As my departure from Vancouver draws nigh, I am feverishly working to complete the final objects involved in the semi-theatrical piece Through closed doors for the Thin Edge New Music Collective. I don’t think I’ve ever had to use so many different skills in any of my creative projects. There has even been carpentry involved (my ‘day’ job coming in handy). The only thing I haven’t done here is fiber arts.

The final ‘score’ for the piece is an antique door, which the violinists will circle in pursuit of each other. The piece was inspired by it and built around it. You can see some pages of the hand-inked manuscript I made first by scrolling down to some earlier posts.

Here’s the door all ready for engraving with the manuscript laid out below it. 

My original plan was to burn the notes into the wood with a wood burning pen. It seemed like a good idea until the metal nibs started bending from the heat of the tool they were made for (talk about quality!). Moreover, the wood the door is made from has widely varying density and is not that suitable for pyrography (things got rather bumpy).

After an episode of some first rate artistic misery, panic and hair-pulling (“Oh my god, this whole project is a disaster!!!! Who the hell did I think I was trying to pull something like this????), I discovered the Sharpie oil-based paint pens. Life is looking up.