November 7 -- back at it again

I missed blogging yesterday because I had a really really hard day.  Sometimes it comes down to me needing to stop fighting the emotion(s) and just surrendering and riding it out then getting back on track...and that is all I want to say about yesterday.

Okay -- this morning I took a look at the totally dry "really wet" collage.  Sue and I looked at it yesterday and each time I turned it and changed the orientation we both saw different creatures...but it was going to need more done to it no matter what.  Today when I turned it I immediately saw two horses...that is what this one is about.  With all of the build up of the matte medium the collage nearly looks like an encaustic (for a brief second).  The color of the green marbled paper is called "Forest" so I think I will be calling these guys Forest Horses, or something along that theme.  

The "really wet" collage is now very dry.

I needed to tear some paper for ears for both of them and a few pieces for faces but I really love this collage (so far).  

These are the shapes I needed to tear new paper for.

The other thing I need to address today is the eye situation for the really long horns guy and for the (former) rocking (horse) creature.  Luckily I think I can dig out the old eyes and replace them with different ones and repair the missing chunks by the time I go to bed.  I cannot afford to let them go much beyond tonight because I am starting to get into crunch time for the plaster cloth to dry and get papered and do the final surface and seal it with a protective coat of varnish if I want to have them in the show and I DO want/need them in the show, for sure!

Here is the (former) rocking (horse) creature with the new eyes already in place.  I am very happy with the way the eyes are "aimed" -- I will never ever get them perfect...I am not a machine, I am not a trained/schooled sculptor...I just make stuff up as I go along.  

The new eyes for the (former) rocking (horse) creature.  They look even better in person.  I don't think the camera can see exactly what a person can.

And here is the really long horns guy.  His eyes were a lot tougher to dig/chisel out.  I wasn't able to save them...the edges cracked and chipped...oh well.  I need to re-figure his forehead, too.

I narrowed my choice down to just these two pairs of taxidermy eyes...the blue ones meant for a carousel horse (in the catalog) that I have are just too large for this guy.

The new eyes are a lot larger than the ones I tried out first.

And here is approximately how he would look with each set of eyes.  Obviously, the goat eyes make all kinds of sense but I think I like the look of the other ones more.

The goat eyes.

The other eyes -- I think they are some kind of big cat eyes.