1/21/25
Achieved
Confirming work schedule
First look at preliminary design
Entry
Today was my first meeting with Bridgette. I did not have many goals going into this meeting other than scheduling for the semester. Bridgette and I went over the schedule and when I would be able to come in to paint and subsequently when she would be able to expect me. The days we settled on are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00a-12:45p and then 3:00p-5:00p. I will start painting some samples with Bridgette on February 10th, so I will have read the play by then for sure. I would also be painting on Monday, March 3rd even though it's spring break. Bridgette then gave me some questions to send to gregg, 1) Should I be in the design meetings and 2) And when my jury is going to be since the show closes on the last week of school I won't have much of a turnaround time to get my assignments in. I told Bridgette that I will ask but I wanted to wait until I get the jury email from Gregg since I know that is coming soon and I don't want to flood Greggs emails if it's a question he is already working on answering. After a week goes by and I don't get an email I will ask him.
Overall I feel excited to start this project and I am a bit nervous on time management not only with this project but also with my required classes I have to pass to graduate. A goal that I have this semester is to recognize better when I need to ask for help and doing so.
1/29/25
Achieved
First look on final design
First day of sample painting
Needs work
Confidence
Learning the names of the paint
Entry
First day in the shop! Bridgette and I decided to get a head start on the sampling so that Bridgette would be able to bring it to the design meeting the following week. Bridgette started by showing me the gradient we would be doing with the corresponding measurements. The idea is that we will measure the tallest piece of the set and put the gradient in it, with the medium color meeting up with the halfway mark of the set piece. This will act as the reference for ALL the pieces we are painting. This way when we are painting shorter pieces of the set the gradient still falls the same way throughout the stage. One of my favorite parts of creating is the process and thinking about the order of operations, so this made me very excited!
In the shop, we started out by mixing the paint. Bridgette started by letting me take the reins on this one. I was not confident yet in my skills to be able to do this on my own so I made suggestions to Bridgette rather than telling her what colors we needed. Noticing this Bridgette started to talk through the process with me and we mixed the lightest color together. The lightest color was the hardest color. We ended up mixing Burnt Umber, White, Burnt Sienna, Golden Yellow, and Fire Red. This still ended up being greener than the rendering first suggested but at this point Bridgette said it was good enough. I took full reigns on the darkest color in the gradient. We thought that we would need Burnt Umber and Van Dyke Brown. So we started off with a 2:1 ratio of the Burnt Umber and Van Dyke Brown. But as I was mixing I noticed that I kept needing the color to be lighter. Eventually I tested just Burnt Umber on the rendering and it was an exact match! So this is what we went with.
Finally, we painted the lightest color on the sample piece bridgette constructed earlier today and set a base coat. As we painted, we noticed that we will probably need a second coat so we talked about paint techniques on a first coat. You want to get the paint strokes in a way where you don't need to fix the holidays and streaks with the second coat.
Tomorrow, we will work on the dark part of the gradient and blending it with the lighter color.
1/30/25
Achieved
Day 2 of sampling
Successful gradient!
Need work
More confidence
Be able to express my own opinions during discussion
Entry
Today was day 2 of sample work with Bridgette! I started out today by coming in before noon (our meeting time) to set up the space and get the brushes ready so we had the most time of our hours to do things. When Bridgette walked in she said that she will let me do my thing and work on the gradient. We looked at the rendering together and talked through the process before I started to paint. We discussed where the gradient should land and how long the middle levels should be.
Once we talked through the process Bridgette left me to it! I put on my favorite band and got to work. I started out by painting the lighter brown from the bottom towards the middle, and around the ¾ mark I stopped. I then painted with the dark brown from the top and towards the ¾ mark meeting the lighter brown. Using the same brush of the dark brown I started to mix the two browns to get a medium color. I blended them so there was no harsh line. Then I called Bridgette over and asked for her thoughts before continuing to mess with it. Bridgette suggested bringing the medium levels down more so it hits more in the middle of the piece. So I took that and brought the darker color lower, carefully adding the light color as I went down because the paint had dried too much by the time I went to fix it. Once I was finished with this I called Bridgette over again and she had no critiques on the gradient! So I went and finished painting the back of the piece where the closet door slots are so that you won't be able to see through the slots to a different color of the wood, then I started to clean up!
