Assistant

I had the aid of an Assistant this morning, the nite before I filled the small fridge there with iceblocks (that never froze), cordial, cold drinks, and we started early this morn 7am to beat the heat, but luckily it never got so hot we needed to quit. I sent her packing at 11ish cos 4 hrs was enough to get done the stuff I aimed at. We welded up a 1m x 80cm base with big wheels & a tall stick coming up off one end with props to make it strong. Thats the basic base & prop to hold the figure steady & then off that prop i'll weld the skeleton once its fully realised where the bones have to go.
Wow it was lovely to be there alone (with my excellent assistant). Those printmakers worry me a bit. When i mention doing any real work there their noses kind of wrinkle. They looked horrified when i mentioned 55K for casting costs. Its like they think i'm crazy & made it up, or else they don't like the idea of art = money. Gawd knows. Gawd only cares, though. They want to throw a studiowarming & they picked the very night my subject is probably coming in for the one sitting, tho he might do it that night or the next. I might have to be heavy on them i guess. I'm happy to work around people but as someone said, hang on, its a workspace...

Anyway i'm getting the welding knack back again. You have to be as empathic to metal as you are to humans when they ring you at the Helpdesk. They are all different & they all have their quirks & problems & if you treat em suitably it all goes smooth. Its way cool cos welding is something you can get good at like driving. Learning welding & driving were the 2 things that made me feel independent & capable when i was growing up.