Glass and Trees

Well, maybe not glass...yet. But look at those beautiful mullions! A big thank you to Mike and his crew from Glass Service Center of La Crosse; they created a custom framework around our Nature Case that truly sets everything off in a professional manner. We have delayed the glass until right before school so I have some time to get in the big things (like the trees we just added) and finish up both of the tight corners that it will be difficult to access once the glass is installed.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Here is a shot of the finished trees before packing them up today. I added up the hours of painting on the trees and was astounded to see it was only 72. It sure felt like a lot longer. I had more difficulty in mixing the correct color to add to the flexcoat mixture using tempera paint than I thought I would and had to repaint some areas more than once. But when it was finished, looking closely at the paint job, it was a happy accident, as it added interesting depth and bizarre realistic areas where the color interacted with the flexcoat. I don't think I could duplicate these trees again if I tried. They are truly two of a kind! It took two trips in a covered trailer to get them to the school because in spite of looking massive and solid, they are rather delicate; and a different route than thru the main entrance- luckily we were able to bring them in thru a set of garage doors by the stage. Here is what the first tree looks like installed:

And below is an image of the larger tree waiting it's turn. It took my team some fine finagling to put them in place without losing any branches or ceiling tiles!

The next shot is one of Joey, readjusting the ceiling tiles...we needed to remove them for both trees since they fit so tight to the ceiling; but in all the excitement I forgot to get a full view shot of the entire Nature Case. I'll have to come back for that one.

And the last shot is one where I placed two full panels of foam in the approximate position of the bank that will be carved and painted for the roots, badger den and various underground items. I also need to finish the bottom gnarly roots of the trees and the trickle of a waterfall I want between rocks on this side. I'm still not sure of how I will tie this all together, but I have faith my engineering team will help me build it!