Magnificent Obsession
Brunch was quiet and quick this morning. Just younger sonny and me. For some reason older sonny didn’t get there and due to an undesirable appointment I had at the hospital, we were pressed for time, so we didn’t wait for him. We couldn’t. The omelette, as usual, was excellent and it helped to ease me into what I had waiting for me, a mammy (or mamogram if you’re a stickler for being “correct”). I hate mammies. I’d rather go to the dentist… I find that most women feel the same about them. They’re necessary…but they’re also somewhat akin to being tortured. Enough said…
The hospital and the clinic have been joined together in a mammoth renovation project which has been in progress for an aggravating couple of years. Traversing the construction mess and torn up streets surrounding it has been a minor nightmare but it’s finished now and they’ve even managed to restore order to the parking lot. As a result, it’s easier to find the re-routed but beautifully rejuvenated department you have to visit in the sumptuous new monolith.
An appointment at the hospital now more approximates going to a posh hotel or a museum than a visit to the flesh repair shop. That is, except for negotiating the stupid too-small, and very irksome roundabout, that the town fathers, in an appalling lack of wisdom and planning, insisted on putting at the entrance to the hospital where it joins the street. It’s unreasonably tight and confusing, especially in the winter when it’s icey or when the snow drifts shrink the driving area even further. The ‘roundabout’ is the town fathers’ current idée fixe. Most of us hate that danged thing! They want to put four more of them around the town too. That’s it. I’m moving!
But that said, the hospital is now gorgeous! They’ve done a swell job. And the artwork is wonderful. Everywhere you look there is some interesting and colorful representation… I can’t even grumble convincingly about the Mammy Suite since they have hung some splendid artwork. In fact, I even almost forgive them for the nasty television set in the elegant little reception area, which is always on and can’t be ignored. I hate television. It puts me in a bad space. I try to be graceful about this since so many people seem to actually need television, but it’s very distracting to those of us who prefer to read and/or listen to music (and I don’t mean Muzak or the top ‘pop’!).
The Mammy Suite sported two large and especially nice art prints, not etchings or lithographs, but decent quality poster prints of fine artwork. They were very nicely framed and looked quite spiffy. I wouldn’t expect them to hang ‘the real McCoys, since they already hang in museums. Goodness knows the framing, even for the prints, was probably costly enough. That I'm sure of because last year and the year before, our budget had a serious hurt put on it due to framing. We updated some of our artwork and had to frame some new pieces we acquired.
By the time you pick out an appropriate frame, no easy task since they have billions of examples of beautiful framing materials from which to select, and an equal assortment of acid-free mat materials, you're already in over your head. How many shades of white or natural or different colors can you think of? Well, trust me, there are even more than that. At this point, you’ve probably already exceeded your monthly salary and you haven’t even gotten to the glass and the labor. I always know just what I want until I get there and see all the styles. Mama Mia, such a lotta decisions to make! It boggles the eyeballs. I finally learned…never go to the framery when on a tight schedule, never mind a tight budget. On the other hand, I have become good friends with my framer and I never would have known her otherwise.
We’ve been using the custom UV protective glass for protecting our artwork but that’s even more expensive yet. There are some who don’t care for the UV protective glass, saying that it “dulls” the aspect, but we have not noticed any appreciable dimming of the colors. We feel that it’s important to protect fragile art from solar damage as much as possible since the sun can be so destructive. It’s like putting sun-block cream on your skin. Of course I never do. There’s an irony here…
I just came across an interesting phrase in something I read today about framing… The article said: “ A true archival frame job is not just the materials and techniques you use today, but the stewardship you provide in the future.” I like that… How appropriate…stewardship. For art, properly taken care of, will probably be around long after we are gone. Goodness knows, a lot of our stuff has long succeeded the artist who wrought it.
Interestingly enough, the man who restored, cleaned and reframed a slightly damaged George Wainwright Harvey watercolor that I’ve had for many years, doesn’t believe the UV protective glass is worth the expense. But he does believe in using museum quality framing, which is specially made and not cut and joined at the corners as usual, and that was way expensive I can tell you! Beautiful beyond belief but expensive as all get out…
The framer and restoration specialist’s name is David Putnam, who is also a professional photographer and whose work is very similar to that of Ansel Adams’ black and white photography. He has one camera that he uses which produces an 8x10 negative. That must be one monster of a camera to produce a negative that big! I wouldn’t even want to imagine the size of the enlarger he uses. His pictures are awesome!! We bought one of his photographs last year as a joint anniversary gift to each other. It’s a wonderful picture. It’s custom framed, signed, and designated AP, which means it was his art print…and large(!). We were reminded of how large it was when we tried to find the right spot to hang it.
It’s amazing how shabby a piece of fine art can make your house look. We’re currently in the process of tearing down some old wallpaper and repapering and painting a couple of rooms. What a mess! We picked wallpaper that would provide a subtle background and not fight with the artwork. We couldn’t just paint the walls because it’s an old house and the walls are plaster and not in the best condition. We had to take some of the artwork down until the project is complete but the empty walls are driving me nuts.
Art soothes my soul and provides mini vacations and I miss having it available. For me, personally, the house seems out of balance and I think this must be what it’s like to have jewelry that is kept in a safe, unseen and unworn, except for very special occasions. Not that I would have experience of that, you understand. But I’ve often tried to imagine what that must be like. I could never collect anything just for the sake of collection, even art. And while it’s true that art is an investment, I’m driven by love, not financial planning. Coveted art makes you feel like the first time you realized that someone else (for me, Dear Husband) is your joyful soulmate and you want to spend the rest of your life with them…
The hospital isn’t the noblesse of the art world by any means, but it ‘artfully’ contrived to distract me from the indignities of the necessary but dreaded yearly “scourge,” just a smidge. Works for me...
