Monday, January 19, 2015

Root babies

Small sculptures of root babies, the top one in resin, the bottom carved in clay and encased in clear resin ( with the help of my brother Andrew, who took the time to sand the heck out of it and wire wrap it).
Ever since I was kid, I've had a fascination with roots and growing things. The tangled shapes of tree roots, sheltering pearlescent mushrooms and bright lichen can hold my attention longer than many things. It all started with my grandma, a sassy country woman with more energy than ten kids. One evening, while we were walking back from the lake, I spotted a tree with great big bulbous growth protruding from its side, as large as a watermelon. I asked my grandma what caused it and she took a moment, studying the shape, then said, 'Why that tree's gonna have babies! There are little babies in that bulge, waiting to pop out and find a nice place of its own, then grow into something purdy'. I believed her. I imagined what the babies would look like, probably like cute potatoes, all fat and sweet faced. Maybe pale green, with tiny leaf buds and smelling of earth and dew. 
Decades later, I'm still facinated by that image. Now, I realize my grandma probably had no idea what made the huge bulge in the tree, but rather than give us a short answer, she told us a tale that had us speculating for years. Later, when I told my dad (a guy that frequently named trees by their Latin name) what was in tree knots, he just smiled and asked if learned that from grandma. I guess he heard that story too. 
It's interesting to me as an adult, what ideas have contributed to my visual vocabulary as an artist. There are things that I loved as a child, that I still love, but with more informed eyes, I suppose. It leads me to questions of what I'll be making in the next twenty years, of what stories my children will keep and what they'll discard. 

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Tiny doll

Hi! This little lovely has been in the works for months. She's 1/12 th scale, or dollhouse size cast in cold porcelain (resin infused with porcelain). I made a doll in wax a year ago and discovered that I couldn't mold it in the traditional way, since everything I tried to build the mold walls with reacted with the wax. So Greg cast the parts in bronze and I'm working out how to attach them. Anyway, after all that annoyance I decided to just do it over. It took a couple of weeks to sculpt all the pieces, then another month of dawdling over the molds, then a week of casting loads of parts. I haven't perfected the process, I still get lots of air bubbles. Now I have one doll! Yay! 

After stringing her, I found a few problems in the joints, so I'll have to repair them and remold. I'm going to make more heads and torsos so I can change them around and get a variety of figures. I really like sculpting the faces. This one looks like Kate Moss, to me. Or a Botticelli face. I was thinking of Waterhouse when I was making her wig and painting her face- she reminded me of that painting of Ophelia floating in the water, with all the flowers around her. 
I am very happy with her and can't wait till after Tucson when I can work on her till perfection! It's going to be doll heaven when I get home. I'm already making lists of things I'm going to make and it's all going to be fun. Except cleaning my studio. That won't be fun at all. 
Isn't she so cute? I love all the dolls in hand photos on Flickr! Now I can add mine! Or, rather Azalea's, since I gave this to her for Christmas. She was pleased. This doll is going into our dollhouse for magical creatures. I have to make a mermaid in a rolling tub next. 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Adventures in Wool



Hi! Guess what I've been up to? Preparing for Tucson? Yes, of course, but also a few side projects I've long had on the back burner. I'm what you'd call a 'craftaholic' and love nothing more than holing up in my studio, with several beverages, my crew of assistants (Max and Azalea) and a good chunk of time. I decided that I was going to do some felting while visiting my family in FL and brought all the wool I could stuff into a tote bag. The bright orange pearlscale goldfish (Popo) pictured above was made partially on the way down, with a foam mat on my lap and wool everywhere. I embroidered the details, but I think I'll pick out the eye stitches when my glass eyes arrive. My stitches need work.
This little hand puppet of a root baby was made by wet felting around a form cut from foam. The leaves were cut out from felt sheets and sewed down. The tiny lichens were embroidered with French knots. The eyes are brass studs.
This is another felt portrait of one of my favorite fish, Hiro, a Kirin Ranchu goldfish. He's finished, except for needing glass eyes. 
I've been totally bewitched by all the fabric renditions of moths on Pinterest, so I thought I'd try my hand at making a pin version. Let me just say, embroidery skills are a must. Mine are not great, so I got pretty frustrated when my 'thread painting ' stitches looked bulgy and amateurish. Of course I picked those out, leaving the better ones. I just need to watch some videos on Craftsy and practice. 

Practice - it's one of those words you hear a lot, but is it just me, or is it hard to find the time to actually do it? I get a weird sensation of guilt when I fiddle around with making things that aren't going to make money. I can barely justify practicing yoga, let alone crafts that are just enjoyable! I think it's the hardest part of being an artist/self employed- taking time for fun. I happen to really love what i do, so it's easy to work from the moment I rise to finally calling it a night (morning). Anyway, it felt really good to just create what I wanted for almost a week, without considering how much it would cost, or if someone would buy it.