Anamorphic Playground Art

I have been up at my children's school today trying my hand out on a large scale anamorphic chalk picture. I went with the Rubic cube design to keep things simple - this is still new territory for me and I have a long way to go before I can produce anything remotely close to the quality of work by Mr Julian Beaver.



I spent the morning planning it all out with miles of string and in the afternoon I had about 25 children (5 at a time) to help me colour it in. Most of the chalk ended up on them and I'm sure their parents cursed me when they saw the state of their school uniforms : )

It didn't take the children long to figure out what the artwork was about - they appreciated that it only worked from one fixed view point and with one eye closed.

I may have some more news soon on the television front. The new series of DIY SOS will hopefully be starting in a few weeks time in which I filmed an episode up in Norfolk. There is also something else in the pipeline but I will say no more just in case.

Studio

Work has now started to convert our integral garage into a studio so hopefully it won't be too much longer until I can start doing my trompe l'oeil workshops again. It will be fantastic to get my own working area back again
It will also have a lot more space compared to my old home studio and will be at ground level rather than up two flights of stairs.





Work is also still going on around the rest of the house - every room has been affected and the dust looks as if it will continue settling for the next few months. I am still putting my daughter's room back together which is taking longer than I intended. I may also be plastering this weekend if I can fit it around my daughter's cinema party.

Masterpiece (sort of)

OK - the photo doesn't look like much, in fact it looks exactly like some newly plastered walls which is precisely what it is.



As you know our home is in the middle of a renovation at the moment. In anticipation of this I put myself on a plastering course a few weeks ago as I knew it would be a useful skill to have on board. The two walls in the photo are of our utility room and they needed plastering urgently so that our plumber could install a new boiler and hot water system.

I spent all of my Sunday morning on those two small walls - a long time I know but this was the first time I had plastered since the course and I didn't have my tutor to point out where I may be going wrong. Luckily the plaster has stayed on the wall - well it's lasted over 24 hours so far - as you can appreciate this is a big deal for someone who, up to a few weeks ago, had never picked up a hawk & trowel.

I did the course with a company called Capital Goldtrowel Ltd - they also do courses in tiling, bricklaying, rendering and Venetian plastering. They are based in Stapleford Abbotts, Essex and I thoroughly recommend them.