You still have a few days left to check out my feature show with Ellie Snow at The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts! The show officially comes down Sunday (August 25th) after HGA closes at 4pm. It has been a great feature. Some of the items will remain in the general display space of the gallery. Pieces purchased during the show will be on their way to their new homes!
Some More Holiday Previews
This past week in the studio I created a few more holiday ornaments. This time around they all have the connection of being marine creatures. It all started with an octopus who is ready for a snowball fight. I was recalling one with a santa hat I sculpted last year. This year’s cephalopod ornament is titled “Armed.”
Armed
“Special Delivery” is a great white shark with a festively wrapped gift for someone special. Don’t worry, he will not bite, he just has a very toothy smile.
Special Delivery
The next holiday sea creature is Deco-lobster. A crustacean who wants to lend a hand, or claw, in decorating the tree. This mini-sculpture features beaded legs, and tiny ornament ball for your tree.
Deco-lobster
Jingle Jelly, is a new vrsion of an ornament from last year. This year my jellyfish is executed in seafoam green and aqua. This ornament features sparkily glass beads hand stitched to its top and knotted into its tentacles.
Jingle Jelly
Last, but not least, is Santa Whale. This ornament sculpture is a humpback whale with a santa hat perched to one side. Though I like each and every one of these ocean dwellers, I must say this one is my favorite of the batch.
Santa Whale
These one-of-a-kind mini-sculpture ornaments and others will be available at HGA starting the third week of November. I will continue to share more as I complete them.
My brain usually needs some downtime after putting together a new show. This break does not need to be unproductive. I provided myself with this cognative break by working on a few of my one-of-a-kind holiday ornaments. Yes, that’s right, I said holiday ornaments. They take time to produce, and it’s less of a mountain climb if you do a few at a time. Following a few of these celebral “palate cleansers”, I started to ponder idiomatic expressions that contain animals. I’ve have at least one past work “Out of Water“, a koi with a parasol that falls in this category. The idiom I chose this time around is “a little bird told me.”
A Little Bird Told Me
The result is an indigo bunting perched on a branch with a cap and a messenger bag. This cheery little fellow has a message for the viewer. He is one of those pieces that seems to bring a smile, so I can only assume he has good news to share.
Little Bird is needle felted wool over a wire and quilt batting armature. His large black glass bead eyes are sewn in place. The messenger bag is stitched and felted together from felt fabric, with an embroidered metallic thread “clasp”. His legs combine wire and pipe cleaners that are wrapped with black yarn that is felted in place and wrapped with thread. The stick base was stripped of its bark, sanded, and sealed. I attached the bird to the base by drilling small holes, and stitching the clasping feet in place at those points.
A Little Bird Told Me (back view)
It’s beginning to look a lot like…
No, it’s not. It’s 90+ degrees out, and thunderstorms are probably on the way. Even so, I have been working on holiday ornaments when the opportunity presents itself. I I’m not going to say a lot about them right now. None of them are available for purchase at this time, but I will let you know when they are.
This is just the beginning of these special little mini-sculptures. I’ve also started several ball type ornaments that begin with a commercial wool dryer ball as their core. I’ll share some of those images next time around.
Some More Process
I received positive feedback last week when I shared a bit of work-in-process video for my Chimera. This week, I used the time-lapse setting on my phone camera to capture me creating a botanical mono-print. These one-of-a-kind works on paper are an enjoyable addition to my gallery offerings. The result is a piece of original art that is very affordable. You may recall, that I also use this process to create original images of my sculptures using a photo transfer method.
Making a botanical mono-print
Show Still Up!
Don’t forget, my featured artist show along with Ellie Snow, Natural Patterns: Flora and Fauna is still up through August 25th at The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. Hope you get the chance to see the show before it ends. The work displayed together is kind of magical.
Each year, the gallery produces a video for each artist for feature show promotion. I’m not a fan of these videos personally, but they are useful on social media. I like my work to speak directly to the viewer, not me. I do my part, and film my video. If you follow the gallery on social media, you may have caught mine. If not, you’re not missing anything if you’re a regular reader here and know what I’m creating anyway.
I do like to produce videos that show my process and techniques. I have been trying to improve taking them as I work. It is a challenge, because you have to stop and start while you are working. I tend to get into a flow when I’m sculpting, and then realize that I didn’t stop to film! I did take a step to help myself improve on this by buying a new work lamp that also serves as a ring light and phone clamp.
