bilateral kellerberrin

April 26, 2005

applying linseed oil to the cross at the prev

Filed under: pointlessness — Lucas @ 12:44 am

One of the pointless tasks I have been trying to get around to for a few weeks is oiling the cross on top of the Prev. What follows is an explanation and illustration. Apologies to those of you with dial up access, as there are a bunch of photos to follow…

The 10 Step Explanation:
1. “The Prev” is a building.
2. Historically, it was used as a place to send asthma sufferers to stop em getting worse. Preventorium, some sort of twist on sanitorium, I reckon.
3. Now, it’s owned by Pauline and James, who run it as a kind of bed n breakfast.
4. While Roger was in town, he was helping out by painting the prev in a nice cream colour, tart it up a bit for the visitors.
5. One day, Pauline came in search of Roger, who was skiving off, hanging out with me out the back of the gallery. She wanted him to come and help choose colours. I went up with them to the Prev, where we decided to tone down the apricot colour they had gone for already. So we all trooped off to the hardware and got the nice man to mix up a custom colour.
6. Back at the Prev, the colour choice was approved. I asked about the cross, which is raw wood with peeling paint. What colour were they going to paint that? James was up on the roof with a piece of wire, securing the ricketty thing in place. Roger was all for pulling it down. He refused to paint the damn thing. This caused some tension as James was rather attached to it.
7. I suggested that we varnish the cross, as is. That way, its historical importance would be preserved (thus satisfying James) and we wouldn’t be restoring it entirely (thus satisfying Roger).
8. Thus it fell upon me to varnish the cross atop the Prev.
9. When I went to the hardware store to get varnish, the nice man suggested that since the cross was sitting in the sun all day, varnish might crack and discolour. Better that I choose linseed oil.
10. Today Chris and I put on the first coat of oil.

the prev cross
Tis the cross atop the prev….

climbing up to the roof
Climbing up to do the deed…

Chris and Lucas up on the roof
Chris and Lucas up on the roof…

applying the linseed oil
The first brushstrokes caress the cross…

the wood soaks up the oil
The dry wood drinks in that rich oil…

and now the front
…and now for the front…

slapping on the oil
Lucas oils up the front…

chris oils it
Chris puts some finishing touches to the oily crucifix…

job done
Job done!

Note that no significant difference has been made to the cross (compare with first photo) – it is slightly darker, and the paint flakes are intact. A significant contribution has been made to the nation’s heritage!

2 Responses to “applying linseed oil to the cross at the prev”

  1. bilateral kellerberrin » Kellerberrin Tuesday 26 April 2005 Says:

    […] e ….. Later in the day Chris and I headed over to the Prev to oil the cross (see yesterday’s photo story, filed under “pointlessness”). We got waylaid by “Old with Style” […]

  2. bilateral kellerberrin » Kellerberrin Monday May 23 2005 Says:

    […] r dailies — Lucas @ 10:01 pm Chris wanted to go back to Old with Style. Last time he was in Keller, he saw, but did not buy, a red lacquered side table he “needed” […]

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