Vancouver House, continued

The 1400 Howe Street block is gradually filling & I am learning the rhythm of the work cycle, floor by floor, north end & south end. 
Since March 19th when the day of Vancouver's biggest concrete pour happened, four floors of the underground parking area has been competed.

All the lateral anchors into the earth are being gradually trimmed off. [Man with tool, other man with controls.] I was surprised by that. I thought the lateral anchors away from the building would be tied in to the next layer of wall concrete, but no.

The first layer of stabilizing pipes coming out & being stored east of Granville Street where the old Buster's Lot was. This lot was part of our visual life at the Imagination Market.
After the Big Pour the north end of the site was leveled with gravel, covered with yellow plastic, & then tons of rebar in a grid pattern.
Meanwhile on the south end platform work is started for the parking garage floors. (south end below, north end above)


 


This shows the  concrete pouring once that grid was complete.

In the Busters Lot there is a crew of men making rebar pillar cages. These cages are manufactured close to save on transportation costs. They take up a lot of room. 
 
   
The flat forms to create walls are stored in that yard too.

 
They get moved to the site, as do the pillar cages.  Here you can see pillar cages (upper right) & platforms.

In any of the photos below you can see some aspect of the work. 

*Grey wires mean electrical system for the floor below.
*Cross-hatch of rebar means reinforced flooring.
*Flat wood surfaces mean walls or floors-- all to be removed after the concrete is fully set. (The 2x4s & the 4'x8' plywood sheets get reused on the next floor up.)
*Stanchions mean support for the next floor.
*Men with safety harnesses mean wall or pillar work.

This work will be going on  for several more months...
  

I love the 2x4 fans of support. They are so ribs & boat-reminiscent!
 
                                                                          Perfect electrical layout below.

                                Tons & tons & tons of rebar; ditto concrete!
                             

    

 

....& then...we suddenly will be at street level!!
That will maybe be in 9 weeks
Someone told me it will be three weeks per floor.

That's it for now.

Textile work-- It's been so long.... Quilts from the past, long forms phase....

I have done quite a few densely quilted quilts & quite a few with long linear forms.
I called this one Journeys.


           

I love the look & feel of dense linear quilting!
The next work I called Indigo Braiding.
I tightly braided three strips of white cloth & dip-dyed them several times in indigo. After the braid was dry the braid was opened and the strips sewn together to make a single central piece.
The side panels were thinner braids, less dyed.

This one is Giacometti Gestures... those long sculptures of his!!
        

Then came Miro's Moves.
  

In the one below I used offcuts from Maiwa's dress-making.
The partial ovals are armholes' offcuts.
The colors came from a favorite spring-time shrub.


Below: Red Veins [bleed] You can't see the bleeding, but I had to wash this quilt and some of the red veins red spread out!


11 Suits on a Green Field


A very densely quilted piece  I call Chickens & Chicken Scratches, but no linear forms.



The chicken scratches were sewn when I was blindfold & with my left hand!!!
All of the chickens were created in a stitching class with Dorothy Caldwell.
You can really appreciate the ripple effects of dense quilting.

Two quilts experimenting a bit with transparent cloth &long forms. oops!! the one below is upside down!! See my name on the upper edge?
     

Three final ones
Two inspired by colors & forms of oriental carpets.
I dyed the cloth for these.




And one in the same zone as 11 suits....

That's it for now.