A glimmer of spring

Uncovered my meyer lemon tree, to see one lone lemon, clinging on for dear life. After the rainy gloomy spring we've had, it seems appropriate. Taking a much needed break from the book edit madness, 18 hours on Fri. 6 on Sat. and a few tearful moments during the week. I'm glad I soldiered on and learned, and did it myself, I almost hired someone for big bucks but it was my story to tell.....maybe for the next one!?

The full shot of the sad tree. I hope it decides pull through, the smell from the blossoms in the summer, is the best

The bright spot in the yard are the red tulips, so bright, it might be time to shed our coats.

Some new art purchased from artfest, looks like the aloof goth girls I used to carve.

Under the dome is my new piece from Mar. I'll retake this shot, so for now this will have to suffice.

ARTFEST 2011

Just back from 5 days of Art adventures in Port Townsend, if you've been you know! Here's a recap

First a little road trip with friends, for the way up. I could not get Tory and Dayna to stop waving their pom poms, out the windows of cars even, they are quite the enthusiastic girls! (click their names to read more about our adventure)

Here's a car parked at the Fort Worden, girl has a glue gun.

All the buildings at Fort Worden were built in 1899, walking around the campus is like stepping back in time, very peaceful.

The Castle on the hill over looking the ocean....

We had one sunny day, the beach beckoned but duty called.

Dinner with my house mates one night.

Silly Art from the iron chef competition, all the pieces were made in an hour, gotta love the circus theme!

My first day, a little collage, fabric and dye ....

Jesse Reno...what a breath of fresh air, so much more, then about putting paint on a canvas, listening to yourself and going for it....nice

First layer...of many many layers. All mixed with primary colors in our hands

.........more layers

A sheet from some exercises, so much value in letting go

The final piece, I did do a "Jesse style", not so much my authentic style, but fun and lots to consider. My easel and paints are calling me, as soon as the circus show leaves town .

Photo Shoot Learning Curve/ Blurb book

Here's a peek from today's photo shoot, taken for a blurb book, I'll be offering with my show . Jason Cohoon the photographer in action, around 8 hours into it! It's the big puppet theater I built from salvaged wood, the painted backdrop and the hanging eight puppets, all carved and costumed.

Here's me with Jason, holding the disk, the learning curve has been steep, lots of backdrops and props on the fly. Letting the characters images do most of the speaking, the story line is full of "folly and jest"

I saw lots of this today!

Weederboy's ready for his closeup, Turtleman waiting patiently in the background.

Here's Hammerhead, his body is so unexpected! His head is carved from a big old finial.

Here's Boatman a part of the line up. Hopefully the Slide show of all the characters will be up and running tomorrow. A final edit for the book. Plus show cards picked up and delivered. Oh and pack and leave for Artfest on Wed, read about it here and here yikes

Got past the hanging of the puppets phase, 1st time for everything!

Meet "Scarlett"

She's quite the Acrobatic, She'll be suspended in the front window of Guardino gallery, when she makes her debut on April 28TH.

She measures 58 inches long! I laid her out today to begin her final costume, her head dress will be a bit more elaborate. Her head is carved from an old wood tool Jennifer gave me. Juggling pins for her thighs, chair legs for arms...

She can do so many poses, and is quite the vixen, I got lucky she props up so well, either arm can be forward or back and her trunk can twist, she almost comes to life .

A close up of her top half...

Her mid section, is an old vise I cut up, I loved all the old nails, you can see the shaped juggling pins here

The old Tops are from Tory,,, well they just screamed boobs, they defy gravity and are "firmly" doweled in place

A close up of the feet I spent 2 entire days deciding how to attach them, I needed lots of movement, so they were flexible, when shes flying. I still may paint her toenails, as any proper showgirl would.

Here she is again, sitting up on her own she's quite talented, and shes insisting a red and white stripped canvas be a backdrop, who am I to argue.

With 22 pieces to introduce, stayed tuned , there will be a lot more posting before the show.

Thanks for looking!

Coming Soon! April 28TH

Sneak Peek of my Showcard!, it's at the printers. Now lots of details to finish. I WILL update my blog with lots of photos in the coming weeks. Trying to finish up all characters. My acrobatic girl, that will hang from the front window of the gallery, she's being a little finicky. The learning curve has been steep, figuring out how the puppets will move with a simple lever, for gallery patrons....Stay tuned. Got my art posse coming over to give me some much needed feedback this week.

EXPO-SED

The pdx Expo is in full swing. Lots of people come dressed vintage-y. In addition to decorating our shopping carts, I apparently need to have a costume! This beauty above did not disappoint.

Not the best photo, but this couple were right out of the 50's!

One of my missions: yes I had a shopping list! Was to get old tool boxes to stack up on a high ledge in the entry way... I may paint one an off white...we'll see.

There were the usual clowns hanging around, or in this case rolling around. I have such a love for these creepy fellows, that I could never afford or justify the price. So it's kinda fun to think , I can now make a folk art clown of my own that, I would love just as much.

Monkeys riding on horses, just like nature intended....

And then there's the child size manikins hanging from hooks...didn't even ask the price...

And a fun discovery, a globe painted with chalkboard paint , brilliant! Why didn't I think of that? I'll have to borrow that one for sure.

This Vaseline glass has always been a favorite to see. Did you know it's made with Uranium? Read about it HERE

Little toys, without Cracker Jacks

Here's a photos of my Haul, 5 Old Velvet jewelry boxes, 25 gold wood stars, polka dotted Doll clothes, feathers, striped cloth covered wire, a ruler and a wood masher I was gifted..

And finally posed, inside one of the shell shaped old velvet boxes, is a bag of beach glass, scooped up last week on Kauai, by one of my best shopping/ art buddies , Dayna.
I was telling Dayna, I will put it, in a specimen jar and label it like dispatch from L.A.
Click her link above and see what she did , you will not be disappointed!!

Meet Some Character's...

The Circus Puppet Theatre is being whipped into shape for their April 28Th Debut..... These Two Clowns are "Boatman" and "Cletus"

These four pieces of wood, I've cut out on a band saw and shaped, after their stained, they'll be attached to the following heads.

This is "Birdman" on the right. He seemed lonely so, I made "Birdman's Brother". They'll be appearing in a book about the Troupe, and their adventures.

This life size Clown head is carved from a single block of wood. I'm still deciding on how to paint his face, & what Clown features will look best. I decided to attach his head to this old drawer and give him arms. what will go inside the box? Hmmmm....stay tuned.

Here is a new Clown "Saltine" .Eight pieces will be joined together. Shaped doweling, found objects. I cut and shaped his shoes, many layers of paints stained and sanded to give it a old vibe,

Here is a close up of Saltine, his face was carved from a old shoe shine brush.

And now Saltine, put together. He'll be strung up and hanging in the theatre.

You'll be able to move all the puppets by jiggling a stick. Interactive fun. By Sunday I hope to have All the Puppets behaving themselves so you can meet them.
Tomorrow I'm taking the day off, to have a play date with a friend.