Next up: soft clocks

And I couldn't do a dali inspired painting without having a giraffe on fire for good measure

If you're just joining me and have no idea what I'm doing:

I'm decorating a hedgehog feeding station (for wild hedgehogs, not pets), painting works of art on the walls of it and putting ornate gold frames around them.

Getting a cultural exchange going.

Plotting out the baffles, this is what'll be built onto either side of the feeding station leading up to the doors.

Cats cannot duck *and* take tight turns at the same time. The tighter the turn, the harder it is, they need to be able to pull themselves through. So here the roof is low enough a cat can't do that, narrow enough it can't manoeuvre , and it it would have to duck further on the main bend

The entrances would also be facing a wall so that's another 90 degree turn to get in it.

These are the kinds of baffles I've always wanted to put on them but, well, that's rather a lot of construction

In the event anyone is thoroughly invested in all of this and has a spare fiver they'd like to put towards the renovations, I have a tip jar on my website  http://wagtails.art

(It's safe for work, don't worry! )

Marine hinges and hasps for the roof flaps, I've seen the state store bought hedgehog boxes get into and we're bypassing that thank you very much!

If this damn thing is going to last 15 years it won't be let down by a bloody hinge.
Silicone and fibreglass sheet to cover the flaps too, and hdpe blocks to keep it well off the ground

Honestly at this point I'm looking forward to getting my studio back. It's had a giant dust sheet and cardboard laid out on it got 2 weeks covered in wood at various stages of painting.

I like to start a project, do the project to completion, and then rest. A project like redecorating these would ordinarily be 2 days. I do not have the patience for all this waiting for things to dry stuff (and with 6+ layers to put on its a lot of waiting)

The last few paintings done, each about 3cm

A portrait of Egg, a vase of flowers, a horse because paintings of horses are always fancy and high class, and the hedgehogs' very own original kandinsky

A little over 2 weeks later and the Igel's Nest (hedgehog nesting box) is finished!

Undercoated in mold resistant stain blocking paint, made fully waterproof by 2-3 layers of enamel based paint, topped off with an acrylic based paint for colour and then covered with a few layers of polyvine varnish. This thing should now outlive me!

With a solid resin floor it also makes it easy to keep clean and won't be attractive to woodlice.

Just a tiny bit overkill but at least i won't have to worry about a hedgehog moving in and deciding it's also his toilet anymore.

Cleaning that when it's porous wood, not a fun experience.

The Urch Inn (main hedgehog feeding station) so far, before the baffles are added, resin floor poured, and roof put on.

With the baffles now moved from inside to outside, there's now considerably more space than there used to be

A small detail but important one: screws.
Even if you buy expensive ones that say they won't rust, they still might rust. In any outdoor project it's always a sticking point.

I'm mainly using timber wolf which is fine, but the small ones are an unknown and will be exposed to the rain, and in a place that'll pool. My go to for such things? Nail lacquer.

Very hard wearing, sticks like shit, and absolutely won't come off unless you want it to.

I'm leaving it indoors a few more days to be certain the epoxy is alright and then it'll be put out and the roof put on it. I'll get some all pics when it's in place and set up

A platform was set up out in the woods today for the Igel's Nest to rest on, so that's now all set up and good to go.