A Good Day

We had a lovely holiday... a good day with MUCH to be thankful for. I set out the food and let everybody have at it. With plates in hand, they settled down to watch football. Jake doesn't often get an entire afternoon to just sit down and indulge himself like that, so it was my pleasure to make everything as laid back and relaxing for him as possible.

Now, I like football as much as anyone, but my hands *need* to be busy, so I picked up some clay and began to play.

This lovely thing is the round robin doll that is staying with me this month. Doesn't she have a gorgeous face? She is a world traveller, touring the world with her treasure box. I have been agonizing over what to do to her for a few weeks now, so I was quite relieved to finally have An Idea! Yesterday was the perfect opportunity to just sit and play and keep everybody company as well.

I was inspired by the work of Jean Bernard to give her some roots to keep her centered while she wanders...

I began with the top of the box. She had been simply glued to her base, and while the connection seemed pretty secure, it utilitarian rather than attractive. I thought I could do something about that.

Here is a closeup of the front of the box. I forgot to take a photo of the back, but it's pretty much more of the same, so you get the idea...

I would have liked to spread the sculpt out a little farther along the top of the box, but I didn't want to obscure what previous artists had done. The "Emperor's Gold" paint that I used stood out against the pink a little too strong; this morning I added a light wash of Lumiere's "Halo Pink/Gold", which connects the elements nicely.

I continued the "Roots" theme down into the inside cover of the box. I really got to go to town here. I just kept going and going until I finally ran out of what apoxie clay I had mixed up... it took me two whole football games to complete, but it was so much fun that it seemed to take no time at all.

For once in my life, I have a travelling project complete BEFORE the 11th hour before it is due to be mailed!