Friday, June 1, 2012

The Easel


I am always trying to reinvent the wheel. I wanted an easel with everything close by so I have been reinventing. There is no market for these, I looked them up on Ebay and easels are pretty much a dime a dozen, but really they are not that good.  Unless you get a big H frame studio easel they are flimsy and well, have that made in China quality to them.  Not too inspiring for an artist who hates imports.
   This easel has a lot of attachments, one for paper towels, another for a pallet, little rings for cup holders and brushes, both vertical and horizontal while drying and even a little scabbard that will hold three pallet knives! What am I missing?
   It is my first foldable easel and the mast slips into place so it is in two pieces but it has the strength of steel, not its light weight aluminum counter part.  It is adjustable and will hold a canvas as small as 20" and as big as five feet! I have put a six foot wide canvas on it and it has no wobble at all.

   It is not always a good thing when an artist likes his work.  I kept fiddling with it and adding details and then I liked it so much I spent $75 to have it professionally powder coated.  It is a clear coat, letting you see the steel but giving it a feeling as soft as silk to the touch.

The little rosette with the brass acorn nut moves up and down and is designed to capture the top of the canvas.  It is threaded and will tighten down  to a quarter of an inch or open up to a full 2".
   I added a half dome of copper at the top of the mast for the artists signature!  Clear coat over copper has become almost a trade mark of my work.

My Studio has become like a car lot showroom of easels, from Volkswagons to BMW's. Maybe one day I will learn to paint!

3 comments:

Yvonne said...

I like it. Very clever, functional, and a lovely work of art.

Autumn Leaves said...

You sure have the heart and soul of an artist Jerry. This latest easel is the most beautiful yet! I tend to paint flat, most of the time. Sometimes I use an easel with oils but I don't paint with oil often either. And I often paint flat with those too. I wish I could feel like a real artist and use an easel. I just saw a gorgeous antique easel for $80 last weekend. Had we the money and I could have made use of it, I would have bought it. It was heavy and kind of ornate and it really would have been best used to display a painting more than anything else. Ah well.

Barbra Joan said...

Jerry, you are one of a kind, yes they threw the mold away after you were made..
These are so different, they look strong and I'm sure they are.
Would I have to be a weight lifter to move one of these ?
I know the kind of antique and vintage easels that Sherry speaks of and to just display would be nice. BJ