Sunday catchup

Dan doesn't 'do cute'...but this little dude he made is wonderful, cute or not.  I think he's a perfect pet for the bone house.  Quiet and able to take care of himself.  No fuss.  No mess.

Bob, who is going to be renting the Bone House when its finished, got the upstairs bath sink installed and really cleaned the place up to finish the walls in there.  Way to go Bob!

You never know what cool adornment Dan is going to make.  Last week he finished the outdoor light fixture, a bone 'mask' if you will.  It's stunning.

Bones are starting to appear everywhere.  The outter decor is coming together ~ I never know what I'm going to find next when I show up.  The interior continues to move right along as well.  Josh is actually taking a week's vacation which leaves myself, Tod, Linda, Dan, Bob and his son Clay to get those bathrooms done.  I can see the finish line with the mosaic mirrored bathroom that I'm working on.  Can't wait to be done with that!

Ave H. : the pouring of the foundation

Saturday we went to Ave. H and helped George mix and pour cement for his foundation.  We being Tod and I who hope to nab the property right next door and begin building our own home too!  We don't want to miss out on helping, watching, and learning ~ so when George called me this morning saying today is the day we got over there asap. 

For many, building a house with your own two hands probably seems daunting.  I know I've always had a fantasy about building my own home but the actual building of it always intimidated me.  I think I like the idea of getting my hands dirty, being self sufficient and basically learning skills that really aren't that difficult [but daunting to someone who is right brained].  It is a challenge mentally and physically I am sure, I really have no idea.  That is why I am especially interested in being there as much as I can while George and Linda work on their home/art studio.

Tod and I were excited to get over there and see what this foundation business is all about.  It is surprisingly simple.  A few weeks ago George got all the property space figured out, various stakes and strings were posted on the property so when they lay the foundation they know where it's going and how to level it.  The inspector had to come out and make sure the ditches were deep enough etc. and once the water got turned on all that was needed was a big ole stack of 80 lb bags of cement and lots of muscle.

Dan popped by to get the water set up and to show us all the drill. [he is going to be their building mentor and Tod and I will have Josh be ours]  His truck trailer was stacked with bags of cement for us to unload.  We all got a lesson in cement mixing and basically were good to go.  As you can see in the photos, rebar is placed onto the cement.  Basically the corner ditches had four pieces of rebar (all attached by wire to make a square) and the smaller holes got two pieces of rebar.  We mixed one bag at a time, wheeled it over and dumped it in.  After two bags you lay the rebar, measure out from the top of the cement line to the string above, add 11" and cut a steel strip that attaches to the rebar then dump more cement on top of that.  The steel serves to better secure the foundation as Huntsville tends to get some intense weather when Hurricane Season hits. 

I had an appointment so after a few ditches were filled I was out of there.  Tod and George were whipping through those bags but they all needed to get used up so a few hours later it was my turn to help. Tod had already left when I got there and George was working away on his own.  I'm sure he would have been fine without me, but I'm glad I was able to help with the last six ditches.  It was very satisfying I gotta say.  I loved mixing the cement, there is a certain groove to it and when you get it right its like batter.  It's delicious.  Hard work yeah, but mighty satisfying.

By 6pm all of the ditches for the house were filled as well as 1/3 of the studio. It takes about three days for the cement to fully dry and then blocks of cement are placed onto that.  I will find out whats up with that and keep you posted.  In the meantime George is going to show Tod and I how he got his house blueprints made up so we can get ours done and march off to the bank to see where we stand with a loan.

* the name of the house is still being worked out ~ for now it's listed on flickr as the Butterfly Glass House on Ave. H.  Click here to see a slideshow of the progress.

labor of love and then some

Linda has made progress in a big way this week.  I think one of my favorite things about this bathroom shower is the cut out bottle parts she employs.  A rather difficult endeavor by the sound of it, the bottles can break easily when she cuts them.  The end result varies from delicate to chunky sized 'rings' that she then fills with a chunk of mosaic.  (post below) Long thin ceramic pieces lead up to these circles creating a stem or vine like image.  I still don't know how she is able to blend so many pieces into a cohesive piece of art!

