"Man That is One Big Capital!!"

We continue to work on the Large capital that graces the top of the atrium on the Harris County Courthouse. Here I’m carving out the large “Shield” that is in the center. The scale is so large that it makes it difficult to build up the depth that I need. In the back ground you can see the drawing that my son Matt2 produced and which has been approved by the Susan with Architexas the architect and the Texas Historical Commission.

This shield is very Sulivanistic in style and you can see the influence of Luis Sullivan on the original designer. Sullivan loved to use what he called stretched fabric complete with ripples. On either side of the shield we will need to carve very deep and intricate leaves. Sullivan loved to make his designs come alive and used nature in very intricate detail to create this.

We also still have to create the top cresting. That cresting will extend another 14 inches up above the top of capital and protrude another 8 inches out toward the center of the room. This will allow the crest to be seen from the ground or in this case the 2^nd floor which will be at least 50 feet below the capital.

I realized something yesterday. I will have spent some 80 pulse hours carving the missing area on the capitals.  I have already spent 40 hours creating the side molds of the existing pieces. The shop spent 20 or more hours casting the existing pieces and building the mockup form. Matt 2 my son spent 20 hours creating the drawings and getting them approved.  I will spend at least 30 plus house creating the rubber mold.  All of that work to cast only 4 capitals. Then after this project is complete we will start destroying the mold and the mockup.  That is 110 hrs of time on something that will ultimately be worthless. There is just no way anything this large will ever be used again and it takes up way too much space to save. It is a little disconcerting but I guess the whole object is to recreate the missing capitals. 

Oh Crap Calsimine!!!

Two weeks ago I traveled to Halletsville Texas to look at a restoration project we are starting. The beautiful Romanesque Revival styled Lavaca County Courthouse was built in 1897 with plans drawn by Eugene T. Heiner.

The restoration program and plans was created by The Williams Company. I’ve worked on quite a few projects with the Williams company and Kim Williams and his associates are well versed in all aspects of restoration and very professional.

The construction manager is Weaver & Jacobs Constructors Inc. of Cureo Texas, While they have not done a lot of restoration projects,  I’m impressed so far with their approach and the project is proceeding very well. In fact it is 5 weeks ahead of schedule which is almost unheard of on these types of projects.

While examining the plaster surfaces on the project I found an issue that has become all too common in restoration. (See Video) the walls at some point were painted with calcimine paint. The English name for this paint is distemper. It is made from finely ground Calcium Carbonate (calk) mixed with a glue binder. Not to be confused with lime paint which was created using calcium oxide or quick lime. The calcimine paints were designed to be mixed with a binder or glue while Lime paints were mixed with water. Calcimine paints mixed with water would not ever get hard but would seem fine at first. According to an old Scottish painter friend of mine Calcimine paints were used in the trades mostly to paint ornate plaster moldings. This allowed them to remove the paint every easily the next time they wanted to paint the moldings and the paint would not build up on the surfaces hiding the intricate detail. However as the practice continued painters would start using the calcimine paint mixed in water to paint the flat walls and ceilings it was much cheaper to use water than glue and cheaper than lime paint which is what traditionally would have been used on the big flat walls and ceilings. Some might have used a little glue in the mix.  Since it was cheap and looked good after the project was complete the practice continued.

Enter oil based paints. Now painters were used to just painting over the surfaces without removing the old paints a practice that was common with painters used to working with calcimine paint. Now you have a film of paint that is somewhat adhered to the calk paint. Layer after layer of paint applied as the building got redecorated. But if any water got back down into the chalky paint it would quickly release. Once it started to release the paint would peel away and because one understood what this chalky surface was sometimes the plaster surface was blamed. Painters said that the old plaster was deteriorating and they could paint the surface. So drywall was installed over the plaster.

That was probably what happened here in Hallettsville. The original plaster surface is fine though not as hard as modern plasters it is in good shape. We just need to remove the calcimine paint repair the holes where the sheetrock was attached to the surface and get this grand old building back to its original beauty.

Robert’s County Courthouse Mockup

In an effort to help visualize the area where the entablature will occupy on the Roberts County courthouse we built a small wall and ceiling to represent the area. The drywall represents the plaster wall surface. The ceiling rises off the wall at a 70% angle and the missing area is the area we need to recreate the ornamental work. The size of the area missing came from a report that was compiled by Johnny Langer of Source Historical. Just to remind you the area in question has been totally lost except for a few small pieces that we are using to try and figure out what was there. (see Roberts county courthouse, and look these pieces fit together)

We installed the bead and read molding we recreated alone the top ceiling edge and the bottom wall edge. We also hung loosely the fascist leaf band along the top against the bead and read. We know the bead runs along the bottom of the entablature because parts of it are still attached on site. The top area is surmised because we have a piece of the fascist band that is attached to a bead and read and has been cut on a 45% angle that could only mean that it was attached to the ceiling. The angle could not have been used along the wall unless the band somehow turned and went up the wall which there is no change in heights in this courtroom and thus no way that would have been done.

