New materials, new dragons...

As I mentioned in my last blog...a couple new dragons

showed up after the Arisia show...incorporating some

materials I found there. 21" tall  Akhai-Kath, the strong 

pictured above was one.

Since folks seem to like process photos, I thought I'd share 

a few of Akhai-Kath in the making as well as another

dragon named Gryclaw, the colorful.  This is what Akhai-Kath

looks like under his leather...Hand stitched muslin over

a wire armature wrapped by polyester.  He has a stone

in his rear end as well as his snout!...holding lots of stories:

 Apoxie sculpt helps attach the snout to the wire armature as well as
hold the eyes securely.
Here he is getting his claws!

Then on to adding paint patina to the leather....


He undoubtedly had some comments about my messy studio,
but discretely kept them to himself.
Next came his gorgeous black beaded belly. Given to me by
my supplier-of-wondrous-things-buddy, Martha Bergeron.
She hadn't found a use for the piece, beaded in Macau,
and thought just maybe a dragon (and his maker)
might like it. So brought it over to the Arisia show along
with a few other goodies and we made a trade.
 Akhai-Kath's belly was built to size for the black
beaded piece - Beading goes from chin to between his
lower legs. Fortunately I had matching beads to help
attaching the piece to the leather.

I have been thinking of making a dragon with a beaded belly and
thought about beading it all myself. However, ACC Baltimore was
soon upon us... and my price point for the piece would have to be
radically different.  I still plan on doing one. This Spring I am taking
bit of a hiatus from shows to help my hubby while his hip is replaced
...so maybe...by my next show at the end of May such a creature may
appear.  The creatures have a way of determining when they want to
show up.

After attaching the beaded piece, rawhide spokes and the beaded leather
braid that goes with them is the final step. ...No wings for his character.
Related to the eastern form of dragons, he is confident he'll be able to
fly without them.

But speaking of wings...the second dragon who appeared after Arisia,
does have them.  Here that dragon is patiently waiting...

I played with a slightly new shape.. As I explained in the last blog my dealer
table was next to Cloak and Dagger Creations
booth.  There was a basket of remnants of trim right next to me which I had fun looking through. Hmmm I thought- bellies for small
dragons perhaps?  I had wanted to incorporate more color into the dragons so found one to
use on this dragon....on belly and for anklets.





And Gryclaw, the Colorful emerged! (Named by our 10 year old
grandson living in South America.  (Have to love the internet!!)
Gryclaw is 24 " long (with curled tail) and about 12 " tall depending
on how the wings are arranged. 

Both dragons enjoyed posing for professional shots by Bob Barrett
photographer set up at ACC Baltimore. Bob took the first photo in this
blog as well as the one just above of Gryclaw. I really appreciate Bob
setting up in Baltimore. He is the source of most of my professional
photos for the  past several years.  The dragons joined several other
dragons in my booth at the show - big and small - sculptures, Rpeggie
dragons (holding RPG dice), book form , on journal covers and more.

 Inspiration often hits just before a show. Having worked with the
garment  trim for Gryclaw's belly....I looked over the Celtic trim
pieces I had picked up and saw their potential  to add into  a
complimentary line of card holders, journals, checkbook holders
etc. to my line with eyes.  I love the pieces with  eyes, but I know
they are not for everyone. (Actually I enjoy that customers seem to
know just whom they are for, and for whom not.) I've been thinking
about my Celtic roots of late.  So  the week before ACC Baltimore, I
produced these items to see  what the response might be.  It was very
positive ....so looks like it will be  added to my sculptural leather items
for a while  anyway. I especially  like  the dragon/griffin trim in the
lower right corner,  but do love Celtic braids...

After the first couple days at the ACC Baltimore show, I was
questioning whether I should consider taking a year off.  It is
very expensive to exhibit at the show. But the next day I
wandered the booths and was reminded of the extraordinary artists
I meet there, the community that gathers and the inspiration that
it generates for me.  Fortunately the weather cooperated this year
(last  year there was a snow storm on Saturday), the retail attendance
was up and sales brisk...including major ones for me.  (Pageante and
Roland the dragon traveling librarian duo found a great new home.)
So.... looks like I will apply once again for next year.