Overall, I think today's paint session went well! Even though it was only an hour I feel like I already feel more confident in the work that I do. I appreciate Bridgette still talking me through the process before I paint becuase I feel as though I still want the clarification. I can take direction well, and once I know more of the ins and outs of the paint I'll be able to create my own process, but talking it out with Bridgette to make sure she agrees is always a plus! I'm very excited for the next time we paint!
2/10/25
Achieved
Color matched the base light brown
Led practicum painters
Painted base coat
Needs Work
Instructing other students
Taking notes on paint ratios
Taking notes in general
Entry
Today was the first day of my “lab hours”. I came in 30 minutes early because I didn’t know if there was any set up we needed to do before tech prod and practicum students joined. There wasn’t, but it was nice to be there early anyways.
The lab started with mixing about 2.5 gallons of the light brown paint for the base coat. I had the rendering, and the bucket of paint we used for the sample to work with. I had two scene painting practicum students with me that I was in charge of instructing and helping. I started by asking Bridgette to confirm the base color we had used. I couldn't remember if it was raw umber or burnt umber, I was pretty sure it was burnt umber but I wanted to confirm before we started. This is why I put in taking notes in my “need work”, I need to take better notes for myself so I can be more efficient. So I took out the burnt umber, and the white as I know those were the first two we mixed previously. We started with a much smaller batch of paint than 2.5 gallons so we can get the ratios down first. The bucket of burnt umber I picked up had half a gallon left so I poured the whole bucket in and asked for one of the practicum students to start with three big scoops of the white and had the other student mix. Once this was done, I held up the previous paint bucket and asked them what they think we needed to add. Both said red, and I agreed, so I got the fire red. I added about 2 small ladle scoops of the red and once it was mixed I again asked what we needed to add. They said, and I agreed, yellow. I knew that these were the colors we needed since I had mixed this before, but I thought it would be a good way to teach color mixing and give me a chance to step back and watch how the paint mixed and reacted to other colors. After adding some yellow we got a good color match to the previous bucket but Bridgette said we would need much more paint, which was very true. We ended up emptying two more buckets of burnt umber to get the 2.5 gallons of paint, after confirming with Bridgette that I was allowed to empty the rest of the burnt umber we have in the shop, and we were able to color mix about the same but a little more red leaning. Looking back at previous entries, the colors we added this time around were more raw than the colors added last time during sampling when we added Burnt Sienna. Overall, we got the base color to be closer to the rendering color than initially mixed, so I'm happy with that.
We then used this lighter color and painted the cleaned and sanded shutters that the other students were working on while we mixed paint and that was the rest of my day!
Overall, I'm happy with the work I did today. I got more confident in replicating mixed colors and I took note of the ratio of colors. Now that I am starting regular hours I'm nervous about time management and getting my homework done on top of being in the shop. My goals for Wednesday are to finish putting on the base coat for the shutters, and other things that are ready for that stage.
2/14/25
Achieved
More than 3/4s of the baliesters base painted
The start of one of the platforms base painted
One of the walls constructed and base painted
Guiding of practicum painters
Needs work
Awareness of amount of paint being used
Getting used to the schedule
Awareness of all that goes on around me
Entry
Two snow days resulted in missing my work time on Wednesday, but I reached out to Bridgette and asked how this affected the schedule, and she said at this point we aren't too worried about the schedule and that it'll all work out in the wash. So, come Friday, it was back to work!
