Chapter 3: A Character's Living Space - Designing a Creative Backdrop

I have to admit, driving back to New York after Masque was kinda surreal. I had so much to think about and plan for... and pack... and store. At this time I was living by myself in an apartment that I had just recently remodeled to blend the mundane into my Character's Realm. As I was designing it, I was thinking, "Okay so if my woodland character lived in this 21st century apartment, how might the backdrop reflect that she was to reside in the woodlands.   

The bedroom of my old apartment, this was my first official den.

I was lucky enough to talk the landlord into reduced rent for renovating the second story apartment I lived in and designing a workspace/shop in the basement. He enjoyed my Kitchen remodel the most and liked that I was able to get rid of the horrid pea green color of the cabinets and pantry; a lot of elbow grease went into stripping the color off with paint thinner and sanding every surface the nasty color touched. In addition, I painted the band-aid colored brick, brown to give the kitchen a more woodland tavern feel. I enjoyed the exposed wood as contrast. My Character had grown to enjoy her surroundings and felt comfortable here within this setting. Figures that once I had finally remodeled everything to her liking, it would be time to leave and start the next chapter.

The cabinetry before the hours of refinishing.

The ending result: + exp to woodworking + exp to design +5 to surroundings thus effecting mood and creative play.

My favorite addition to the Kitchen would have to be the combination chalk and cork board on the far wall. Wish I could take it with me but its construction was permanent.

Even now, two years of roaming later, I still miss that kitchen and space.

I had an entire apartments worth of items that I would no longer need for this next adventure. Almost everything went into storage, and I only packed what I thought would be the essentials (Work clothes, shower supplies, towels, boots,{knowing that the Faire was already equipped with kitchen} minimal cooking and eating gear. A few of my other personal items made it to the Faire: i.e. my Grandmother's green double wide recliner, my punching bag, hiking and running gear, some personal hand and power tools in addition to my desk and dry erase boards for planning. However, the thing that took up the most space in my MEGA-tetrised car honestly was going to be my character and the things that would make her future Den burst with details about her many shifts. 

How is that for Grandmaster level of 3 dimensional Tetris. + to logic for playing this game. 

Aside from the front windshield, I made sure to have enough space in which to see my right side mirror, but honestly not more than that. 

Above the tavern, unknown to most eyes, resides a two room living space, heated by a tiny wood stove. In years prior, this area was inhabited by up to 4-5 men and a dog that shed endlessly. Gratefully, I was to be the only on site resident during the season and was able to turn this space into my Character's Den. As the night settled onto the valley, I would spend at least an hour at my desk planning what the following day's labor load would have in store: creating time tables, sketching concept designs, and composing lists on the white board above my work space by candle light and fire crackle. Having my own space shielded from the elements, gave me a piece of mind and additional creative energy in which to channel into the works that were to follow. 

I enjoy having a clean and organized "home base." If my home base is dirty or disorganized, my head noise becomes too loud to concentrate and my creativity feels hindered. The creation of this space would be the first thing I would be putting my time towards. The experience went as follows. 

April – 2013: Arrived to the beautiful Britannia Faire after Gates of Fire to work a full week until MasqueBall: a test drive of what would be the summer to come. Upon crossing the threshold my eyes took note of the dirt filled floors, a layer of soot particles that covered all surfaces muting the underlying colors, with evidence of Chloe shed all over the rug. For those who don't know, Chloe was the land owner's dog and a regular face at the Faire in years past. This is an image of what the BF Cabin was like before my remodel design took shape. 

Bits of bark and twig lay scattered behind and around the fire place confirming the existence of a once stocked woodpile, which now lay barren. I still really haven't thought of any good ideas for wood storage that wouldn't scatter bits of it all over, so I settled with sweeping the room once every other day, for this kept my socks happy. 

The open corridor leads to more storage/guest quarters on the right, the loft/astroplane straight ahead, and an unfinished bathroom off to the left. 

I was personally satisfied leaving this "bathroom" unfinished, as I used the space as more of a walk-in closet/changing area and personal grooming station. I deemed personal convenience not a worthy enough thing to spend extra money on at the time and spent the season walking downstairs, outside, or on cold nights, using a chamber pot when I had to use the bathroom.  Currently attached to the far wall are 3 eye hooks and a metal rod (not pictured).  This is where the dress-spheres hang. (Outfits, attire, & accessories for those that do not get the Final Fantasy reference.) I could totally see getting some running water up into the room, because the sink is currently a lie. However, as of recent news(Sept of 2014), it looks like the upstairs is getting a complete bathroom after all. That is something being worked on by Red as he stays at BF for the remainder of the 2014 season.

Glancing back towards the main entrance way one notices how the ceiling panels bow along most seams, light and electrical outlets remained open, exposed, and often sunk too far into the wall, while sections above the door remain open to the outdoors, plugged only by a piece of floating insulation. 

May 30th, 2013:  Even before I was to unpack my Tetrised-filled-to-the-hull Shifter (manual 2door stick-shifting car, that transforms into a truck and possesses the personality of a wolf companion in my head cannon) the first night was spent emptying the main room of all its contents, sweeping up the dirt, soot, and dog hair, before hand washing the floor with a powerful bleach mixture and some Cinderella scrubbing. Afterwards, my attention turned to the bowing ceiling panels. I spent time taking out the missunken screws that formed angled bumps on the ceiling and realigned them perpendicular to the panels. This was done for all three areas upstairs.

