Making Big Bucks!!

I promise next month we will talk about Mesquite and Mesquite Furniture making. But for now it's all about making "BIG Bucks"......

Llano's Trail of the Deer herd was successfully unveiled Sunday, June 27th and Lou Quallenberg Studios contribution "Mr. Big Bucks" was finally, officially complete and off of our plate.  You would think it would be a relief to have it off the schedule but I think, just as any artistic endeavor, once completed there is a feeling of loss or "Oh no now what?"  They are our babies after all. Now we have our dining room back and our evenings are once again available for whatever or wherever the night leads us, but there is still that hole.

Our entry "Mr. Big Bucks" started out as a hundred dollar bill design, trying to play up the "Bucks" theme.  I also thought it would not hurt us to be staring at hundred dollar bills for the next 30 days. The power of visualization is an awesome power that I have seen in action many times in my life. Some skeptics may call it a coincidence that the phone started ringing and opportunities began pouring in but I hafta disagree.  I am SURE that working on this "free" community art project has been a rain maker for us. You should try it!  Get an image of money and work on a fun project with it for 30 days and see what happens. It could change your life!!

The first layer of money green was applied with the help of my sweet sister Heather Martin and my nephew Matthew Martin. We would and could have done it without them, but it would not have been half as much fun.  There was a great deal of surface to cover and  the help was greatly appreciated. Matthew also helped some with the metallic gold antlers and eyes.

After the base coat was completed we let it air dry over Memorial Day weekend - while we were at the lake.  We then moved him from the Lou Quallenberg Studios shop to the house so that I could work on him as I had the energy- sometimes late at night. 

We originally thought we would airbrush the design but had to revert back to hand painting when Lou could not get the paints to work with the airbrush.  With only thirty days total to complete the project and the air brush idea out, we decided to go "old school".  Lou painted Harley choppers in the 70's so we fell back on his taping skills.  Let me just say Lou Quallenberg is amazing with tape!   There were multiple layers of tape to get all the lines in their proper places. Taping is an art in and of itself. The tape was great for all the lines but we could not really tape Ben Franklin off.

While at the lake my brother Shawn Walker cut a stencil of Ben Franklin using an enlarged version of an image of a hundred dollar bill that I created on the computer. Unfortunately  since we were at the lake for Memorial Day weekend we did not realize that the large size and sculpted curves in the deer form would not work well together.  So onto Plan B or is that C now? We decided to reduce the size of the bill.  This meant much more work for less coverage and perhaps less bang for our "buck"?  

So I  used the stencil Shawn made to make a painted print on paper, which I scanned into the computer and re sized to create smaller stencils.  The first large stencil was cut out of contact paper, the smaller stencils were cut out of vellum because it was easier for me to cut them out with the x-acto knife.  More stencils were required because the vellum was less durable than the contact paper and we had reduced the size of the bill meaning more Ben's were required.

 We began to run out of time and energy so the 100's were added to the four corners of the bills.  At this point we decided the look was close enough to get the point across and we moved on to adding dollar signs using stencils of different sizes. Each dollar sign was drawn with pencil and then hand painted.   The process was time consuming and ran us late into the night.  I decided to pull out the glow-in-the-dark paint and painted his ears and spots on the grass.  So YES! He does glow in the dark. 

Sister Heather came to the rescue Saturday along with my teenage niece Taylor Martin.  Shawn also came in from Austin to lend a helping hand.  They all kept working on hand painting the dollar signs, while I began the Pyramid under the right eye.  Lou came in behind me taping the bricks and painting them in. We both worked on the eyelashes or glow around the eye.  

It was Sunday morning early on Father's Day and "Mr. Big Bucks" was due at T Paint and Body for his urethane gloss coat on Monday. We both  looked at each other and decided he was DONE.  We spent the day with my Dad, away from the many shades of green paint and our totally wrecked dining room/paint studio.

"Mr. Big Bucks" is currently grazing in front of Llano National Bank on Ford Street in Llano for the next month or so.  "Mr. Big Bucks" and the rest of the herd are available for purchase through an online, auction-style bidding process that ends February 2011. For details check with Robin  Chiesa 325/247-4963 at Circle on the square Art Gallery in Llano. ALL of the money goes to charity and the continuation of the Trail of the Deer Community Art Project.   If "Mr. Big Bucks" brings his owner/purchaser as much good fortune as he has brought us then he is really worth his weight in gold!!!

Reflections of Spring in the Texas Hill Country

This has been an amazing year for Texas Bluebonnets and Wildflowers especially here in the Texas Hill Country! They have been bursting over the edges of the roadsides and are taller than I can ever in my forty plus years remember. (We tried to celebrate my 44 and his 54 years this month, but were so worried over our sweet Louie who we nearly lost to a serious kidney problem. He has dropped alot of weight but we think he is out of the woods now.)

This year we have taken a few moments here and there to stop and smell the bluebonnets. Yes, they do actually have a scent! When they are in mass abundance they give off a light, sweet fragrance that reminds me of my childhood,  Hill Country Spring and winding Texas back roads. The smell of  Texas Bluebonnets and Texas Mountain Laurel are both such delicate fragrances that require long term memory storage because they happen only briefly once a year and most years are barely noticeable to the undiscerning, unconscious nose.

Capturing the oceans, lakes and ribbons of blue flowers on film (or pixels) is not an easy task although many do attempt it.  Lou's Bluebonnet in a Mesquite Frame (shown here) is popular with the many Wildflower hunters.

