friendly for open-toed shoes. Today I'll be marking the grid up on the surface, so I know where to draw things. Then I'll draw things.

At some point today, my partner will arrive and I'll get to show him this wonderful farm that Pat and Diane have built. Tuesdays they harvest a bunch of things, wash them, bundle and box them to give out to their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture - it's like a weekly veggie subscription) customers. Last time I was out here I got to help them in this process, it was a lot of fun work. "This is so much fun!!" I kept saying, and, "I wouldn't want to work this hard all the time, but I'm sure having fun now!!" Perhaps today, while I draw things on the blank slate that is the future mural, my partner can have fun helping Pat and Diane.