Installing A Plaster Ceiling Medallion

Alex and Bill installed this very fine 3 ft.; 13 piece plaster acanthus leaf design ceiling medallion, together this weekend. The mold for this medallion is from an antique found in a 19th century brownstone in Boston's historic South End, circa 1850. Alex first fashioned a metal apparatus behind the center piece to allow for easy access to the electrical box with parts from Home Depot. He then used an electric disc sander to make the backs of all pieces flat before brushing smooth and priming fronts with a spray coat of "Cover Stain". The next day Bill painted the fronts with Benjamin Moore latex white ceiling paint to match the surrounding sheetrock ceiling. The first exterior pieces were glued with "Loctite Power Grab" along a centered parallel line to the long wall of the room. By laying out the medallion on the floor first, the spacing and positioning between parts was noted. Light: Tom Dixon Etch Web.

 

A 45th Princeton University Reunion

In May of 2020, our Princeton University Class of 1975 will celebrate it's 45th Reunion and the planning for this 5 yr. major event has well begun. Since Bill and I helped with the 25th (I designed the fabric for Class blazers to be worn) housing families and contracting food, beverage and bands; while continuing as chairs for the next ten years....we will be involved with costumes and libations only. Whew. Above is a teddy made from Class of  '58 Reunion fabric "Hand Print" by Lily Pullitzer and a gift to me from a wonderful '75 classmate... which inspired several stuffed animals below of '75 Class Reunion jacket fabric.

I used a vintage McCalls pattern sold on Etsy which originally cost $.35, came without sewing instructions and smaller in scale compared to their inspiration. They do have squeakers I stuck inside and real diploma ribbons though. Below is the fabric on "Prade".

Making Mugs

This Thanksgiving week Bill has had enough time off to make ceramic mugs for the seasonal studio show and gifts this time of year. He has also managed to finish a second tall "sister" sculpture.


The Open House Studio Show will be Saturday, Dec. 8th from noon until 6pm at 1177 Croton Rd., Flemington, NJ.

Heating The House

This Jotul F 3CB wood stove burns over night and all day during the weekend to help heat Christian's 2,000 sf farmhouse. It is the world's best value for heating dollar and best selling small/medium cast iron wood stove in North America. Before getting it installed much work went into digging out from under it, rebuilding the foundation, creating a hearth topped with old bricks and installing a new chimney liner. Bill and Alex drove to Maine to purchase this stove (used six times) for half price. It came with all parts for installation and some we sold, besides fire tending tools.

Bill also helped Christian install an efficient Weil McLain six zone gas burner system which runs PEX hydronic floor and modern Runtall cast iron wall heat, as well as forced hot air in new duct work.  Christian spends about $100/mo. for heat during the winter here.

 

The air handler is installed in the new crawl space under the dining room, fireplace and oldest part of the house. Left are the PEX lines installed 6" apart instead of the usual 8", to create more heat in the bathrooms. The carved out return boards came from a company in Montana and the solarium to the right has a Runtal cast iron wall heater.

Maya Lin Coffee Table

We have been using our Maya Lin Stones around the newly painted barns and now have a coffee table from this Knoll collection. They are lovely shapes and colors together while easy to move around the lawn and then store or use in the barns.

This week was the dedication of Maya Lin's two Princeton University installations, "The Princeton Line"; an earth sculpture commemorating Princeton's Dinky train, and "Einstein's Table"; a granite water table paying tribute to Princeton's resident Albert Einstein. I went to hear her speak about the works and her focused environmental approach to art and life. What a brilliant artist and architect who grew up playing with clay and exploring the southern woods of Ohio. 

Barn Cupolas

Venting a barn with a cupola is critical to cool, stop dangerous condensation and reduce the hazard of spontaneous combustion. The small animal barn was missing its' cupola top above the hayloft, so I found a classic "Manchester" style made to order with premium grade cypress and a 24 gauge copper roof from Good Directions. They are lovely and we have installed two of them now on both parts of this barn; one with an "Avon" finial and the larger has a refurbished weather vane on Good Direction pole parts. This is a terrific company with wonderfully crafted products, and outstanding employees!

Installation was easy with expert advice.

Gardening In October

The two Toshiko Takaezu Moonpots at Old Farm are now quite impressive with the lily garden subdued and the lawn not full of leaves yet this mild October. What a lovely weekend it was to garden on the Cape and take an inspirational trip to Nantucket.

Toshiko Takaezu became famous as a potter for elevating functional ceramic vessels into fine art. Her most popular series of Moonpots (1937-2010) were closed spherical ceramic sculptures; of which Bill repaired two he was given to save from structural cracks. Toshiko taught at Princeton University for twenty-five years and Bill spent a year as her apprentice in the Clinton, NJ studio.

Bottom images are of Nantucket window boxes and a garden in October when the landscaping and houses are still swell.

So Long Summer

It was a wonderful summer full of warm days painting barns, watching the fields and napping in the hammock grove. We are lucky that it does not feel quite over...and we are still painting.

Barn Windows

Our barn windows span many years of basic design, purpose and restoration. We are now repairing the last wall of windows in the small animal barn which is part of two adjacent horse stalls. The top window of the hayloft had a heavy piece of cloth stapled to its' top and I have found the six pane window with top hinges to remount there. The bottom two windows have new pieces of trim after removing large sheets of press board nailed to this wall; protecting it from horses.

This is the last barn wall power washed and just painted as well as the last group of windows "outside" to repair. The left window slides open with iron bars behind it and the right window has side hinges and four glass panes which need a new muntin. The impact of repairing all our barn windows has been remarkable and great fun.

Best Of Bill

Some garden seats or tables and sculptures (search either in blog posts for more)...

PAW Page For Bill

Recently, Princeton Alumni Weekly magazine photographed Bill and his ceramic work which appeared this month on the prestigious "Princetonians" full bleed focus page. This is quite an honor and well deserved in my opinion of course. Ricardo Barros was the photographer whose work is professionally superb; also having photographed Bill's mentor and Princeton ceramic professor Toshiko Takaezu for his own book: "Facing Sculptures". Bill has now sold two large sculptures to museums in Kansas City and Brooklyn while shipping garden seats as far as Florida.

Although Bill is also busy bringing a drug-eluting heart balloon to market at work, his diligent artistic studio efforts have never waned with Princeton University providing him opportunity to study with the best in every way.  PAW page copy below. 




FIRED UP: Bill Baumbach '75 *87 took his first ceramics course at Princeton with Toshiko Takeazu while working toward his undergraduate degree in biochemistry. Before beginning his graduate studies in molecular biology, he spent a year as Takaezu's apprentice. Baumbach has pursued science in parallel with art ever since. "To me, the thought processes used in science and art are very much alike," he says. "Experimentation, creativity, and technical excellence are driving forces in both areas."

Maya Lin Stones

Maya Lin Stones were introduced in 1998 to celebrate Knoll's 60th Anniversary, it's roots in the Bauhaus, and the middle ground between art and design. They celebrate Lin's love for the land and when one discovers the earth is round; exploring it to find the curve. Molded of polyethylene and 100% recycled product, they come in a variety of colors for outdoor or indoor use. I found a pair in blue to use in and around the barns here where the big barn roof is "slate blue". Maya Lin is well known for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, selected while a freshman at Yale. She is presently installing two grand commissions adjacent to the new Lewis Center for the Arts Complex at Princeton University.

 Top image from DWR.