Inside the pod

After our return from the UK, work continued completion on the facilties inside the pod.The Bathroom and toilet are now complete. The images show the effect of the coloured perspex, and other detailing such as the custom made bath room cabinet.It was for me, difficult to get a good finish on the timber. The were problems with sissing- which I had never encountered before. The cold and damp air did not allow the varnishes to dry properly on the timber.

Keven built the cabinet from myrtle and blackwood selected by us from a small mill close to Geeveston. Phillips is just another small timber business that says Gunns takes all the timber for wood chipping leaving very slim pickings for cabinet makers and local builders. So who is it that likes Gunns? I have yet to meet them.

the pod is launched 21 June 2008

Was this the original green roof lining?

And so, just before the roof was sealed up for the flue and chimney, I took this photograph of the hole revealing the double roof layer. Not a bad thing to have two layers, but how the church now functions with a good stove will determine what other kind of insulation we need in the roof and on the windows.

After the first day of the wood heaters operation it was fantistic to feel the heat rising up into the mezzanine level. This means that the church has the potential to be used all the year instead just the warmer months. Heating is the issue here, in Queensland it was cooling, and we are now entering into our first Tasmanian winter-not as bitter as in the UK, but cold nonetheless.

The greening of the pod

Now the plasters are finished, the painting is-more or less complete. Unexpectedly the pod turned green! Finding a colour took much deliberation and changes of mind until one sunny morning in the beginning of July, Pat and I realised the colour would be apple green. On the wall under the window, was a record of the layers of paint built up over time, and the green we chose corresponded to one of those colours. The colour then is both from a contemporary palette and the heritage of the church. For us perhas, it also signifies apples and politics. Here, Greer helps us out with the painting before the builders return.

One more layer of the church's history was unexpectedly revealed on the 15th july when we installed a new wood stove. As the installers penetrated the roof to take the flue, it was clear that the baltic pine ceiling was a later addition to the original roof which was also painted apple green. We are keeping a piece of the wide pine boards( 9 inches) covered in the pale green paint that had been concealed by the warm orange glow of baltic pine boards which we had presumed to be the original roof lining. Were these later boards added at time the church hall was built around 1900? Is this pale green the colour first brushed on around 1860 or is that just another, later addition? The Church continues to surprise us.

Some notes about what we are planning to do

We envisage that our annual program will be a combination of professional practice and community cultural development which is in keeping with our backgrounds. We want the church to be used regularly, thereby enabling it to be conserved and we want to continue our practices in our retirement. We will not be profit making but hope to generate enough income from some of the activities to maintain use of the church by ourselves and other artists throughout the year.

Projects we are planning so far include a bursury program for visual art post graduate students with the selected artist undertaking a residency in the church studio, a social history project to collect and present the stories of people who were married in the church, a floating paper kiln project - paper kilns are constructed and floated on the Huon River - small pots are fired in them. We also plan to run occassional short workshops, give talks and present exhibitions. Some projects may culminate in an exhibition or installation. We are open to taking small regional touring exhibitions and to other types of residencies e.g. writing.

We expect to run our first bursury residency program later this year.

New sign

Opened to the public!

We opened the Church Studio to the public for the first time as part of Focus of the Franklin festival and Charles's birthday on April 5th and 6th. We showed a collection of photographs first exhibited at the Queensland Centre for Photography by Charles Zuber. Pat Zuber exhibited some prints that were produced in Brisbane also in 2006-7.

So whilst the space was clearly unfinished it was important for us to open up the church for the visitors to Franklin that weekend. Though now, it is back in the hands of the builders after the Huon council approved the construction works to date -on the 22nd April. So far, we are pleased with the progress towards the conversion of an 1862 heritage listed building into a working space for the 21st century. Bring in the plasterer!