A Closer Look at Ottoman

Fragment

Bits and pieces of the project I've been working on. Process...progress. Slow though. I'm pretty excited about finally using the reclaimed leather that I've been holding onto for about five years. And those are wee squares of plywood.

I've been thinking of gathering together some ladies that are local friends for a weekly afternoon creative time. Basically, just getting together once a week in the afternoon to make things...independent or collaborative...sewing, painting, cooking, whatever. I think sometimes I miss the camaraderie of being in college working in the print studio or the constructive criticism of a sculpture crit. This would be more relaxed and skill level would vary...but there is something to be said about chatting while making. And, maybe it'll get my nose out of the book a bit to make more things. Do you do anything like this? If so, what has been successful or unsuccessful?

We picked some apples today off the apple tree...the ones that the deer couldn't reach in their hind legs. It's an old tree that doesn't get watered, so the apples aren't so juicy...they'll be made into applesauce tomorrow. I can almost smell the cinnamon.

Abstract

 

Hello hello! It's been awhile. We went on a quick trip to visit family...then school started for Boo. It's been a bit exhausting.

But, now that things are (sort of) settling down, I have a bit of time to myself to work. What you see above is a pattern I made from an image that exists in popular culture. It doesn't matter what the image is, and this is just a wee portion of it. What matters is that I wanted to make my own pattern...of what, it didn't matter. But, in order for me to make what I want to make, a pattern needed to be made. It therefore is an abstraction of the original (very much so) and gives me a basis for further abstraction. I've said it before, I need a method to the madness. I'll share more soon. Oh, but I must add that I've also mentioned in the past (maybe a few times) that I love working with grids...here it shows.

On a different note, I've been thinking that it's that odd, yet wonderful time of year when I can get both cantaloupe and apples from the farmers' market, and the blackberries are ripening while the acorns and leaves start to fall. I didn't see the apple cider I've been anticipating at the farmers' market yet, but I may have missed it...anytime now. It's the only time I buy something sweet to drink for the house....I just can't deny fresh-pressed apples...especially when the farmer has a pot of it warmed-up with whole spices mulling about at the market. Maybe it's because the weather is still hot. I bet when we get a cold snap that apple cider will be calling my name.

I usually smell autumn in the air in August...not this year. It's September now, but that familiar autumnal smell isn't in the air yet. I think that this year, I may actually be ready for the fall when it arrives.

 

 

With Age

Beeswax darkens when it's been heated repeatedly...especially the beeswax that I've been using for my sculptures since I heat it to a rather hot temperature for beeswax. When I get to the bottom of this batch, I'll start over with fresh wax and resin. This cycle will be subtly evident in the pieces themselves...subtly, because the wax on the pieces are in shallow solidified pools. This batch currently looks like the eucalyptus dye that I made...which by the way, is still sitting in my window sill. Apparently, eucalyptus doesn't mold like many dyes while stewing. So, I'm thinking of experimenting with it further...when I have the time.

In other news, I'm still recovering from a nasty cold...it's been over two weeks. I'm now to the *fun* part where I cough until I nearly crack a rib...yeah. So, there's lots of catch-up going on around here. I hope you are faring better these days. I also hope this means that our household won't be sick for Christmas.

I hope your week is treating you well, dear readers!

Subtle Shift

A bit of iridescence for a subtle shift in color. The tea-dyed paper is getting another layer...I love the look of history.

Process: Tea Dyed Paper

I've been slowly dyeing paper with tea. I have some thoughts as to what I'm going to do with it. The paper is long left over from my printmaking days in college. The sheets were big enough for making small prints, but I don't know when I'll have access to a press again...so they're torn smaller to work easily with. It feels good to be using this paper after so long. I think there will be more done to this paper before I'm done...I love when objects have a history and I think that imparting that feeling on this paper will be nice. Layers.

Surface Quality

So, a little fine art talk today. After I finished the first piece I was working on (encased the seeds in the beeswax/resin mixture), I started on a second. I didn't carve the cavities for the seeds large enough for many of the seeds to achieve the surface quality I wanted when I filled them with the seeds and wax. So, I ended up scraping the wax off, digging out the seeds, and re-carving the cavities. Once I placed the seeds back in to see if everything looked the way I wanted, I noticed that there was beauty there as well. (The first two pictures seeds that had been re-embedded, but the wax was still too thick, so some had been scraped off...I find there is beauty there as well.)

