Happy Halloween, everyone! Unfortunately, we can't really celebrate too much, since superstition and black magic are very real here, so putting up witches and whatnot is not really a good idea. I did wear my monster head scarf on Monday, my jack-o-lanterns yesterday, and my cats and bats one today. Plus, we're going to have candles and drinks on the roof tonight, then go to Chicago House tomorrow for their party, so we aren't totally without celebrations. But no trick-or-treating. I'm really bummed that I have to miss my favorite holiday every year. Oh well.
Today was a day of Extreme Epigraphy. Normally, the blocks are turned upright so that the face we are drawing forms a relatively flat surface on which we can draw. We can easily move around the block so that we get the best light and can draw easily without our hands messing up already-drawn lines or falling off the block. But over in the corner of our block yard stand some really cool Saite blocks that are gigantic. They can't be flipped because it takes about 10 men to move them and there isn't anywhere for them to go. We were really bummed that we couldn't draw them this season, especially because one of them is cracking badly enough that we aren't sure it will still be here next year. Insert my adventurous self. I decided to get down and dirty and draw. I figured that as long as I could get the paper to stay, I could contort myself into a position where I could draw everything.
Aside from the really badly brokenness of the block, the first one wasn't too bad:
The block was at an angle, so I had to lay down to get the very bottom:
Ever the trickster, Greg decided that I needed some cooling off. Too bad I was told that I'm not allowed to take revenge on the co-director.
The second block I did posed more of a challenge. It was on it's side and flat on the ground, so didn't give me a nice slope. Plus, it was lumped in closely with a bunch of other blocks, with very little room to maneuver. On top of that, the first block I did was, like I said, cracking really badly, and it was right behind my back while working. I needed to make sure I didn't put too much weight on it (even though I'm a lot lighter now) and risk damaging it further. After a lot of finagling, I got into a position that worked. Sure, I was on my side, my knee wedged between two blocks and my legs straddling another block. Yes, the blood ran to my head the entire time I was drawing. And yes, my right arm was either completely on the ground (on top of sharp stones) or I was holding myself up by putting all my weight on my left arm on top of the block and quickly drawing with my right. No one can say I don't give everything for this project.
If my massage therapist ever gets ahold of these, she's going to wring my neck for risking my back like this. But the funny thing is, I actually felt better after getting up.
Stay tuned: I get to do one completely upside down on Saturday!