Next post, I will share images from a few of the artists who
stirred my creative juices!

Adventure on.    Wendy

Navigating worlds and finding inspiration

Last post I promised to try to do better keeping up with my blog in 2016. Hmmm. In an attempt to post at a minimum of once per month, I figured I better write today...the last day of January.

I've been pondering how it is we navigate the various worlds
we inhabit, the challenges and the inspirations we receive
from wandering through.

The political scene in the U.S. at the moment seems at times
like a fantasy or horror film depending on your perspective. I'm guessing many directors would find the script so
incredible that they would not be willing to take it on. 
Certainly it provides  plenty of fodder for late night comedy
shows and cartoonists.   Yet, of course, it also provides a
deep insight to the varying passions and opinions which
coexist in the United States.  The challenge is to figure a
way to actually listen to different opinions without dismissing off hand preventing any sort of deeper understanding.

When asked why I incorporate eyes in my work, I often
mention my belief that each of us "see" the world through
our individual perspective, life experience and filter.Sometimes
those filters are so opaque that is is impossible to see or
listen to others who don't see things as we do.

January is when from a show perspective, I venture into
a different world than the usual fine craft scene. As I have done
in previous years,  I participated in the art show and had a table in
the dealer room at Arisia, the fantasy/sci fi convention held
here in Boston Jan. 15-18.  I love seeing the care and flair visible in
the  costumes attendees wear and their comfort in their various
personas.

Certainly my customers have a bit of a different look than those at other shows.  I feel close to my costume designer brother who died years ago when I look at details. I was set up next to Cloak and Dagger Creations who sold corsets cloaks, googles and more.Although I've never been interested in wearing a corset, it was fun watching all shapes
sizes of folks trying them on. (Wired undergarments were one of my brother's specialties.)

 

It is different, and yet wonderful to be in an environment which is open, accepting, and "safe" for expression of creativity and exploration of identity.  There is a lot of fun, music making, gaming, film watching, listening to panels with a literature focus, etc, but likewise many panels exploring images of gender, sexual orientation, discrimination, racism in literature, games, films and society.  The teens have their own unconvention and determine what topics they want to discuss.  Like most worlds, there are strong opinions, conflicts and disagreements...and yet it seems like a place that encourages listening and trying to understand another point of view.

I am always intrigued to see the impact knowing I'm participating in the show has on my artwork.  I don't specifically create for Arisia, but items I see or pick up there from year to year find their way into my work.  A number of items (like kindle
and ipads covers and checkbooks with eyes) were the result of
orders at Arisia. Last year I became fascinated with roll playing
game dice and began using some in figures.  This year, a species of
Rpeggies showed up to dance on my table. ...each incorporating an
RPG in their heads and holding a removable one for playing.

Wandering in worlds which are on the edge of my comfort zone stirs
up creative juices, challenges me to sort through my opinions, and
if I am lucky ends up presenting new materials.(Next post I'll
show images of a couple new leather dragons incorporating items picked
up at Arisia!)

May you wander in new realms this year - both physically and in spirit
and see what opens before you.

Adventure on.  Wendy

Inspiration at shows in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Boston

   Happy Holiday Season everyone.....
Before I'm off to share the holidays with family, I wanted to end the year
highlighting a few of the wonderful artists I encountered at my final two
shows: American Fine Craft Show Brooklyn  and CraftBoston along
with a trip to St. John the Devine cathedral to take in Xu Bing's 100
foot long phoenixes (shown above)

The Brooklyn show (Nov. 22-23) produced by American Art Marketing
at the Brooklyn museum was beautiful. Better attendance than last year.
Attendees were very enthusiastic and it has all the marks of growing
into the awesome show we know it can be.  The quality was excellent
and range of work exciting. This show is part of a new series of  AMA
shows with museum connections. Look for more of the series in 2015.

I really enjoyed talking to Zaliah Zalkin  about his  luminary vessels in
carved alabaster .

