Studiology

Toupee Optional

Familiar with the Tyrannosaurus rex? A large dinosaur, now extinct. 

The theme, as I've worked in the studio, has been dinosaurs. January has been slipping away as I've made small assemblage pieces. Sometimes they are driving cars (or trucks). 

A modified Hudson (convertible), ferries this little, flared neck lizard around. His tail also flapping in the breeze. He's the happy one.

The Tyrannosaurus rex was considered the meanest flesh eater of them all. Tyrannosaurus meaning - tyrant lizard, the rex translates to king. Not such a nice guy, which makes for an odd Pez (candy) dispenser.

Small arms, small hands, to drive a car meant modification.

As I'm finishing up, mulling over life in general, the current president, denials of climate change, my pieces of art started making sense. Subliminal messages became apparent. If there was ever a mascot for "The Trump Resistance", a Tyrannosaurus rex fits. Tiny hands, small brain, the ultimate victim of climate change.

And on that note, optional toupees are included, double sided tape holds them on.

Art A La Carte Gallery in Occoquan, Virginia. 

 

Born of the Wind and Rain

With a damaged cherub, I proceeded to build this latest assemblage piece. The cherub was missing a head, already used elsewhere, a missing leg (shattered in a fall), and an arm that needed to come to the front. It was going to be a challenge, but one I was excited about, this was going to be something that spoke from my heart. It would have birds, and the feeling of wind. 

The box was boring too, so I added to the top and bottom, it ended up looking like a sardine can shape, good, all good. 

The cherub's expresion was like she was blowing, which is what I wanted. Since this is a chalk piece, I had to be careful, they break easily, and this one had wings on the side that needed removed. Eventually the head is attached, the leg rebuilt and the arm cut off and extended so it looks like it's delivering wind, or a blown breath. Mounting the cherub to the box frame (piece by piece), the inside had to be painted because I would not be able to get behind it. That's when you have to know, or be pretty certain, of what the end colors might be. Using some of Michael de Meng's neat painting techniques, I added the feeling of water and rain inside. 

Wood was screwed to the inside edge so I could put in 2 layers of rusty metal, another effect of rain (and wind, I suppose). The metal pieces were found along the railroad tracks in New Orleans, and some bits from the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (my own little quirky touch). It was time to begin painting the outside.

I took special care with this one, there is a lot of detail in the paint.

And she's done. I love her. 

Saintpaulia

Suppose that I just handed you a plant tag and the name said (only) "Wrangler's Savage Love". My question would follow, what genus of plant might this be? My own knee jerk reaction is a daylily, those flamboyant hybridizers are notorious for crazy names. And I would be wrong.

The wrangler series comes from Winston Smith of Hardin, Texas. His speciality?, African Violets. There are other racy names like "Wrangler's Lounge Lizard", "Wrangler's Savage Beauty", or "Wrangler's Petticoat Chaser". Yep, he was a wild and crazy kinda guy. My first mental image is of a casanova with a penthouse suite, lots of natural light, facing east, the perfect exposure for African violets. Well, that's not really the case - far from it, it fact. 

Winston did own 2 greenhouses. He combined fish with his precious African violets, also breeding guppies and Siamese fighting fish or bettas. As a high school teacher at the local Hardin High, he taught shorthand, typewriting, accounting, and business. He drove a school bus for awhile and directed a school play once. 

His series of African violets that began with the name wrangler came from a TV commercial for jeans. The savage from a fellow hybridizer who's plant he used as a parent plant, Emilie Savage. All of the African violets in the wrangler series are variegated, the leaf has a pattern of white. His dream was to one day fill an entire greenhouse with his own variegated hybrids, which he accomplished. To succeed in this, one must study genetics and have a great deal of experience, with many failures. 

Winston also introduced another series of African violets named the mavericks. These were the results of his hybridizing that lacked variegation (not complete failures, just different). He deemed them beautiful enough to name and release, the mavericks.

In his heyday, Winston introduced 163 hybrids (1979? - 1986). Yes, he had to get creative with names to come up with that many. Born in 1926, he died in 2010 at 83 years of age. 

To understand African violets, it helps to know their habitat, hence growing conditions. Botanically Saintpaulia ionantha, named after Walter von Saint Paul-Illaire, a German botanist. Discovered on a mountain in north-eastern Tanzania named Usambara. The temperatures there fluctuate from 60 to the upper 80's. Cool season is dry, warm season is rainy, with rain almost every day. A warm rain.

I have always thought of African violets as a plant for people that nurture. They like to be coddled. Water them with warm spring water, bath them in distilled warm water, to remove salt spots on the foliage. Feed them regularly and you will have flowers year round. Many growers supplement with artificial light, or use nothing else. When growing under specialized fluorescent bulbs, do not leave them on for longer than 16 hours and keep the plants near the light source.

To this day, the hybrids of Winston Smith are still very mainstream. Visit any local nursery that carries them, and you might just find that one with the crazy name.

On the Windowsill

I have an east facing windowsill lined with plants. I want winter flowers or exceptional foliage for my collection which can keep me as busy as I want it to. Preening, fertilizing, or rotating pots, simple happiness. 

A couple of orchids, new tropicals, there's that endless desire for new. Doesn't every gardener like an experiment?

Currently flowering is a hybrid of the orchid Brassavola nodosa with Laelia millerii named 'Yellow Bird'. She's glorious.

Another winner is commonly called a Vietnamese violet, Primulina tameana. Related to African violets, an endless procession of flowers make it very desirable.

Begonias are a favorite and this beauty is B. 'Autumn Leaves', so elegant, every east facing windowsill should sport one. 

 

For later I have amaryllis, a forced daffodil and other orchids. My little collection of flowering plants is good for dreary days. 

Carney Clown Clyde

As promised, here is the progress made on my most recent piece of assemblage. The first piece of art completed for 2017. When these things come together, many thoughts enter your head; is it going in the right direction?, do I need to do more?, have I gone too far?. Experience helps, or you may get really lucky. So here are the various stages as Mr. Carney Clown Clyde was built.

I drew some pencil marks to help me imagine how the painting might go. Foam insulation was added to fill space, shown below.

Painting it all in white helps schmooze the surface, blending the various types of components.

At this point I rust it all, it's the foundation from which I will work. 

Dry brushing with white begins to build the concept for the final painting. And after a lot of layering, things finally come together. This is the finished product.

He's quite personable. I like it. Time to complete; December 23 to January 4.