What do you do when you don't feel like doing anything??

I read.  A lot.  I suppose I probably should be exercising, or at least tidying up my studio, but nope... when it's this hot and I am this unmotivated, I read.  Don't laugh, but lately I have been rereading the "Harry Potter" series - it has been a little bit like visiting old friends.


Jake and I went to the Coast last weekend, just to get away for a few days.  I didn't expect to do much of anything, but I brought along some apoxie clay to play with anyway and for a change I actually got it out and got to work on a sculpt.  I have felt my muse coming back to life recently - I don't think she likes this heat much either, LOL.  If that's true, she must really love the ocean, because I had to force myself to stop work a few times to let the clay set up.  I'm pretty happy with what I have so far.

Because it is apoxie I am working in layers, so she is a little thin yet. I actually ran out and had to order more, but it is here now so I can get back to work on her again. There is a football game on tonight, so I think I will grab my tools and play a bit while Jake watches the game. We keep each other pretty good company.  :-)

Life is changing

Jake and I have been "Empty Nesters" for 2 weeks now - the girls have moved into an apartment together in the town where they go to college.  Lydia has a job already, and Alice is still looking, but they have a sweet little set-up for themselves and seem so happy and excited to be out on their own.  It is quiet around here, but we still text and play Facebook games, so I don't miss them *too* much.


It has been fun getting reacquainted with my husband!  AND I have been busy reclaiming newly released space in the house.  I guess you could say my creative energies are being spent on my home rather than in my studio, but it feels GREAT to have so much room to rattle around in.  I don't think I will ever amass a huge stash ever again.


In celebration (and also because it has become too hot to wear my hair down over my neck) I got a new haircut.  It was a stretch for me to dare to go this short with this much texture, but my stylist is a doll and gave me exactly what I wanted.  I LOVE it!

Considering that I haven't had long hair since I broke my arm a few years ago, I think it is probably about time that I update my profile pic, LOL.

September Iowa Retreat - Mini-class Samples

I will be teaching a mini-class at the Iowa Retreat in September -- these are photos of the class samples I have made using the transparent-image-over-collaged-background technique I worked out last spring. I hope everyone in class has as much fun with this technique as I have had!

This first one used a studio portrait from around 1912 or so of my grandmother and a neighbor boy as very young children. 

This next canvas used the exact same technique, but I created an entirely different effect by using  a different style of photo, different image editing techniques, and different collage papers.  Anything goes, really!

I am putting up this last one only to serve as a horrible example and a warning: don't let your background collage become too important!  I spent HOURS creating this background, including fussy-cutting the floral bouquet in the lower left from a vintage magazine advertisement.  Such a waste... 

Myy grandmother was such a beautiful bride, but you would never know it from this mess.

Photo of the Week - "Favorite Things"

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, but, now that summer is finally here, we have been scrambling to get caught up on the field work that didn't get done because it was too wet, and also enjoying the pleasant weather to the utmost. In another post, I will show you my new toy and what it can do...


In the meantime, it is time to catch up with the weekly photo challenge. This is Sprite's month to choose the themes, and this week she has asked us to share a "Favorite Thing", with a focus on a piece of work we haven't dared to share before.


OK... here goes!


I did this little sketch in July of 2000 while in church. I was bored and the little sheet of paper provided for taking notes was a convenient blank canvas. I have kept it all these years because I am fond of it, as drawing is not one of my best skills.

Bad Judi, LOL.

Photo of the Week - "Father"

The same uncle who took the photograph I posted in honor of Mother's Day of my mother and I also took this photograph of my father and I. In honor of Father's Day, I post it here today. I am pretty sure, judging by the little dress I am wearing, that this was taken on the day I was baptized; I was 6 weeks old, and he was 22 and a few months. I always thought that my Dad is one of the handsomest men in the world.

He is 71 now, but he still runs miles and miles with his dog every day. I don't know if he intends to run any marathons this year, but he ran 2 last year. If you were to see him today, you would be able to recognize him from this photograph. (Me... not so much!)


I still think he is one of the handsomest men in the world.

Photo of the Week - "Black and White"

It is my month to choose our themes - for this week I chose "Black and White". I have lately become fascinated by the artistic potential of black and white images - who knew there was so much you could do beyond removing the color?


