Day 2

| Day two |

So this morning was one of the most thrilling mornings I have had in a LONG time. I woke at 5:30 am, 5 minutes before my alarm and realized I didn’t need to be up for another hour. Westville is on Chicago time but right on the border of the eastern time zone, so maybe my phone was confused. I know I was, but I stayed in bed just waiting to get started—anticipating the day. I was eager to work and when I pulled up the crane was there.

Richie was a huge help! He had my primed 19' long 6" wide pipe on the flat bed. I asked him to place it on the concrete parking bumpers that just happened to be stacked on the lot. Next I asked him to lift the 4’ squared 1” thick plate, which is the counter balance for the top load of the wind chimes and will be underground. We cinched straps on each side and the crane picked it up and it slid right onto the pipe. It was fortunate that those old parking bumpers were there and the perfect working height, no less.

Now comes the fun part, WELDING! I tacked each gusset in place at 90º angles. Then Terry suggested I have the crane turn the pipe after each gusset to allow me to weld at good angles (ie not upside down). I am so thankful to have had Terry nearby to give his pointers. I am so thankful and honored to be is a show with the veterans on the Chicago sculpture scene. Terry helped to make the morning go smooth as silk. I am hopeful that I can work with him again. He is a genuine, polite man with so much to offer, but is completely approachable. He is a great ear and has his head on super straight. I am really excited to see his way of doing things and would love to just listen and watch him work.

So recap: basically I was welding within 15 minutes of parking my car. I call that making art!

After all the gussets were tacked in place, I was able to ride with Terry to the powder coater. They had everything ready for me and shrink wrapped for protection. It easily fit into the back of Terry's truck. I was, however, where I was faced with an opportunity to find myself a work around for the touch up paint I thought I was receiving. They were helpful with giving me the item name and number to try and reach the manufacturer of the exact match paint, but I called and it is a custom color and I would need to order 15 bottles at 18 dollars a pop and it would take 3 weeks. Not an option on this budget and timeline.

Meanwhile, Terry was inside looking at the color samples. He mentioned that he was seduced by the colors! They had a nice selection of new colors from a company they hadn't ordered from, yet. Think 1980's roller skate wheels. He decided on a more conservative/appropriate color, silver vein, to finish his base with in the spring.

Upon our return, I continued to work on the welding the gussets. I took a short break for some lunch and the clouds rolled in and ended the day with rain. The rain started light, but then the rain came down with a vengeance. I got soaked. My stuff is soaked.

I was able to tack part of my second piece, Cutoff, together with the help of Steve and that is huge, because I can finish the vertical welds tomorrow.

I think that I am so lucky that Terry let me use his welder—gas powered. It is so cool, I want one.

After I got rained out I went to Menards and cleared my head and found the closest match for touch up paint. I also bought some extra hardware, just in case... And because today Tom said he had an architect friend who told him a long time ago, that one (bolt, screw, whatever) is good, two is better, but three is the way to go. I am using two 500 lbs strong bolts on each ring at the top on Bration.

When I returned to home to Art Camp, I made some spaghetti and meatballs (I brought some venison meatballs). We had wine and watched the debates… We drank each time McCain said "My friends." It was a lively bunch! John and Vivian were a nice addition to dinner and ended up spending the night.

I tinkered with my new bolt cutters and other metal cutting tools and found they won’t cut the cable clean enough work ☹