Et voilà!

Now stained with aubergine color, it is completed. This one and the next few image are taken during the day.

The effect appears polished and more defined, but you are welcome to comment

The stain brings out the texture of the wood

And now with spot-lights

I am pleased with the effect both day and night

Museu Regional do Vinho

This regional museum is an important resource here archiving the specific ways wine makers of this region developed their craft over hundreds of years

The ease of ripening in the hot sun makes the Alentejo prime red wine country. Trincadeira (rasberry, fruity,spicy) is the main red grape of the region and then it's Aragonez (plum, strawberry, blackberry). The third most important is the herby late ripening Castelao. A star here is also the Alicante Bouschet which is one of the world's few red-fleshed grapes.

Final decisions

And so, I decided to stain it as mentioned in my previous post the color aubergine. I first documented this piece prior to doing it in case the outcome was not as intended. Luis accompanied me to Estremoz as my interpretor and guide to the proper stores. The house paint store had a few selections of stains on hand so I decided on a color I could combine with a tube of oil paint purchased at the small art supply shop.

Almost done my work here

 So after adding stems and roots and sawing off others I settled on this as a structure. I am now debating whether or not I want to stain it. 

I have been pondering the colors of the flower of the Esteva plant. It is white with aubergine color spots on the inner part of its petals. I am mulling over a stain the color of aubergine.

The Ancient Ones

Today we went out to Redondo, a small village nearby within the Alentejo district. Luis knew of an Anta located off the main roads he wanted to show us. Antas are burial structures that are part of the Megalithic tradition in Europe. These particular structures found in many places in the Alentejo area date back to around 6000 years ago or more.

The entry to the Anta always faces east. 

Once the dead was placed inside along with possessions the Anta was buried under rubble forming a mound in a meadow or in a forested area. Vegetation would cover it over time in some places while erosion cleared away the rubble and vegetation in others exposing the burial structure such as this one.

Although these ancestors would have been hunters and gatherers they were obviously settled and able to spare the resources necessary to build these structures and cover them in rubble as per the custom. As I touch these stones I know they were also touched by many others each with their stories of sorrows and regeneration going back so long long ago.

Playing with the shadows

The next evening equipped with a couple of spots, I experimented with casting shadows of the piece on the studio wall. How much of the shadow would be integrated in the piece? How does it change my relationship to the hanging structure? Fun discoveries.

The bare bones

The morning was spent carefully selecting the skeleton of the installation. Decisions on the placement in the space were to be made, the height and rhythm of the forms and then finally the suspending of the bare bones.