My roses are in full bloom right now (or they would be, if it would ever stop raining long enough to quit damaging the buds. Sigh...)  I photographed this bud this morning and then started playing around with the image in Photoshop Elements.   I love how taking color out of the mix really plays up the lines and movement of the petals.

 

I snapped this photo of my daughter last week while playing with the super zoom on my new pocket camera, and just for fun I started playing with it in black and white mode. There is so much you can do in Elements with black and white!

I never even noticed the lens flare in the lower left of the photo until I rendered it in black and white.  Too fun, and so much left yet to learn!

Photo of the Week - "Heirloom"

There are very few people in this world whom I love as much as I loved my Grandma Ruby. She lived in a wonderful little house under a huge maple tree, with a very explorable creek nearby.  No corner of Grandma's house was off limits to us kids. She was a pack rat of the first order and I absolutely loved digging through her piles of boxes. And boy, could she ever play! As far as her grandchildren were concerned, she was a one-woman personal entertainment system, and we couldn't get enough of her company.

She had absolutely no patience whatsoever with the domestic arts. I can only imagine that she picked up a needle at all as an attempt to fit in with other ladies in their social gatherings, which is why I think I treasure this little square of muslin so much. If the date is accurate, she was 20 when she made it.


Um... I did better embroidery when I first learned how when I was 9.  (But then, I like stitching. Motivation is everything sometimes!)

It isn't even hemmed, just basted.

Everything about this little hanky reminds me so much of her though, that it makes me feel that she is still with me. Grandma Ruby died while I was pregnant with my oldest daughter who is named after her. I am only sorry that she never knew her namesake, who is so much like her in personality that I wonder sometimes... Do names have more influence than we give them credit for?

So happy!

The gourd is finished, the glue is dry, and I still can't quite believe I did it. No glue holds the pieces together right now, but I think the weight of MerMomma's body is putting some stress on her anchoring arm - I don't want it to crack again, so perhaps I will end up gluing her permanently to the gourd after all.

I am rapidly using up my stash of Yadeno mohair. Does anybody know where I would be able to get some more??

Painted, Embellished, Ready for Hair

I wish I knew some magic to make glue dry faster, LOL!

Again, sorry for the awkward pose. This girl is quite uncooperative when it comes to being photographed. She fits beautifully around her gourd though, and that's what matters.

Oh, I think I will just go and prepare some locks of hair or something. I am dying to keep working though - I want to finish!

Photo of the Week - "Things with Wings"

Lots of winged things around here! Unfortunately, there has also been an awful lot of rain - not the kind of weather to make me take my camera outside for a look around. However, on Monday evening we were visiting my in-laws and the skies cleared up enough to spend some time on their deck. My mother-in-law has several bird feeders and houses around, so it wasn't long before the winged things began to appear.


They weren't too pleased to see us however, especially this daddy sparrow. The bug in his mouth is intended for his chicks that were chirping their little heads off inside the birdhouse, but he wouldn't go in as long as we were sitting there.   We could see momma sparrow hovering nearby with a bug in her mouth as well, but she didn't dare to come even this close.

There is usually a little flock of nearly a dozen finches at the seed feeder, but this little one was the only one bold enough to approach. He didn't look too happy to see us and didn't stick around either.  Sigh...

Fortunately for the birds, it soon got too cool for us to remain outside, so we retired indoors and they were able to go about their business in peace once more.

In other news, I have replaced baby mer's hair with a different color and sculpted momma mer's arms.  Unfortunately the clay cracked at the shoulder joint so I will have to repair that.  I am sculpting her tail fin tonight - it will all be over soon!

Merbaby has a Bed

I have worked every spare minute on this project this week - it feels so good to be on a creative roll again!   Here is my little Merbaby, wigged and painted, in her finished gourd bower.

The gourd was embellished with apoxie sculpt, then painted. The interior is lined with a velvet cushion, silk and velvet pillows, and micromarble embellishment. I love the way the colors turned out.

Here is a close up of little Merbaby. I see now that her wig is a little messy, but the glue isn't quite dry so I won't try for a tidier style until all is stable.

Now I am wondering if she needs a little blanket. Does she look cold to you?