The initial instruction was to work on the balusters so I started to lay those out and as we were starting to paint Bridgette kept coming up with more projects to be painted in the base coat. We now had to paint as many balusters and we could, three closet doors after the hinges were taken off, and a platform. I had two painters with me at this point, so I took on the closet doors and asked one of them to take on the platform and the other to work on balusters. We went our separate ways and throughout my time working on the closet doors I would walk to the other side of the stage to check on the platform and see how we were doing, answer questions as needed.
Then the construction of one of the walls took place in which now the painter on the balusters was now painting the wall with Bridgette. This painter was given instruction on what not to paint while I was painting the closet doors so I didn’t hear the specific instructions. This became a problem when the painter on the platform needed to switch to painting the wall and needed the same instruction. I came up short with the answer on what not to paint and had to ask Bridgette. So I now know that I need to have eyes and ears everywhere even if I'm not specifically being talked to so that if there is a question I have the answer.
The second half of my day consisted of pure baluster painting! The team of painters and I made such good progress that the painters were able to be dismissed from the lab an hour early and Bridgette and I were able to have a meeting and touch base on where we are, how my journals are looking, and plans for next week.
Next time I’m working it'll be strike for John Proctor is the Villain, Bridgette and I asked Kenny if it would be alright with me working on Monday or if I would be in the way. Kenny said it's alright. So Monday, I will finish base coating the two platforms. Bridgette gave me the choice to paint the walking surface of the platform black or our base brown. I chose black because this would mean we use the brown less for the parts the audience can't see well and we won't have to mix more than we need. The plan is to start with painting the walking surface black and then painting the base brown on the sides and visible surfaces.
2/17/25
Achieved
Tallest platform base painted
Smaller platform almost completely base painted
Needs work
Taking care of myself
Entry
Today was the first day of strike for John Proctor is the Villain so I did not have any practicum or tech prod students working with me.
My tasks for today were to base paint two two platforms. So I started with the black base coat on the walking surface of the taller platform and then the smaller one. I then moved on to painting with the base brown on the taller platform. While painting I frequently took a step back and looked at the platform from all angles to make sure I am painting all surfaces that can be seen by the audience. When I was done with this I had 30 minutes left of my normal scheduled time to work, but I knew I wouldn't be able to start and finish the second platform in that amount of time, which I recognized that that is something that shouldn't have stopped me from starting a new project, but I felt as though if I am coming back for another 2 hours, then I could get that done then. But that is something I will keep an eye out on and work on changing that mindset of “if I don't have time to finish it right now, I won’t start it right now.”
I touched base with Bridgette when I was done. I did not get to finish the front side of the smaller platform due to strike. The platform needed to be moved and it was moved so that the front side was against the wall, which prevented me from painting the front side of the added balusters. On Wednesday, Bridgette and I will start and hopefully finish one of the curtains. We talked about the different projects I should keep in mind to have other students do while we work on the curtain, so that is my task before Wednesday. So far, we have to finish base coating the smaller platform, finish basing the balusters, there are more shutters to be base coated, and Bridgette is making another wall that could also be base coated.
