Recentering

As expected, the Iowa Retreat was a pleasure and a treat. Sherry and Jean are very special teachers, and it was so delightful to reconnect with old friends and also make new ones! (Hi Sue!) I got home happily exhausted, but I am refreshed and ready to rock and roll now.

I took my camera with me, but I spent most of the weekend with my hands covered with sticky stuff, so I don't have much in the way of photos to share.


I have developed a bit of a reputation as a messy worker. I don't think it's THAT bad, but I am used to what my table looks like and I can function just fine. I really should invest in a box of gloves though. The ingredients in some of those paints are toxic and my fingers were definitely cut up after working with that wire.

I don't have a photo of my project yet -- it is nowhere near finished, and I have lost count of the number of challenges this piece has thrown in my path. So far I have met and overcome each one, the most serious of which was a base that simply wouldn't stand still. As of this morning though it is as solid as a rock and I am ready to move on with more interesting parts. It should (knock wood!) go much faster now. I just spray painted all the pieces black -- I'll put up an in-progress pic when the paint is dry.

Oh, oh!! I almost forgot - My Challenge doll won the "Most Creative" ribbon. I'll post a pic soon. A picture of a ribbon? Well, yes. This is a special hand made ribbon which is now most proudly displayed in my studio. It is COOL!

One for the Road

Earlier this summer, one of the members of an artist's chat group I belong to issued a challenge to create a collage based on a "Sunset" theme. My entry is late, but it's not as if I am going to be arrested for being a slow artist, so here it is anyway. The colors are nearly true on my monitor, though I had to darken the highlights a bit to cut the glare. (Do you think it is even possible for me to work without Pearl-Ex or interference colors??)


The photos are all images I have taken of sights on and around our farm. My favorite is the old tractor on the upper left - I think I want to do another canvas featuring that photo on its own.

The techniques I used I learned from videos featuring Ann Baldwin and Jacqueline Sullivan. I wish I had laid down some of the color before adding the photographs, but oh well, live and learn. It was a lot of fun to do, and I am pleased with the way it turned out.

Thanks Linda!

It May Have Been Worth It...

One of the more interesting tasks you can expect to be faced with when you live on a dairy farm is the rounding up of animals who have gotten out of where they are supposed to be, and are now wandering around where they have no business being, usually causing damage as they go. Early Saturday morning we awoke to the sound of a commotion in the calf house. (Oh no... not the young stock!) Sigh... the yearlings were out.

Older cows are pretty easy to convince to return to where they belong, especially if they are hungry. The young ones just like to run, and they are agile and FAST. We did get them rounded up eventually, and as I trudged back to the house I looked up and this is what I saw...


There is nothing as beautiful as September in Oregon.

I have a few other little things to share to make up for being absent last week - these are my bring-alongs for the Iowa Retreat. (This week!) This is a 4"x4" canvas to commemorate the first Retreat held at Sherry's new school. It is collaged with foil gum wrappers, then painted and glitzed up with some metallic paint and microbeads.


There is also going to be a pincushion exchange one evening... This little frog is my offering. The lily, pad, frog, and pin heads are all of polymer clay, while the cushion itself is needlefelted wool/mohair blend embellished with yet more microbeads. (Is there life without microbeads, LOL?) I still need to paint the details on the ladybug pins, but I have a little time left before I leave to get it all done. I hope!


I can't wait til Thursday!

Am I done yet?

I worked all weekend on my challenge piece and got so much done, but I think she still needs "something" - I'm just not sure what. If I get some inspiration between now and when I have to leave for Retreat I will add it, but in the meantime she is pretty much finished.


This year's Retreat challenge is to create something with a Halloween or Harvest theme. My ghost was inspired by a project Lydia did for her college cultural anthropology class where they collected urban legends. Lydia focused on "white lady" stories and collected many from her international group of internet friends. (It was interesting how similar they were no matter what part of the world they came from.) That gave me the idea for my lady ghost, but she still needed a story of her own.


Last December there was a tragic drowning not far from here. A pair of young lovers were walking along the Coast near Neskowin, OR to a place called Proposal Rock when a large wave rushed up and swept the young woman out to sea. The gentleman had just been about to propose to her before she was carried away.


I've been haunted by that story since I heard it - it makes my heart ache as it's so very sad. So I dressed my ghost lady in wedding finery and posed her in the moment of falling into the waves. I tried to get as much movement into her body and clothing as possible to suggest the swirling currents.


I still think she needs something tough.

Another Quick Peek

I am meeting myself coming and going this week - doesn't it always seem to be that everything happens at once? Sigh...

I am still managing at least a few minutes of creative time a day though, and so I have been adding the "ectoplasm" (silk charmeuse, silk chiffon, and cotton gauze) to my Ghost, layer by layer. Fortunately my non-creative time doesn't feel wasted as the paverpol has to dry between layers. I love the sense of movement that the hardened fabric has given to her pose.