I took me 3 days to sculpt MerMama's hands and they still aren't quite what they ought to be, but I want to finish this project some time in THIS decade, so I have declared them "good enough" and attached them to her arm wires. I still need to sculpt her arms and tailfin and give her a wig and headdress, but I am on track to get that done soon too. Woo hoo -- getting closer!

Coming Together

I snapped a few photos when I finished working last night in order to show the progress I made this weekend on my Mermaid gourd. Baby Mer got her tailfin and is now ready for painting.

Mama Mer got a tail. Last night I roughed in her hands - I taped her to the gourd in order to put the final pose on the hands before I add the details and bake them. Once I add her pillow to raise her up a bit into the gourd, Baby Mer will fit perfectly in her little nest!

I had intended to have that pillow made already, but now I'm glad I haven't gotten to it yet -- I discovered that I am going to need to add some weight to the bottom front of the gourd to counterbalance Mama. It's all coming together nicely.

An Ambitious Project

I started this project about 2 weeks ago in answer to a challenge to do "something" with a gourd. I have had this gourd in my house for years... so long in fact, that I don't even remember why I bought it. Sigh...


I began by cutting the off the top to form a vessel shape, then lined the inside with apoxie clay and painted it with a coat soft black acrylic. I followed that up with 2 light washes of Lumiere's Pearl White, then dabbed in some Pearl-Ex in blues, greens, rose, and interference violet to make this mother-of-pearl look. For once, a paint job turned out EXACTLY the way I wanted it!

The bottom of the gourd will be lined with cushions made of charmeuse and silk velvet in pale blues and greens to become a cradle for this little sleeping merbaby. I've never sculpted a baby before, and I figured that such a simple pose would cause me the least stress. Plus, it's cute.

Even working from a reference photo, it took me a couple of tries to get the face right - those little features are tiny!   The tail was easier, and I am just about ready to do her tail fin and paint in the color details. She will get her hair last. What do you think... blonde?

And finally, wrapped around the back of the gourd and peering in at the sleeping baby will be an adult mermaid. This is what I have of her so far -- sorry for the awkward pose in the photo, but she doesn't sit or lie well naturally in her present state. I plan on sculpting her tail tonight and putting her in her final pose to make sure she fits around the gourd.

I've always wanted to do a tableau, but I never had enough confidence in my skills (OR my attention span) to try it. This challenge gave me the prompt I needed to at least begin. So far, so good.

Photo of the Week - "My Workspace"

I am blessed to have several work spaces in this old farmhouse, but this one is my favorite. The north facing window lets in beautiful light on all but the stormiest days, and right now I can look down on a pasture full of
pregnant cows grazing peacefully in the morning sunlight. If that sight doesn't bring down your blood pressure, nothing will. :-)

I love working in this room even though it is tiny, and a little messy at the moment as I am in the middle of a major purge. I have already gotten rid of several boxes of stuff that I have been giving storage room for far too long. It is already so much more pleasant to work in there - it is going to be wonderful when I finally get it ship-shape.

Sculpting Again

It has been an incredibly beautiful week here - there is just *something* about a run of gorgeous spring days that makes me feel as if I am waking up after a long winter of dreaming. I love the creative energy that comes with days like these!

Even though I have had to hustle to get my garden planted (only 3 weeks late this year... sigh...), I made time to work on some projects, this time in polymer clay. I added the last face to my Sea Spirits piece - unfortunately I caused some damage to some of the other faces, so now I have to see what I can do about repairs. Oh well, at least the sculpting if finished! I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

This next little guy has been in the works for quite some time, but I have had to keep quiet about him as he was my entry into an anonomous challenge. His paint job isn't really as gleam-y as it looks in this photo. I am going to try again to get a better photograph, maybe next time in natural light, bur for today this one will have to do.  (One of these days I WILL solve the mystery of how to photograph a piece that has Pearl-Ex in the finish, LOL.)


He won the challenge by the way. Woo hoo! My first win!

If you want to learn how to make a baby dragon of your very own, go to the page of online classes on Jean Bernard's website.  There you will find more information about a splendid class taught by Sprite Hanson - Sprite herself is a wonderful sculptor, and in the lessons she shares all kinds of great techniques, including how to make that awesome skin texture.  This project is suitable for all skill levels and the instructions are clearly written, well illustrated, easy to follow and fun.

