Flat files finished

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I wrote in a post that I was pushing to finish this flat file that I had started several years ago. I had constructed twelve drawers, installed handles and applied preservative while the frame was yet to be complete. The heat and humidity of the summer discouraged progress; then I felt pinched with the decreasing length of day and ensuing cold of winter approaching. I felt pressure to complete the flat file in part, because our unheated garage is the best space I had to work on it. Well, I finally completed it about a week ago. As a result, it has freed up space in our garage. I desperately needed the space that the flat files provide as well, to better organize my paintings and storage of unused watercolor paper. Also, I don't like leaving my watercolor paintings in the sun of my south-facing studio space.  

In the above photograph, the flat file I completed is on the left. It is constructed mostly of red oak with several coats of polyurethane to preserve its condition and reveal the lovely wood grain. Several people have commented that it is a fine piece of furniture. The flat file to the right is one I had purchased several years ago. It has provided space for drawings in addition to paintings, but it is filled to capacity.

The watercolor resting on the flat file is a copy of an Ogden Pleissner painting I did to force myself to paint bolder and larger in scale. It was done on a rough sheet of watercolor paper, which I usually do not use. I prefer to use cold-pressed paper, which has some texture but not nearly as much as a rough sheet.