I have one more layer of silk to add to her costume, and then (finally!)I will be ready to tackle her hair style. I know I am cutting it very close as far as the deadline goes, but I still think I will get her finished in time. Wish me luck!

Photo Monday and a Work-in-Progress

As a rule, sunsets here in the Valley are not very colorful. However, the farmers in the region are going full blast harvesting crops such as late beans, wheat, wildflowers, and hops, which throws up a lot of dust into the air. I know my little sunset can't compete with Mike's extravaganzas from Florida, but I still think it's pretty.


I have pressed on through the freeze that follows an "I can't do it" panic attack on my Ghost for the Retreat next month. I sculpted those darned hands and the foot. I feel a little silly about that foot because there is no way it is going to be visible in the finished piece, but at least I will know it's there. She is finally ready now for her draping. Her face will be attached last.


Why are white things so darned hard to photograph well?

Anyway, attaching her hair took most of Saturday afternoon. For one thing it was a major headache working around her foot (which is almost touching her scalp) and for another, the superfine silk yarn I chose is maddeningly tempermental. If I had known what I was letting myself in for I would never have chosen it; however, now that it is on, I am thrilled and it is going to do exactly what I want it to do once the Paverpol is applied. (Fingers crossed...)


If only I didn't have to go to work tomorrow!

Lydia's Dragon Tree

My oldest daughter Lydia is 20 years old and will be a junior in college this year. She went with me to Washington last weekend and this is what she made in Jean's class. I'm her mom, so of course I think she is amazing, but keep in mind that she has never ever sculpted before.

It was difficult to find a camera angle that shows this piece at its best, so I have included several views. From the back left...


... and facing full front. I love that dangle!

Right rear profile. Here you can see the perfect beads she chose for his eyes as he is gazing from under his wing.


And finally the right front profile.


I love the deliciously twisted way her brain works!

An Unexpected Pleasure

I found out late last week that Jean Bernard was scheduled to teach her Tree Woman class at a quilt shop in Auburn, WA this past weekend. I asked the shop owner if there were any spaces left and lo and behold there were 2! So on Friday afternoon, Lydia and I packed up for a weekend of creativity.

About 3 seconds after we got into the classroom, Lydia had already been nicknamed "Junior", LOL.

Over the next 2 days, we twisted wire, mixed up apoxie, sculpted, dipped, draped, painted, embellished, and bejeweled. No bills, no laundry, no INTERRUPTIONS - just fun. I could get used to this...

This is my tree. She is brown Aves Apoxie over a wire armature. Her face was provided by Jean. Please click on the photos to get a truer feel for how detailed she really is.


She is embellished with everything I could lay my hands on.


I know trees don't have butts usually, but she wanted one. As soon as I sculpted it, she came alive for me.


Can you spot the 4 other little faces embedded in her trunk?


I wish I could show you the incredible tree Lydia came up with, but she took it to a friend's house this morning to show it off. I can't say as how I blame her - I would be proud of it too! - but I wanted to photograph it first, doggone it! That's OK... I'll just put it up in a day or so. You won't want to miss this one.

July's UFO - Finished, and oh WOW!

At long last, I have finally completed a white-on-white project that I am absolutely delighted with! I finished fringing and assembling the components of the White Collar the day after we came home from the Coast. (Well, I still need to get to a bead store and buy a suitable clasp for the end of the chain, but other than that it is FINISHED.)


Forgive me please for gloating, but I am so in love with this fringe.


On the other hand, I spent half of the afternoon today trying to get photos that show it off to its best, but this is the best I can do, even with a tripod and a timer. (Hmmmmm... perhaps it is time to clean my lens.) It looks fantastic with everything I have tried it on to wear it with, but I can't find a suitable background fabric that really lets it shine as it should in a photo, and I am getting frustrated. Anybody have some advice as to what do you think I need to do with this piece to get better photographs to upload on to Etsy?

Monday's Photo - Lincoln City, OR

Last Monday was our 25th wedding anniversary and to celebrate, Jake and I took the girls and ran away from home for a few days. The cool grey days on the Oregon Coast were a wonderful antidote to the crushing heat we had endured the week before.

We did have one nice sunny day while we were there. The Pacific Ocean is colder than cold on the Oregon coast no matter what time of year it is, but Jake and the girls decided to try some wave diving anyway. I stayed on the beach with my camera like a sensible person, LOL.


The waves look bigger than they actually were because I took the photo crouching in the sand at the edge of the waves. That's as far into that freezing water as I was going to go!

I couldn't believe it, but he actually dove in.


This pair of sea lions was cruising around much farther off the beach, but they were fun to watch nonetheless.

Tomorrow it's back to the ordinary routine.