But we still have a large area in which to fill in. Matt2, my son and president of Professio, came up with the idea that they might have run the fascist band along the bottom also so we hung a piece there running in the opposite direction. That still leaves us with a very large area. We know that there is an area where a "piano key" molding consisting of arches that run vertical along the face of the molding and an additional 2" molding running along it somewhere but where?

We called the Architect Michael Roberts of Preservation Associates to come by and advise. After looking at the items in question he said that he felt that two runs of the factious molding was too much and makes the entablature to busy. He would like us to take pictures of the mockup with the two in place and one without the bottom in place and then start drawing several other options to fill in the remaining area. Then he can submit it to Lyman Labry with the Texas Historical commission to start discussions. I also stated that I would like Johnny Langer also involved because of his extensive knowledge of designs used in this period. The more eyes we can get looking at this problem the better.

It will be a long and sometimes contentious ordeal. People can be quite passionate about these types of issues but in reality you would not want anyone involved in this that was not passionate. It makes for a much better result even thou not everyone will agree on the ending design. And to be honest I love the discussions that are about to develop. I have a mentor a long time ago that I remember saying after a long heated discussion."Wow! Who would have thought people could be so passionate about whether a leaf bends right or left it is just a fricking leaf for God's sake!" But it does make a difference and when people look at the final design they will never really understand the painstaking effort it is to recreate it.

Work Still On going on Harris

Work is still ongoing on the Harris County Courthouse. Here Dan Pogue our shop Forman and Matt2 are building the plaster capital that goes along the walls in the district courtroom. These have been totally lost in previous renovations of the courthouse. But there were historical photos that showed the element. The photos are not specifically of the capital so they are not totally in focus but at least we know what the basic shape and design are (kinda). We submitted drawings to Susan with Architexas the historical architect and she made some minor revisions and sent them back.

We are making what we call a model of the capital and then will take a picture and send it for approval before we make the mold. Rubber is expensive so before we pour the rubber mold we need to make sure the model is correct.

It never ceases to amaze me that when discussing anything, but especially items in 3d, how people can see things differently and how confusing it can be become to discuss it. You can think you are all talking about the same thing. You believe that everyone agrees to a specific design but when the final piece is made all of the sudden what was created was not what someone in the group thought we were talking about. So before we spend the money on making the rubber mold care is taken to ensure it is what everyone envisions as the correct finial design.

After finial approval we will start production of the capitals and ship them to the sight for installation.

Bead Run

Now we have run the base rail that the bead and reed sets on and we have cast the bead and reed elements that came from Matt2’s lathe work. Now all we need to do is install them in the rail taking care maintain.

After setting all the pieces we will paint the plaster using shellac . This will adhere the elements to the rail and seal the plaster. After that step then a little mold release and pour the rubber mold. If everything works as planed we will then have a mold to put in production to cast all the elements we need on sight.

"I can create this on the Lathe"

We are continuing to work on the missing elements in the entablature design that graces the top of the courtroom in Roberts County. There apparently was a piece that is what I call a bead and reed design. It runs eather at the top or bottom of the entablature. We know that it runs next to the factious leaf design that we put together because it was connected to the side of one of the larger pieces of that design. It is very full of paint and is very fragile so cleaning off the globs of paint would just destroy the only original piece of the element we have.

Matt, my son, came up with the ides of turning a new piece using a lathe. He set up the lathe and put two pieces of poplar wood together using double sided tape. Then he installed it into the lath and started slowing recreating the element using great care to exactly match the original piece. After carving out the design the then removed it from the lath and pulled the piece apart where it was stuck together this created two exactly matching pieces that were what we needed.

Ken and Dan in our shop also ran a run on the bench that represented the base of the element. They cut out a sheet of metal that matched the profile of the base of the original piece. Mounted it to a “Horse” and ren it along our run table slicing off the wet plaster until they were able to have a perfect base for our piece. They then hung it up to dry.

I poured a rubber mold of the bead and reed that Matt2 created. Ken in our shop will then cast me some pieces of the bead and reed and I will be able to put them together along the base and complete the model. I suspect that I will have all the elements to create the model be Thursday. I will cover the creation of the model when all the parts are ready to assemble.

