'nip dealer -- rear view before gesso and 2nd coat of blue paint
Now that I have completed the Tookies that I will be taking to the 1st-Ever Tiny Market at Tiny Studio in Kalamazoo for the April Art Hop there, I am turning my attention to:
- finishing my Chime Cat Visits Cloud City for "Come Play With Me" (Paint Creek Center for the Arts, Rochester)
- my entries for "Meth & Hot Dogs 2" (LIFT, Royal Oak)
From this point on I will only show teasers. Photos of the final complete versions will only be shown at the blog after the run of a show.
The first three photos tonight are of the two main pieces I am making for "Meth & Hot Dogs 2". Click on the poster for more info.
Around these parts (my house, that is) my cats like to partake in a bit of catnip (aka 'nip) on occasion. My characters will be 'Nipped -- a hopelessly insatiable catnip addict and his 'nip dealer (untitled as of now). The dealer is a snake that I originally made as a tail for another creature (last year) but that I thought looked better on its own as a snake. Up until now I have been using this guy as a test surface for color combinations and palettes for other plaster cloth (and/or papier mache) items I have been working on. The stripes in the first photo were the basic pattern for Chime Cat's socks.
Both characters are shot from the back view tonight...that is the teaser part.
The snake has loads of layers of papier mache and plaster cloth already (because I was teaching myself how to use the materials) and I don't even remember how many coats of colors he has altogether (so far)...but tonight he got another coat of light blue and another coat of gesso....oh I have plans for this guy, all right.
'nip dealer -- paint and gesso -- rear view
'Nipped still needs quite a few more layers of plaster cloth. He was originally made for a figurative show I ended up not entering. I was basically not happy with the human-ish thing I made and it was mostly because I had forced it -- it wasn't really "me".
[That little exercise in futility helped me to learn that I can't really work like that. I need to make things that I want to make, that I have had in my head for a while...or that I feel some sort of connection with. I need to just make things because I need to make them. Then if they happen to fit an upcoming call for entries, cool. Or perhaps a basic shape can be tweaked for a show...that sort of thing. I think that was a really big part of the turning point for me this year.]
I have added a lot of roundness to his head (especially on the back) and added the ears. I also gave him more shape and substance with the addition of the shoulders and upper torso. I am reeeeeally happy with the ears so far.
'Nipped, rear view
Thankfully the delivery date for the art for "Come Play With Me" was extended a week. This will give me plenty of time to do the final painting of Chime Cat and to finish off his cloud cart, the pull strap and the handle for the strap. He will also need several layers of sealer.
unfinished Chime Cat, rear view
It has really been amusing to me that several people have thought that Chime Cat was in a sort of traveling litter box. He is actually in a cloud cart for getting around in Cloud City. I think it will be easier to see when it is finished. Plus, if you go see him in person, when that cart rolls and you hear the chimes you will know that there is no way that's a litter box....LOL.
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