Chimera Process
I took some video clips while sculpting the last piece I shared with you, Chimera. I edited these little clips into a short video. Watching a process video can answer many of the common questions people ask me about my work. Is there an armature? How to you attach the eyes? How are the different colors and patterns in the wool achieved? In the video you will see that the answers are: yes, sewn in, and by felting different colors of wool to the surface.
Making Chimera
Stop In And See The Show!
Natural Patterns: Flora and Faunamy feature show at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts with painter Ellie Snow is up through August 26th. Stop in and see all my newest work in person. Perhaps you will find that one of my creatures needs to find a new home with you!
I don’t think it is delusional, but certainly a flight of fancy to decide last minute (the week your show is installing) to start an additional piece, that you know will be a challenge. But, that is what I did. When inspiration strikes it is best not to question and just go with it.
I was busy doing all the mundane bookeeping type stuff we have to complete before we bring work into the gallery. This includes pricing, entering inventory, creating labels, etc. Things that are far from creative, but are necessary to present and sell your artwork to the public.
I thought about a sculpture that would bring together muliple animal patterns and elements in a single creature. A chimera. My chimera blends a leopard head with ram horns, a giraffe neck, zebra forelimbs, a tiger torso, a cow hind quarter, bird wings, and a lion’s tail. She is not the fire-breathing three headed Greek beast, but certainly formitable in her own way.
Chimera
Chimera is needle felted wool over a wire and quilt batting armature. Her amber/yellow eyes are glass beads that are sewn in place. I used to fishing line to create her whiskers, and metalic threads to highlight her horns and wings.
If I had thought of her earlier, Chimera may very well have ended up as my feature item for show promotion and advertising. I am pleased with how she took form, and think she will have some admirers when the show installs this coming Monday.
Speaking of Monday, and Next Friday…
I will be installing Natural Patterns: Flora and Fauna with painter Ellie Snow this coming Monday morning. The show runs at The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts through August 25th. The opening reception is next Friday, July 26th from 6-9 pm during Hillsborough’s Last Friday Art Walk. If you are local, I hope that you can make it to the reception.
Well, maybe not any occasion. As I get closer to a feature show I usually like to create a few surprises. Over the years themed evening bags have been a fun addition. This year, I created a little rounded bag (recycled from the “teapot” base that my octopus was formerly astride) with a pond theme. I started by creating a color streaked evening sky, and a watery base. I then needle felted several stands of cattails and sculpted a jumping frog in relief. On the back I added a little dragonfly that combines felted wings, a beaded body, and embroidered wing detail.
Frog Bag (front)Frog Bag (back)
The bag is finished off with a green fabric lining with a batik pattern, a needle felted clutch handle, and a loop and bead closure. This little bag is just the right size to hold your phone and a few essentials.
Too Much garlic?
In my house, the answer to that question is… Never! But, I am aware that some people do have a lower tolerance level. This little anthropomorphic figure is a continuation of the mini sculptures that I have been making lately. Most to date have been mushroom and flower figures. This little vegitable is also a bit of a departure in size, as he is a bit larger than the other minis. I think I will wait to bring him in for the feature show too as it installs in less than two weeks now. Both garlic and the frog purse will be at HGA then.
I haven’t created sculptures for the wall in quite some time. At one point almost all my sculptures were wall hanging. Over time I’ve found my niche in pedestal top scale works. So, why some wall pieces this time around? Partially, it is what evolved out of the ideas I was sketching. I just followed where those works were leading me. But equally, it is a “necessity being the mother of invention” situation.
As the year has progressed, factors outside of our control have lead to my upcoming feature show being myself and just one other HGA artist, Ellie Snow. This is both great and terrifying at the same time. If you visit her website, you will see that there will no doubt be interesting and vibrant interplay between her abstacted landscapes and my creatures. That’s the great part, the terrifying portion is that our HGA feature shows usually include two 2D artists, and one 3D. Since there will be more available wall space this time around, I let myself follow sketches that cried to be wall hung. In the past, I would have figured out how to support such pieces on a base. Instead, I am letting them swim, crawl, or fly on the wall as they please.
