The tree-making marathon continues. Behold, the last of those miserable little flowering hydrangea bushes.
Step sixty-eight:
After buying the entire lot of tree-like dried floral material at Michael’s Crafts, curse the fact that, of course, the only one that looks like little trees doesn’t come in green.
Never fear, Michael’s also sells floral dye in spray cans! After lining up all the little “trees” in foam blocks, sit on the back porch and spray with several different shades of green dye.
After inhaling the noxious fumes from the spray dye, marvel at the fact that you actually do have a green thumb when it comes to plants. Also observe that your little trees look kind of like broccoli. Giggle uncontrollably.
After recovering from the affect of the fumes, begin poking holes in the base with a screwdriver. Glue the little trees into the holes. Run out of trees. Buy more beer. Repeat the previous three steps. Several times. Work into the wee hours, keeping panic at bay, as the deadline for delivery is tomorrow!
At last, stand back and admire the endless woods, and then realize, the thing is finally FINISHED!!!! All that’s left now is to clean it off, and get it ready for transport.
Back at the museum, art preparator William Donnelly builds a special crate to transport the finished model. When it comes to packing and moving artwork, he’s the MAN.
The custom base and acrylic cover are delivered to the Museum work area.
The entire lot gets loaded on the truck, with help from the Museum’s resident strong men: Director Steve Bruni, Librarian Kraig Binkowski, Facilities Manager Vinnie Spera, and Preparator William Donnelly.
Step seventy-five:
The model and display base are set up in the Delaware Art Museum’s Downtown Gallery at 919 Market Street in Wilmington Delaware, just in time for a meeting with a potential museum patron. The meeting is a grand success—the man is so impressed with the model that he makes a very large donation to the project.