Who are These People

These People on cardboard by Sharon Tomlinson

Who are these people?

That Sunday back in October when I initiated the Attic Studio and documented the event on Instagram with the above photo was a beginning.

It was a beginning of a huge attic studio project; the details of which I will save for another post.

Not until I posted it on Instagram did I see the haunting white face right there near the middle.

Do you see him? 

I got pretty excited but this is when we were having big rain and wind storms and I didn't go back over for a few days. 

All the time, I would pull up the photo and wonder about who he was and how I would paint him.

I really did get myself worked up about the process.

At last we had a clear day and I rushed over to look at the face in-real-life to see how in the world I had overlooked him.

At first glance, Oh No!

He's gone!

In shock, I remembered the quick documentary photo shot was just a moment in time. 

I had totally forgotten that in the zone and flow of the day in the attic studio, I kept pushing cheap pastel craft paint around with a cheap foam brush on this big piece of cardboard.

And he was gone!  

I was back to no inspiration with this piece which was my starting place when I first sat down at the easel in the attic back in October. 

I left it be.

As stupid as it sounds, I grieved about the loss of this phantom (a physical manifestation of the soul or spirit of a deceased person) face.

Time passed and I finally was ready to face the project again. 

Due to the cold, I decided to fetch the cardboard and paint here in my warm home studio. 

 I propped it up in front of me while in the cozy chair zone just thinking about what I would do next. 

He was sure enough gone. 

So I flipped it over with the up side down

and

lo and behold!

There are people on it!

I would probably never have looked for them were it not for him. 

 Here they are after I lightly penciled around the shapes that clearly were people. 

 Sometimes it's not about pretty faces. 

My technique is to capture what I see with minimum paint.

 This is not the first time A Group Of Strangers has shown up while I'm painting. 

I don't know who These People are but I'm pretty sure these people know my people.

I'm also pretty sure they have lots of stories to tell.

On that Sunday back in October when I started this project, I prepped and pushed paint around on several more cardboards. 

Yep, more people.

♥

The Evolution of my Attic

"Before"

Remember this?  

This is the back wall view of the attic before I pronounced last fall that I would reclaim The Garden Palace from the furry beast and flying creatures.

"after"

 Here is the "after" with a few word to document the evolution of my Garden Palace attic. 

"before" front wall

"after"

 Dear sweet son came in early June.

He and I installed the floor. 

The truth is, I never really really thought this would happen. 

 Nearly done.

Taking a break.

 When the floor was finished, I started closing in the end walls. 

After a few days, I enlisted the help of D.J. who uses a bigger hammer than me.

Pipe Hand Rail

 On July 1st, we installed the hand rail. 

What a glorious day!

Maybe you can see how steep the stairs are.

You can't imagine how excited I was about this project. 

It couldn't be done until the wall was closed in.

 The thing to notice here is how little shelves were created in a "make it work" design moment.

 I placed jars on the shelves so they would show in the photo. 

By this time is was well into July and the Texas heat was not bearable in this tin roofed attic.

 Late September, I started back at it and finished installing the front wall. 

Now is when I should tell you that the wall material was any and every kind of board you can imagine. 

I used hundred year old floor boards, new floor boards, old garage door facing boards, old shelving boards, old bead board, new and old lumber bits and pieces.

Some had been painted, some had not, some was obviously new wood and some had an aged patina. 

The width nor the thickness mattered not to me. 

The point was first, to clear out a couple of hoards of such material and secondly, cheap.

 The first layer was a whitewash effect with just watered down white paint. 

 Then, I went back in with some paint colors on random places.

I really wanted to love this but when I realized the huge job I had created for myself in order to get the final finish that I wanted, I just knew that no matter what, I wasn't going to love it. 

 I also realized or rather remembered that my intention is to cover the walls with framed art and photos. 

That fact cinched it.

I had to paint the walls white. 

When I got the left side painted white, the conflict was over.

I loved it!

 On October 9th, the first painting was hung. 

It just felt like I needed to have this here while I continued the work. 

 Then the back wall. 

The Bridge

 To reach the wall and rafters above the stairwell, a bridge and ladder is used. 

Yes.

It's a little scary up there.

The Floor

 Even though I knew, I'm not crazy about gray paint, I still started out with it because it is a ready-mix color easy and quick to get. 

The color was light gray.

That is the light gray on the left.

It seemed too dark.

So I mixed it with a white to see if I might be happier.

Not really. 

 I went back to the store and had this light color mixed.

After using it, I saw that I could go a little darker without making the room dark, so I got another gallon mixed for the second coat. 

"after"

"after"
Stay tuned for more projects.
♥