what i've been up to

well, besides being up to my ears in the details surrounding "oh my god i'm brining a baby into the world in 3 months", i have put in no less than 55 hours of work in the last 5 consecutive days. yes, that means no weekend whatsoever for me. but it's all over now, the drawings are off to chicago and i am rewarding myself with a massage tonight {thank you so much, sofie!}.

i thought you might enjoy getting a little peek into what i do {what has been keeping me away from you} on the more technical side of my career. . . .

i realize auto-cad is a foreign concept to many people but it consumes much of my working day since it's the primary tool i have for communicating what my design vision is to contractors, architects and all other team members on a project. as useful as it is, sometimes i loathe it. auto-cad use needs to be limited. and i have had my fill for the time being. i much prefer hand sketching, but even though it's more artful, it is inefficient and doesn't come close to getting the job done as the computerized drawings do. especially on large projects the scale i usually work on.

first off, here's an example of something i do enjoy drawing on auto-cad: a custom designed side chair. this drawing is sent to the furniture maker who then returns what we call "shop drawings" to me to mull over, make changes and eventually approve:

this is a photo of a similar style chair, so you can see what drawings can turn into in real life:

and here is an example of something i do not enjoy drawing quite so much: a door detail {this particular one is for a custom barn-style door}. this drawing is sent off with dozens more like it to the contractor and door manufacturer so they all will know how to build it. sure it's necessary, but after drawing-up 15 or so my brain hurts and all i can think about is melting into a puddle with a sangria in hand.

to give you a better idea, this drawing is a plan view detail of a door similar in style to this one {only our track is hidden up in the ceiling rather than exposed along the wall as this one is}: