Next Show: Artistic License Fair

https://www.facebook.com/artisticlicensefair 

Paint and Release

At the start of the summer I kept nagging my daughter to get rid of a pair of eight year old VANS.  When she finally did and I saw them in the trash, I became a little nostalgic (since she had them since 5th grade) and took them out of the bin.

 I felt so silly because now I had the ratty old shoes and didn't know what to do with them so finally I decided to paint them.  Since I started working with gourds I rarely paint on canvas.  When I do, it feels odd because I've gotten accustomed to working on a curved surface.

It was fun to paint again and when I finished I had no problem throwing away the shoes.  I see a whole series of paintings coming my way...perhaps a good way to get rid of things and get some painting practice in!

Artistic License Fair 2014

I will be carting my gourds to Estancia Park in Costa Mesa tomorrow and Saturday (site #46)...looks like very pleasant weather to stroll around, have lunch, and admire everyone's unique creativity!

Who's the Stiff?

I recently finished a gourd Sun Conure (parrot) for a former student. I've made birds before including a quail but each one seems to have it's own unique challenges.  With this one I was having balance issues and had to use a glue and sand mixture inserted into the "belly" to balance out the weight of the wings.

I thought it turned out pretty good until he sent me a picture of his pet parrot, Comet, next to the gourd parrot.  Well, mine looks pretty stiff compared to the real thing, but what I really love about this picture is Comet's expression!

Next Show: Artistic License 2013

Show, Quail, and Cork

I will be carting my gourds to the Artistic License Fair in Costa Mesa next Friday and Saturday.  This is a new show for me and I am looking forward to seeing a variety of art and craft, talking "gourd" with people, and hopefully enjoying some pleasant Fall weather.  For more information please visit their website: www.artisticlicensefair.com

In addition to working on projects for this show, I have been creating a California Quail gourd that someone requested at a recent summer show.  I enjoy doing projects that I normally wouldn't choose myself because I like the challenge and I always learn new things.  I originally photographed him against a dark cloth but he looks so much better outside in the grass.

My third on-going project has been "assembling" a 3X3 cork bulletin board.  It started out as a wannabe magnetic board, but due to not recognizing the difference between metal and aluminum, and then trying to use a magnetic paint (don't even bother!), it has been transformed into a wine cork board!

As soon as I put the word out that I needed corks, they started to magically appear;  usually in baggies, sometimes in a brown paper bag on my doorstep, and sometimes in a box almost filled with them!  I still have a small section to complete (black area) but now that it is almost finished I am almost sad that it will be covered up with push pinned memos, to-do lists, and doodled ideas.

When I look at the corks I see my family and friends.  I see them enjoying a meal, having fun with their friends, getting together with their family, or celebrating a special occasion.   Some corks I know I can trace to certain family members or friends...you know who you are Kirkland wine drinkers!

My Mosaic Summer

Last year a friend told me she envisioned a mosaic mirror above her fireplace and asked if I would be interested in creating a piece for her.  I thought it was a great idea and although I have had some experience with mosaics, the size was a little intimidating and the fact that it was for a friend also added some pressure.  (Would she still hang it up even if she didn't like it and cringe every time she passed it by?)

I started by taking pictures of her room, noting colors and other objects on the walls.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a way to make it less heavy.  My husband even tried routing out some of the plywood so the mirror would sit snuggly inside, but that didn't seem to work.  I finally surrendered to the idea that it was going to weigh as much as an average third grader.  Now I could focus on the fun stuff:  I collected ceramic tiles, glass tiles, marbles, shells, watercolor paper and handmade papers--anything I thought would work.

I embellished the larger tiles with some torn paper and resin.  I also found that my nature-hoarding (seeds, pods, shells, etc.) came in handy.  After much inner debate, everything was arranged and glued securely on the plywood and then the dark sanded grout was applied followed by the slow process of wiping it away...done!

If I were to do this again I would do things differently (and probably faster!), but I appreciate this project for its structural and creative challenges and I know what I learned will show up on my gourd work!