Yuri The Wall Turtle
Yuri is named after a character in a YA novel titled Yuri’s Brush With Magic. Set on the North Carolina coast, this book was one of many written by my late mother-in-law, Maureen. The book weaves together Japanese folklore, art, magic, and turtle conservation. In this sculpture I pay homage to one of her other artistic endeavors, art quilts. Continuing my exploration of patterns I decided on a green sea turtle, where each segment of shell could be unique.
Yuri
I drew from some of the pieces already completed for this upcoming show. You will find the zentangles, giraffe patterning, paisley, and what appears to be tie dye. Interspersed with my felted sections, are fabrics from the quilter’s stash. One area is made from precut squares that were, I assume, ready to be pieced together? The result, recalls “crazy quilt” technique. The “green” turtle also incorporates pieces from a recycled wool sweater on her head, flippers and tail.
Yuri’s construction keeps both wall, and pedestal top display possible. I included wire in the flippers and head, but her body is more of a large “bean bag” with poly pellets providing the volume and weight. Loops of high weight fishing line are stictched strategically under the base of one flipper, so she hangs in the position shown. She is a large piece measuring approximately 20 inches across.
Fluttering By
I’ve also created a series of whimsical creatures for the wall that are a hybrid of a butterfly and a human form. I’m refering to them as Flutterbys.
Flutterbys
The Flutterbys are a mix of needle and wet felting techniques. The base of their wings were achieved by nuno felting. This is a technique that involves wet felting on to a net like fabric. This allows you to achieve a very thin felted material. I then needle felt the additional detail elements on the wings.
The wings areattached to thin wire supports at their upper edges, and the human figures start with pipe cleaners. These are wrapped first in black yarn, and then finished with needle felted black wool. Wire and beads complete the antenna, and pressing with spray starch adds additional structure to their wings. They also hang from stitched fishing line on their back.
Remember to save-the-date: Friday, July 26th from 6-9pm, for the Natural Patterns reception. Stop by to see Yuri, the Flutterbys and all their pedestal top friends!
Click… click.. click. click, click click-click-click whirrr. That’s my memory of the sound of summer cicadas. A strange almost mechanical sound that makes you think of the heat of summer. Well, it’s not quite summer (though it is hot enough here in NC.) And, the sound this time is quite different. It is a lound constant sound, somewhat like a car alarm going off near by. And, this sound doesnt build up, and then trail off in typical cicada fashion. Instead it is constant, from just as the day starts to warm, until the afternoon shadows start to lengthen. We were warned that Brood XIX, the emergence of both a 17 year and a 13 year brood cycle would be special. It hasn’t disappointed.
Brood XIX – Sound of Summer
Left out?
I recall, just a few weeks ago feeling a little left out. Local friends were posting photos of cicadas everywhere, and remarking that the sound they made was deafening. We did not see or hear anything. But, we just needed to be patient. The bugs emerge as the ground reaches the appropriate temperature. We were just a bit further north and a little more shaded in the woods. Soon, I was sending video clips of the alien sound up to relatives in New England.
As a sculptor who focuses on cretures of various sorts, I could not pass up the chance to pay homage to the event. So, meet my cicada, Brood XIX – The Sound of Summer. He is needle felted wool, over a wire and batting form. I constructed his wings by stitching pip cleaners to tulle, and then needle felting wool over those wires, and on to the tulle to form veins. Two large orange-red glass beads are stitched in place for his eyes. I used some commercial deep red wool felt to form the cone of his megaphone. This was needle felted together, and then gold wool fiber was needle felted in place to form the rim, mouth piece, handle, and Roman numerals.
Brood XIX – Sound of Summer – view 2
No Pattern Play?
The cicada is a little departure from the exploration of the animal print patterns I have been playing with in my sculpture lately. The cyclical nature of the brood’s emergence seems to be enough of a natural pattern to warrant his inclusion in this summer’s feature show. He’ll be at HGA beginning July 23rd.
Continuing my explorartion of distinctive animal prints led me to consider poison dart frogs. These tiny little inhabitants of the rainforest come in a literal rainbow of bright colors. Their patterns say “see me” and also “leave me alone!”
Instead of changing or altering their patterns in any way, I used their natural looks to create a rainbow. I guess it would more acurately be described as a frog pyramid, but the shades of the spectrum are present in an arching form.
