February 28, 1999
The first thing that everyone asks is "Where did you ever get the idea?" I have to confess, the concept was my husbands. In March of 98 I submitted slides to the Wenham for consideration to be accepted into this exhibit. In August I was excepted. I had planned to begin "something" (idea not yet defined) in the fall. But the best laid plans of mice and men (or in this case WOman) tend to go awry. In October my husband required five way heart bypass surgery.
Stress, at least for me, is NOT conducive to creativity, November came and went and December was upon us. What do I do for this exhibit. The curator said send anything that you have that is already done and don't worry about it. But I wanted something new and different. I was playing around with the concept of a one man band with lots of instruments and discussing it over dinner. That's when Jack suggested a "Player Piano". "Too hard", I said "and not enough time to solve all the problems".
Of course, as soon as I tell myself something can't be done, I have to try to do it. So the race was on. With all the problems that had to be solved in order to create it, there was only one way to attack it. Just begin. Each problem was resolved as I came to it. Often the solution arriving in the nick of time. Not that it was easy, the head took six tries before I had one that was usable.
Often searches for materials to solve a specific problem resulted in totally different solutions than expected. While looking for a "window material" for the piano roll section I found something that I had never intended. Wind up musicals. Thus, PLAYER PIANO really makes music. What does he play? Why "Hello Dolly", of course. This created more problems to resolve, how to incorporate a music box into the design.
Ultimately the piece was completed, just in the nick of time to send it off to the museum. It was photographed just before it went into the shipping box. The grand opening of the event was on February 12th. It was a fun gala event. Photographers were there from the local papers as well as the Boston Globe who featured a photograph of it in one of the Sunday sections.
Player Piano stands 17" tall and is mounted on a 7" x 13" hardwood base. The piano keyboard and front legs are of wood, with the keyboard being hand carved my yours truly. The sheet music in his hand is "The Band Played On" and on the floor is "Rag Time". He is constructed from wood, cloth, archival bainbridge board, wire, stuffing and poly pellets. His head is fully needle modeled with mohair mustache, brows and wig. The red carnation is hand made from china silk with hand dyed leaves. He is one of a kind and sells for $750.00. For more information contact me at
Wendy@wendys-whimseys.com.
For a closer look at the various details of this piece click HERE,
PLAYER PIANO
