Beads, Balloons and Blobs

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I finally finished those awards for the Chachki Show -- only four days later than I'd planned -- but, hey, they're done! Voila!....

As I was adding the beady accoutrements to these guys, I watched the Pixar movies "Up" and "Ratatouille" again. Suffice to say, I've had a rather emotional day so far. My eyes are red from being verklempt and I feel a mix of utter inspiration and being a bit emotionally wrought out. Leave it to those Pixar folks!

I like too add beading to bas-relief designs. I love beads. They're tiny bits of art glass you get to play with! I originally did a lot of beading -- necklaces, earrings, woven bead purses -- the works. I even made myself a homemade beading loom out of some left-over 2 x 4s back in junior high I think (or was it high school?). While I eventually dumped it when I discovered sculpture, this approach is a fun roundabout way to incorporate both creative outlets. When the results from the show are posted, I'll post a link here.

Anyway...back to the studio!

"Creativity and love surely come from the same source, and both have no boundaries. It all depends on how we use them." ~ Nancy Green

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Hubby's Birthday -- Yaaaaaay! (said like Kermit with limbs akimbo) Happy Birthday!

Last night we went to a restaurant we haven't been to before, Tucanos, with a couple of old friends we lost contact with some years ago, so it was great -- We stayed four hours munchin' away and yaking up a storm. I gotta say...this place is the Mecca, The Temple -- The Promised Land -- for the die-hard carnivore. Hubby's eyes were glistening with delight like a pride lion in a pile of dead gazelles. The place has a wonderful salad, pasta, sushi, soup, what-have-you salad bar to provide some semblance of balanced diet, but the highlight of the meal is meat. Lots and lots of roasted meat. Waiters come by in rapid succession with skewers of sausages and assorted meats that you get to have -- and it's all delicious. And it's all you can eat. Hubby + All You Can Eat Meat = Unprecedented Delight. Suffice to say, he gorged like a pride lion. It's his new favorite place to eat in the Universe.

Today, his Mom came over with the chocolate cake and homemade cinnamon buns she made (yum!). And here's a cool handmade card his Mom commissioned for him (note: That's a Harley Road King, I think):


I really admire those who make handmade cards -- it's something so beyond my skill set or time use. I save all the ones I get!

Anyway -- Happy Birthday Sweetie! You're aging wonderfully!

"Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ~ Jack Benny

Whirlwind

These are the two awards I'm donating to the Chachki Show, being held this weekend. They're two of my early medallions that had their bases sanded off, giving them a neat cut-out effect. They're pictured here in primer (with tape tabs covering the wire loops that will hold assorted festoonery) and I'll be painting them in fun metallic faux finishes. I had grand plans of finishing these two up by yesterday and posting pix so entrants could see them, but alas...like most things in an artist's life, things rarely go as planned.

Mom and I spent yesterday cleaning out my ceramic station in the garage, which doubles as Ground Zero for Mayhem and Junefest. Alas, with all that's gone on, I was unable to clean it up after Sonya and Stephanie left in June, and so things kept piling up in progressive layers, like geologic strata. You could see exactly what I'd been up to at that time judging from what you unearthed from any given layer. I kid you not. However, Christmas is around the corner and my new slab roller should be arriving any day now, and so -- we had to clear the decks! We were a whirlwind of activity and got it all shipshape in record time. Mom has breaking down boxes for recycling down to an art form. She is a Master. And after we surveyed the new scene, I think I even heard a chorus of angels rejoicing in the unearthing. We could see the floor! Look at all the room! And I found so many things I been unable to find for four months! Glory be!

My poor Hubby. He's a beacon of order and organization. Yet he married a swirling paragon of chaos and entropy. I don't think he can fathom the bedlam I create and operate within, yet in some mad way it works. Ok -- works most of the time. I don't have irons in a fire -- I have I-Beams in a fusion reactor. Anyway, this weekend, those awards will be completed and shipped off to the winners next week. One I-Beam down and counting...

"Chaos furnishes the building blocks for order, and order breaks down to replenish chaos." ~ Betty Brooks

EUREKA!

Or, "the bathwater is too hot," but whichever it is -- it's good. As you may have surmised from my previous posts, I've been struggling with my paintwork. I'm trying to redefine my "painting paradigm," to aim for more objective, realistic effects, rather than, well...what I thought was realistic. Certain areas of my skill set needed updating or a new perspective. This has held up the completion of many painting projects, however, because I couldn't bear to paint in a way that I wasn't happy with -- I don't like spinning wheels. But I had a series of massive "ah-ha" moments thanks, again, to writing for The Boat (specifically for Part II of my painting conventions series). Two trouble areas for me, in particular, were eyes and facial fleshy areas.