Cutting out a Zizsaw Puzzel

Well today I worked on part of the entablature that goes around the courtroom in Roberts County. The part at the top of the picture is the part that we had put together using pieces we found in the box of pieces.(see” Hay look they fit together”r) We filled in the missing pieces using clay and then made a rubber mold. Then Ken in our shop started casting plaster pieces. I then cut pieces out of them and started piecing it together.

I drew some lines on the plywood base to represent where the balls or berries should be. This allows the correct placement of the pieces. As I cut out the pieces I’m having some trouble maintaining the correct curvature. The piece is not really round it is oval and the curvatures change. This has created a bit of trouble.

I will continue placing the pieces and will start filling in the cracks or joints and carving out the areas where I could not get the pieces to line up. It is tedious and in fact I think I could carve it out faster but this way it is more the original work and less my creation. In a few days I will have the model done.

My Son in whom I'm well pleased.

We are still working on Harris County and thought I might give a little pat on the back to my son.

Last Monday when the film crew for the documentary was here they asked him a question and his response was beautiful. They asked him why he does the drawings? He stated

“Because someone has to do them, Dad certainly won’t”. And he is right. I hate drawing but my son has become quite good at it. I think in 3-D and trying to make a drawing reflect what I see in my mind is to frustrating. A fellow artist and good friend of my called me “carbon challenged” and he must be right.

But thankfully my Son Matt Henson II (or in our family lovingly known as Matt2) is quite good at it. (see photo above) He has had to submit all the drawings depicting the designs to the architect and the Historical Commission. Not only does he have to show the design he has to show how we are proposing how to mount them. It is long and tedious work and since the ending item is more of a sculpture he does not get the recognition he deserves.

He also is the director of Professio. Doing all the paperwork, billing, taxes, banking. All the crap I hate. And to be honest he is much better at it than I ever was. He is going to take this company a long way and I’m proud to be called his dad.

Hay look these pices fit togeather!

The courthouse in Roberts county was built in 1913 with plans drawn by Elmer George Withers an architect originally working in Stamford Texas a town fairly close by. There are no records of him attending any school of architecture so it supposed he learned his trade either thru correspondence or apprenticeship. He later set up a Fort Worth office and became rather successful. There is said to be a twin of this courthouse in Marion County however there is no ornamental plaster in that courthouse. It is a shame because it would have been a big help if it was a total twin. We could have copied the elements from that courthouse instead of having to piece together these scrip fragments and interject the design.

Jhonny Langer of Source Design Studio (http://www.sourcehistory.com/) did a paint survey earlier in the year to determine the paint scheme and he did some preliminary design work trying to determine what was the original plaster design. He is a great source of historical designs and I trust his input probably more than anyone I have ever worked with. However after looking closely at the pieces my Son and I found one piece that fit together with another piece. Then after looking some more searching again another piece then fit to another. After 8 hours of studying the plaster pieces we had 4 pieces that fit together and we began to formulate a different design.

We found evidence of paint drips that hung on the surface which after studying the locations of the drips and their orientation meant that this piece might have been at a totally different spot on the design. We took pictures and wrote a short disruption and sent them off to Jjonny and are waiting for his input. If he agrees that this might have been the orientation then we will proceed to redraw the layout of the design and submit it to the architect and the Texas Historical Commission with our explanation of why we thing the ornamentation is designed the way we think it was. This can be a very contentious issue and care will need to be taken to insure we are right before we submit. I hate it when someone comes up with something I overlooked that changes the whole thing. But that is why it is important to have a different professional people studying the issue.

This is going to me more interesting than I first expected. But this is something that both my son and I love. Just hope it doesn’t drag on and on until a decision on the design is established.

Roberts County Courthouse

Professio by matt Henson Inc. has been contracted to perform the restoration of the plaster on the Roberts County Courthouse (http://www.co.roberts.tx.us/) in Miami Texas ( http://www.miamitexas.org ). The project manager is Grimes & Associates. (http://www.grimesengineering.com ) The project architect is Michel Peter with Preservation Associates (http://www.arch.ttu.edu/Architecture/Faculty/directory.asp?ID=38).

The ceiling in the courtroom had ornamental plaster on it. Unfortunately the courthouse sustained water damage and the plaster ceiling fell to the floor and along with it all the ornamental plaster. The pieces in the photo were sent to us to start the recreation of the ceiling. We have no good photos of the cornice work only these pieces which unfortunately do not show all aspects of the work. There will have to be some conjecture as to the continuation of the design.

I’ll keep you informed as to the progress of this interesting project.