I like for my process to show in my work (therefore, the piece becomes a palimpsest), so all the reworking to scrape the wax and dig the seeds out show on this piece. I like objects with a story.

Beeswax and Mummies

I've gotten back to work on my fine art. Recently, I did a little research on encaustic because in the past, I used strictly beeswax on my sculptures, but I found that a bit of damar resin helps the beeswax heat at a higher temperature (smoking point...it still smoked a bit...such a temperamental business), makes the medium stronger, and helps prevent the foggy film that develops on pure beeswax (I don't mind it, really). Unfortunately, I don't have a scale that measures such minute amounts, so I had to guesstimate the ratio of resin to beeswax. Still, I think that the results are quite good.

I also found some info on Fayum mummy portraits, which is a very interesting read (via). Gum arabic (a material I've experimented with in my fine art) was also used in mummification. Here's a bit more info on this substance (which is used in lithography...you know, I gotta throw in a printmaking reference).

Also, I mentioned that I picked up a Turkish Pot at a thrift store recently, you can learn how to make Turkish coffee here (via). 

Eucalyptus, Oak Galls, and Lichen

I brought some of the eucalyptus bark to Jenny's the other day that I had collected from the ground around one of my parents' eucalyptus trees (the one my Mom thinks is a Lemon Eucalyptus). We soaked the bark for a bit (I would do this longer next time) and brought it to a boil twice and let it cool in between (well, it really should have boiled for awhile, but it was hot and we were trying to conserve energy as well). Then put the concoction in a canning jar with some crochet thread and it's been sitting on my window sill solar dyeing (I have no idea if this will work with bark, but what the heck).

I think I will be dyeing more when the weather turns cold and I have the wood stove going. That way I can feed two birds with one seed.

I also found two more oak galls the other evening. I love that they are all different colors.

I see that the ones on the bottom of oak leaves still on the trees are growing and turning brown, I should start seeing more on the ground soon.

Over the weekend, we were in a very forested area with chartreuse lichen growing all over the trees. Fortunately, there was a lot that had fallen on the ground. So, I grabbed a bag and started filling it up. Yes, it dyes chartreuse.

Here's a better look at the color.

Right now, the zip-top bag is the best way for me to store the lichen. There may be some wee critters in there that I don't want in my house and it also looks like an attractive home to other critters that I'd rather not house (maybe because I just got rid of that mouse nest that came with the plastic owl from the last post and I'm still thinking about it). However, I'm starting to realize that these bits of nature that I'm collecting to use as a dye are quite beautiful and would look lovely in a collection of jars. Hmmmm...we'll see....If nothing else, they would be great in jars during Halloween. Those oak galls could be labelled "mummy eyes" or somesuch!

 

Palimpsest

I mentioned in the last post that these new pieces were palimpsests...they are even more so now. I've re-worked them again. I suppose the printmaker in me could not resist stamping rather than hand writing.

The stamping may not be as legible, I actually prefer it. You can see I've also done the carving on this piece, now it's ready for seeds in these little cavities.

I've got enough seeds saved up for the first piece. And they will be encased in beeswax.

I love working with beeswax...the honey scent permeates the space. I started working with it as a sculptural medium almost ten years ago and I'm so happy to begin again. 

Nikole Herriott of Herriott Grace gave a tour of her home here yesterday. It's an amazing space and less than 400 sq. ft. What a responsible way to live...every purchase must be completely thought through. An inspiration.

From that post, there was a link to Shanna Murray's work. Lovely.

Numbering Specimens

While doing research on how specimens are numbered, I found a great deal of interesting information.

1. The artist Laura Moriarty, "visual art inspired by natural history." More on the decorative end of the spectrum rather than the content-rich (you know, I'm all about content in fine art). However, her work is certainly inspiring!

2. This interesting article on specimen labels, particularly regarding meteorites:

3. Here's how the San Diego Natural History Museum labels and curates fossils:

4. Also, some of my new pieces are palimpsests...they've been changed by sanding and erasing the previous image that wasn't quite right.

5. The word "palimpsest" lead me to this essay titled Erasure in Art: Destruction, Deconstruction, and Palimpsest. 

On a completely different note, I've been thinking about making Boo homemade popsicles this summer...then found recipes here and here...and if you think you are going to make a bunch this summer, you can spring for stainless steel molds!