I've been frustrated with the painting of my horse eyes -- they weren't exactly what I wanted. Plus, I was confused by what I was seeing in life study -- I just couldn't make sense of what I observed in life and then because of that, I had difficulty rectifying that with what I was comfortable painting. So -- kick the "same 'ol" routine out the door and time for some open-minded research with fresh eyes. And WHAM! Now I get it! It's funny how you can look at something...earnestly look at something...for decades and still not see what you needed to see. Every insight comes in its own time. Now I understand what I was seeing in life study, and why it occurs -- so now I can start painting my eyes with renewed confidence.

I've also had a hard time with painting the fleshy areas of horses -- the muzzle, eye area and inner ear. These facial areas are remarkably difficult to paint if you're aiming to mimic the various effects you find there -- especially when they aren't shaved and baby-oiled like you would see in a horse show. But again, thanks for writing for that segment in the series -- I get it now! New effects and using new colors. I'm looking at these areas with fresh eyes and that has totally opened up new possibilities. I'm not going to take anything about painting realistically for granted anymore. Amen! Testify!

I've inputted these lessons in the sooty dun paint job I just finished* -- this piece was a guinea pig of sorts for these new ideas. Now, admittedly, I started the experiment not entirely sure these new ideas would work in application. Often what we see in life doesn't translate well in a paint job. But now that the piece is done, I cannot be more thrilled with how well these new interpretations worked! I'm now able to achieve the look I've been after!

What was especially interesting to me was how badly my eye and brain wanted to revert back to the old habits. These new takes on reality were a "hard sell" to them. But once completed, it's like they totally bailed on the old team and switched sides. Perhaps it takes a good uncomfortable jolt now and again to realign artistic development. Crank up the juice!

So now I'm full bore back at work on Lynn Fraley's wonderful Bram'll Blue Boy! He's not anywhere near done (above), since these are only the preliminary layers. But these first layers are just as important -- they establish the "palette" of the piece, and coat depth and layering, which is especially important for a complex pattern such as this, a dapple grey. He's going to benefit from all the lessons I've learned, and I'm very excited to see if I can pull it off again, especially at this smaller scale. I hope to have him done in about a month.

(*But yes -- it's done! I'm just waiting for the custom made marble base to be finished for it.)

"To the artist is sometimes granted a sudden, transient insight... A flash, and where previously the brain held a dead fact, the soul grasps a living truth!" ~ Arnold Bennett

Chachki Extravaganza!

Hazzah! A segueway into my last post that included medallions is this new concept show being hosting by Model Horse Blab. Yes. I'd really like to see these kinds of art forms take off in the model horse industry, so here's the scoop:

Model Horse Blab is hosting an online "Chachki" photo show with an entry deadline of November 13, 2009. By "Chachki," they mean plaques, medallions, pins, mugs, tiles, etc., made by model horse artists.

Judges are Thomas Bainbridge, Maggie Barkovitz, Elaine Lindelef, and Elizabeth LaRose. Prizes include medallions donated by Joan Berkwitz, Lesli Kathman, Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig and DaBar Enterprises (thank you!).

Entrants must be paid subscribers to Blab. It costs $18/year. You get access to a message board with over 1000 active members, their Gallery (like Webshots, but no ads) and you are able to participate in all their online shows. This is the fifth they have had this year.

To view their show classlist and so forth, go here.

To view their message board (you can see the "free forums" only), go here.

To view their Gallery, where the show is conducted (the $18 goes partly to fund the software license), you must be logged in (that's free), and go here.

Trial memberships are available immediately; just email Elizabeth LaRose at eliz@modelhorseblab.com, and she'll set you up with one pronto. They do not spam their membership.

"Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things." ~ Theodore Levitt

Tidbits to Tempt and Tantalize....

Now it's time for a shameless plug for the RESS ezine, The Boat, of which I'm chief editor (and graciously propped up by two diligent assistant editors, Irenne Randolph and my Mom! And perhaps a third, if I can convince her to hop on board as part of the crew!). So here's the cover of the Summer 2009 issue (above), with Karen Gerhardt's lovely draft horse sculpture, Boreas, in fine bone china and overglazed by her. Previous cover pieces have been a beautiful glazed ceramic Tuesday by Lynn Fraley (who graced the cover of the first electronic issue!), a splendid bronze Ravenhill by Hilary Hurley, and the fabulous 2006 silver coin Jasper National Park of Canada for the Canadian Royal Mint sculpted by Michelle Grant.

One of the things I really like about RESS, besides the educational and professional factor, is that it promotes realistic equine sculpture art in all forms and from all venues. It also brings artists together as colleagues, something rather unusual in the model horse world which forces artists to be competitors. Yet it's different from publications from the art world because of its practical, educational slant -- and education from all facets of "equine artist life," from equine color genetics, to ceramics, to anatomical study, to business matters, to sculpting, to technology insights, to painting, to articles for beginners, to even the logistical and philosophical challenges such artists may face. Issues average about 180 pages, though this last issue was a portly 244 pages! Members get "fed" quite a bit with each issue. Some have joked that this "boat" has become a "cruise ship" -- love it!

