TBAI Gallery Piece 2015 – Interior Basics

I molded, painted and finished the exterior of the tree stump before I began on the interior. One of the main reasons I chose this order was because I am very messy when I use paper mâché. That also goes for paint. I think I am being very careful but I still manage to smear it somewhere. And even sometimes it is intentional, especially if I am in the middle of painting something critical and have no time to grab a cloth or towel to wipe my hands or a brush. Thankfully, I am not alone in this. I have watched artists paint and they often wipe the brush on the back of their hand or on something close by. Anywho . . .

As for the interior, I knew I needed to place lights I wanted to use before I proceeded and that involved determining how I wanted the ceiling to look. The shimmery fabric was just the thing so I started with that and then moved onto the lights.

Here you can see the unfinished floor. This is before I added the stirring stick ‘hardwood’ floor. It looks a little strange with the bump out on the edge and the rectangle cut out for the battery pack but that’s how it goes in the early stages.

I knew shelving would be an integral part of this piece. It’s just a little bit more complicated when the wall is curved. If you notice, the shelf brackets are made from quartered wood slices. I’m not sure there is an easy way to saw a tiny wood slice into quarters, but I only had to do two so there was an end in sight from the beginning.

The following photo shows the lights in place, the shelves in place and the flooring finished. The next part is populating it with the fun details.

I try to do a dry run before I start finishing the details. Arranging bottles and knickknacks where I think they should go before I fill bottles and label them saves me from spending too much time working on pieces I won’t be using.

By now, you probably have an idea of where this is going, right? Next time, I will be posting photos of the piece in its entirety.

Thanks for reading!