Tag Archives: Hillsborough Gallery

Chimera Reinterpreted

Chimera?

chi·me·ra

/kīˈmirə,kəˈmirə/

noun

(in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.
a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve.

Similar: illusion, fantasy, delusion, dream, fancy

Illusion, Fantasy, Delusion, Dream, Fancy

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.

Mythical chimera reinterpretation. Needle felted sculpture combines leopard, ram, giraffe, zebra, tiger, cow and lion and bird — 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.

Frog Bag and Too Much Garlic?

A Frog Bag for any occasion?

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- needle and wet felt evening bag, pond theme, sculpted frog, beaded dragonfly, fully lined with loop and bead closure — Frog Bag (front)

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.

Needle felted anthropomorphic garlic figure sculpture — Too Much Garlic?

Remember!

My show with painter Ellie Snow titled Natural Patterns: Flora and Fauna will be at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts from July 23rd through August 25th. The opening reception is during Hillsborough’s Last Friday Art Walk on July 26th from 6 to 9pm. Hope you get the chance to stop by!

Wall Sculptures:

Green Sea Turtle and Flutterbys?

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.

green sea turtle wall hanging sculpture. needle felted crazy quilt shell patchwork — 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.

anthropomorphic butterly/human hybrid wall sculptures. Needle felted and wet felted elements — 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!

Brood XIX – Sound of Summer ’24

The sound of summer, almost?

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 - the sound of summer, is a needle felted anthropomorhic cicada sculpture with vintage megaphone — 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.

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.

Over The Rainbow

Frogs, Frogs and a Rainbow of Frogs

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.

sculpture rainbow pyramid of anthropomorphic poison dart frogs in needle felted wool over wire and batting armature — 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.

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?

Bee Now And Mini Later.

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.

anthropomorphic mushroom figure sculpture , needle felted wool over wire and quilt batting, glass bead eyes, and accents

anthropomorphic morel mushroom figure sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and quilt batting, iridecent bead eyes

Anthropomorphic thistle flower sculpture designed to sit on shelf edge. needle felted wool over wire, glass bead eyes.

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 of Queen Bee (anthropomorphic bee sculpture) at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts — 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 Herself - anthropomorphic dancing rabbit sculpyure with celestial designs. needle felted wool — Venus Dances For Herself

Sacred Cow?

A cow patterned coat we all might recognize.

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 sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and batting armature with globe patterning — 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.

Gaia - Sacred Cow sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and batting armature with globe patterning - marking map outline

Gaia - Sacred Cow sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and batting armature with globe patterning - felting map detail

Though she was quite time consuming, I am happy with the results.

Gaia - Sacred Cow sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and batting armature with globe patterning - close up of sotth pacific

back view of Gaia - Sacred Cow sculpture, needle felted wool over wire and batting armature with globe patterning

Gaia will most likely make her gallery debut this summer for my feature show at HGA. Stay tuned for further information.

Zentangle Zebra, Zen-bra? Zeb-tangle?

Either way, it’s a horse of a different stripe.

Continuing my sketchbook exploration into animal patterns, I came up with the idea of a zentangled zebra. Zebra stripes provide a great graphical element, and I have played with zebras and their stripes before. My first was titled Morph. Morph’s black stripes merged into the black lines of a butterfly’s wings, as those wings then diverged from black and white into a rainbow. A second zebra, titled Everything has a Price, has stripes on of one of its side flanks that transform into a barcode label.

I think that I have finally settled on the title Zen-bra for this latest striped figure. This dimunitive equine stands about 9″ tall. She is needle felted wool over an armature of wire and quilt batting. Her eyes are hand sewn glass beads, and I sewed her hooves from faux leather. I played with stylized zentangle patterns within the confines of many of her black stripes and a few of the white spaces. The result is a trubute to the art of the mindful doodle.

zentangle zebra "Zen-bra" needle felted sculpture

Zen-bra will not appear in the gallery until this summer as she is part of the show Natural Patterns.

Something for May

I also completed a couple of small functional pieces this week, They are in preparation of an event this May at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts. On Saturday, May 11th the gallery is planning a Mother’s Day Pop-Up. This event will be similar to the Holiday Pop-Up this past December, and will feature items perfect for Mom. I will update you on addtional items from myself, and other HGA artists that will be available that day. In the mean time, a little teaser… Two “Tokyo tie” hand bags with needle felted embellishments. I constructed the bags from commercial felt and a contrasting fabric liner. They each feature original embellishment, and a snap closure.

handmade "Tokyo Tie" bag with needle felted embellishments

More Dancing Rabbits?