The beautiful vessels have a quiet spiritual presence

Infused occasionally with a sense of light humor.  Zaliah said 

he created the vessel below when his wife was pregnant:

Check out Zaliah Zalkin website: zaliahzalkind.com to learn
more about this second generation sculptor and his process.

On the funkier side - Barrie Rust  was there with his
Great Plains handmade musical instruments

What fun a band would be playing these:

One of my favorite artists/sculptors, Reina Mia Brill , was also
there adding funk and fun.. Reina took off a little time to
give birth to and begin the fun/creative challenge of raising
twins.  Now she's back with more energy than ever with an
added cool twist to her work  reflecting her situation as
an enthusiastic and occasionally crazed co-parent:

Valerie Gladstone of Brooklyn Dollworks  was there,too. It is rarer
and rarer to see dollmakers at these shows, so I was  glad to meet
Valerie and see her work.

The figure below was purchased by the same collector with whom
my Canoby, the canoe paddling librarian found a new home. I trust
they will get along famously.

As I mentioned above, I made it over to St. John the Devine to see
Xu Bing's amazing phoenixes after the show.  I missed them at
Mass MOCA....so didn't want to miss them this time.  They will be
there until the end of February...If you haven't had a chance to
experience them and learn the story behind their creation,
try to manage a trip to the upper West side of Manhattan. It's
definitely worth it!  The use of recycled materials from the Chinese
construction site is  masterful....look closely:

and the setting is spectacular:

If you can't make it to the cathedral, here is a link to a good video piece
on the story behind the phoenixes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu4sD4c6yXA

Finally - a couple mentions of artists at CraftBoston, Dec. 4-7.
Best of show went to Sang Joon Park.  His work is
exquisite, I appreciate  his recognition of the bowl as art.

His design approach to his beautiful place settings is strong, simple yet
complicated.

Finally - artist choice went to contemporary metal worker
Michael Rossi.

We especially loved his airplane shapes:

Happy Holiday to all. May yours be filled with warmth, music,
good food, friends, family and story and the new year be filled
with wondrous adventure!

Hope to see you down the road.....2015 is looking like a busy year
of shows for me beginning with Arisia 2015 Jan. 16-19 and the
American Craft Council show in Baltimore Feb. 18-22.

Adventure on!        Wendy

Arisia 2012 - Dragon books, eyes and costumes

 

   I finished a new copy of my Dragon Names book this year
to present at Arisia 2012 in Boston last weekend: 2012.arisia.org
Newly dubbed the "Great Book of Dragon Names" this new
edition contains 410 and counting names....for all you dragons
out there looking to name your young'un or for other wanderers
wishing to make sure their favorite dragon is honored in such
a book. (Actually...thanks to folks at Arisia...there will be
more names added before ACC Baltimore in February. I'm
still looking for more that begin with J, Q, and X.

Of course, dragon books, as I learned needn't be just for
reading.  They also make nice hair accessories as this
young customer let me know! 

 Arisia is always fun to participate in since its a delightful
10 min. from my home, an easy set-up, and is a voyage to
quite a different world than my usual fine craft show....I
always learn something new.  This year it was about the
world of theatrical and custom contact lenses.  Michelle
from www.exoticlenses.com was set up next to me.

- 

Check out Michelle's eyes! She's wearing a cat and a

blue star. I thought about getting a pair to wear at shows-

perhaps a banshee or black wolf set? But decided they

might distract my usual customers.

It's always fun people watching at this type of event. 

these are some of the folks who passed by my booth:

I thought this guy's steam punk stilts were very cool:

You pick up intriguing technical tidbits at conventions like

this too. I learned about el wire from this couple.  The oval

piece in the center is lit up! 

Who knows what my booth may hold next?

I picked up some spikey metal dice from

Andrew from  www.foambrain.com

which I hope to incorporate into a new

creature...stay tuned!  