Poison Rainbow
This piece stands about 14″ tall. The individual frogs are quite a bit larger than they are in real life (.75 – 1.5″ long.) Each frog is approximately 5 inches from nose to tail. I created the individual frogs separately. All began with a wire armature wrapped in quilt batting. Reference photos provided the colorful patterns that I felted on to the surface of each. Each of the amphibians is finished off with large glass bead eyes that are sewn in place.
Once each frog was sculpted, I played around with different configurations to create a self-supporting structure. An additional wire was run through most of the frogs to provide additional stability to the final form. I then stitched and felted the frogs to each other wherever two connect together. The final sculpture was then secured to two layers of thick felt for additional stability.
This rainbow of frogs will make its debut at my feature show at The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts during the Last Friday Art Walk in July.
Poison rainbow side view
So, Not Quite Done
I returned to my little snow leopard cub, Snow Cat. I fuzzed out his coat a bit more, and took some new images against a dark background. He might actually be done now?
This week I turned my attention to some smaller “mini” pieces. I think that I mentioned before that HGA will be having another Pop-Up event in May on the Saturday (11th) before Mother’s Day. Though it would be wonderful for visitors to all want to give their moms one of my larger sculpture creations, I am realistic about Mother’s Day gifts. Most mother’s day gifting is in the form of smaller remembrances, flowers, cards, etc. Much like my one-of-a-kind ornaments for the holidays, I sketched up a few smaller sculpture ideas. So far, I have settled on a few anthropomorphic botanicals. I wanted to strike a balance of sweet for mom, but not too “cutesy.”
Meet the Mini Sculpts
From my work table are some small sculptures that would be at home on a book shelf, or desk corner. Meet mini Mush, Morel, and Thistle. They will make their debut at HGA for the Mother’s Day Pop-up. It may be hard to wait for their arrival, but May will be here before you know it. I will be creating a few more of these in the coming weeks, so check back to see them too.
Speaking of Gallery Debutants
You met Coronation, my queen bee, a couple of weeks ago. She came into the gallery with me today. She seems to already be making friends. I think that she makes a sunny addition to this front pedestal grouping. There is nothing mini about her presence.
Coronation at HGA
Reminder:
This Sunday at 4pm, HGA will be hosting a performance by Mary Rocap, the singer songwriter who served as a muse for our yearly “It’s All About the Story” show. Me and many of my fellow HGA artists will also be in attendance and can guide you through our inspiration for the visual component of the show.
Update: My piece for the “It’s All About The Story” show, Venus Dances For Herself”, has already sold and gone to her new home. Normally, works in a feature show stay with a red dot until the end, but this was a special birthday purchase, so we let the piece go home with the customer. So, just in case you missed her…
Venus Dances For HerselfVenus Dances For Herself – back viewVenus Dances For Herself – left side view
I continued my exploration of altering and reenvisioning animal prints and patterns this past week by considering the cow. The cow print is a friendlier, less threatening, less exotic animal pattern. Cows simultaneously hold wholesome (family farm), villainous (deforestation, climate, health), and even sacred reputations. This variability in how bovines are viewed is intriguing. The term “sacred cow” is equally intriguing. Rising from the Hindu veneration of the animal, it’s usage refers to something unreasonably immune to criticism or opposition. Finding that cows are also held as a symbol of Mother Earth inspired this piece as a “sacred cow” I could agree with.
Gaia – Sacred Cow
She is inspired by the ancient Greek godess, Gaia, who is the personification of Earth. I replaced the classic black and white patterning of her hide with the blue and green of the globe. Gaia is my first cow figure sculpture, but she may inspire more.
Gaia is needle felted wool, over a wire and quilt batting armature form, with iridecent glass bead eyes. Her horns are felted wool over a pipe cleaner support. The sculpture’s coat was created “coloring book” style. I marked her globe pattern by hand using outlines printed and cut from a simple world map. I then needle felted the green and blue areas with my colored wool. You supplied positive feedback from previous posts where I included process information and images like those below. I will try to remind myself to keep sharing photos and descriptions like these. It also aids viewers in understanding the creation time involved in each piece.
Though she was quite time consuming, I am happy with the results.
Gaia will most likely make her gallery debut this summer for my feature show at HGA. Stay tuned for further information.