Getting Ready for a Retreat

The Fall Retreat in Iowa with Jean Bernard and Sherry Goshon is getting closer and closer. There has been a flurry of chatter on the list this weekend as supply lists and teaser photos have been posted. My fees are paid, my plane ticket is booked and now I get to assemble some supplies -- I am so excited!

Because I can't take my whole studio with me (alas!) I am going to narrow down my color scheme so I at least have a place to start. This little bag of fiber has been in my stash for years, and I think it has finally called out to me to go into a project. I have never worked with yellow before so this should be interesting!


Isn't it pretty? It is a far cry from my usual blue/purple/green mode at any rate.

I have also undertaken a massive reorganization of my studio, as it was becoming impossible to work in there. This week's project was my beading desk. Nothing has ever really been sorted there (I usually just kind of add to the pile as I acquire things) so some organization was really necessary. When I came across this ammonite that I bought about a year ago I decided to take a break and wire it up with a technique based on a design by Nancy Wickman. I absolutely love it!


I admire her style, and one of these days I will purchase her "Victorian Key" design as well.

I will not be posting a Photo-of-the-Week this week as the family and I are leaving for a little vacation tomorrow. I hope everybody is having a wonderful summer!

When it's too hot to go outside

When it is this hot outside, (108 degrees yesterday afternoon - ugh!) I stay inside. That's OK, because now I need to get to work on my challenge piece for this year's Retreat with Sherry Goshon and Jean Bernard. We are supposed to do something related to Halloween or Harvest, and I knew right away that I wanted to do a Ghost. Not just any ghost, but a White Lady. I'll tell her story later, but in the meantime, here are some in-progress photos of what she looks like at the moment.


I am using the techniques I learned at last year's retreat. I still need to sculpt her other hand and also decide what I want to do with her other foot, but I am so happy with her form so far.

And here she is from the other side.


Her face is sculpted and beaded and ready to apply, but there is a lot more work to do on the figure yet before that can happen. Hmmm... I want more detail in the color of her face I think. Otherwise, so far, so good!


Because there is absolutely nothing on TV, we are watching our collection of "Lost" DVD's again as a family, so I have a lot of time in the evenings to catch up on some beading, so I can give you an update on the white-on-white collar too. I finished beading the segments and got them lined and edge-finished, so now I am ready to add the fringe.


This is the fun part!

Photo of the Week - Worth the Wait

I am a day late in posting this week's photo because I spent this past weekend at my daughter's freshman orientation at Oregon State University. What a fabulous place! The campus itself is beautiful, and the course offerings put my alma mater's to shame. She's excited... I'm excited for her, and more than a little bit jealous, LOL. *I* want to go to college tooooooooooooooooooo!!!

This is a macro photo of the colorful ingredients of my new most favorite salsa. It is very mild, so if you are a heat junkie you will be disappointed (though there is nothing to stop you from adding the heat source of your choice - it WILL work, I promise.) I think even my new-food-phobic family back home might be willing to try mangos if I served them this way.

Corn, Black Bean, & Mango Salsa
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup of frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 fresh red bell pepper, diced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
8 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt)
1 tablespoon olive oil, optional (I wouldn't dream of leaving it out. Really now... that is a healthy amount of a healthy fat.)

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. If you keep it covered in the refrigerator, it will stay tasty and good for 3 days or so.



I know a lot of people don't like cilantro and I admit it took me a time or two to learn to appreciate the flavor, but its flavor contribution really makes this salsa sing. I intend to experiment with some finely diced jalepeno chilis next time.

When good projects go bad

I really really wanted to enter this month's challenge on BPCAG, but my sculpt is not going well. It is just too hot to work with polymer clay, so I am taking a break, and attempting to restore some order to my studio instead. My poor studio needs some TLC badly anyway. I don't mean to be so messy, but I can't seem to help it!

While I was putting away the things that have accumulated on my work table, I rediscovered this piece of bead embroidery. I don't remember deciding to stop working on it - but it was buried pretty deep under the layers, so I know it has been a while since I laid eyes on it.


Now that I don't wear contact lenses any more, I find that I can see those little beads so much better without any glasses at all. It makes it tough to watch TV while beading, but I keep my bifocals handy and pop them on when things get exciting, so I do OK. It's nice to have a project that I can work on in a room that is air-conditioned.

I am such a sissy about the heat.

I am so glad I put up this photo today, because now I can see that I need to add something a little dark to the upper part of the right hand segment to keep the colors balanced. If I keep at it, I should be able to finish the beading this weekend and get started on the fringe. I have some drop pearls that will be just perfect for this.

Photo of the Week - Finished Dinosaur Canvas

I finished my T-Rex canvas this weekend - the photo is a bit dark on my monitor, but the colors are true. I am both amazed and amused that something so bizarre came from my hands. I have never ever done anything like him before in any medium, and I kind of wonder what hidden little corner of my brain he came from, LOL. Me? Dinosaurs??? Go figure...



