Continuing construction 13th and 14th

The last two days have been very productive various sections of the furniture are well under way and the flats have finally been completed except painting two of them.

The corner heater that Fiona and Callum have undertaken has taken form in two sheets of 5mm MDF screwed together down a 90 degree spine. The heater eventually wil be covered in tiles. Made again from thinner MDF ( around thirty to one side of the heatre. The tiles are sanded down on the edges to create a rounded finish then were primed with covent garden primer then painted with a base coat of white emulsion ( many members of the group including myself participated in the painting and priming) Fiona is designing the pattern to paint upon the tiles over the Easter break and callum is continuing to base coat the tiles. The structure of the heater was a little wobbly so brackets were added across the back (wood cut with 45 degree angled ends) the screwed to the heater to strengthen the structure.

Other pieces of furniture that are continueing are Nicki's chair that has now almost been uphoulstered and due to be completed over Easter

With the delivery of the sheets of 5mm MDF Rob and I were able to mark out the sections of the screen onto the wood using the cardboard screen as a template. We elongated it by half a foot on the bottom to make it more of a feature in the now smaller study room. Two of each panel were cut out one solid one and one with a hollowed out centre to one make the screen thicker and sterdier also to be able to sandwich the fabric inlays between the wood. Rob Dan and I used a jigsaw to cut away the intricate curved outlines. We wore goggles and I tied my hair back as a safety precaution. Using the jigsaw was much easier than a band saw as the blade is much smaller and easier to control around the steep corners.

All of the sections of the screen are now cut out and after easter will be sanded and pieced together.

The last two flats were skinned then the rest had the mahogony effect painted on them. This was achieved by painting on the sienna as a base coat then using umber and black to paint streaks into this when wet. Then using a dry brush to smooth over this and blend together the layers.