'29 Faces' Challenge and Unfinished Business

So, as mentioned in my earlier post, much of my aim for this '29 Faces' Challenge is to use it as motivation for finally finishing up a  hoard of hanging art projects I have sitting around here, annoying me as they do with their unfinished states.  I'm afraid I'm notorious for diving into ideas and concepts before they're entirely hashed out -- then when I get to a point where I might become slightly stuck because things weren't thoroughly thought through, I set the project aside, for 'later'.  With every intention of getting back to it of course, but...well, you get the picture:

A Whole Host of Unfinished Business

The above is a pile of projects I have in various stages of incompletion, many of which were started years ago with the best intentions..., and yet here they sit, unfinished and orphaned.  As you can see we have quite the variety of mediums here -- from aceo's, to paintings, to 3-D papier mache, even painted rocks.  The photo doesn't lie -- plenty 'o' FACES here (and it doesn't even include my forgotten stash of dead and broken Barbies which I'm in the process of altering).   None of it officially completed, none having ever been photographed nor uploaded nor listed anywhere.  Nothing signed.  ALL of it just sitting around, undone, taking up precious studio space while mocking me.  Nagging me.  How great it would be to tie up these pesky loose ends, for once and for all!   And so, this is in large part my objective for this Challenge -- wish me luck....!



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A Vegetarian "Boar's Head"....

"Roasted and Basted" Table Centerpiece (Made entirely of Papier Mache)

Paper Pig

No piggies harmed in the making of THIS boar's head.....!

Roasted and Basted, Succulent PAPER

Actually, it's probably technically-speaking more of a 'pig head' than a 'boar's head' ('boar's head' just sounding better), but however you want to slice it (ahem ;-)), I am happy to report no critters were harmed in its creation (unless you count trees)....


I confess it had been some time since I'd taken on a paper mache project. As much as I adore the medium and champion all it's glories, it's probably safe to say the toil on my 10' tall Statue of Liberty Project may well indeed have burned me out for a wee bit there. Not that I'd ceased loving the craft or anything -- it's just that after such an ambitious endeavor it appears I needed a break, and an extended one at that, while I concentrated instead on painting and other pursuits. And so it was that I was able to tackle this recent project with a refreshed mindset after my little hiatus. Created upon request as a stage prop for a December 2011 theatrical production, I was really pleased with how my 'Pig Head' turned out -- roasted and basted and succulent in appearance (I'm vegetarian mind...so yeah. Gross.), it made for a very festive, show-stopping centerpiece dish suitable for any grand banquet table. And I approached this project in such a way that I can easily (well, relatively speaking anyway) make more of them, should I receive any additional Pig Head requests (as I repeatedly have for 'Horse Heads' all these many years) down the line (Medieval Feasts, anyone???  Madrigals too, and all that)....

Mystery Project Taking Shape

After working on it most of the weekend, it's coming along (this photo was snapped last week or so)...





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Mystery Project of the Now....

Well, that title isn't so accurate perhaps -- this photo was actually taken a little while ago now, and it's currently all a bit farther along than this picture suggests (will catch up here soon!). But, as one can still (sort of) see...:

(1) the whole shebang has been moved indoors,
(2) is getting the dread chicken wire treatment,
(3) has tin foil boobs, AND...
(4) is taking up ALL kinds of room in my house...(!)

I regret the photo is not the best, but it has been a little tricky trying to step back and get a good angle for documentation purposes, what with size and clutter, etc. Still hopefully this will lend at least some idea of its continuing state, The Project, with more photos forthcoming as I go along.

So today, my agenda on this rainy overcast Saturday (thank goodness no sunny/warm temptations) is simply to work on it, throughout the day....

Project of Mystery

Whatever could it be?