2/19/25
Achieved
Changeover of the curtains
Stapling the curtain to the floor
Needs work
Asserting myself when I know I should be heard
Being “defensive” as a first reaction
Entry
Today was only a half day, due to the weather but we still got a lot done! We started by doing a curtain changeover of the legs and one border. We then started the process of laying down the curtain to start painting. This did not come without road bumps. We started with the long measurement of 35ft and placed the tape measure so that the whole curtain would be able to be on the stage. Using the chalk line we got a straight edge from one side of the stage to the other. While laying down the curtain I recalled the conversion Bridgette and I had prior to students showing up that we wanted to paint the curtain with the seams in the front, and I noticed that the seams were on the backside. So I had mentioned that to Bridgette but she was focused on getting the curtain down so she just told me to put the curtain down. So I did. We then continued to staple one of the corners down and we discussed with the lab students how we want the curtain to be stapled straight against the straight edges we made, but we didn’t want the curtain to be too taught because of the shrinkage when painted. One of the lab students had run out of staples mid working so she needed to walk past me while measuring the opposite side, but she had shoes on so she couldn't just walk on the curtain. So I had slightly moved so she could step over the corner I was at and Bridgette was telling me very loudly to focus and roll up the fabric tape measure. I tried to explain that I was working on it but I needed to let the lab student pass me to let her continue working and Bridgette told me to stop being defensive. This is something I will work on, but it's currently hard to not be defensive at first when her first reaction is to talk loudly at me in front of all the lab students, especially when I feel I have to explain myself because I don’t feel like I'm always in the wrong. It makes me feel embarrassed when I get talked to like that in front of people, but I will work on not being “defensive” in the moment and wait for a better time to explain myself if it's necessary. About halfway through stapling the entire curtain Bridgette noticed that the seams were on the wrong side and that we needed to re-do it all to flip the curtain. I said that I had said that before and Bridgette told me she didnt hear me. I understand that maybe she didn't hear me because maybe she thought I said something different at first and I let it go so quickly. So another thing I will work on is repeating my sentence if I need to be heard, so that we can avoid doing tasks twice. So, we undid all the staples and flipped the curtain and re-did the staples. Once everything was stapled, we “hand ironed” the seams flat by just pressing on the seam with our fingers and applying pressure to open it. Lab was over! Bridgette noticed that the top and bottom of the curtain were straight but the sides were not. Bridgette brought this up to me by saying that I needed to be type about this sort of thing and I explained to her that I see that it's not straight but I thought that was ok because we had talk before about how it doesnt need to be perfect because its a water damaged curtain and that imperfections are welcome, so I explained how I am confused about what should and should not be type A. Bridgette responded by saying that is not a decision I cant make and I shouldn't be making decisions. I started to tell her that I didn't make any decisions and I was confused and she cut me off to continue talking loudly at me. I felt comfortable enough to tell her, when she finished talking, that I did not make any decisions and I did not staple the side she is talking about. The tech prod student did, and I only felt comfortable saying this because they had all left by then. If the student was still there I wouldn't have, I don't feel comfortable at the moment dragging other people under the bus even if I’m in the heat. Then Bridgette understood the situation and I suggested that I don't leave for another hour and I can re-do both sides while she is in her noon meeting. Bridgette said ok and then apologized to yelling and blaming me. So while she was in the meeting I finished one side and waited for her to come back for the other because the curtain was too big for the straight edge on one side and too small on the other. Brdigette said that was a good question and allowed me to create slack on the part of the curtain that was too big and said it will shrink when painted. At this point we were ready to paint, but then while setting up the pressure sprayers, one of them had a bad clog. So Bridgette let me go 45 minutes early while she went to Lowes and got another sprayer.
Then school was closed at 3 so I did not come in in the afternoon, not just to do some homework but to also cool down from the morning. It makes me feel upset and uncomfortable when I am spoken to like that in front of other students and even when it’s just the two of us. I will still work on “being defensive” though sometimes I dont think that's what I’m doing, I feel that sometimes I'm just trying to explain what is happening because what Bridgette thinks is happening is not always correct. But I am proud of myself for communicating with her in saying that I need more clarification on what to be “Type A” about and also for moving on and forward by undoing and redoing work while Bridgette was in a meeting so we didn't waste time.
2/21/25
Achieved
Painting second curtain
Base coating more walls
Needs work
My mood
Entry
Today was tough because I was not in a great mood all day. I normally try to have a good face on in the shop but I was not feeling it today, for no apparent reason. We started the day with painting the second curtain. Bridgette and I prepped the sprayers with warm water and a Burnt Umber wash. Me and a tech prod student started with the water sprayers and getting the muslin prepped for the paint so that when the paint is sprayed it spreads out a bit and is not too spattery. Bridgette followed behind us with the Burnt Umber wash and while it was still wet she took a soaked roller with texture to further soften the spatters of the sprayer. Bridgette then took a smaller sprayer of Raw Umber wash and added a bit of this color to convey rot. One thing we had to keep a good eye out for were harsh lines from the roller so I had to keep an eye out if Bridgette wasn’t looking in the right places for it I would be able to catch it before it dries too much.