I'm still working on the other downstairs bathroom that appears to have worn everyone out (don't forget the art studio walls are 2/3 mirror shards).  It is going to be 100% mirror shards from floor to ceiling. Tod has spent most of his work week cutting mirror and smoothing it so I can add it to the walls.  I am always reminded when I pop in to work a few hours here and there of how hard everyone on the crew has worked to make each and every piece of this house unique!

bathroom details

 Linda's Mosaic Design in the downstairs bedroom shower.

Below is the redwood ceiling that Josh made in the same room.

Upstairs shower: tile mosaic in progress

The bathrooms seem to be the focus right now.  Linda is diligently working away on the downstairs shower mosaic. It took me awhile to 'get' mosaic, and this shower wall is sealing the deal for me.  It is chunky and funky and full of variety.  It's fun to follow the 'trail' of vertical pieces and run into the big round broken glass; visually it is a great stopping point that really works! Josh made the ceiling from donated Redwood and worked that wood until it was smooth and beautiful.  By sealing it with polyurethane it is good to go!  Beautiful, rich and compliments the shower mosaic perfectly. 

The upstairs bathroom is still in progress as well.  As you can see in the last photo, tile is being used in the shower and it blends in with the tile floor quite nicely. Meanwhile,  Dan and Clay are doing the underpinning of the foundation right now, nasty hard work with lots of bug welts by the end of the day.  I'll spare pictures of that!

Bone House progress report

Believe it or not I went to the Bone House yesterday to take some pictures of the latest progress.  Upon first notice, the most noticeable change is the garden and outdoor yard area.  While it is true we are having a drought here, you'd never know it by the flourishing garden alongside bushes and trees that are big and green with new growth.  The devastation from last years fire is barely noticeable to the untrained eye.  It's beautiful and lush as the corn towers over my head, the herbs and other vegetables are growing like weeds!

The outside of the Bone House and the studio look pretty complete too, both buildings are large by Dan's usual standards and give off the sense of having been here for a long time.  Perhaps it is just the look of the wood, but it feels very old and wise ~ this place that Dan, all the wonderful volunteers and the crew have nurtured for well over a year now.

Bone House back view

side of studio behind the bone house

The inside has changed the most, the downstairs 'Phoenix Rising' floor made entirely from cut pieces of Honduras Mahogany, Walnut and Pine is complete!  It is stunning.  Linda's son George drew the design onto the floor from a previous drawing done by Jared Gamble and then Linda the cut the wood out with a band saw. My favorite part about this is the beautiful 'black' color from the wood, it looks so much like a tile of some sort I had to take a closer look.  It is mind blowing how anyone can make all those pieces of wood 'fit'....make it work into a cohesive piece of art!  The hours and hours that it took for the crew to cut up small pieces of wood is also mind blowing. We are talking weeks and weeks of very tedious work, but it is worth it as it is an original piece of art that leaves no reason to fill up the house with too much superfluous STUFF.  You see, the entire house IS the art.  Dan is a visionary.  He isn't a home builder as much as he is a visionary Artist who also happens to care an awful lot about the environment, waste, and helping people to help themselves. His medium is 'homes'.  His work of art.  The Bone House is a testament to the creativity that resides within him.

Here are a few more pictures of the latest progress.  Go to the Flickr page to see a slideshow or individual pictures of each project.  Here is the link to Bone House set of photos. Five pages worth!

above: 1. bone 'tile' kitchen counter.  2. 'Phoenix Rising' wood floor  3.  sliced bone floor 'tile' on steps
4.  tile mosaic in the downstairs 'bottle cap bedroom'

And in other Phoenix Commotion news:  Both Linda and George are literally breaking ground on their Phoenix Commotion House/Art Studio that they will share together, so look for posts about their progress in the near future!   Linda has been on the 'crew' for the last year + , working hard at the Bone House.  George is her son, with 2 children of his own, and both are artists so I cannot wait to see their place when it is done!

Josh, who has been Dan's 'main man' has also bought land and will be working away on his own home very soon.  Josh is also going to start his own Phoenix Commotion here in Huntsville.  If Tod and I are able to buy a lot next to Linda and George, Josh will be our building Mentor.  As it stands, right now, Dan is going to be George and Linda's mentor.  Their property is right across the street from Eric's house, which if all goes as planned will also be finished this year.  So, lots going on and I look forward to being a better reporter here!