Adventure on! Wendy

Arisia and a ribbon for Wudaineon

Jan. 14-17, I participated in Arisia "New England's largest and
most diverse Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention" This year
it moved to the Boston Waterfront Westin from the Cambridge
Hyatt providing more space...but also some rather confused
participants trying to navigate the hotel..and some surprised/
startled sedate hotel staff confronted by costumed attendees.
(Not as high a percentage in costume as at Dragoncon. But
quite a few none the less. Attendance is around 5000.)

You never know what you might come across at these cons.
I was intrigued by this sculpted "Cast Iron Theater" piece by
Hilary S. L. Scott set up between the art show and dealer tables
area. See if you can guess what it is actually made of:



For a glimpse into the world of the imaginative soul (a
former professor of political theory) who created it
and MANY other cool things, check out Hilary's website:
www.eclecticsculpture.com He's located in Somerville MA .
I'm definitely going to try to connect with him!

I set up at the art show as I did last year. When I went to
pack up unsold items on Sunday evening, I was surprised to
discover a big blue ribbon next to Wudaineon the gentle
dragon. It was for "Best 3-D" art piece. Wudaineon
seemed very pleased!

This year, I was a panelist for various panels: "Interstitial
Arts: A Discussion"; "Fostering Creativity"; "3-D Art Basic
Materials and Methods (covering electronic and physical
3-D);"Paths for Professional Artists" and I led a "Working
with clay" Crafts for Adults workshop.

One of the fun aspects of being on panels, is learning about
new materials, ideas etc. Well known illustrators and animators
Brianna and Frank Wu were on the 3-D art panel. It was
fascinating to see the programs and technology they work with.
(Of course it convinced me more than ever that I like to use
physical materials. I couldn't imagine sitting at a computer for
the hours necessary to do computer animation!)Brianna and
Frank are working on a video game for an ipad based on her
artwork.

Jen Hunter was assigned to help out for the clay sculpting
workshop and via emails before the show, convinced me that
folks might want to create something they could keep. That
led me to investigate paperclay. I knew that fantasy artist
Forest Rogers (www.forestrogers.com) sculpts with paperclay.
and wanted to see what it was like to work with. I bought two
varieties from the site: www.paperclay.com I purchased
some of their "creative paperclay" and the slightly harder
"diamond" version. Participants seemed to like the feel
and manageability of the paper clay and the detail it could
handle. It air dries to a hard surface which can be easily
painted. You can add to a piece already dry by putting on
a bit of moisture and adding more paperclay. I still cling to
my preference for natural clay...but always good to learn
about new materials. Might try some out with the after
school kids I work with. Here are two sweet items made
by participants in the workshop:


It's fun to experiment outside your field. The mini boot
(1.5"x 2.5") is by writer Delia Sherman (deliasherman.livejournal.com )
and the head by writer Sarah Smith (Sarahsmith.com )
At Arisia, I picked up Sarah's new book The Other Side of Dark,
a historical mystery involving the old Pinebank mansion in
Jamaica Plain, MA. I had the treat of reading the manuscript
before publication so was especially pleased to see it in its final
book form. I definitely recommend it as an intriguing read!

The Arisia staff ended up providing self-hardening clay as
well so some participants sculpted with that. Bears seemed
a theme for one table. The woman's shirt seems to help
explain their choice!



For those who just wanted to strickly "play" I also
provided some of my low fire white clay...

Glass artist, Josh Simpson was the Artist Guest of Honor
this year at Arisia. I've exhibited at shows with Josh for many
years and know that besides being an amazing artist, he's
a great story teller and photographer so I made sure to
take some friends to his lecture on Saturday night. He talked
about his Infinity project. For 25 years he's been placing
or getting friends and others to hide small glass planets
around the globe hoping to mystify future archeologists!
(Check out his website for a full story of the project:
joshsimpson.com ) He ended his lecture with photos sent
that day by his wife, astronaut Katie Coleman, from the
International Space Station where she is on a long duration
mission. We marveled at how technology keeps families
together even out of our atmosphere...and saw how gummy
bears are eaten in space!

On Sunday the Interstitial Arts Foundation Executive
Board met at our house...more about that in my next post.

