Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Color!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been very busy and many exciting things have been happening with the project. I got copies of the relevant volumes of the Complete Works of Frank Lloyd Wright by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer (the 1980s version, not the 2010 version) and it has been a treasure trove. Plans, elevations, details, sketches and more that I've never seen before. Now I have wonderful drawings of all the sides of all the sculptures (except what's in the Winter Garden), and I've found out some of the colors.

I had seen the sketch of the elaborate balcony decoration and saw that a note said it was to be inlaid with red glass. My suspicion was that the decorative concrete pattern that covers most of the Belvederes was supposed to have some as well. As I was leafing through the book, I happened to stop on the pages covering the Avery Coonley House and there, in color, was a sketch of exactly what I was looking for, just mislabeled as for the Coonley House instead of Midway Gardens. And believe me when I say that there was absolutely no way I was mistaken. It showed red glass inserted into the concrete and it also showed that some of the concrete was to be painted black. I've applied it to the model and I have to say that over a large surface the effect is really surprising. I honestly can't say my opinion at this time, but it does fit and makes the plain concrete seem rather bland by comparison.

Another color revelation is a bit of a leap of faith, but only a small one. For the sketch for the so-called 'totem pole' figure holding its mugs of beer, there were indications that parts of the figure should be painted (and when I finally get to that, it will be) but it was originally supposed to have a light pole attached to it. The surprise was that the light pole was supposed to be gilded. Therefore, I don't think it's a terrible stretch to think that all of the pinnacles at Midway were supposed to be as well. I'm going to give it a try.

Nothing has been happening on the FLW Foundation front. I'm beginning to despair of ever having access to their treasure trove, but I do have some new venues to explore. I recently purchased a book on all of Wrights windows called Light Screens: The Complete Leaded Glass of Frank Lloyd Wright. The author, Julie L. Sloaan, is an expert on stained glass and has done extensive restoration work on historic stained glass. I'm going to contact her after I have the windows for the Midway Gardens Club done. Thanks to her book, which replroduces some sketches in color, I found out that the windows are all done in red, black, white, and clear glass. This seems to be consistent throught the work.

Speaking of books, I finished Anthony Alofsin's Frank Lloyd Wright: the Lost Years. It took a long time to finish, and was a bit intense in places, but was seriously mind-blowing and wonderful. He has a different perspective on Wright and his decoration than Kruty, and it was great to get a fresh look at Midway Gardens. I want to contact Mr. Alofsin as well.

I've also started work on one of the murals for the Garden Club. While murals were completed for the Tavern on the other side of the Gardens, it looks like nothing was ever done for the walls of the Garden Club. Since something was surely meant to be there, and since I don't want to design something myself, I've decided to use the murals from the tavern, but put them on opposite walls and reverse them. It's not a perfect solution, but will at least make them look somewhat different from those in the Tavern. I've got measured drawings, photos, and colored pencil sketches for these. All three differ from one another, and I'm picking and choosing a bit, but the final result is far more accurate than anything anyone else has done, and I'm pretty excited about that.

As always, comments are very welcome.



So much needs to be done here, but I like how the mural is coming along. It's realy fun and adds so much to the space. I can't wait to finish the doors as well, which are kind of a mess right now. They will be stained glass when finished.



Here is the view with the glass imbedded in the concrete. It's a neat effect. The poles at the top are supposed to be gilded, but I think they look silver-have to play around with that some. You'll notice there are some rudimentary sculptures above the entrance. They will be Sprites when they're done, but God only knows when that will be. I've been struggling with them for a while and they are getting nowhere, but I'll figure it out and I already have some ideas to help.