Sculpting the Moon

Okay, I forgot to mention it last time, but I'm sure you're way ahead of me and you thought of it yourself: you need to put eyelids on the other eye! Did you do that? If not go ahead and to that, same way as below. Oh, but do look at the eye on the other side so that they relate to each other. They don't have to match exactly (ours don't), but they do have to relate. Our moon probably won't be viewed straight on very much. In fact he'll look a bit funny from that angle, but we still want his eyes to relate. Trust me.

Now that that's done, we'll move on to the chin. Pinch off a chin-sized hunk of clay, and begin to shape it with your fingers. Again, it's sort of a C shape. Put it against your moon to see how it's going to fit and adjust accordingly. When you are happy (or close enough to happy) with it, wet the chin area with your finger and press the chin in place. Smooth the outer edges with your fingers. You'll probably be fine using just your fingers for this step; no details to worry about.

The Littles

Here, at long last, are the little pieces that rose from the ashes (dust?) of the studio cleaning:

The dish and spoon stayed pretty simple: they're running away on a background drawn with watercolor pencils. Their line from the nursery rhyme, torn from a tattered story book, has been added to the canvas.

The little flower fellow is a bit more complicated: He got a silver crescent moon and a brass #2. I also decided to put a small keyhole on his canvas and I wanted some to be peering through the keyhole. I chose a photo of a very dear friend who has taught me much about the flora and fauna of Florida. I just happened to have a great picture of her taken when she was a child. It seemed appropriate to use Clauda's picture on this piece and when I reduced her to an extremely small size she fit perfectly inside the keyhole! I attached a vintage key to the copper wire on the flower.

I finished both pieces with simple wooden frames, a great technique from Claudine Hellmuth's book, "Collage Discovery Workshop" that I use a lot.

What do you think?

Blue Moon

There's a Blue Moon tonight. My favorite art work of my own is titled "Blue Moon". It was conceived at the American Craft Council, Sarasota, Florida show, in 2002. My business name was Silver Moon Studio. Across the aisle was a potter who called his business Blue Moon Studio. During the course of the show he explained that he and his wife (and fellow potter) had found their farm in upstate New York, with a pottery studio already built on it, on the day of a blue moon.

I was sitting in my booth thinking about a blue moon being the second full moon in a month when it occurred to me that, no, it would simply be a very sad moon. I did some quick sketches right away and had intended to share them with you, but I have misplaced the sketchbook I was using at the time. Anyway, I did not follow the sketches very closely. I very rarely do. The piece didn't come to fruition right away; I finished him in 2006.

He was sculpted in Creative Paperclay with a wood and wire armature. His clothing was also made of paperclay with acrylic paint and silver leaf. I knew that he would be wear all shades of blue with some purple. I didn't plan on the red tie. It was a last minute decision. It was his choice and it is out of character for him, but he wears it any way because it was a gift from the sun.

"Blue Moon" is living in the Atlanta area. He found a new home when we were there for the American Craft Council Show in March 2008.

Happy New Year!

The book will stand

I've been playing with the book, it seems to want to stand. It's a bit fragile, so it's going to need some support and a base. So far I'm seeing more of what's going on around the book than what's going on in it.

more work in progress

This morning I opened the drawer of the flat file to hunt for photos and ephemera to add to the assemblages and the drawer exploded. It was bond to happen sooner or later; it was overstuffed with, well, stuff. I long to be organized, I work to get everything in order, fully intending to keep it that way (I actually believe that I will), but of course it never lasts. In a hurry looking for something I'll riffle through, or coming home from a successful hunt I'll toss new finds in; whatever the cause chaos inevitably returns. Today is the day to reclaim the drawer. I'll let you know what treasures I rediscover.