Journey on! Wendy

ARISIA - exploring new worlds

Wow, a week slips by quickly when life is full. (Maybe posting every other week is more realistic than weekly?) Last Friday I set up at the art show of Arisia - New England’s largest and most diverse science fiction and fantasy convention Set up on the 16th floor of the hotel looking over the Charles river. Not a bad view as you can tell from the photo!. Of course I had to restrain my figures (and myself) from just flying off into the wild blue yonder. There was a wide range of art including paintings, sculptural work (favorites: steam punk sculpture by Butch Honeck - won best of show)and “Portal” by Tamara Gurevitz), jewelry (including Kendra Tornheim’s keys) costumes, and more. This year’s artist guest of honor was: Sarah Clemens . Panel discussions were primarily on the first and second floors, with vendors set up in rooms on the 3rd floor. So took effort to check out the art show on 16. Next year Arisia is moving to the Westin Waterfront where there will be more space. Since I wanted to attend panels, I chose not to be in the art show instead of being a vendor. My aim was to let folks see my work who don’t regularly attend the fine craft shows I do. Sales in the art show were via quick sale or silent auction slips. Most items purchased were lower end, but not exclusively. I opted to bring mostly med/large pieces to show range of work rather than consider what items might actually sell. I have had one post con order which pleased me. Next year’s artist guest of honor is glass artist Josh Simpson which could pull in more of the craft artists I know.

Once set up, I was free to attend panels. This post would be much too long to describe all possibilities since scheduling begins Friday evening and goes night and day through Monday afternoon, but here is a brief list of some of the panels I attended: Filk 101; Movie Year in Review, Non-Standard Fantasy, Tools for Digital Art, Interstitial Fiction:Dancing Between Genres; Inherent Darkness of Fairy Tales, Creature and Character, Faeries of Color: Tales of the Fae beyond Europe, Myth and Folklore in Fantasy, Kick-Ass Moms (in fiction). Sat. eve I stayed around for the Masquerade since I had missed it at Dragon*Con (fun costumes and skits - tiny kids to experienced performers...not quite as many extraordinary costumes as at Dragon*Con...though I did like the “Mother Nature” costume with decorated pg. belly), went to readings (by Shira Lipkin and others) and attended the Carl Brandon Society ceremony where awards were given to Andrea Hairston (for her novel, Mindscape) and to Nnedi Okorafor for The Shadow Speaker. They also read from their books. I had connected with Andrea during earlier panels and will definitely stay in touch. I’m reading Mindscape now (love hearing Andrea’s voice as I read) and look forward to picking up Nnedi’s books - Zahrah, the Windseeker as well as The Shadow Speaker and seeing how she integrates some of the elements of the Nigerian folks tales her parents and grandparents told her. In Zahrah there is a flying girl - so naturally it is high on my reading list.

Other people I enjoyed getting to know at Arisia : Daniel Rabuzzi (on a lot of the myth and folklore panels. I picked up his new book: The Choir Boats) and his wife and master wood carver, Deborah Mills . Oh yes, I also attended the Arisia corporate meeting, representing the Board of the Interstitial Art Foundation. The IAF applied to Arisia for a grant to help with the publication of Interfictions 2 and our outreach. It was awarded, and a check written right on the spot!

All in all......a very full and energizing weekend...brimming with creative energy, challenge, and fun. Not long ago, I had never heard about the world of Cons - never guessing it was so extensive and pervasive - literary , sci fi, fantasy, faerie...and on and on. Just shows what stepping outside one’s box can reveal! I’m still sorting out which if any make sense for me. My favorite “con” type experience still remains Mythic Journeys 04 in Atlanta put on by the Mythic Imagination Institute: www.mythicjourneys.org
That was where I felt most at home. I’m still hoping another such event will occur.

After the con (and an equally intriguing Art Salon held in a house up the street on Monday) I returned to my dining-room-dominating dragon!...Next post, back to the dragon!!!

Peace and onward, Wendy

P.S. - All the artist above have websites. I'm still trying to figure out how to
put links into my posts...so please google them yourselves until I figure all this
out! Help with this anyone??