A high level of texture over the outer edges of the canvas, effectively suggesting a primaeval forest for my creature to stroll through, was created with several mediums as well as wrinkled tissue paper. To make the footprints in the lower right I sculpted a dinosaur foot in polymer clay and stamped it into partially dry gel medium. (It would have worked better in texture medium, but I am out of that and I really wanted to complete this project.)

The things we do for our art, LOL!

Photo of the Week - "Weeds"

I do not understand why blackberries are considered "weeds". Yes, I know they are a bully of a plant, but so is mint, so are strawberries. Then again, I like dandelions and wild violets too, so maybe it's just me, but I don't take offense to the presence of blackberries the way some people do. I love their pretty pink blossoms.


I especially love their fruit! In just a few weeks these embryonic berries will start to turn to a purple so deep it looks almost black. Mmmmmm... I can almost smell the cobbler now.


I like bees too, but that's not why I put up this little guy's photo. I am getting better at finding my camera's focus point in macro mode and I am darned proud of the way he turned out. Isn't he a photogenic little bug?


I gotta say that is is MUCH easier to find things to photograph around here in the summer than it was in January!

Finding Time to Paint

My main project at the moment is a sculpt-in-progress that I cannot share as it is a challenge piece. However, while various bits are being baked and cooled and what-have-you, I have begun painting my T-Rex canvas. So far, so good!



I absolutely love Quinacridone Burnt Orange - it is my favorite color and I am seldom able to keep my brush out of it. However, just this morning I fell in love with Pthalo Turquoise. SO gorgeous...

I have no idea where I am going with this canvas, but it has turned into such a fun thing to play with that I don't really care. (Seriously, who could possibly take this seriously, LOL??!) Right now I am thinking that it needs a little more texture to balance the bas relief, and also something for him to be roaring at...

This month's UFO Challenge Piece: the T-Rex Canvas

I started this canvas well over a year ago after a class with Linda Misa on Doll Street. The idea for this one was inspired by my oldest daughter, who absolutely adores dinosaurs, and an old book on dinosaurs that was retired from the children's collection of library where I work.

I got stuck after I added the dinosaur image and so it has been sitting on the couch in my studio silently roaring at me ever since. Last week I had a dream that gave me the idea to render the dinosaur in bas relief in paper clay, so last night I sat down and sculpted and carved him in 3-D.


It was easier than I thought it would be. Now I just have to wait for the clay to completely dry, then I can seal it and get to the fun part - painting!!

Photo of the Week - Inspired by Picasso

We here in the United States celebrated our Independence Day this past Saturday. Our family did up the holiday in the traditional American way, with a barbecue in the evening, and then fireworks at sunset. After all, everybody loves things that go "bang", LOL. I also discovered that fireworks are surprisingly easy to photograph.


Things got a little more creative when we pulled out the sparklers. A long time ago, I saw a copy of this photograph in a magazine - I found it fascinating, and I've never forgotten it. Of course none of us is Picasso, but surely we could manage to write our names in the sky? Turns out that it is pretty challenging after all. Lydia is the only one who managed to get her name done in the 4 seconds I allowed for the exposure.


Seth almost made it - I think his sky-handwriting is just too big. I'm including his photo too because I like the way the "e" in his name frames his face. It would have been so cool if he could have squeezed in that last letter in the time alloted.


Now all I want to know is how in the heck did Gjon Mili (Picasso's photographer) manage to keep Picasso in focus while all the while he must have been jumping around like a bug?

Finished!

Even though I only had a few more hours of work on the Hatchling since the last time I posted before I could call him finished, it still took me nearly an entire month to put in those few hours. (It is the end of our fiscal year at my day job and coping with the year-end details sucked up a lot of my energy.) BUT, here he is at last.


And from the other side.


I finished him off with lots of layers of different colors of acrylic paint. What really made his color come to life was the final glazes of Luminarte's pure pigment powders. You have to be careful with those as a little goes a long way, but I think I got it right this time. You can see the faint wash of Sun Gold on his face in this close up. It's a cool effect.


I owe a huge thank you to Sprite for teaching me her technique for creating skin textures. These show up best in this photo on his hips, thighs, and tail. I need a little more practice with this method, as I tend to squish one side while working on the other, but I'll get it eventually. (If you like baby dragons, or fantasy sculpts in general, you have to check out her blog!)


Sprite also gave me the idea to line the inside of his shell with the illusion of crystals. I don't know how she did hers, but I created mine out of several sizes and colors of shard glass glitter, micromarbles, fine glitter, and thin washes of the luminarte glazes again. I love the way the silver shards catch and reflect the light.


I have always loved dragons - I definitely see more of them in my future!