Zombies Are Easy, Scenic Art Is Hard...

I'm at the end of my first week; a productive, artex-happy, wet and wild week of numb toes and loving my life.

We arrived at our set-building location and home for the next few weeks on Wednesday, and the first task of the day was unloading the vans of tools, kit, paint, and all our materials, as well as some large set pieces. A good morning of heavy lifting distracted me from the bitter cold of the warehouse, and allowed me to delude myself that it really wasn't that bad. When we sat down to talk through the next few weeks of work, I could kid myself no more; tomorrow it was out with the thermals and watertight shoes or I'd soon be dead.

Perfect for cartwheeling 

OK, I may be exaggerating slightly, but it was cold. (We would occasionally take our breaks outside, to get a heat)

5l Roscos! I'd never seen one before!

As with most first production weeks, there's been some false starts and lull moments - the calm before the storm as Lynsey quite rightly put it, but actually as I look back, we got loads done, including the first bits of what will be many, many, many hours of artexing. I also used coloured wax for the first time on some pieces for exterior scenes, which I loved! Expensive as most useful materials are, I'm thinking I'll invest in a wee pot for my kit. Great stuff to work with, weather proof and does amazing things under a heat gun. Ooft. Scenic art, baby.

The wonders of coloured wax

Yesterday, as the first walls went up and we were able to contain some heat in a space, I was positively buzzing with love for artexing. After I found the knack, it was so satisfying. I've been seeing concrete walls every time I close my eyes, and I had really better get used to it!

Gary and his breath

We are a team of four at the moment, but starting next week we've got some more bodies in for the Scenic team. I can't wait for Monday, I'm amazed at how quickly that barren space became so homily, although I'll still be rocking a layer of thermals and get the fear every time I need to use the bathroom.

Our friend, the only working tap

Valuable member of the team -
the artex mixer 

Also this week Iansy and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary, and though I went low-key with a handmade card and some framed family photos for the flat, the boy blasted my 'thought that counts' ship out of the muddy waters with the most AMAZING present -

New camera baby!! And not just any new camera...a freakin' Sony SLR. I'm in love with it. I'm afraid to take it out the house. This is going to make my life so much easier with taking photos for my portfolio! A shout out to my old camera, which has been with me four long years, and has taken some of my favourite photos, and a lot of abuse, and will still be my 'painty' camera. But really, you can't argue with what Wee Sony can do...

We're going to take it on a trip to the Botanic Gardens tomorrow. Love you Iansy bear :) 

Xx