Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Having Fun In the Summertime - except for tech issues!


Well, folks the only solution I found for my blog problem was to use Goggle Chrome as the browser for working on my blog.  Aaargh.  I do wish compatibility was the norm.  Perhaps I'll come love Google Chrome but for now I'm feeling a bit manipulated by the whole thing.    But hey, on to art....much more fun.

So sometimes I have to do a little customizing before I can do a piece.  A couple of my continuing themes are crows and doll heads - which if you know my work at all,  you have probably noticed by now.  Here I am hand-painting little white plastic doves that are meant for bridal decorations and thus, transforming them in my totem crows.


Doves Into Crows



Another special technique of mine is altering dolls heads, doll arms, legs and all sorts of other items into bisque white objects, giving them a kind of plaster effect. I achieve this by dipping the item into white ceiling paint. Ceiling paint is the magic ingredient as it is designed to cling to the ceiling and drip less. I tried to add color to the ceiling paint but it effects the 'staying' quality and doesn't produce the matte bisque effect.

Dipped Heads




Supplies on-hand, here's what emerged. 


Easy-Chair Crow Girl

Caged Crow Girl


No Crows here, but a 'dipped' doll arm anchors one's attention and yes, they are real boxes of candy cigarettes - a very non-PC item I found in bulk at a end-of-lot discount store.




 
Candy Cigarettes on TV



My friend Helen and I collaborated on this piece. The white demon faces represent one's inner judges. Although they are matte bisque white, they are not made by dipping, but by using an white air-dry clay in a rubber molds of - you got it - demon faces! Really, you can find anything you need out there on the Web.




Essence Emerging From The Judges





And to follow-up from my last post - here are some pix of the exuberant All The Apparatus from Portland.  Check out their animation/music video in my sidebar and go to AllTheApparatus.com


TWO Accordians!




Monday, July 25, 2011

AAARGH!!! Can't post images on Blogger!!!



Ah my friends, Google and Blogger are letting me down. I've been trying to share new images but for reasons I've been unable to ascertain and still without a fix, images are a no-go. A quick search on the Web shows I am not alone with the problem, but alas, answers are not yet forthcoming. But naturally, tenacious as a French Bull Dog, I'm working away at it. Stay tuned.

Had a grand time on a recent trip to the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. Came across a fantastic group - ALL THE APPARATUS playing at the famous Portland Saturday Market. And that is a very appropos band name since they include trumpets, violins, chimes and an accordian!!

Would love to show you a pix, but for now you can check them out through live performance video at this link: http://youtu.be/d77WHWAVhNg.

Go to their website at, naturally, AllTheApparatus.com http://alltheapparatus.com/index.html