Creatures and more offering inspiration at ACC Baltimore

Just when I begin to wonder if I should take a year off from shows,

I take a little time to wander the aisles...and remember why I love

participating.  Inspiration at ACC Baltimore this year came especially

from  Thomas Harris's work pictured above and below.  His hand

built work's  form, texture and color drew me in...of course

that he had reliquary jars with creature heads and a dragon

head protruding from the wall didn't hurt. I treated myself

to one of his functional mugs.  Check out his website: clayoh.com

to see the full range of his work. 

Several artists had wall mounted heads this year  - including this
intriguing one by Allen Littlefield  I keep encouraging him to show at
Arisia.  I think folks there would really appreciate his work.



 And then there were surprises -like this large chair  from Simon
(Semyon) Kaplan  "Artist sculpture in wood" who brought 30
years experience from the tribal and folk art worlds.  Unfortunately
I was never able to connect with him in person at the show. Trained
in Alaska, he lives in Brooklyn now.

I left the fasion scene years ago, but appreciate artists like
Starr Hagenbring  who  are really pushing the limits..

and having a great time in the process!!

Starr is  one of those energy filled artists who ask us what do we
have to lose by exploring new ideas, stretching ourselves and our
customers! Next time I'm in New Orleans, I'm definitely checking
out her store on  Magazine Street - optical shop and art  -leave it
to Starr!!

Wholesale started off rather slow for me this year, but bit by bit grew
including nice orders which have been called in since the show.  The
weather was great for retail days, no snow storm like last year...which
curtailed crowds.  The result was much better retail sales...including
a very special sale....Pageante and Roland the traveling librarian
dragon duo found a new home...one with a VERY appreciative and
persistent young person who fell in love with them...and promised to
keep their stories going.   Another fun sale was to a couple whose son
does not like books because of his dyslexia...they decided to give him
one of  my large flying dragon books with a story...customized to
include his name. Thought he might love it.  They guessed correctly.
When it arrived, they sent me a photo of him beaming.  Seeing
imagination and story sparkle in customers' eyes is worth every hour spent.

Finally  - you never know what ideas a customer might have. One
asked if I could make a leather ipad cover with  more than just one
eye.  Certainly, I said and gave her a box of eyes from which she
could choose....not expecting her to pick out 13...and ask for two
red ones to be added to those!!  This was the result - 12 eyes on the
front, 3 on the back...

Next time I might suggest the number of eyes...but it was fun to make
and has inspired some new ideas....maybe some sea creature covers?
Octopi? squid?....stay tuned.

For now I'm thinking spring...beginning to get some planting of greens
in the raised beds down at our community garden..filling orders...and
dreaming up new ideas...all while waiting for my hubby to get a new
hip so that we can travel again to far off limes together..

My next show is the Paradise City Arts Festival, May 28-30,
Memorial Day weekend...out in Northampton.

Adventure on!  Wendy

Stories in the Bruce Peninsula

My website opens with the phrase "Life is all about Stories"  After our

recent end of summer trip to  Ontario, Canada I was reminded

 "so are places". 

We drove up to Ontario to visit my sister and brother-in-law in their

cottage in the woods (see above at sunrise) on the Bruce Peninsula.

Their children are the third generation to enjoy the cottage my brother

in-law helped build when he was young. Family photos  of good times 

past and present cover the walls.  The paneling in the kitchen is from

the wood of a tree lost in a storm, then milled locally..as is the

table the family eats on in the sun porch. An anchor pulled up from a

shipwreck sits by a tree with a inviting swing ...The anchor head

looks every bit like  a creature patiently waiting to tell its story. 

The wood of the old dock lays near the new, holding its stories....Some of the

aged, waterlogged wood  came back to Boston, to become a skiff for one of 

my traveling librarians: 

We went to the Keady farmer's market and livestock auction where

young Mennonite farmers looked over the cattle and my husband

talked of his days growing up on a farm in Oregon.

We walked through woods whose roots reached out with tales, undoubtedly

disturbing some of Ari Berk's earthfasting giants.. (If you need  

further info on earthfasting or details re the life cycle of giants, check 

Ari's 2008 "Codex Giganticum".  Every home library should have this

"Secret History of Giants" for reference when heading into ancient realms.)

I explored a cave on the Georgian Bay. My sister was eager for me to 

see it, confident it was one of  the sites  in my story "Sophia's Quest"

she was helping edit.  I agreed. I wondered if  tales told  in  First Nation

reserves on the peninsula  spoke of this opening to the sea. 

As the others patiently waited above, I climbed down into a grotto 

which  held  many, many stories...trying to absorb at least a few:

If I had not had our good camera, I definitely would have dived
in. The depths were calling.

The next day, a magical forest lured us forward 

to Grieg's caves...where again the family was tolerant while I 

climbed in and around dark recesses with a flashlight and

cell phone so I could capture a few photo memories.

We  explored a big open cave with intriguing

abstract designs on the walls. A large bird flew

out, unhappy at being disturbed.

 

Now back home  - I am savoring sites, sensations and precious

time with family...holding sunrise images and flying on.

My series of traveling librarians are coming along nicely getting ready 

to be displayed at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton

on Columbus Day weekend...process photos - very soon.

Adventure on!  Wendy

A Mystical figure commission - almost completed..

 As I mentioned in my last blog, there has been a figure in my

studio  for a while, waiting patiently for finishing touches. The 

order was placed  at ACC Baltimore in February, with no specific

deadline for completion ...although  I had been aiming for the 

customer's birthday in late August.  He generously  told me not 

to compromise my grandparenting duties in  order to finish and

added:   "Time might just be a sales promotional thing for watchmakers." 

