November 15 -- back to the blog

My computer conked out on me last week...I just got it back today.  Graphics card or something. 

I have been working like crazy to get stuff closer to finished for my upcoming show.  And I made the postcards for the show (which are due to arrive tomorrow).  And I was waiting on a couple of different art supplies orders to arrive -- and they all did.

I know I said I wasn't going to make any more antler/horns (little ones anyway) for a long time but I was feeling pretty stuck on the plaster cloth guys and I saw this branch when I was coming in from outside a few days ago so I used it for a sort of a headpiece for one of the former horses...kinda like a Las Vegas showgirl...but not really.   I also gave him bigger ears.

I have a total of 11 collages to complete and I only have 4 that I don't know what they are yet...and they are at least base-layer papered.  Here is a peak at all of them hanging in various places on walls all over the house...these are the drying positions and not necessarily how they are oriented.  

Tonight I papered both of the bases I needed to do.  One for Baby Beast and one for He Dreams He is a Tree.  Both are very wet in the photos but I think they will look pretty good when they are dry.  Both guys go flush to the base so you won't see any of the wooden dowels and that is why I only papered up the dowels as far as I did...plus, I didn't want to interfere with the fit of the legs onto the dowels...a little too much paper and matte medium make a big difference.

Base for Baby Beast.

Base for He Dreams He is a Tree.

I am so behind on the hand sewing it isn't even funny, but I need to get the things that require drying time done first.  I saw these weird gloves at the grocery store of all places and they were 10 pairs for $10 so I grabbed up 10 pairs.  I think I want to add them to the larger guy as a mane or something.  Maybe I will mix in some of the "regular" spikes...dunno yet.  I would really like to do some sewing tonight but I probably won't get to it...I am in a super amount of pain today and tonight and I just don't think I am going to go back to work tonight once I have taken this last break.  I feel sort of okay until I sit for a bit and then it all starts taking over.

The weird gloves.

365 Day 283

Twink gets comfy while I cut up branches

My friend Ruth helped me re-place some furniture on Saturday night. Twink has claimed this particular chair as his new comfy spot. He can also reach the tiger toy from the arm of the chair. From that spot he can look out the window, he can look out the front window, he can see the front port and the front door and he can spy around the corner. Kitteh heaven.



Wow. Twink is looking so grown up in that shot.

Today my friend Andi came over to start the weeding in the front of the house. Man...I have not done much in the way of tending to anything at all outside this year. What a mess.






Andi is up for it, though and it is going quicker than I thought it would. Yay.












About a month and a half (at least) ago I came home one late afternoon and I hacked up a weed bush that had been driving me absolutely crazy with it overgrown-ness. This photo is what is left of the bush (that is really a vine/weed). It was really out of control and heading for the driveway and starting to block the edge of the front steps to the porch.

I was frenzied. I grabbed the loppers and just lopped all the way down to the ground and threw the branches into a pile. That is where they stayed until today. They were green and leafy when I cut them off and there was NO way I was going to bag them up that day...or the next...or, well, you get the idea.



This is some of the pile of the dried up branches.

I decided today while I was keeping Andi company that I would cut up the branches and bag them...save some time...keep busy.









eeeeeeek -- yard work














While I was cutting up the debris I noticed that some of the chopped branches looked like antlers.


Hmmm...








I ended up with a small pile of what may end up as antlers for plaster cloth guys. Maybe not.


They are staying on the porch because there are some bugs on them. Not a lot, but enough to bother me.




Tonight I figured I should just DO it and try to plaster cloth over a branch/antler to see if I liked doing it, how it might look, if it was do-able...whatever.

I thought I read somewhere once that if you used real branches from outside that you should bake them in the oven to kill the bugs. I mentioned it to Andi and she said, "Then you might have bugs in your oven." -- which was plenty of justification for me to not try it. I looked and looked online and couldn't find any info about it. So I hemmed and hawed for a bit and then I decided to not worry about it and I banged one on the porch a bunch of times to knock off any bugs.



I also figured if I worked on the kitchen counter I would be able to clean it up quickly and I'd be able to see if there were any bugs.

I didn't come into contact with any (visible) bugs...although I have been feeling phantom ones ever since I touched the branch...geez...










...40 minutes later here is the plaster cloth wrapped branch.

I put a couple layers on as I worked my way up the branch, hoping that if there were any bugs, they'd be sealed up in the plaster cloth. I smoothed everything pretty well and I am satisfied there are not going to be any escaping insects.

I'm not sure if I like it or not...I will have to watch it dry for a few days, pick it up, look it over a lot...

I know I wasn't crazy about working with the branch but I also know I couldn't build something like that from scratch.

We'll see.