Once this curtain was finished it was hung on a lineset and I continued to base coat the newly built walls. I had to remix paint today and while I was doing touch up on the walls I noticed that the new batch of paint I made was just a smidge darker. This made me super upset but I was already having a bad day but I was able to easily remedy this by adding a smidge of white and getting it just a bit lighter. Luckily Bridgette wasn't too pressed about it so that helped me a bit. Now that I have the slightly lighter I will go back and fix the touch ups I did on the wall Bridgette was building but I don't need to repaint the frame of the other walls.
I'm not sure what caused my mood but I know that these days happen and I'm proud of myself for still being productive and being alright to be around in the shop even if I wasn’t feeling a happy mood, but this is something I will keep an eye on and fix if needed.
2/24/25
Achieved
Finished base coat on shutters
Touch-ups on finished walls
Needs work
Finding a balance of giving work to students and giving myself work
Entry
Today we finished base coating the rest of the shutters and started to do touch-ups on the built walls. A lot of the shutters had holidays due to the crevasses that bigger brushes couldn't get to, so me and a couple of practicum students did touch-ups while other students did the shutters. I did a fair amount of walking around and making sure that the students are getting all drips and holidays, while also making sure I say “you're doing great” and “thank you” when giving these instructions. I do this because it’s always nice to hear you're doing a good job and I enjoy creating an environment that welcomes people and allows them to have fun, even if I am fixing some of their work afterwards. Once all of these were done we ended up being ahead again so the practicum students were dismissed and Bridgette and I discussed the floor sample that I would be doing on Wednesday. Overall, today was a good day and I felt confident of the work I did, including monitoring other students and giving direction.
2/26/25
Achieved
Floor Sample Base
12’ gradient sample/reference
Shipping Crate Sample Base
Needs work
Pivoting
Communicating
Controlling my emotions
Entry
Today was mostly sampling as Bridgette got more things built. In the morning I got a start on the floor sample and the 12’ gradient reference. I had one practicum student with me and I had her paint the sample a solid white while I mixed colors. While I was working on mixing the base color for the floor I started with half of the last bit of burnt umber and mixed white and golden yellow. My plan was to mix white into the darker color little by little so I can control how light the color is, also knowing that we at this point do not have any burnt umber left, so I'm trying to make this paint last me the whole sample. I had let Bridgette know that we are out of burnt umber and it will be tough to make this sample without more and she told me that I should have communicated that. I had thought that last week I had told her many times that I was using the rest of the paint and she approved, so I thought she knew. Next time, I will make sure this is in an email so it's documented.
While I was mixing paint Bridgette stopped me and told me that I was going about it wrong and that I should have put the darker color into a bucket of white rather than the other way around. I understood where she was coming from but I started to get frustrated because I felt like I had asked her the best to go about mixing this base and she told me to figure it out, and when I did figure it out I was told I was wrong and to pivot. I had no problem pivoting, I was just frustrated that I had asked her for the right way to do it and she wouldn't tell me until I was already wrong. I did cry about this a little bit, because my emotions tend to come out of my eyes. So I took a little bit of a walk and washed my face and went back to work. I checked on the practicum student and let her know other places to touch on the sample with white for a solid base and continued mixing the paint the way Bridgette told me to. I am proud of myself for recognizing that I feel frustrated and moving on in a constructive way, thus allowing me and others to continue being productive. Once I had a good base I painted the sample in a solid base coat. I had the practicum student in the last half hour paint the 12’ long 2 by 4 in the base brown so I can create the reference gradient when it dried.
