So I am now officially a part of the gig economy... with the changing employment landscape and the popularity of flexible work options, I'm keeping up with the times and going all air tasker. And this lovely thing was my first gig. Its a Sopwith Camel. The kind that Biggles used to fly. The very charming "Andrew" put the call out ... he needed a biplane to wear (of course - what else does one wear to a queens birthday weekend winery tour with a bunch of high spirited buddies?). And I answered the call. Yep... I could make a biplane.
And so the R&D began... with maquettes and tests and drawings...it all started to come together. The conversation with Andrew progressed and I began to have the sneaking suspicion that I was in fact making a plane for Robert Downey Jnr masquerading as a mild mannered Melbournean professional. This guy is cool - you know?
Anyhoo - after a couple of weeks construction was complete, and the true nature of the Sopwith Camel emerged despite battling inclement weather to get the damn paint dry. Phew - the pick up was arranged and and I prayed that the cat wouldn't decide that the aircraft was all his and he'd tell everyone so by marking it in the way that only an evil cat can do (dont even ask what he did to the last sculpture).
With the 'Camel carefully loaded into the car (actually it was too big so we had to remove the tail for transport - detachable tail. NICE I'll remember that for next time) and strict instructions to consider both spacial boundaries and the benefits of gaffer tape in emergencies; I sat down to think about my first venture as a professional costume maker via airtasker.

Overall - it was great. I learned heaps, got to practice my craft and think about the possibilities of becoming an aeronautical engineer. I did SEVERELY underestimate the amount of time the whole thing would take me and so will likely end up making the princely sum of $7/hour. Better than nothing - right?

And I got to meet a really nice young man - who still likes playing dressups. In a very cool way.
(Oh - and he didnt turn out to be Robert Downey Jnr in disguise but he was very nice just the same).

Its the pointy end of the year. Tomorrow is the day to hand over  this sememster's work.
Bittersweet is the theme. Its an enormous relief to have actually finished the required number of pieces (sidenote: who said art was about quantity not quality.... but thats a whole other story), to have completed a qualification, to have juggled family, work and study.
There's a whole lot of other stuff too - that familiar feeling of getting ready to say goodbye to  a whole lot of people that I'm not likely to see again. Sigh.

One of the projects I've been working on for the past few months has been a paper mache sculpture based on drawings I've done of some beautiful diatoms. The finished product hasnt quite met my expectations... but its been a great lesson in choosing materials to fit the project, and engineering. The poor thing is struggling to stand upright and the legs have collapsed under the weight of the paper mache. And its a bit too gray and rough at the moment ....I'll do some research on finishing and see if we cant get it looking a bit smoother.

The whole process has been getting me comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Cutting my delicate little hands to bits on the wire, working with numb hands in the rain and wind. Letting go of expectations and judgement.

Imagine my unbridled excitement at being accepted in the Toyota Sculpture Exhibition. Last year I was lucky to attend to see the wonderful Sam Menzies and Robyn Rich exhibit their work so was honored to be amongst such good company. Wow - I'm playing with the big kids now.
Alas - on the weekend (and 4 days before delivery of my piece), I came home from the market to find my sculpture haliospinosa pluradactyla in pieces. Damaged. Beyond repair. (I blame the cat). Needless to say their was much hand wringing, many tears, and quite a bit of swearing in front of the children.
Monday morning arrived finding me in a casting frenzy and long story short .... today i delivered the new improved version ready for the opening next week.
The moral of the story is : Don't leave your precious fragile bony things where the cat can jump on top of them, and ... it feels really good when something goes terribly wrong and then you're able to fix it. You can visit the exhibition til march ...