Traveling librarians -process and completion

As mentioned in previous blog posts.. Inspired by the program

From Words to Wings which our daughter and her husband founded

in Ecuador, I've been making a series of traveling librarians...even

tried my hand at a little poetry to accompany them. 

          Traveling librarians

Some children cuddle at home
To share a book, hear a story
Some children walk down the street                                             
To find a book, hear a story
Some children go in a car or bus
To search for a book, hear a story
Some children go online 
To discover a book, read a story
Some children turn on the tele
To see a book, hear a story

Some children dream and wait
For the traveling librarians
     Who come by jeep
     Who come on horseback
     Who come by canoe
     Who come by skiff
     Who come on dragon’s back
      Who bring books
      And stories 
      And  wings

It's fun to see them emerge in the studio...

Here are some process photos:

A dragon librarian...basic armature:

 

A little further along...polyester and thread

around wire..and designing spokes.

Muslin hand stitched over stuffing....

(small creature in front ended up a winged dragon

named Majestis) 

 

Next leather....






Patina added to leather....and rawhide wet-formed
spokes (and books) added:

Completed Pageante and Roland

Head of another creature...which I thought was going to 

be a dragon...but she had something else in mind

Beaded leggings were definitely requested.

And a basket just perfect to fit between legs and hold mini books..

including a mini dragon book, of course

As I said, thie creature had her own ideas.. These rawhide wings

seemed much more appropriate than dragon wings... and 

Skreeraugh (aka Peggy) came to life..

But it is not just creatures that can bring books...Remember

that wood from the old dock in my last blog post?

 

As I thought it might...it became a skiff with library on
board..



Loofe, the librarian enjoys taking a break to read one
of his books...

Other Star Wandererers prefer to arrive by canoe:

Canoby enjoys paddling  along with books in tow

Next destination for the librarians is the Brooklyn Museum....where

I'll be participating in the American Fine Craft Show, Brooklyn

Nov. 22-23.

There was a fun article by Jenifer Eberhart  on the show  which

appeared  last week with responses by myself and four other 

sculptors to various process and life questions at examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/sculptures-to-join-other-works-at-american-fine-craft-show?CID=examiner_alerts_article

All my figures  are looking forward  to greeting folks in

Brooklyn....and sharing the booth - #49  with a new species of mini

creatures called  Taradiddles...(more about  them in a future

post.)

Hope to see some of you at the Brooklyn Museum!

Adventure on!   Wendy

Star Wanderer posters

In my last post, I wrote about my current exhibit
" What's in a Story?"at the Haley House Bakery Cafe
 www.haleyhouse.org  and promised to show some of
the posters I used in locations where I couldn't  install
sculptures. Here they are. The one above was created
specifically for the exhibit.  Nunoona and Furb, the Star
Wandering companions in the poster are still looking for
their permanent home. Story objects hang from the
embellished saddle blanket and fill the leather trunk.
The duo measures 24" x 24" x 18".
 
The creatures in the posters below have all found new
homes, where I trust they are stirring up stories.
Hopefully their images can inspire even more.  In the
exhibit, I placed some favorite quotes about stories
underneath the posters.  

 

That's "Faydor, the story hatcher" above holding a
story egg, with story emerging.   At the exhibit
it was posted with the quote: "Inside every seed
there is a story, Inside every story a seed of truth."
(my phrase - or at least I don't think I saw it
and copied it.) Every story trunk that accompanies
one of my storytellers contains a water hyacinth seed
chosen for  sculptural beauty and for my phrase.
I realize water hyacinths are an invasive species
but honor nature's intriguing sculpture. Of course
inside every egg, there is definitely a story.

 Under Beadle, the Curious, I posted:
“Facts bring us to knowledge, but stories lead to wisdom”
                                                     Rachel Naomi Remen

And under the poster of Tadaah!, I put:
"Stories are the Language of Community" - Dean Ornish

I have some extra copies of the posters available...including
a few additional designs.

Now on to trying to do some more serious editing of
"Sophia's Quest" and continuing to contemplate what is
or can be, in a story.

Adventure on!    Wendy

"The Way we See" sculpture and Ben Mitchell's photography

For a while now, "how we see" has been an important
theme in my work...how each of us see from a different
perspective and in different ways. During these ponderings,
this guy showed up. He's holding old optical lenses used to
check eyesight, each with a different correction. Looking
through them, including the one on the tail, offers a different
view of the world. I've titled him "The Way we See",
but I'm sure he'll tell me his proper name soon.

He seemed a bit lonely, so this little fellow bounced in
to add a bit of fun!:



The photos above were taken by Ben Mitchell during our photo
session at his place in New York City. As was this great photo
of one of my eye journals:



I'm looking forward to continuing working with Ben!

Here's the photo he took of Krystuli and Spike, the Pupbeast.
He captured their spirit well:



Now off to finish a few more pieces for ArtRox Open Studios
next weekend Oct. 1-2 11-6PM. Anyone in the area, please come
by my studio - conversation, cookies, and beverage await.
Should be a great weekend of fun and art!

Adventure on! Wendy

Male avian creature shows up

Once hearing that his companion was off to NYC for a photo shoot,
the second avian I was working on convinced me to finish him as
well. I say "him" since once finished, they did seem like a male and
female duo.

Here are some images of how he evolved. His head shot opens this
blog. Here is a back view:



Instead of just paint, I decided to bead this guy's wings.
I realize the poor avian would never get off the ground, but
felt better when my hubby observed that it was obvious the
wings of this species are just used for display and attracting their
mates. That might explain the fancier wings on the male!



Here is a side view taken in my greenhouse/photo set up
area in Roxbury:



And finally, here is the duo posing together in New York. I
took this snap shot with Ben Mitchell's permission when we
were setting up the duo for their shoot in his studio.



I'm still working on their names and stories, listening hard.
Thank you everyone for all the great name suggestions via
facebook and email! Stay tuned for what they decide on.

I managed to finish another figure for the shoot as well...
Images of it in the next blog.

This week we're off to Oregon for my hubby's 50th high
school reunion....how quickly the years pass!! Perhaps I'll
pick up some stones on the farm where my hubby was
raised and see what creatures emerge.

Adventure on! Wendy

Another new creature in search of a name..

Hurricane Irene changed my plans for a trip to NYC last week.
It seemed wiser to stay at home where new creatures were
asking to be completed. So...as winds and rain whipped around,
this creature came to life. Seemed appropriate to be working on
a water avian of sorts. I'm thinking it must possess a little bit
of magic since amazingly our electric power never went off.
Considering the number of trees next to power lines in our
neighborhood, this is remarkable. A few major limbs snapped
in our trees:





But a few branches pales to the damage in so many places
all over New England...and this for a storm "not as bad
as expected."

Back to the new avian...Here is the beginning work on
his head (with myself reflected in the window...).
Spokes are sea urchin spines from a necklace which
used to belong to my mom. Beak is an antler tip:



I used rawhide for the wings - wet formed and painted:



and beaded the legs, of course:



He/she was finished yesterday. Here he/she is posing in
the sun for a few snapshots!





No name yet. I had such fun hearing the names suggested
on facebook for my previous creature...I'll try that again...
also open to hearing suggestions here!

Now off to finish another figure before heading to
the photographer in NYC next Friday. Hope to get
some good new photos.

Adventure on! Wendy