PAINTING
SPOT – Helping our zebra change his stripes
Spot goes to the Day
Spa
July 4 & 5, 2010
PRIMED AND
READY TO GO
We think that Spot
is jazzed about getting a new coat of stripes but it’s hard to tell with those
unsettling white eyes of his.
Spot had a little
rust from a few small dings he received when the wind knocked him down and
re-painting him has long been on our list. Bob bought the paint in January
and we’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity to tackle the
project. Our three-day fourth of July weekend arrived with temperatures in
the 70’s and we decided this was the perfect time.
We began Spot’s
make over by carrying him to the back yard and hosing him down. That’s
when we found a large wasp nest anchored to top of the inside of his head where
his brain would be if he were a real zebra. Bob heard the buzzing and
sprayed water into Spot’s head which sent the wasps flying out of his mouth, an
image that will stay with us forever. We had to find something long and
poke out the nest, which fell down into his foot which fortunately is open on
the bottom. After he had dried in the sun, we moved Spot to the back porch
and covered him with a coat of primer. The next day, we gave him a coat of
white paint. By now he was glistening and couldn’t stop talking about how
good he felt!
DETAILS
Bob printed out
multiple pictures of real zebras from every angle he could find and Camille
spent at least two hours drawing the stripes. Then we started painting
them in black. By the time we were finished, we had a total of 28 hours in the
project. We made sure to include the spot!
THE
ORIGINAL SPOT
This is the
photograph from National Geographic which inspired us to name our zebra
spot. Or rather, inspired us to create a cartoon zebra named Spot for a
comic strip idea. We wrote about that and the reason why Spot is the
perfect mascot for Trouts Farm here.
ART IS FUN
We whiled away the
hours, paying special attention to each and every stripe. For some reason,
we finished his behind and his face first. As soon as we painted on his
googly eyes, he became real to us again. We like to think he could see
again, too.
ART CAN
BECOME TEDIOUS
We were feeling
pretty good about the project until we realized we still had the belly and legs
to do. After three or four hours our backs were really starting to hurt
and we’d take a break. We did this job in two days with an average of
seven hours a day.
BEFORE AND
AFTERS
We think that Spot
looks great with his new, anatomically correct stripes and we feel good knowing
he’ll be safe from the elements for a few years with his undercoat of
primer. But even more importantly, this project gave us that great feeling
that comes from working with someone you love on a project. Especially one
as highly visible as a life-sized zebra in our front yard!
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