oops! i've done it again...

Out of bounds?

I assumed that the surface that I am painting on was ready for me. A lot of work had been done on it, but it wasn't really what I would call finished. Noone else arrived to work on it while I was there. So, in true Kiwi do-it-yourself style, I plastered and sanded and killed the mildew etc, not wanting to paint over bumps and living mould.

While I was working on it today, dust mask on, hooded jacket and face covered with fine white dust, the owner of the apartment called in. Ooops... The last time we met was at an official ceremony; I was on my best behaviour, and all spruced up! I wonder if he recognised me?

However...

On Monday someone else is coming to complete the preparatory and background work, and I can get on with the finer details of the painting. It was a little difficult sorting out who did what, and who will do what parts of the work where background colour meets design, but as far as I can make out I just have to do the intricate stuff, and "not get dirty".

I suspect that I have stepped over a boundary I didn't recognise, a little bit like mowing my own grass. Just quietly, I enjoyed getting the lower part of the surface prepared, but I am more than a little bit happy that I don't have to do the high part or paint the whole ceiling in the background colour. This afternoon was spent trialling colours and different mediums to see what will hold best. Acrylic is easiest to use on the various different surfaces, but shouldn't really be used over rabbit-skin glue. Decisions, decisions! Tempera wasn't holding on the beautiful original surface because there was no intonico, and where it did hold it needed to be re-sealed despite using the rabbitskin glue to mix it. This (unfinished) has dried too dark; I need a more delicate touch and possibly a lighter base colour.

Yesterday I treated the mouldy area below the plaster; it seems to be OK now. I left the part above the plaster as a "control".

Today I am grateful for the little bit of language we had in common as we discussed the work.