Rhododendron Shrubs....

 

 Roots and Trunks.....

Well, Dear Readers, I apologize for the dark and gloomy picture of the Rhododendron Shrub Skeleton, the weather has been dark and gloomy again, and this is the only picture I have showing the "before" scene for the shrub roots! As you know, I am making three of these Shrub Skeletons, as identical as I can so that I can have "seasonally changeable" Rhododendrons in The Folly Garden. I was eager to get the skeletons moved on to the next stage of construction and didn't pay much attention to the photography as I went along. This is to show the Roots of the shrub... the main trunk is old and the roots are showing partly at the top of the soil. This is partly for stability (the branches spread quite far) and partly because my  RL Rhododendron shrub has a long root that snakes off to the side and sprouts a new trunk at the edge of the garden bed. I am copying this detail for The Folly Garden shrubs.

Here you can see I have removed the pod from the Garden... 

and it is really hard to see, but I traced the roots positions on the pod

 so I could know where to poke the holes for the roots to go into.

(That nail poking up through the pod is the temporary "handle"

 for lifting the pod in and out of the Garden spot.)

Here you can see I have bent the ends

 of the three major roots downward

 (this is the view from underneath)

And here you can see the holes I have poked into the foam ....

And here is Shrub#1 with the ends of the roots

 poked into the holes and glued in place!

This leaves a part of the roots "above ground",

 and the long side root in particular just runs along the surface.

I plan to build the "ground" up a bit to cover this part way.

And since Shrub#1 glued into the pod #1 with the greatest of ease,

 I went onward with Shrub#2...

Here the ends of the Roots are bent downward....

And the locations traced on the pod #2 and the holes poked...

And the roots glued into the holes of Pod#2!

Two pods done... only one to go...!

But imagine my Surprise, Dear Readers,

 when I grabbed Shrub#3 for Pod #3, 

only to discover that it would not fit right on the Pod!

What????

The position of the nail in the pods is not identical........ 

so as I have "shaped" these shrub skeletons,

 I have worked around the nail position to the best of my ability

 to keep the shrubs centrally positioned in the pod.

Shrub#3 was not fitting right ....

Then I checked to see if it WAS Shrub#3....

only to discover it was Shrub#2!!!....?

I had accidentally used Shrub#3 for the Pod#2

 (These pods are marked on the underside

 with bold magic marker to keep them sorted out....!)

I needed to move the nail to a different spot

 to fit the Shrub#2 onto the Pod#3...

Lest you worry... at This stage of the construction process,

 it doesn't matter if Shrub#2 or Shrub#3 

is the one on Pod#2 or Pod #3....

But the poor Shrubs might now have an Identity Crisis... 

One is Shrub#2-3... and the Other is Shrub#3-2 

and I am not sure which is which!

Shrub#1 is securely just #1 and will be the blossoming Shrub....

 the other two will have to slug it out between

 Winter with snowy Leaves

 or Year-round just plain green!

 But once I had adjusted the nail... 

things moved along and I got Shrub#2 attached to Pod#3...

Here they are all three lined up and letting the glue dry thoroughly.

 The following day, I began to add the "Acrylic Modeling Paste" to the trunks and roots.

And to Shrub#2.... (or is it 2-3?)

And Shrub#3... (or #3-2)....

 

And Shrub#1 in the Folly Garden...

(Dark and gloomy again......)

 

Here you can see clearly just how "textured" 

this made the Roots and Trunk of the Shrub.

But Rhododendrons have quite smooth bark....

 they don't need a textured surface...

The modeling past was to help me smooth out

 all those bumps and twists and glued spots

 on the paper wire stems. 

It also gives added strength to the joined areas.

Fortunately it is made to be carved and sanded fairly easily...

 

This is what it looks like 

after I have begun the "carving and sanding"......

Hmmmm.... this is going to take a while!

It is challenging to get the exacto knife in among the branches....

 and the sandpaper is only a little easier to wield....

And I get to do this for all three shrubs!

 

Well, Dear Readers, the Rhododendron Shrubs

 are taking Shape; Roots, Trunks,

 Leaves and Blossoms...

Spring is Sprung in my Neck 'o the Woods

(Even though we got snow the other night....)

And I have almost 100 Blossom clusters done!

Leaves...

 

And More Leaves....

I Hope you will not be Surprised, Dear Readers, to learn that I have been making lots and lots of leaves! I really need to get ahead of the blossoms with the leaf construction, and finally decided that the best way to tackle the project was with small batches. Lots of small batches! It feels so much less daunting to start a batch of forty leaves (20 stems worth) and know that in about an hour and a half, or less if all goes well, I will have a completed batch. I had tried an eighty leaf batch.... which would be enough leaves for the ten blossom clusters per week that I am making.... but completing the eighty leaves took Hours and hours. I can usually fit a batch of forty leaves into my daily blossom routine too. This is piling up the leaves at a great rate! I am using regular copier paper and the "leaf punch" I bought years ago at Michael's. You can see it in the picture above.

And I am cutting the leaves from the stem, 

but am maximizing the length of each leaf

 by cutting diagonally across the stem.

 One of the great things about this leaf punch is

 that the leaves are not all exactly the same size,

 which is how they are naturally on my RL shrub.

I get five leaves per punch, eight punches per batch.

I glue a leaf on one end of the stems

 (using the cut-off wires from the blossom making)

 and once I have glued twenty stems,

 I add the leaf to the other end.

This might seem silly since the leaves will be cut apart

 before attaching to the blossom clusters,

 but it really makes handling the leaves for painting much easier.

 The wire is long enough to hold and not get paint on your hands

 as would happen if I tried to make the stems short first.

