Trees – Set Construction

Jeff Atkisson directed me to the Madd building where I would find Jon Brandt working on the sets for Trees. The building is across the street from the First Baptist Church. When I entered I expected to see a small crowd of carpenters working but this afternoon I just found Jon working alone on the set. He had no idea who I was when I walked into the warehouse but he was welcoming and accepted the idea of me doing a sketch with no hesitation. He is standing on the side of the set that will face the audience. It looks like he is putting in three tiers and there will be steps in front and in back. A large platform will go between the back steps which is for now resting on the floor. The radio was on a talk radio station about how to handle your finances.
I was fascinated by the things to be found in storage in this warehouse. Two huge Gold Academy Awards were perched on an upper level. There were street lamps and a popcorn billboard cut out. The most prevalent item however were the crosses. There were several dozen smaller crosses and then four very large life sized crosses one being made from thick tree trunks. The large tree trunk cross has two railroad spike sized wooden spikes located where the hands would be nailed up.
Jon said he was working alone because his crew had taken off early. He however was committed to work till 5PM which gave me an hour and a half to sketch. I couldn’t help but think of the idea that Jesus had been a carpenter so he must have been very familiar with the smell of sawdust and the sound of wood boards being dropped into place.