This year the tourists, photographers both professional and amateur, and spring breakers descended on the Texas Hill Country like a swarm of bees.  Don't get me wrong we appreciate the boost to the economy, I just wonder if we should stop them at the county line with a list of rules or warnings.

Something like:   

• No matter how great the photo-op do not stop and/or park in the middle of a highway.

• If the speed limit is 70 mph then driving 35 mph is hazardous to your health.

• Remember that Bluebonnet/Wildflower Season is the same as Rattlesnake Season, look and listen before you step.

• Fire ants live under Bluebonnets/Wildflowers look before plopping your baby or child in that patch of pretty flowers.

• Do you really need a sign to tell you that you are trespassing?

The Ross Bedside-End Table was picked up this month.  They had a busy spring schedule including a trip to Santa Fe that kept them from picking it up sooner. This sweet little table was designed to fit a very small space between the bed and wall with enough room to have a small drawer.  It has Lou's signature, floating, sculpted, live edge top and shelf, and curved legs. The deer antler drawer pull matches their other piece.

We know the clients were happy to add it to their collection. The weekend they picked it up they caught the tail end of the Bluebonnets and managed to catch the State Championship Goat Cook-off in Golthwaite. We had such a nice visit at the shop, then lunch at the Acme Cafe and a quick look at Circle on the square Gallery.

Speaking of Circle on the square we are proud to announce that we were chosen as one of six artists to participate in Llano's Trail of the Deer Community Art Project.  This will be a collaborative, partnership effort on both our parts. We will be painting one of the life sized White Tailed Deer sculptures scheduled to arrive in Llano, Texas the week of May17th. The artists will have 30 days to complete their Deer.  The Painted Deer will be placed around town in various revolving locations, attending local parades and events and then auctioned off at the end of the project.  We are excited and honored to be a part of this Community Art Project that promotes both the Arts and Tourism in the Texas Hill Country. 

Lou has designed and created several new mesquite mirrors  with turquoise inlay which can be seen and purchased at one of our gallery representatives:

Artisans at Rocky Hill in Fredericksburg

Circle on the square in Llano

Riverbend Fine Art in Marble Falls

or custom ordered through one of the Gallery's and/or directly through the website.  We do require that you let us know how you found out about us so that we can compensate our representatives properly.  They work hard to get the word out about Lou's mesquite furniture and art and we want to be sure they are taken care of.

Lou really likes to design and create mirrors and I wonder if it might have something to do with the fact that mirrors offer the viewer a reflection.  I think sometimes we see our physical selves as the image reflected back in a mirror, sometimes we see our souls in the image reflected back, and sometimes if we are lucky and look deeply we see the connection to others in ourselves reflected back.

Perhaps making mesquite mirrors is Lou's way of spreading light?

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton

To me he is both candle and mirror.....

It's all about CURVES baby

In case you had not noticed, Lou Quallenberg’s work is all based on curves. The natural curves found in the mesquite wood, the curves of the female body form that inspire him and the curves and angles found in the 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville that continues to influence his work. Jim Brandvik an artist friend, AKA “The Original Horseshoe Engraver” pointed out that Lou had used the line of beauty on his Mesquite Partners Desk.  Upon further inspection we found the “Line of Beauty” in almost every single curve on that desk. It was hiding in plain sight in Lou’s signature bow tie, where he uses it in both the length and width of that design. If you take the time to look you will find it there hidden in most of his pieces.  This line of beauty knowledge must have sunk into his unconscious mind because it took Jim’s artist eye to spot it and point it out before we even realized that Lou was using it.  He may have learned it many years ago in an art class or from a book on art.  The “Line of Beauty”  is also known as Hogarth’s curve  or a “lazy S” design.  The Hogarth curve is one of the more common designs taught in floral design, which in case you did not know is a part of my educational background. The Central Market/ (for HEB)  Floral Department being one of my favorite little creations.

I cannot let the February posting of this blog go without mention of my usual but unusual Valentine’s Day gifts from Lou (yeah it’s an enigma - just like him.) It is ALWAYS some type of heart and with his plunge into custom mesquite furniture making, my most recent hearts have been crafted from mesquite. Lou’s hearts are not the standard, symmetrical, valentine style heart’s that we all learned to draw in elementary school.  His hearts have curves (of course.)  It is always a surprise and I never know what to expect.  I have received small palm sized smooth hearts, a standing heart with copper flames, and this year the heart was copper embedded inside of a large mesquite hinged card, complete with it’s own thin mesquite envelope/sleeve!

We have recently joined in partnership with a new Gallery that is set to open in Llano, Texas the first few weeks in March.  The gallery “Circle on the square” is owned and operated by the very lovely and talented Robin Chiesa. We wish her tons of success!! The Gallery Logo and website (still under construction) were both conceptualized, developed and created by yours truly - Lou Quallenberg Studios! We still do logos, brochures and branding as well as commercial Photography. Lou’s Mesquite Furniture and Photography will be featured at the Gallery along with artwork by the following Hill Country artist’s: Russell Baros, Danielle Carmichael, Robin Chiesa, Jane Lynch, and Sheri Zoch.

A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone that watched the YouTube first video we created last month. As of this posting it has been watched 250 times (with 249 of those being me- just kidding!) Thank you for forwarding it to your friends, family and other folks you thought might have interest. Please do not hold it against us that Video #2 is not quite ready for viewing. What can I say? February is a short month and 2-3 days to a procrastinator is a huge amount of time. On top of that we are perfectionists and well hey it’s just not perfect yet!! We will post it when it is ready, even if  it’s not perfect. I know you can't wait but please bear with us and stay tuned!!