I paint the undersides of one leaf, 

(using a mixture of chromium green, cadmium yellow

 and white artist's acrylic paint)

 and by the time I have done all twenty on one end of the stems,

 the first is dry and ready to be held while I paint the other end.

And by the time all the undersides are painted, 

the first is dry enough to paint the top side....

You might notice that I am first painting a stripe down the center

 using the same color as the underside of the leaves,

 first one end and then the other as before...

This is so that once I have painted the top color, 

I will not have to add a very very narrow stripe for the center vein...

 

Here you can see I am mixing the color for the top side of the leaves,

(a mix of chromium green and mars black acrylic artists paint)

and comparing it to my sample chart.

It is very easy to mix it too dark, 

because the paint darkens as it dries.

 

When painting the top side,

 I carefully paint one side of the leaf,

 as straight as possible stem to tip,

 

And then equally carefully, paint the other side,

 leaving a very thin stripe showing the underside color.

Then I let them dry....

 

before doing the same with the other end.

Here are the completed forty leaves!

All that remains is to fold the stems and cut them apart....

And attach them to the blossom clusters!

I am starting with seven leaves per blossom cluster...

And so far I have managed to keep up

 with adding the leaves on the new blossom clusters...

on the left (in the "new Day mug") you can see

 the ten blossom clusters from last summer

 that still don't have any leaves attached.

But I now have enough leaves to get cracking on that too!

And today I made the blossom clusters number 85 and 86....

they just need to have their leaves added too!

So you can see, Dear Readers,

 I have figured out that to make the leaves

In relatively small batches 

means I am making more Leaves... 

and More leaves....

And more leaves....!

Marching Forward...

 

 Pruning The Shrubs....

While I am Madly constructing the Rhododendron blossoms, Dear Readers, the progress on the Shrub skeletons is much slower and more deliberate. But if I am to reach my desired goal of a blooming shrub by the end of May (only about ten weeks away!) then I need to be making good progress every weekend at least! So as I was attaching yet another round of branches to the Shrub#1 skeleton, I thought I had better make sure the shrub was not going to overwhelm the path to the garden bench by the little brook that runs along the side of The Folly Garden (or will when we get it built)! So I asked Joanna (who is a small adult only 5" tall) to come over and help me test the shrub by walking the short path. She was happy to oblige, and Will was also willing to help (he is a tall 6" adult size). He is warning Joanna to be careful on the very narrow little path....

Which takes off from the steep front steps to The Folly porch.

The path past the lilacs where Will is standing

 is a bit wider and more traveled,

 and the lilacs naturally arch above the heads of anyone who passes.

While the path past the Rhododendron

 has always been wilder and a bit neglected.

As you can see, it would be very easy

 for this shrub to overwhelm the path entirely!

It made clear to me the need to "prune" the shrub

 just a little bit where it stands by the porch!

As you can see, Will is a good bit taller than Joanna,

 and he needs to be able to navigate this path too!

After all, the bench overlooking the brook is in such a sweet spot!

I know it is hard to see the difference, Dear Readers,

 but here is the Shrub#1 with a whole batch

 of new little short branches!

I will continue to shape the branches

 as I begin to add the blossoms to them,

 but first they need to be painted... 

a whole other adventure!

And lest you think I have been slacking... 

here is Shrub#2 getting the same little short branches added and glued...

And Shrub#3....!

And if I stand back far enough you can see all three in a row!

And last week ended with a count of seventy blossoms clusters!

Wowee!

I am Marching Forward, Dear Readers,

Even if I did have to Prune the bushes back a little bit!

Stitches And Stems....

 

Sewing And Shaping....

I Reassessed the frame pieces in my pile of different sized pieces, Dear Readers, and came up with a larger frame that almost fits the entire William Morris carpet. It was enough larger that I could make considerable progress with the main design area. This will keep me going for a while! The carpet is a square one, so there is an area of border all around which will need to be scrolled a bit to stitch all of it. I will deal with that when I need to. The design is really coming along and is fun and easy to stitch. I just love to stitch these wool carpets! As for the other carpet I am working on, the Chinese Dragon Carpet, I have also made some good progress. 

Sorry the picture is a bit dark... 

(yes, it is dreary and gloomy here!)

But I was able to get the outline for the second dragon completed.

They are not identical and I wanted to make sure

 their heads feet and tails did not intrude too far on each other!

So far so good! 

But this scale of stitching requires good light to stitch...

 so I must work on it only on the sunny bright mornings!

 

And As for those Stems, Dear Readers,

I am slowly making progress on shaping the shrubs!

 

The next step was to shorten those long downward curved stems.

I used the cut ends to twist around the stem to make branched side stems.

Because this wire is very stiff, I needed to go slowly 

(to keep my arm from getting sore again!)

This shrub is Shrub#1, and you can see how it sits in the Folly Garden.

The next day I repeated those cuts on the other two shrubs.

And glued the branched stems and let them dry thoroughly.

And because branches Branch...(!) 

I then added more stems to each of the added branches...

Here is Shrub#1 again, having the stems added to some of those branches...

And because they are also very very stiff wire.... it was slow going.

This one is Shrub#3...

Once the glue is thoroughly dry

 the stems can be shaped to a more natural curve.

And Shrub#2 getting the same treatment!

And of course, Shrub#1 also getting the glue on those stems.

The wire is so stiff that I can only do a few at a time.

But I'm making progress!

And yes, Dear Readers,

 the Blossom Factory is keeping to the challenge!

I made 10 bunches last week, 

and am well launched on this week...

Stitches and Stems and Blossoms...

Oh My!