The Beast

This thing has been hanging over my head since the beginning of June and I'm about to wash my hands of it at long last. I had the foresight a few weeks ago to hire someone to assist in the installation when I realized that Rob and I could not do it alone. I'm a little bit proud to say that, aside from being the supportive, loving, and helpful man that he is and tying the panels to the top of our car and making a number of trips to the church, Alina and I did it ourselves. Yup, Alina. Rob questioned my choice when I hired the only female applicant, but her twenty-plus years of curatorial experience spoke to me. The moment we met earlier this week I knew I had made the right decision. There was no way on earth I would've gotten it done without this little trooper's help. She is tiny. I, at 5'4 1/2", towered over her. Anyway, the lady knows her way around with the power tools, was filled with wisdom, and makes sure she does her job the right way. We finished in two sessions, yesterday logging eight hours hefting those heavy-as-lead MDF panels up and down the ladder while the church staff would periodically peer in on our progress. I learned a lot. For instance, just because it's a wall does not indicate that the line is straight, much in the same that I'd be a fool to assume that my boards were also cut straight (not that the guy who did the cutting inspired much confidence in me in the first place). It's usually going to be a lose-lose situation whenever you're not both designing and erecting the building and cutting your boards in your own shop. We ended up doing a lot of remeasuring, cutting, tilting, leaning, and faking the boards to fit the space. The mural is wonky, but that's okay. Such is the nature of things when you're not painting directly on the surface, which is exactly what I plan to do the next time I get involved with a project like this. Maybe when Olive is all grown up and I get tired of hanging out with Rob. In other words, probably not too soon.