I ran into a problem with most of the ceiling panels, as most of the seams did not line up next to a stud to save its bowing existence. This issue was worked around for the most part and where there simply was no hope, a bit of smoke a mirrors came into play where I harvested some bark and used them for covering trim. (Pictured further down the blog)

An additional before perspective of the white walls and unfinished ceilings that were soon to be no more.

Fully emerged in the under-equip "bathroom", peering left. With a glance at the counter’s contents, one will spot the wood stain and wall paint that would be soon covering the walls and ceilings; and a hatchet, because Gary Paulsen.

A glance into the closet/changing space before the remodel. Check out that bowing, center ceiling line. Yikes… *Insert fun story about the bed sheet under the ladder.*
So about ten strokes into the ceiling job, the can of stain gets knocked from the top ladder platform and crashes to the floor, its contents splattering everywhere except its intended target: the ceiling. Physics, more specifically gravity and Murphy’s Law, worked in tandem to provide this ironically funny situation. Anvil's bed sheet was the only thing large enough to soak up the ENTIRETY of the wasted can of stain.

Panning right, one can see the mess that was the Loft space, later to become Astroplane Central Station: where all the Squirrels stop by.

This wall went from initial drywall white, to a desert tan when Anvil was taking residence, to a dark brown when the room opened up and used as storage.

Continuing our pan to the right: As aforementioned this area is used mainly for storage or additional guest quarters. The original intent for this room was to be a walk-in-closet/storage area while the current closet area was to be a full bathroom with a personal shower and toilet. I reminded the owner that there are already two full working showers and a free flowing stream on sight to bathe in and suggested we install a fire pole for quick nightly pee sessions, or kick it real ol’ skool and use a chamber pot to save space and unnecessary money loss. 

A look at what the Loft was like upon arrival. After cleaning out and organizing the area, Anvil took the time to replace the squishy plywood and finish the flooring in the same wood paneling that was on the interior floor. Sadly I have no pictures of the before to after effect.

The upstairs "water-closet" area received a blue finish. This area would soon to have the “its-a-trap” sink as there were many a times I almost spit into the sink after completing my morning teeth ritual.

An alternate perspective of the unfinished water closet to observe the color contrast next to the newly stained ceiling.

The east side of the Den was painted a bright green. This paint was left over from my old apartment remodel in Buffalo, NY; the same color as my old bedroom.  Given the way the Tavern is angled in comparison to the valley walls, this side of the room receives the morning sun. My desk would take residence on this wall to encourage additional ray absorption which helped to start my day off "bright". 

The west wall of the room was painted a bold bluish-green color. The darker shade encourages sleep and provides a great contrast to the conifer foliage I had planed to trim off the room with. ***Swoon... all the wood***

At this point, I felt comfortable unpacking my Shifter. I literally watched the car breathe a sigh of relief as the suspension raised back up a few inches when I removed all the contents within.

I love how I brought all these books down with me thinking I would have all this free time to read. What a crock that was. Turns out, most nights I worked until dusk, made dinner in the dark, and passed out to recharge for the next day’s labor load, sometimes not even having the energy to start a fire. 

A perspective that shows the two-tone green paint job. In the beginning (the month of June mostly) Anvil, came down and stayed with me, exchanging his labor for the spare room in the Cabin. His nest complete with 8 blankets and 17 pillows (slightly hyperbolic) is set up in the background through the doorway.

About two weeks in, I was finally able to sort through the wood piles in the Back 40 and look for strips of bark. These strips would be coated in polyurethane and used as finishing strips to cover the breaks and shotty screw job that holds the ceiling panels in place. Smoke and mirrors my friend... smoke and mirrors.

Panning right, even the area over the fire place got a bit of a detailing touch up in attempt to draw away from the unfinished look.

Drawing the eye upwards the bark strips continue to frame out the panels. A strand of oak garland frames the door and covers up the unfinished window framing. Over the course of the season, I had three bats come in through the hole during the evening hours. Let me tell you trying to get a bat out of the den in the middle of the night with no light was a fun ordeal. The third time it happened, I tried to just shrug it off and wait until morning to deal with the issue, but was not able to sleep through the noise the bat made flying back and forth from door to door. 

At the end of season, I finally found time to finished the exterior and measure pieces of wood to place over the hole. This increases heat retention and solved the bat problem.

The bark flows into a hanging conifer forest canopy. **Use your imagination. **

Over my bed hangs the reminder of a conifer forest, the place where I feel most at home, environment wise. The causeway is framed in hanging pine cones while woodland animals can be found in the midst of the hanging garland. At this point the Den was almost set up to the point of home base completion.

All that remained was to set up my grab and go utility wall, for the most commonly used pieces in my multiple kits. 

At the end of a labor intensive day when the dusk falls and the temperature drops, this is my heat source. "The flickering firelight crackles while the scent of burning wood fills the air. A feeling of contentment and comfort fills my soul and I reflect how grateful I am to have this simple life. To live and breath by the natural cycles of nature adapting to what it has in store, I simply could not ask for more... well aside from teleportation... but that is another matter entirely."  - Sunday August 4th, 2013