Starting with the Winter 2008 issue, The Boat became a biannual and electronic publication (available as a downloadable PDF, or sent to the member on a CD, as a PDF). The electronic format allows us to really go bonko with material and images, something that was impossible with a printed version (in terms of costs and logistics). I even had to get a fancy industry-standard publication program InDesign® in order to publish this puppy in its growing complexity (I cannot speak more highly of this program, by the way!). It's been fun learning the program and refining my publishing skills -- the little bells n' whistles make each issue an amusing challenge, and I think it's important for an artist to exercise her left brain in equal measure! This is a new skill this stubborn old dog enjoys learning! Whenever I need a break from right brain immersion, I tinker with the upcoming issue. Now -- to figure out kerning...

Anyway, it's actually interesting to see how many organization publications are moving to an electronic format for these very reasons. Many long-time publications are moving this direction, too. But enough chitty-chat...as promised, here are some teaser pages from the recent Summer 2009 issue. This first one offers selected pages from the approximately 20-page article about designing "medallions," or palm-sized bas-relief:

Here are some teaser pages from a 43-page article (or thereabouts) about painting conventions in order to help artists evolve beyond them and advance their own development:

Note: The text and images are copywritten to the author and to the individual artists who provided the images. So please write me for permission if you'd like to repost or reprint these teasers elsewhere or otherwise use them.

I've already started work on the Winter 2010 issue, which promises to be just as hefty. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the "painting a silver dapple" article by finishing the painting of the actual piece! I think I can now, since I've figured out my "new" painting techniques a bit more (and I'll be posting that paint job I've been talking about -- I'm almost done!). I look forward to my "quiet moments" in the office hammering out each issue, just as much as I look forward to my time in the studio. I learn so much by creating each issue, not just from writing the articles, or reading them, but in the doing of it. I'm a firm believer in learning new skills on a regular basis, and I suspect this ezine will keep my brain hummin' for a long time! If you're interested in becoming a member to receive this ezine, please visit the RESS website!

"This is the most interesting period for artists. Never before has so much diversity been acceptable. Never before has so much information been readily available to aspiring artists. All you need to do is connect." ~ Paul Foxton

For Every High, There Must Be A Low

Life can throw some curve balls at you, ones that whip around and whack you in the side. Yesterday, I had to put my little buddy, Bixy, to sleep. He was a big boy. About three pounds and large. He also was beautiful -- lovely coloring and pretty ruby eyes. He was healthy as a horse his entire life, never needing medication (which is rare for a pet rat). But he was very old and started to show it. I knew his time was coming, though I had no idea it would be so sudden and out of the blue! His body finally started to give out and he started to crash, so I rushed him to my vet and had him peacefully put to sleep.

Bixy was quite a character, and a bit of a mystery (you can read about how I first got him here, nearly two years ago -- quite a terrible beginning). Predictably, he was a handful from day one. He was quite young (maybe eight months), and perhaps his experience left him a little "rough around the edges," but he was sweet and playful nonetheless. Beasley and Zeebee (my adult males I had at the time) had to socialize him quickly, though, as Bix was prone to playing a little too roughly and throwing his weight around a bit too much. So Beasley would adroitly flip Bix onto his back and lay on him, pinned down. That's all he'd do -- just lay on him, with this patient, "The boy is at it again," look on his face. After about twenty seconds of Bixy spazzing out, he capitulated and Beasley immediately let him up. After about two weeks of that (yes -- it took two weeks!), Bix started to behave more mannerly with the old men. It reminded me of what old bull elephants do with young bull elephants -- they teach them how to behave.

But what I didn't know was how attached Bix became to the two old guys, especially Beasley. When Zeebee and Beasley passed, Bix fell into a deep depression. He wouldn't come out to play, wouldn't eat and barely drank for nearly a week. Though he seemed to snap out of it -- he was never the same rattie again. He had suffered some kind of trauma, and he became insecure and aggressive as a result -- a bad combination. Despite my attempts to assuage him, he was my first rattie to go from being sweet and socialized to becoming an aggressive biter. And when he bit -- he meant it. Trust me when I tell you that when a rattie means to bite you out of anger, it's not something to laugh at.

This broke my heart, but I was determined to give him as good a life as I could regardless. He was my little "rebel without a cause," and over the next year and a half, I endeavored to earn his cooperation on some level. I didn't force myself on him, and that non-threatening approach was rewarded by him allowing me to pet him for a time, to give him rides on my shoulder (he'd crawl up my arm to get there), and finally being allowed to pick him up (about eight months ago). But he still retained a decided idea of his own "space," and a low tolerance to getting "buddy buddy." And was still quite hostile to anyone but me.

I believe we have things and experiences in our life for a purpose, and his presence in mine clearly was to teach me several important lessons about life, loss, empathy and patience. I'm also grateful to Hubby and my parents for tolerating an animal in my life who was dangerous -- simply out of trusting me and knowing that I needed to care for him despite anything else.

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy." ~ Inuit proverb