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[MessaboutW] Re: No art boats?!
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Roger Padvorac
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Brandon,
I totally agree with you about beautifully done
wooden boats. I have seen some made with carefully chosen wood and meticulously
finished with a clear finish, which were absolutely amazing. If somebody gave me
something like that I'd be so afraid to use it that I'd give it to a
museum.
To say I love wood is an understatement. In
general I think its far better to put a clear finish on wood, so you can
see the grain, than to cover it up with opaque finishes.
Some of the more pragmatic and boxy boats that Bolger and Michalak have
designed, which look more like an inexpensive floating job shack than a
sailboat, get a lot of disrespect, and there is a steadily increasing number of
laws intended to harass these kinds of boats and boaters. I think they are
wonderful for slowly exploring and getting to know a complex estuary. It
seems likely they would get more respect if boats like this had high
quality, tasteful murals painted on their sides.
Even if these boats have murals on their plywood sides, the
trim, mast, and spars could still be nicely finished with a clear coating
that shows the beauty of the wood.
* * * * I have roots in several very
pragmatic cultures, and feel that the only boat I'd burn, would be one that
couldn't float at all. While I haven't yet burned a boat, once I salvaged an
abandoned and adrift, mostly sunk, rotten boat house by hauling it out of
the water, section by section, drying it, burning what would burn (which
included a lot of tar), and taking the remaining metal to a scrap
yard.If an artist made an ugly boat uglier, then an angle grinder would take
care of the lumps and a power sander could easily fix the rest, so a different
artist could have a chance at decorating it.
Most boats (if they are still structurally sound), regardless if they are
an art failure or not, can be made at least passable with grinding, sanding, a
fresh paint job, and then some neatly painted trim detail added to the
boat.
* * * * The art cars I've seen started
out as mediocre cars when they where brand new. Then after a lot of aging,
rust, and dents, an artist could afford to buy them. So by that time, it
was pretty hard to make them uglier.When John mentioned getting an old beater
fiberglass boat, and starting from scratch with traditional rigging, that's when
I suddenly got a flash that a boat like this was equivalent to the beater cars
that artists bought to turn into art cars.
Whatever happened, a beater fiberglass hull
wouldn't be much of a loss, and there wouldn't be any beautiful wood getting
covered up.
If the first attempt at art failed to be pleasing,
then after some grinding and sanding, it would be easy to try a different
artistic vision.
The same thing could be done, if after a few years,
everybody got bored with the art and wanted something fresh.
May your day be filled with clarity, grace,
strength, insight, balance, cooperation, listening, keeping faith, and warm
laughter,
Roger
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