In the afternoon I continued to work on the floor sample. Since we did not have any more burnt umber I used the burnt umber wash we had from the curtain and learned how the spray worked with the material. I found that the spray was way too watery and it was pooling, so I quickly grabbed a sea sponge and lightly dabbed the sample to get rid of the big pooling spatters. I recognize that we wouldn't be hand sponging the floor if that happened, I would grab the textured roller and do that but I was trying to get the spatters before they dried and I knew where the sponges were off my head. While that dried I worked on the gradient.
I noticed that the base coat was much darker than the sample so I lightened the color a little to match the base that we have been painting with. And this was still too dark but I wasn't sure if we were matching the sample or if we were matching what was on the stage. With the other half of the small amount of burnt umber I finished the darkest part of the gradient.
While that dried I worked on mixing the paint for the base coat of the shipping crates. I am to match a piece of 2 by 4 that was in the shop. I used a lot of white and mixed golden yellow into it. It was still too yellow so I added a bit of fire red and that matched better, and I put that base on after the white coat.
Bridgette came by and we discussed my progress on these samples. She said that the gradient sample is still too dark and that we need to aim for the color on the sample. I understood this and I proposed that I lighten the color and finish the gradient when we have more burnt umber, this way I would be able to get the medium colors without any harsh lines but since I didn’t have any burnt umber at the time I would not be able to get those medium levels. Bridgette agreed. Overall, today was very productive even with the minor setback of frustration. I came back in and set aside a small amount of the base brown for touch-ups as bridgette requested and I lightened the rest of the base brown.
2/28/25
Achieved
Shipping create base
Needs work
Grounding myself emotionally
Entry
I started this day by knowing I have to tackle the shipping crate sample. It has been a while since Ive done any wood grain so I was very nervous to do this sample. I had already laid down the base color but I didn't really like it so I took this time to re-do it. I took the base I had already made and made it warmer with a bit of fire red and this color was much closer to the wood I was going after and I was very happy with this! So I went back and re-painted the sample with the new base color. While this was drying I helped some practicum students base coat other crates with white. At this point I was waiting for paint to dry and I was walking around the stage making sure that students who were working on stage painting the base coat didn't have any questions and if they did I could answer them, as Bridgette was busy with other students. The practicum students painting the base brown said they were running out of the base brown, I understood this but knowing that this was the only bucket of the paint I had that wasn't lightened I wanted to ask Bridgette if we should move on to the lighter brown before just giving them more paint, as we still did not have the new order of Burnt Umber.
I had passed Bridgette while on my way to going back to my work and asked if she should come talk to me when she's done. Bridgette did not acknowledge I said this so I was unsure if she heard me. I went to check on my samples and studied the floor sample, figuring out next steps when I get more paint. After about ten minutes I went back to Bridgette to make sure she knows that I have a question for her when she's done and I think that she thought I was going to ask her what I should do so she told me to just find something else to do. I told her that wasn't my question but okay. Once she was finished with the project she was working on I went back to her because the students were still out of paint and Bridgette once again told me to just go home since I had nothing to do. I told her Okay but I have a question, and asked her if we should start using the lightened burnt umber as the base coat and she asked me why I hadn't set aside enough paint for touch-ups. In my mind I had set enough aside for touch-up because to me touch-ups are small holidays that were missed and can be seen on stage, but we were still building walls and rails that needed to be painted and I was unaware of this. So Bridgette said that she wasn't going to argue with me and sent me home. I was really upset at this, so I gathered my stuff and I went to the practicum students I was working with and told them calmly that I was headed out for the day and if they needed anything they should go to Bridgette. I continued to go throughout my lunch break very upset and unable to calm myself down. My anxiety was at an all time high and I was having a hard time breathing regularly. I did eventually calm down enough to go to my afternoon paint shift. I was not yet ready to talk to Bridgette about it because I was not in a place to be able to talk about it like an adult and I don't think that any conversation in that state would have been beneficial.
