journal

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Monday, 31 March 2014

the first steps

I haven't update for a few weeks, but lost of things start happening...

first we had to make a school project about housing for our 4 year's old kid, so we went for a small mock-up of the atelier... here are some pictures of the interior and exterior

and then some snaps of the school exhibition, very nice ideas coming from 3 to 5 years old (and parents :-0). The event/exhibition took place last Thursday 27 of March.

the last days we continued working on our own complex project, lost of things...

first make space, the tree (syringa or lilac) had to go... sad, it was almost dead, every year it had less and less leaves and flowers, most of the branches were dry, I didn't had to cut it, some branches will simply snap in my hand... so first thing to make space for the atelier

where the lilac tree was ... soon there will be an art studio, I want to think of this as a nice transition (maybe I will not feel so guilty after all) I am also contemplating the idea of naming the atelier "the lilac tree"

here are the first outlines of the space; 260 cm x 200cm and second option 260cm x 260

second good news is that there is already a gutter and waterspout in-place

this is very handy, because it will make extra easy to have a sink in the atelier as there is already a pipe to dispose water, we only need to bring a connection with clean water from the garden tap

preparing the water connection; the idea is to bring water from this tap to the end of the garden. We use garden hose inside pvc pipe with corners and conectors

(but it would have been far more economic and faster to use Polyethyleen black pipe instead (which is manufactures already for drinkable water), why didn't we go for this last option (because I have a man with an ego problem)?

digging a trench

placing the pvc pipe (protecting a garden hose) inside the trench

covering with ground once again

so far, our existing garden tap and the new hose in place (later we'll continue with the water for the sink in the atelier)

other things we have been doing to prepare the work ...

I mentioned the lilac tree, here is a visual summary

it was early spring, but it hardly had any buds

all branches gone, sad image to see

some tiles in place, just to give an idea of the atelier's space

finally good news, the first materials arrived last Saturday; some wooden beams and quick dry cement

construction was fast, in a few ours we put on place 6 beams, these will work both as support and as guide division for the space (up to 4 beams more would be added during this week)

the working method was similar for all 6 pillars;

1- make a hole (about 30 to 40 cm deep)

2- level the beam

3- fill the hole halfway with water

4- insert the beam (level it)

5- pour in some quick dry cement

6- remove cement with water

7 - add more water to fill-in the hole

8- add more cement and mix together

measure, level, check, level again... It is time consuming, but far necessary in the first steps, later development would depend on having these measurements right from the begging

Sunday, 16 March 2014

update

we went to a garden center yesterday, we saw lots of interesting ideas, so far we are going for a 270 by 260cm... the more the better

floor plan (column, beams, water supply, water waste, windows and doors)

floor plan cross-section showing useful space

Wednesday, 12 March 2014

my atelier

first ideas... two options;

front entrance and floor plan layout

long desk at the side of the room, huge windows and lots of light from the doors, storage and sink at the back, free space to paint standing on the easel

second option if we go for a side entrance

the desk is small in this option, but i also like the idea of having a small desk on wheels to move it around the atelier or to set it aside when using the easel, less space for storage