The Gala Shelves Reveal

Week 2 of the artisan, handmade web. This week, I am going to brag about my complete apartment wall being covered in my new used shelves! 

Last year, I stopped in at Entrée gallery to see the Bergen Art Book Library. Totally addicted to reading, I am. But instead, I was hooked on the display shelves! The blue and red ones, if you follow the link.

The gallery owner, Randi Grov Berger, gave me the the contact info for the designer, Magnhild Øen Nordahl, and I was on the hunt. My apartment has a very boring wall, with a few pictures hung on it with fishing line hooked into the moulding. Shelves would be perfect for holding the paintings, and my salt-and-pepper shaker collection. 

Magnhild was too busy to create new shelves for me, but this year, Randi decided that Entrée should have plain walls for the next exhibit, and she e-mailed me to see if I wanted to buy any of the shelves. Why, yes! Yes, I would. I ran on down and picked 10 shelves and 6 cleats, then called a transport company, Budbilexpressen, to pick them up at Entrée and deliver them to the Marineholmen Makerspace. I commandeered the Vinyl Cutting room, covered the worksurface and nearby floor with plastic, and started making the colors match my warm palette.

The living room wall is painted a nice green. One year, my mother-in-law sent me a lovely butterfly-designed throw blanket. Butterfly since Pilla means butterfly in Magyarul, of course, but the colors were perfect. There was the green of the wall, a burnt orange (reminded my of the University of Texas at Austin, where I got my Ph.D.), and a purple. I took the throw to the paint store and got that orange for the shelves and that purple for the cleats. Each piece took four coats: two to block the blue and red stain from coming through the new paint, and two paint coats. Each coat had to dry. And occasionally, believe it or not, the vinyl cutter room was used for vinyl cutting! So it took forEVER (okay, 2-1/2 weeks) to finish. I hired the transport company to take them to my apartment, and hired Anna Schmideder from Aldea Art to help me install them. Anna had written me about the shelves being for sale, after Randi did. After Anna drilled holes in the wall and attached the cleats, I got to hang the shelves and fill them with my memories.

Randi, some friends, and even Magnhild came to my "Gala Reveal" party! The video shows Jennie Loy. Below are the creative force - Magnhild and Randi, and little Timmi - checking out the opposite wall.

And finally, here is my "selfie", taken by Jennie, with the gala shelves reveal party. Yngvar is standing on the right.