I walked into the shop and started to set myself up to finish the crate sample and do my wood grain that I was nervous about doing. Bridgette pulled me aside and said that I needed to finish a project and that I was pulling her behind by always mentioning that we are out of paint. I told her as calmly as I could that I was not in a place to have a conversation right now and she once again sent me home instead of letting me continue working. So I went home again, almost more upset than before. At this point I ran into Gregg and this was something that I needed. I really needed a person that could tell me next actionable steps rather than just venting because I did not feel that this situation was sustainable for me to be able to do my job in this project.After talking with Gregg, I was dismissed to have a great spring break and we would reconvene after break.
3/10/25
Achieved
Crate Wood Sample
Floor Spatter Sample
Needs work
Work on paint consistency
Entry
I started today with the shipping crate wood grain. I knew that I was nervous but after not being able to finish it before spring break I had to bite the bullet. So I started mixing a small amount of a darker brown that leaned orange, with white, burnt umber, golden yellow, and fire red. This color matched very well with the piece of wood I've been using as a reference.. I also got a separate bucket of just water and a small chip brush and got to work. I started with following the lines that I saw with a very damp brush and paint on the tip and got a nice gradient with one stroke. I did these lines throughout the sample and when they were semi dry I took a brush with just water and smudged them. I also got a small amount of paint and mostly water to create a large grain that I saw in the middle of the wood I was referencing. The more the lines dried I added more water to dull down any harsh lines and then added more paint as needed. I was really happy with how this wood grain went especially for not doing a wood grain in a while.
Now it was time to move on the floor sample now that we have new Burnt Umber cans! Bridgette was very busy with other students and seemed very short with me today so I really did not feel comfortable asking her questions that would possibly waste her time. I did, however, ask her the best way to get a saturated color on the sprayers. I knew that if I changed the ratio of paint to water I would be able to get the color I wanted but I did not want to risk clogging the sprayer so I wanted to ask for advice on the best consistency. I don't think Bridgette completely understood my question because she just told me to mix a darker color to get the sample darker, but she left before I could explain that I didn't need the color to be darker, I just needed it to be more saturated. So I did my best to mix burnt umber and water into a consistency of whole milk and got a separate sprayer of just water in case it was too saturated. I was so nervous to start the spray but after starting it was easy to continue. The spatter was too spattery to so I got a soaked sponge roller and started going over the paint with the sponge to see if that could fix the splatter texture I wasnt a fan of. Then the line of burnt umber spatter at the top wasn't creating the spatter gradient that I wanted so I decided to add more water and a little paint spray to see if I could get a middle ground level of the sponge/spatter combo. Overall this ended up being way too wet and the paint started running. I tried to see if the sponge could soak up some of the paint and I could work with it but it was ultimately too wet and I needed to just step back and start over when it dried.
While I was waiting for this to dry Bridgette had the time to speak to me about what happened before spring break. She explained to me that I was not the paint charge and that I did not have a group of people to lead and she was frustrated because she thought that I was trying to lead people instead of doing my work. And I told her that I wasn't aware that at that moment I wasn't leading people because in the past I had students to work with and I was waiting for paint to dry anyway so I was looking for ways for me to help students who might have questions while she was busy. She understood this and we moved on to talk about projects I would work on in the next coming weeks. We looked at my sample and she agreed that it was too wet and I said that I didn't feel comfortable asking her for help this morning and she told me that it was perfectly fine for me to pull her to look at a sample if I needed, and she was only short with me because she was tired. Bridgette did not have any critiques for my crate wood grain sample and she said that we can work with different washes to age the wood further. My tasks for the rest of the day is to mix more of the base brown, and fix the floor sample.
After speaking with Gregg we decided that now was a good time for me to say that I finished this project. After the situations before spring break there was no reason for me to continue enduring a distressing situation when I was done with all that I've set out to do on this set. Gregg told me that I should stop in the morning and not come back for my afternoon shift. I told him that I did not let Bridgette know that I wouldn't be coming back and he said that he will let her know for me. Although my project was cut short timeline wise I think that I am very proud of the work I did and how I handled challenges, mental roadblocks, and communication, throughout this project.