Does one tire of looking at the same furniture years on end? This one does and I tend to attack. We had a new friend visit from London and after touring our home she said “Wow, you have touched every piece of furniture” which reminded me of my dear friend Marianne who came to visit when we moved back to town and said, “You are not afraid of color.” Both of those statements are true.
My likes and dislikes change fast and have been told that it is dizzying at times. The problem is that I get a picture in my head of what I want and the chances are slim that I can find it, which leads to making it. My “care quotient” is low whether it is; easy to make, fit in with the rest of the house or normal.
Boredom is catalyst for these projects and with the impending hurricane Irma, the whole Nerdz Garage was attacking at the same time.
Sidebar- We were completely prepared for Irma. We had water, candles, lanterns, prepped food, back up food for days and new board games.
In my sights was the five-foot-tall teak giraffe that we have had since the Nerd in Charge (Dylan) was a wee tot. A gift from brother for Dylan. It started its life as a beautiful tan, brown and black giraffe that was sturdy enough to hold a child who wanted to ride into battle on it. For years giraffe stayed in its original state, but the love from the boy had made him chipped and looked weary. Time for the first attack. We had these gorgeous street maps of Berlin that were about fifty years old so their accuracy was lacking, but for an art project- perfect. Giraffe was covered head to hoof in Berlin streets. Berlin giraffe lived peacefully in our living for another five years.
The Nerd in charge had asked me to make something out of all the old Xbox game covers and I was leaning towards a headboard for him, but our home has slowly turned into a pop culture museum and Berlin giraffe just did not fit in. Second attack. Berlin giraffe is now dressed head to hoof in Destiny, Bio Shock, Borderlands, Dark Souls- multitude of gaming memories.
Berlin giraffe has evolved to a colorful amalgamate of game art.
We were given a lovely desk that was hand crafted (tongue and groove corners) and in the Nerdz Garage, well-made furnishings are difficult to part with. This desk first attack was Tardis blue paint and maps of the middle east (my map stage was huge).
Derek- department head of Comic Books at Nerdz Garage determined that said desk needed to be refreshed. You can’t get rid of well-made bits and bobs. Ye olde desk turned from Tardis blue to Onyx and covered in Comic Book covers.
Before you comment on how debasing a comic is wrong and you will never read us again! These were all duplicates or triplicates and were handle with the care of surgeon’s hands.
Whilst assisting in this attack, I found that the artist, George Caltsoudas, who did the covers for the new Star Trek Comic Series. His art has a retro and deco feel. There is an energy in his art that radiates you to it. The color palettes change with each new piece, but fit so perfectly that you feel like you know it. I am captivated by his work and must acquire some. There is not a piece in his collection that I do love.
George Caltsoudas on Twitter @George_________
Irma has passed. The Garage came through just fine. Thanks to boredom and Irma, there are two renewed pieces of art at Nerdz.
Author SuZanne Smith