The hospital and the clinic have been joined together in a mammoth renovation project which has been in progress for an aggravating couple of years. Traversing the construction mess and torn up streets surrounding it has been a minor nightmare but it’s finished now and they’ve even managed to restore order to the parking lot. As a result, it’s easier to find the re-routed but beautifully rejuvenated department you have to visit in the sumptuous new monolith.
An appointment at the hospital now more approximates going to a posh hotel or a museum than a visit to the flesh repair shop. That is, except for negotiating the stupid too-small, and very irksome roundabout, that the town fathers, in an appalling lack of wisdom and planning, insisted on putting at the entrance to the hospital where it joins the street. It’s unreasonably tight and confusing, especially in the winter when it’s icey or when the snow drifts shrink the driving area even further. The ‘roundabout’ is the town fathers’ current idée fixe. Most of us hate that danged thing! They want to put four more of them around the town too. That’s it. I’m moving!
But that said, the hospital is now gorgeous! They’ve done a swell job. And the artwork is wonderful. Everywhere you look there is some interesting and colorful representation… I can’t even grumble convincingly about the Mammy Suite since they have hung some splendid artwork. In fact, I even almost forgive them for the nasty television set in the elegant little reception area, which is always on and can’t be ignored. I hate television. It puts me in a bad space. I try to be graceful about this since so many people seem to actually need television, but it’s very distracting to those of us who prefer to read and/or listen to music (and I don’t mean Muzak or the top ‘pop’!).
The Mammy Suite sported two large and especially nice art prints, not etchings or lithographs, but decent quality poster prints of fine artwork. They were very nicely framed and looked quite spiffy. I wouldn’t expect them to hang ‘the real McCoys, since they already hang in museums. Goodness knows the framing, even for the prints, was probably costly enough. That I'm sure of because last year and the year before, our budget had a serious hurt put on it due to framing. We updated some of our artwork and had to frame some new pieces we acquired.
By the time you pick out an appropriate frame, no easy task since they have billions of examples of beautiful framing materials from which to select, and an equal assortment of acid-free mat materials, you're already in over your head. How many shades of white or natural or different colors can you think of? Well, trust me, there are even more than that. At this point, you’ve probably already exceeded your monthly salary and you haven’t even gotten to the glass and the labor. I always know just what I want until I get there and see all the styles. Mama Mia, such a lotta decisions to make! It boggles the eyeballs. I finally learned…never go to the framery when on a tight schedule, never mind a tight budget. On the other hand, I have become good friends with my framer and I never would have known her otherwise.
We’ve been using the custom UV protective glass for protecting our artwork but that’s even more expensive yet. There are some who don’t care for the UV protective glass, saying that it “dulls” the aspect, but we have not noticed any appreciable dimming of the colors. We feel that it’s important to protect fragile art from solar damage as much as possible since the sun can be so destructive. It’s like putting sun-block cream on your skin. Of course I never do. There’s an irony here…
I just came across an interesting phrase in something I read today about framing… The article said: “ A true archival frame job is not just the materials and techniques you use today, but the stewardship you provide in the future.” I like that… How appropriate…stewardship. For art, properly taken care of, will probably be around long after we are gone. Goodness knows, a lot of our stuff has long succeeded the artist who wrought it.
Interestingly enough, the man who restored, cleaned and reframed a slightly damaged George Wainwright Harvey watercolor that I’ve had for many years, doesn’t believe the UV protective glass is worth the expense. But he does believe in using museum quality framing, which is specially made and not cut and joined at the corners as usual, and that was way expensive I can tell you! Beautiful beyond belief but expensive as all get out…
The framer and restoration specialist’s name is David Putnam, who is also a professional photographer and whose work is very similar to that of Ansel Adams’ black and white photography. He has one camera that he uses which produces an 8x10 negative. That must be one monster of a camera to produce a negative that big! I wouldn’t even want to imagine the size of the enlarger he uses. His pictures are awesome!! We bought one of his photographs last year as a joint anniversary gift to each other. It’s a wonderful picture. It’s custom framed, signed, and designated AP, which means it was his art print…and large(!). We were reminded of how large it was when we tried to find the right spot to hang it.
It’s amazing how shabby a piece of fine art can make your house look. We’re currently in the process of tearing down some old wallpaper and repapering and painting a couple of rooms. What a mess! We picked wallpaper that would provide a subtle background and not fight with the artwork. We couldn’t just paint the walls because it’s an old house and the walls are plaster and not in the best condition. We had to take some of the artwork down until the project is complete but the empty walls are driving me nuts.
Art soothes my soul and provides mini vacations and I miss having it available. For me, personally, the house seems out of balance and I think this must be what it’s like to have jewelry that is kept in a safe, unseen and unworn, except for very special occasions. Not that I would have experience of that, you understand. But I’ve often tried to imagine what that must be like. I could never collect anything just for the sake of collection, even art. And while it’s true that art is an investment, I’m driven by love, not financial planning. Coveted art makes you feel like the first time you realized that someone else (for me, Dear Husband) is your joyful soulmate and you want to spend the rest of your life with them…
The hospital isn’t the noblesse of the art world by any means, but it ‘artfully’ contrived to distract me from the indignities of the necessary but dreaded yearly “scourge,” just a smidge. Works for me...
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