Yes, more dancing rabbits.

Happy New Year! Now that the holiday season has past, it is time to turn attention to shows for the new year. Currently, at The Hillsborough Gallery of Arts there is a show featuring the work of past member artists titled, Past To Present. It is definitely worth a visit to check out, and will be up through February 18th.

What about the Dancing Rabbits?

Opening in February, we again will be presenting our “It’s All About The Story” show. This year, we are partnering with a local songwriter and musician, Mary Rocap. We have created work in response to her music, and yes, I have again turned to dancing rabbits. Actually, just one rabbit this time. You may recall the pair of dancing rabbits I created in response to Jaki Shelton Green’s poetry last year. This year’s representative of the family Leporidae is titled Venus Dances For Herself, and she was inspired by Mary’s song Jupiter and Venus.

The song is a reimagining of the myth based on the December sky conjunction of the two planets. My sculpture is a reimagining of Mary’s song. She tells the tale of Venus’s yearly plea to Jupiter to accept her and Mars’ love child. My Venus is dancing to please herself, and doen’t care if she has Juputer’s approval. She is dancing with her own joy.

Venus Dances For Herself is needle felted wool over a wire and quilt batting armature. Her black coat is patterned with swirls, stars, and a sylized Venus “tattoo.”

Venus is further embellished with hand sewn crystal and glass beads. Her eyes are irridecent glass gems that are glued and felted in position, and her whiskers are fashioned from fishing line.

I will remind you about Venus, and the story show again as the date approaches.

Last Minute Change!

Pop-up Date Change

Just when you think you got it all figured out… Nature steps in and says,” Not so fast!”

The Holiday Pop-Up at the Hillsborough Gallery of Arts has been pushed up to this Saturday, December 9th from 12 – 4pm. The one day shift is due to predictied rainy weather for Sunday. We hope that you have time to change your calendar and stop by to see what’s happening on Saturday.

As I wrote last time, I’ve been busy creating special new items for the Pop-up. and I have several new One-of-a-Kind felted ornaments to share.

Moose auditions for Santa. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

bear gets a tree. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

Knit. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

emperor bubbly. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

Camel heads north. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

Santa Pig. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

Hockey Fox. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

Snow Fairy. needle felted 1-of-a-kind holiday ornament

They are: Moose Auditions for Santa, Bear finds a Tree, Knit, Emperor Pop, Camel Heads North, Santa Pig, Hockey Fox, and Snow Fairy. All but “Hockey Fox” are still available and will be at the Pop-Up event Saturday. I have been making a single One-of-a-Kind ornament available in the gallery as a teaser for the Pop-up. They have captured attention, and several of the ornaments shared last time already sold (Gallina Nix, Cozy, Deco-deer, Cocoa 2.) But don’t worry, I still have most of them here in my studio, and there will be a varied selection available on Saturday!

Also in the Gallery Now

I created a second nordic patterned sculpture specifically for our small side window at HGA. The gallery elves decorated that side widow in an extra special way for the season in cool hues of blue. I created Winter Stag for that window display. You can stop by and check him out, or even take him home.

Winter Stag. Nordic patterned white stag sculpture. Needle felted wool over wire and batting armature — Winter Stag

Winter Stag features fine line needle felted wool patterns reminicent of embroidery. I create this effect by drawing out thin threads of twisted wool fiber, and then felt that down on the surface. In essence, drawing on the surface of my sculpture with the wool. This piece is needle felted wool over a wire and quilt batting armature. His eyes are iridescent glass beads, and his antlers are wool over wire and wrapped and secured with silver thread.

You will also find the gingerbread house HGA is hosting for the town’s tour and competition in that same window. After your visit, you can vote for the gingerbread house on the Hillsborough Chamber’s web site.

Mice!

I have created a new set of caroling mice again this year. “Caroling Mice ’23” are belting out their carols in a full throated way just for you. They are already at HGA, and would also be happy to find thier forever holiday home.

Remember, Pop-Up Date Change!

I will have several other items available in our Pop-Up Shop tent and inside HGA on Saturday, stop by and see what they are. I hope that we made our change of plans early enough for you to change yours!

Wartski Art Dolls and Sculpture

Art dolls and mixed media sculpture