Fernandina
Life with Lilith is fascinating; it's easy to see why the old spoil children. Really, you're way pas the palm glow and you just hope things are good for them. That's a pretty deep well of guilt to draw from.
I think the grandparent creature is lost to good intentioned desires, hopeful to see their grand children live idyllic lives. Ego and legacy do play a part and at what costs, almost always at odd with ones own children, truly fascinating.
Resurfacing continues!
The dining room table continues in it's 3rd incarnation. 95% of the black poly coat has been removed and a little bit of texture has been added with a fifty year old wire brush. The remaining polycoat is pixilated and dispersed throughout the grain, and around the edges. The big question now is do I work it all away or attempt to compliment the residual black poly with a fresh coat, just added around the edges.
I had a client once who over the course of a year redid her fireplace three times. Each time she did the space it was a magnificent upgrade to the previous iteration. She was obsessive and comfortable enough with the thought of just changing it. The fact that the only reason why she changed it was cause it wasn't nice enough was the point. This clients house is magazine worthy, she general contracted it herself, with little experience, outside of having done a house before, with the same exacting detail. And it helped that she was always comfortable with redoing work, regardless of price.
You have to be willing to undo work you've done, regardless of time or financial investment, if you want the best results. The table is a work in progress, it's not so finished that we can't play with it. It took about two hours to get it back down to the bare wood. At various intervals I almost stopped, as the wood had an interesting vibe about it. Now the question is do I clear coat it and lose the detail, or do I use a tinted a stain to make the table a focal point.
The big point is that this detail is really striking, and hopefully the goal is that we'll be able to keep it's rich texture, that the poly coat –or stain won't just muddy it all up and make it look well, like a tan wooden table. I want a little more pop than that.
TFAL Grinder
I'm sure this was a wedding gift, like people who get married request this right, people with money; or for that matter, people without money.
When I had a chance to buy one though I did, it was $2.50, it's so worth it. It's one of those things that if I find another one I'll buy that one to.
It's ability to grind through raw nuts is totally graceful, and it puts a feather texture on raw almonds
It turns cheese into parchment.
It breaks down like a boat action rifle.
I've machine washed it, but recently I realized it was a score, now I break it down and hand clean it. It feels solid, but plastic just gives up one day. So I limit UV exposure and just use hot water.
Tefal Cheese, Nut & Seasonings Grinder. from Paul Sibley on Vimeo.
If you have problems with the video loading on the page, click on Tefal Cheese, Nut & Seasonings Grinder. and try it from the vimeo page.
E tu Graffiti?
The shot is a bit of a "I was here" b-roll for being at the East Atlanta Beltline parade. Later I was going through some work and started adjusting the color on the shot. This isn't my typical style of graffiti, there are some interesting things here though. Using the arch for "The Shining" is pretty cool. Presenting red as the canvas and the grey color of the building exterior like a matte, also very conscientious. Really the presentation is far more interesting then the actual central point of the piece; It feels labored, one artist talking to his community, not so much to us.
I thought to delete the shot, the two hooks are great but they draw my eyes to nothing. I don't want to impugn the artistic integrity of the guy who did the work. I should say also concede that I didn't frame this piece for narrative. I didn't wind back, or position my camera from the street, so there was a little more room for it to express itself, the work didn't say "Remember me, Paul."
Today though I kept staring, and I finally started to see the building; now there is something interesting. Buildings as residential, I always mention that it goes back to the movie Running Scared with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. I saw the oddly paired duo do their buddy cop film when I was a kid. Before then I used to always draw buildings where me and my stuff lived. I'm not sure, why it wasn't a house. As a kid we lived in apartment buildings, not houses. But still, I knew what a house looked like, I just didn't imagine living in one. When I walked around my neighborhood though, always right on the edge of houses and apartments there would be an old building or two and they were quite interesting. Running Scared cinched the deal, big garage door, motorcycle in the living room, I was already sold, but now I saw someone doing my idea, wow. Most folks have no interest living in a building, some folks want to do "loft living" and I get that segment, it's not what I'm saying. I want an airstream trailer parked in the middle of a building that doesn't have a roof, might be missing a wall.
Let's talk about the current housing market. I can buy a second house tomorrow. Yep. If I want another mortgage and some major financial overlap taking on a new residential project the world is my oyster. If I want to buy a lot and just build from scratch, the bank wants me to front 40 percent of my total budget; they want major skin in the game. If I want a building, if it's commercial I'm sure it's the same circumstances. If it is mixed used, I have a chance. But the market is indifferent to the success I've had with my last two project houses. No to the multiple house deal though; I can survive it, but do I want to?
I really want a building. I really want a commercial kitchen. I really don't like to talk about my dreams or desires, but I'm trying to 
Resurfacing begins
Oh how carpentry projects begin with learning by doing badly the first time and refusing to say "Good enough."
The original struggle with the table is that I have these restored floors and they are my wood focus in the house. The dining room table would have been easier if it'd just been actually finished with lane markings and still had it's glaze, but it didn't. The table came to us naked, really just an amazingly large piece of butchers block. It also has a blemish in it-a long jagged line that goes the length of the table, which I find distracting & things that distract me really upset me. So I didn't want to "stain" it in a way that would show off the grain and the flaw. A poly coat stain works great for over coating, when you want to cover up the grain and really maximize protection. It was a sin that I even considered it, but I justified that it would then be covered in bartop.
And we could have "bought", but you "use" when you can. The whole practice of sustainability is about whether or not your conscious actions take you into a territory where you try to work with preexisting and renewable substances. If you have a bowling alley why not cut it up instead of just tearing it to pieces and sending the debris to the dumpster. And then why not use that piece when you're making your house. Why would you get some shitty pressboard with a pretty veneer over it. Why buy anything at all, unless it's cheaper and easier… your weighted question constantly go back and forth. "Can I use it and will implementing it be a huge headache?" Thus the free bowling alley scrap was incorporated into our dining experience. It was also an interesting struggle. Have it be wood grain and contrast with the floor… Or have it be white and overwhelm with the walls. Many times in the final lap of decisions I found myself struggling with so much of the big stuff that the little stuff really just got to be too much. Shit! Now I'm thinking it'd be nice if it was blue.
Back to the "good enough" We've tried to live with the black polycoat for a few months. All I could do while eating dinner though would be to stare at the lost detail, so I resigned myself not to resin over the mistake. Once the bartop is on, it'll also take away detail, but i've come to imagine the table will look really good if maybe we did see the grain. I just have to keep playing with the finish that will work to compliment the house. You have to be willing to change and undo a project. Preparing my older house everyone kept telling me to accept the shitty work they were doing. They said "You could spend so much money doing it right." The only people who are really big into the "Good enough" and "If you want to spend more money we can do it better" are the people you don't want to work with. I want to eat from that table. I don't want my lousy work to eat at me.
The truth, my wife is in the background of this picture, she isn't in focus, I'm obsessed with the table and it's flaw. I lose moments when I think of what is wrong with stuff; that's not good enough.
Thus Sunday found me with a sanding sponge (it was no contender,) then sand paper-it was a little better, finally the inappropriate tool, a fifty year old wire brush. This brush came from my step dad's tool collection and it was terrifying to even look at. The bristles do not move and it literally wrought a new detail into the wood, but it made short order of the polycoat and didn't not aerate the particles, so, not bad. I'll sand it down next and apply a new finish, we'll see what happens.