Spring... Finally!

It's only 6 weeks late, but spring has come to the Pacific Northwest at last. I planted my vetable garden yesterday, and lo and behold, the first of the rosebuds has opened up!

The fields have been too wet to take work until this week, so now the mad scramble begins among the farmers in our neighborhood to get the work done that should have been done last month. Yesterday morning, the first calm sunny morning of the season, our neighbor had his field dusted. Unfortunately I had the wrong lens on the camera to get really good photos, there wasn't time to change it, and I really wanted to snap some shots.

I swear, these guys look like they are having the MOST fun as they swoop and dive over the landscape.  Here, he has just finished a pass.

A nice tight turn to come back to cover another swath...

...and down down down to spread another plume of spray over the field. The whole process only takes a few minutes, and then he is on to the next field.

I have been working on a new sculpt this week. I thought I was happy with it when I baked it, but now that I look at it again, I think I might try again. I need to learn to set my eyes deeper into their sockets. Every time? Every time. Sigh...

Photo of the Week - "Something Mom-ish"

This photo of my mother holding me as a newborn was taken by her older brother, a talented amateur photographer. His example is what spurred my interest in photography in the first place. How cool is it to capture memories like these??

She was not quite 22 years old when I was born. She has been gone for several years now, but it is never hard for me to remember that she loved me when I see her in this photo.

Too Excited to Wait for the Varnish to Dry!

I did it! I finally figured out a way to make a photo collage with the transparency effect I was after. I was so excited to get home from work yesterday - my base collage was finished and would be dry enough to work on and I couldn't wait to apply the main photo. It went on MUCH more easily than I expected, and even though there were a few imperfections in the surface, they smoothed out beautifully as it dried.


As promised, the image dried nearly opaque, and of course I couldn't find the varnish I was pretty sure was around here somewhere... Off I went to the hardware store during my round of errands this afternoon for some varnish, and I didn't even wait to unpack my groceries when I got home - I HAD to see what would happen to my canvas.


The results were just what I had dreamed of. It was a little bit like watching a magic trick, seeing the images reappear under the now-transparent main image as I stroked on the varnish.

This project has meant a lot to me.  For one thing, I learned that I CAN develop a process on my own without having instructions to follow.


More importantly though, I rescued a photograph I thought I had destroyed in the editing process. This piece is on its way to the frame shop as soon as it dries, and I will display it with a great deal of pride.


I am actually feeling a little giddy, LOL!  What a great way to start the weekend.

Photo of the Week - "My Nightstand"

I hesitated to put up this a photo of this week's topic - for one thing I don't have a "real" nightstand, and for another I wasn't sure I wanted to share my set up. You see, our farm house is quite old and all the rooms upstairs (including our bedroom) are very small. Each room has exactly one electrical outlet. Jake has more need of the clock than I do, so the nightstand is on his side of the bed.


But what the heck...


I have a decorative step, (which, since we bought our new mattress last month has come in quite handy by the way -- the surface of the bed is now higher than my waist.) As you can see, I am a Pile Maker. Please don't hold it against me!

I have lots more on the creative front to share this week, but I have to get to work. I'll be back with some updates later.

Another Experiment

Because I knew from the beginning that this would not be a finished piece, I felt free to throw everything I had into the collage background - papers from dark to light, more photos in black and white and color, and also leaving parts of the background canvas exposed. The photo overlay is printed on a piece of art tissue cut to a size to fit my inkjet printer and sprayed with a fixative when the ink was dry.  The piece is built on an 8"x8" canvas.

I had to be very careful when applying the tissue paper to the canvas as it is quite fragile when wet, but the tissue paper worked very well!  I learned that I need to be much more careful with the placement of the parts of the collage as they relate to the photo - anything under a white part of the photo will show through almost too well, and papers that are too dark will blur details.  Next time I will cut my collage pieces to exact size so that I don't get a ridge where the papers overlap, and also not leave any of the canvas exposed as it stands out like a sore thumb.  Or a mistake, LOL.

My next experiment will be with tiling an image - I want to work larger than the 8"x10" size that my printer limits to.  Getting closer...!