'Mystery Project' of the Now....: a large-scale (9.5 feet to the top of the metal projection sticking up) 3D commission in progress (currently a bit further along than the beginning armature demonstrated in this pic), of which I will reveal more details as I go along (and no, it's not a fancy-schmancy, high-falutin' dog bed, as my nosy poodle in the photo might potentially suggest)....

Nutcracker '09 Projects

Nutcracker Ballet 'Soldier' and 'Rat' Stick Masks

I did still manage to take on a few fun commissions during the course of my treatments -- here we have my completed projects for this past year's local Nutcracker Ballet production: 5 papier mache Stick Masks (2 Solider and 3 Rat) ...

Sabbatical

Horse Head Mask commission, for an Arizona ballet production of 'The Nutcracker'....

Just a little blogging hiatus... (be back soon)....

Horse Heads

Funny how these horse head commissions keep coming down the pike. I have yet another pair to make for our local ballet company's production of Cinderella in May. To date I have made well over a dozen of these by now, and the requests still dribble in....

EBSQ Halloween Doll Challenge

Whew, it's been a busy fall around here....

But, I was able to squeeze in a small, but fun, project. The 'Art Doll' message board on the EBSQ forums hosted a Halloween Doll Challenge this past month. Despite my bestest intentions, I put if off for ages yet still managed to pull something together rather quickly at the last minute, at least enough to squeak by and enter a piece just under the wire: http://tinyurl.com/5qfwv6

Behold, the 'Halloween Witch Cat'.... standing tall and erect (at a petite 6 inches), with her witchy hat tucked under her arm....

She was sculpted with papier mache and paper pulp. It's a little funny how it all came about actually. While I had wanted to participate in the challenge, and adore anything Halloween and always have, I just couldn't put my mind into exactly what I wanted to do. Naturally, my 'solution' was to stall and stall (plus, like I said, it's been pretty busy around here as of late).

Finally, scouring my studio for inspiration the other day, I came across three wee 'eggs' I'd made with leftover Celluclay pulp several months ago. I had about a third cup of pulp left after completing a project back then. Pulp doesn't keep obviously, and since I hate wasting anything, I simply fashioned three little balls. Which then dried. Pretty useless as is -- however, when I ran across them, I got the bright idea to use them as starts for little sculpted 'heads' of some kind. Adding more pulp to one of the balls, on impulse I fashioned a little cat's head. A reasonable start, cute little head-- but, I still had to come up with a body/a pose/a theme. And I was running out of time. Rifling through a bag of toys I'd sorted this past summer, I found a small odd-and-end plastic figure thingie (likely from a Happy Meal or some such? Though we are veg and have never in our lives purchased a Happy Meal) which was likely destined eventually for the landfill, and decided to use it as my internal structural armature. I attached my cat head (not he easiest thing to do, actually), and further fleshed out the figure and pose with papier mache, enclosing her neck (the neck being the head of the plastic toy figure), adding her witch hat (which was a little projection on the plastic toy figure), shaping and filling out her right arm, adding/attaching her left arm, and just overall going for a 'folksy' sort of look.

All in all? Not too shabby, I dont' think....

M n' M TLC

Pray tell, what is this ... thing?

Why, just an utterly useless piece of plastic junk.

Or rather, it would be -- except that I have every intention of giving it second life as ... yet another F.A.P. (Future Art Project).

I had written about this M n' M candy dispenser thingy in a previous post (http://tinyurl.com/66rddz). From whence it came and why we would even have such a thing in our possession I can no longer recall (though I'm certain it involves the kiddos). In any case, it was one of the numerous objects of zero worth taking up more than their fair share of space upon which I came across cleaning our basement earlier this summer.

Given it's shape and rigidity, I think it will make a wonderfully lightweight and sturdy internal armature for a future papier mache project. Rather 'head, neck and shoulders-ish' already in design, or so it seems to me. Furthermore, the perfectly rounded shape of the globe top brings to my mind a pumpkin, or perhaps the moon or some such -- hmmm, might a Halloween theme be in order here?