I do try to meet deadlines, but certainly appreciated the 

freedom this time around, especially for this type of figure. 

My notes on the order stated:  commission for  a "mystical" 

standing figure about 26 " tall, with a staff ,ceramic heads, hands, 

feet, lots of color. He had admired my figures for a long time,

and realized I was moving in new directors so if he wanted one,

he'd  better act soon.  He told me he liked lots of things, including

ships, but left the details to me.

It's been fun revisiting this type of work...and realizing how 

connected I still feel to it.  Circling back has been instructive.

 I realize what I have learned in recent years re armature (the

figures are more sturdy now) and made me think again about

story being at the core of  my art. 

In my last blog, I  promised some process photos.   The 

figures begin with sculpted fire and glaze clay parts, wire,

polyester, thread and muslin:   

 
After creating the basic figure, I started looking around the
studio to see what textiles and leathers I had to create a
mystical look.  The materials have a magical way of just
being there...waiting...The top of a heavily embroidered hat
seemed just right for vest embellishment:

An old quilted and embroidered piece was waiting to become

a mystical cape. It just needed some more beads, trim, story items

and a collar made from part of an old embroidered Japanese kimono.

The staff?  Hmm...I wandered in our yard looking for an 

appropriately twisted stick..found a dead branch on our curly

willow just the right size...and saw a bird skull that I had picked

up on the beach during a writing retreat sitting on the shelf at

my work table....It fit exactly on the top of the branch.  

At little carving of the wood, a little stain and paint..and it was

ready for addition of some silver medallions, beads, leather and

dangles:

Then, of course, no mystical figure should be without a 

book of spells...

or nice beaded sandals:

A leather mask seemed in order:

oops...can't forget that mention of ships. A little embroidery
on the back of the suede coat would be a nice surprise:

And so the mystical figure has emerged.. Folks will be able

to see the almost finished figure at Roxbury Open Studios

this weekend. (October 5-6) at my home studio.  I'll work on

his name and legend this weekend.

 

I'll undoubtedly add a few more details next week, then take
him out to be displayed in the special "Hocus Pocus" exhibit
at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton next weekend.
I'll be in booth #805 at the festival with all my other work..
some inspired by this guy (including some miniature mystical
books.)  I hope to get a good photo of him at the festival. I'll share
that in my next post.

On return, I'll pack the figure up...and he will journey to his new
home and greet my very patient customer.

Here's hoping some of you are able to stop by my studio this
weekend or my booth next weekend in Northampton!

Adventure on!   Wendy

Summer "Nana art camp"

Family time is precious. With this in mind, I made the decision to
spend this  summer enjoying children, their spouses, and our 7
grandchildren rather than travelling to outdoor art shows.   One
daughter and her family live in Ecuador now, but came up for the
summer. We came together in New York, Virginia and
Massachusetts enjoying each other, including cuddling
two new grandbabies.

Here in Boston while our 8 year old grandson was at Taekwondo
camp, his 5 year old sister, Eliana, who tells everyone she is an
artist, requested "Nana art camp". Their parents were busy
launching a  new non-profit library and literacy project. (Stay
tuned for more of  that in future blog posts.)
Here are images and descriptions of some Nana art camp
activities.  We covered lots  of  media and took field trips
for extra inspiration.

Clay - experimenting with textures, balls, and making coil pots

After firing...we opted for painting with acrylics, rather than glazing:

One finished tall coil pot:

Mixed media sculpture - a walk around the neighborhood, and
search in my  studio resulted in this stone/wire/bead creature:

Two field trips to the Museum of Fine arts provided lots of
inspiration.  Eliana's brother joined us for the trip to see the
Samurai armor exhibit: http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/samurai
to see  incredible craftsmanship in leather, wood and bronze.
The dragon mask below was made to be  worn by a horse.

Eliana and I checked out the Hippie Chic exhibit:

.http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/hippie-chic Eliana
imagined her Nana wearing some of the outfits. (Somehow
some of the  outfits  didn't seem too far off today's garb.)
Though I have to admit I never felt quite as stylish in
the 60's as the models looked and didn't have white hair.

Eliana spent a long time looking at shapes and sketching

dress designs, and choosing her favorites. She finished

the design below back at home:

Looks like one I might have worn...or might now.

We stitched up a new "work" dress for her doll.

Every artist needs a place to store things. A painted plastic box
was perfect to keep a few items found in my studio to take back
to Ecuador to continue to working there.

Learning about promotion is important for aspiring  artists
so I encouraged  Eliana to design and decorate her own
business cards:

Then she decided she needed a  leather card holder.

 Well...yes it did look like the ones I make. She saw me working
and asked me to show her hot to make them.As you can  see in the
photo above with the cards..she added her own style and color to
the finished holder. I was sorry this skillful apprentice couldn't
stay around to help with my inventory this Fall.

Another field trip to a neighborhood site  which was filled with
large paintings and sculpture this summer offered further
 inspiration:  http://bartlettevents.org/  You never know what
awesome art might be just around the corner!


We pulled in Grandpa and brother, Joaquin, for some of the fun there:

Back in the studio...creatures roamed

and emerged . "Alice, the dragon" came to life

with Alice's story, of course:

It was a wonderful summer....

Now back to a usual Fall schedule...and catching up on some

of my overdue business orders....including the creation of

a standing mystical storyteller....Next post I'll share some

process photos of him.  He's been patient this summer...

evolving slowly, but ready to be finished now...

Then Roxbury Open Studios, Paradise City Northampton,

and the American Fine Craft Show NYC...all in October!!

I hope you all had wonderful summers....

Adventure on.  Wendy