A Fun Day Yesterday.

I was out and about in the cool Wintery day yesterday to Doug Cartwright's house in Logan Central.  He owns a lead-lighting business and has done very well with it. Currently, he makes jewellery boxes and has worked on the set of the next Narnia film at MovieWorld.

So, I took off early yesterday, bussing it to his place via the 550 and getting off it on Jacaranda Avenue.  The last time I was anywhere near this place, I drove a car and it broke down; and that was years ago!  So, once off the bus I had to find the walkway overpass and found his house very easily.  My task today was to help him start up a blog for another artist who was arriving from Melbourne in November.  It had to be easy to use, publicly easy to find and very easy to change if she didn't like the layout; so I recommended Blogger run by Google (the same blog programs I use).  We had our fun getting him signed in and picking out a template and then working on the title and gadgets.  Doug found it very easy to work on and edit.  Then, I showed him how to change the time stamps on it through the settings tab. 

By this time, it lunch time and we all sat down with a sandwich each and a cuppa and chatted about everything and anything until the subjects were exhausted.  Doug said that if he needed my help again, he'd ask and I said I'd be happy to help with anything to do with the blog or with the Kingston Butter Factory (where the Melbourne artist was going to show her exhibition).

After lunch, Doug showed me his lead-lighting studio downstairs where some of his paintings are also stored.  It's an amazing place full of smaller pieces of glass in containers and huge pieces of glass slotted into thin upright boxes in an area near a workbench where

he keeps everything as clean as possible.  All the templates for his famous jewelery boxes he sells at the Logan Art Gallery is there on the bench and he began working out a lid with some pieces of glass.  After a little while, I watched on and then began taking up some of pieces and getting into working out the patterns.  Once we had them all put together like a little jig-saw puzzle, we had to wrap each piece around the edges and brush flux all over it.  By this time, the soldering iron was hot and the metal rod was at hand. 

I had put on a mask and gloves and the place was opened up because the flux put off a smell once the metal touched it and metal wrappings connected; thus connecting it all together.  First, though, I had to tack each piece, then get it to ridge right and let it go hard.  Doug watched and helped me when I needed it; saying that I picked up the craft very quickly.  And the only sticky part was when the back and one side didn't connect all that well; but once we flared it out a smidge, nobody really noticed.  And what a piece!  

I did take other photos during the day.  We took an afternoon tea break and had a breath of fresh air out in the backyard where I saw a lovely Husky snoozing next to a little red kitten next door and took a great photo of a dandelion before its prongs went flying; it was a great macros.

Before long, it was heading toward 4:30pm and Doug though to it best to drive me home - actually, I didn't trust the busses at that time of day and it was getting cold too; truthfully, neither did he.  Just before we left, a customer arrived with a light shade that had arrived from overseas which had been damaged in transit.  Doug said he'd get it fix in the next day or so, grab the guy's number, gave him a business card or two and then we were on our way.

Boy! Was I tired by the time it was time for dinner last night!  I wanted to write this, but decided it could wait until today.  The jewelery box is next to my bed with my rings in it.  I also thought it would be an apt place for my grandmother's necklace watch too.