Mirror, Mirror (Someday) on the Wall....

Yet another future project....

I recently found this mirror put out upon a neighborhood curbside, free for the taking..., and... take it I did (indeed, I've been known to dumpster dive, as well as curb crawl. Scavenger!)....

The mirror is actually a door -- I believe it was part of a medicine cabinet or some such? I really liked the wide wood framing around the mirrored part of the door when I saw it-- immediately I had the idea in mind for adding some sort of 3 dimensional sculptural elements. The actual door framing may have potential as well. In any case I've removed the door from the door framing -- and it's my intention to use both the mirror, as well as the door framing (more shadowbox action?), in separate future projects....

ShadowBoxing...

This resembles a whole lotta nothin', doesn't it?

Definitely not much to look at this point -- although it's actually the framing (9" x 5" x 13") from the dead radio found in my basement when cleaning (as aforementioned in a previous post), and from which I'm hoping to give second life as some sort of cool and utterly fascinating shadowbox-ish thingie, mmm-hmmm (crosses fingers)....

A few weeks ago I finished cleaning up the framing and fleshing out all sides a bit with leftover thin shavings of wood (salvaged from a recent wood working project of my husband's). Currently it's getting the preliminary papier mache treatment. Wish I could have taken a photo prior to all the prep work (talk about 'making something from nothing' -s- doesn't get much more 'nothing' than what it was to start with), but my camera was broken until recently so this has to do as the 'before' picture....

RIP's Entered...

http://www.ebsqart.com/ArtShows/cmd_176_Exhibition_Entries_9_3_G.htm


http://www.ebsqart.com/ArtShows/cmd_176_Exhibition_Entries_9_4_G.htm

Woah, I made it! Perhaps a little close for comfort, but at least I did manage to finish and upload my entries by the EBSQ "Ripped Off' show deadline. Unfortunately, I was forced to rush the finishing of my pieces a bit in order to get them completed -- let's just say, I MUCH prefer to take the more leisurely approach when it comes to painting, but time was very much of the essence in this case. Likely I will feel compelled to go back and tweak/embellish both pieces a bit for my satisfaction -- at least I properly participated in this fun show though, and got everything entered just in the nick of time....

'RIP' WIP's

(bas relief sculpture, approximately 9 x 12, frame incorporated) My take on Loredana Mariotto's 'Robin Bird in the Snow": www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_19996_profile_portfolio__1_1_G.htm
(small bas relief sculpture, approximately 6 x 8, frame incorporated) My take on Muriel Areno's 'Kris Jean's Girls': http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_8256_profile_portfolio__9_4_G.htm


Yay! As you can see, my little camera is home again, and back in working order...!

The above are WIP photos of my entries for EBSQ's' 'Ripped Off' show. They need to be uploaded by tonight's deadline, and they are still not yet painted (eek!). Been a bit busy around here (even these photos were taken in a rush)....

At the VERY least, in a pinch, if I don't get them 'officially' done in the next few hours? They could still be technically uploaded as is (even if they aren't actually 'completed').....

Weather Bound

Sheesh, such a dramatic turn in the weather. After the sweaty steam-bath inferno earlier this week, the dew point plunged overnight -- it truly couldn't possibly be more pleasant at the moment summer-wise. Needless to say, these are perfect papier mache conditions (as well as hanging laundry-on-the-line conditions, both of which I fully intend to do today)....

I woke up this morning with all sort of extremely vivid concepts in my head for altering those ridiculous broken barbies I found when cleaning as mentioned in a previous post -- ideas including, but not limited to: bas relief/paper clay/tons of texture/vignettes/and a reinterpretation of late 18th century costume (???). Whatever the case, the pictures in my barely-conscious mind were really fabulous -- yet already this morning the images are fading dangerously. Perhaps I ought to sketch out a few before I lose the images entirely (or my enthusiasm, for that matter).

