Saturday, March 26, 2016

How to Mount a Felted Wall Hanging

I was so inspired by the shell filled, pristine beaches in Punta Chivato on our recent March '16 Baja adventure, that I decided the first felting project in my newly remodeled studio would be a large wall hanging for the new studio. I'm fittingly calling the new wall hanging, Punta Chivato.

While in Punta Chivato, I collected drift wood and shells galore, including lots of shells with holes that I knew would be perfect for the wall hanging.



Sunset in Punta Chivato, Baja




Started with white roving.
Work in process
Using a resist, I felted a casing on the back.  I bought a piece of molding and had the shop cut it to size.
I drilled two holes in the molding, one on each side about 1" in from the top and side.
Using a level, I made a pencil mark on the wall through each of the two drilled holes 


Dry wall screw holders
I screwed in the dry wall plastic screw holders into the two pencil marks on the wall.

Screwing in the dry wall screw holders



 I reinserted the molding in the casing of the wall hanging and then inserted the screws through the molding and into the dry wall screw holders and voila! 

The wall hanging looks terrific in my new studio and has such a calming look and feel.  
For more on the new studio, click here

 Close ups

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Studio 907 Transformation

Custom made sign by Steelhouse Mfg. in Austin, TX
DREAM, DREAM, DREAM!
In September 2015, I retired from my 35 year career in Finance at Boeing to concentrate on my creative efforts. And in so doing, I decided it was time for a transformation of my studio/garage into the space I had dreamed about for years.

After meeting with various contractors, I selected Efrain Barajas who was recommended by Tom, a Boeing co-worker and friend.  This was a real win-win since Efrain would be concurrently managing both my project and Tom's house remodel less than two miles away.

A few month's before the project got underway, I was at an artist's open house and spotted a ceramic vase with the word "Dream" embedded in the clay.  I bought it knowing it would be a centerpiece in my new studio.



Studio 907 Remodel - Long Beach, CA from Beth Marx on Vimeo.

Efrain was a the best contractor ever - he is extremely knowledgeable, meticulous on details, does outstanding work, communicative, professional and really delightful.  His team started the demo on 1/26/16 and finished the job less than two months later.  
Click the above video to see the transformation.

A place for everything and everything in it's place.    My old dining room table is now my full time felting table.  Efrain added large wheels so the table is now the perfect height and can be easily  moved around.  Love, love the stained concrete floors, the freshly painted white walls and the LED lighting.  The attic space is easily accessed via a pull down ladder and houses things I won't regularly need. 
French doors access the yard.  New TV on a wall swivel with FIOS remote DVR is a dream.  An old dresser got a face lift with an updated turquoise color.  A basket for pool noodles for felting/rolling.  Another basket for bolts of fabric.  And a large turquoise glass vase from Home Goods showcases my felted flowers perched on drift wood that I found on our recent trip to the Baja.  


 Another dream is to have a have my sewing machine sitting out full time.  
 IKEA magnetic knife racks and containers hold small stuff like pins, needles, rubber bands.
What a dream to have 13' of storage and counter space.  New IKEA Sektion kitchen cabinets (each upper cabinet is 24" wide) and drawers (each drawer is 30" wide) hide all my art supplies and materials.  In the center of the upper cabinets is an IKEA Kallax eight cubby storage organizer which is perfect for holding my wool roving. 
 An IKEA Sektion high wall cabinet stands right by the garage door and next to the work bench which will be the metal smithing area. 

The turquoise shelf is a pegboard for my easy to reach tools.  I spotted this cast-off sad, cabinet while driving; I pulled over and heaved it into my trunk.  Turquoise paint and a fresh coat of white on the peg board and voila - charming! 


 A cool metal stool chair from the Restoration Hardware Outlet Store in Long Beach.

Mixing old with new...my mom's old green button jar was a long ago candy container.  The cut glass box was my grandmother's and now stores beach class.  The tall jar is new and is from Home Goods. 
Good, inexpensive finds from Home Goods - the tray, the red coffee mug and the three tier glass container.

A DREAM COME TRUE - MY TRANSFORMED STUDIO 907.