At least my entries for EBSQ's 'Ripped Off' are humming along -- I'm actually hoping to have them mostly completed by today (that is unless we decided to drop everything and spend the whole day outside somewhere enjoying the Weather. Not such a bad idea either....).

I've also been preparing a lot of 'supports' for future bas relief-style projects -- once these are finished I'll have quite the pile of them ready and waiting to work with.

Crockpot Plot

After several days, my pieces for the 'Ripped Off' show are STILL not dry. Not surprising really, since I've learned through painful experience just how our typical Midwest summer weather can have its affects on papier mache. In winter, when it's a deep freeze out there and the furnace is running nonstop and the air is so parched, things can often cure thoroughly within hours. But summer? It's a whole n'other story (le sigh)....

Turning on our air conditioner would likely help, but I'm such a stickler about that (much to my kids' consternation). I just can't personally stand A.C. -- can't abide the cost nor the emissions nor especially how it makes me feel so cooped up indoors, almost claustrophobic. I miss the open windows --miss hearing the birds outside, and the summer breezes gently blowing the curtains, the barking dogs and the neighborhood kids whooping and hollering, plus just stepping in and out of the house at will all day long, because it's no hotter outdoors than it is indoors. I mean, what's the point of being stuck inside a dim, quiet, shut-up house while summer passes by just beyond the window pane? Guess I'd rather sweat to death (if that makes any sense). Therefore, we run the a.c. as little as possible around here-- firing it up only once a summer, just to maintain its working order. And no, it's just not that time yet (bound to be even hotter next month)....

Getting back to my projects however, I really can't move on to the next step until these dry a bit more thoroughly. So I'm trying an experiment --to see if my kitchen crockpot, of all things, will help evaporate some of the moisture. I've heard of this before somewhere -- let's see if it actually works**. One of my pieces is small and fits right inside, while the other is able to hang over the top. Perhaps in a few hours they'll be cured enough for me to continue work on them (and if not I'll just throw in some dinner and that will be that)....


(**Edited to add: Indeed. It works!)

Papier Mache To The Rescue

This little lass (12" x 10") was a project I completed last year for an EBSQ forum artist's challenge. She's very sweet in person -- I don't believe the photo above entirely does her justice (I'd take another, though unfortunately? Since this one was taken, she found her way upon the floor 'somehow', by a certain two offspring (who shall remain nameless), becoming the hapless casualty of our very mischievous, free range, paper-chewing crazed house bunny, and is now awaiting major surgical repairs). Her form is hollow and was originally cast (along with two fellow WIP figurative busts, currently sitting around here unfinished) from an armature I built up and shaped, her features and details added after casting....

Which all brings me to another junk item I found in our basement yesterday - a desktop M 'n M dispenser (sort of like a smaller cheap version of a bubble gum dispenser), entirely plastic, cracked, missing it's top, and utterly useless as is. From whence it came from I have no idea. Though I think I might know where it's going, having had a stroke of inspiration when pondering how to possibly salvage such a thing (because it's such a big hunk of the dreaded plastic to scrap otherwise). It dawned on me it does have a general bust-like shape to it, rather like my lass above, if one uses one's imagination -- the round top reminiscent of a 'head', the base of it 'neck' and 'shoulders'. I think it may soon find a utilitarian second life as part of the internal armature of a future papier mache project. Of course the proportions are very wonky and would need to be somehow corrected -- but hey, nothing a little p.m. can't rectify, right? (Hmmm, perhaps something even Halloween related -- an event that will be coming up fast before we know it I'm sure....)....

Papier Mache Masks....

Papier Mache Boar's Head

Ha. In contrast to the previous post ("The Un-turkey)", here we have yet another lovely centerpiece dish -- because what holiday meal would be complete without the requisite, celebratory Boar's Head (complete with apple in its mouth)?

Only in this case, no porcine's were harmed in the making of this head -- only newspapers (created upon request for a local Medieval feast reenactment).... ....