Studiology

Down the Rabbit Hole

I think we are all falling down a rabbit hole of one sort or another, caught in a voyage or an escape. For myself it's been a delightful escape into fantasy and fairy tale, all happening in my small studio to prepare for the fall show of the same title. I have shared a bit of the rabbit builds and now I can share some of the other characters, all slated to be for sale from October 1st to the 31st at Art A La Carte Gallery in Occoquan, Va. A "Meet the Artist" evening is scheduled for Saturday, October 16th from 3 to 5 and I'm sure there will be discussion on how things were built. 

These first 2 are in boxes that rotate, so Little Red Riding Hood becomes the Big Bad Wolf and the crazy March Hare becomes the White Rabbit.

Knowing the title, there has to be a Mad Hatter, in this case we've caught him on a tea break.

And just finished, the piece that is quite literally the fall down the rabbit hole, Alice and the White Rabbit. Her skirts are made of mulberry paper, layer after layer of treated mulberry paper.

This last piece was started in January and measures 34 inches tall and 18 inches wide. The tree began as a coffee can, the roots are rolled up paper treated with wall paper paste and covered with many layers of paper Mache. The core is Styrofoam, foil, and some cardboard. The painting literally took weeks as I swung back and forth on low and highlights. As mixed media as any one object can be, this was a real stretch for me, a project that left me with more questions than answers but ended up just as I imagined it would.  So look at your calendars, take some time to come see these and many more in October.

 

 

 

Summer Battles

As summer thins so may the gardeners resolve. In a climate with four seasons, the battle of maintaining waivers after the heat of July and August. The results leave many annual weeds free to bandy about and great battles are lost in a short time. A younger gardener may not feel or even know the challenge, they are armed with energy and a positive outlook, or so it seems as I look over areas of my garden that have been overtaken with a layered sea of morning glory. How did these seeds travel so far? Birds and/or ants may be culprits, dropped from a distance, no evil intent or lack of respect. 

One morning glory, or maybe all, were brought to the garden on purpose. The cardinal climber was a favorite for its spider-like leaves and small red flowers. Now it cavorts with others, scrambling up everything. Hummingbirds love it and my surrender to the battle always comes in August when I feel like the hummingbirds need it and I'm too tired to continue. 

A particularly aggressive morning glory, Ipomoea acuminata was an experiment while I still had the nursery. Deep purple flowers on a hostile vine quickly led me to discontinue growing it. Alas it followed me home, some small seed tucked in with something else. I have managed to eradicate it, or it became the soft blue of 'Heavenly Blue', the vine that may have swallowed sleeping beauty whole as she slept the summer away. On a positive note, who needs to tie up tomatoes when you have morning glory?

The one annual weed that may be the end of me is mulberry weed or Fatoua villosa. New in the scheme of things, a pest from Japan that is spreading to every state and many continents in record speed. I'm sure it's entry into my garden came from something I purchased; a few seeds is all it takes. Capable of flowering with only three leaves, by late summer it may be two feet tall and loaded with minute flowers and seed heads. Easy to pull but alarming in its coverage, a word of caution, if you are pulling the plant check your hands where there will certainly be remnant seeds (you may be moving it around). Hand pulling is something that must begin early and continue nonstop, a chore that seems impossible. One method to thwart mulberry weed is to lay newspaper (5-6 layers) on the ground and top with wood chips. In areas that are void of spring bulbs; under shrubs or flower border edges, cardboard will last longer, also topped with mulch or wood chips. Similar to other warm season weeds, the seeds will be viable for many years, so be ready to relayer or patch where they sprout anew. In my own garden I have targeted areas where I will newspaper this fall in an attempt to diminish the population.

At this point I find it hard to believe I will finish the battle of annual weeds versus me. Other vengeful players are the perennial vines like oriental bittersweet, Japanese honeysuckle, and ampelopsis which are a battle of another sort.

Ah but the zinnias are lovely and my tuberose are blooming - I'll take heart that it was worth it and wait for cooler days and a new energy.

Rabbits

In October I will once again open a show and this year the theme and title is "Down the Rabbit Hole". I began in January to design pieces and begin the build process. The obsession with rabbits has been pretty bad, I have made them from tissue with paper and then wire with clay. I believe the count is 12 so far. The real challenge was to make the perfect rabbit for the scene with Alice falling down the rabbit hole with a rabbit below her that doesn't look like he's looking up her skirt. A realization that caught me mid-rabbit making as a big mistake. 

The best rabbits are created with a wire armature or skeleton, then covered with foil, and finally covered with clay to sand and paint. The idea of using foil is for building up the body without using just clay, which is expensive. I've gotten pretty good with these wire armatures, and am finally excited about my last rabbit, he is perfect. 

The process of finding the right rabbit design began with simple drawings which helped tremendously. Initial bunnies were badly postured, he had to look like he was falling.

The body is sanded (after the clay hardens), the jacket is not and a pocket will have a pocket watch falling out. The size was also important, not as big as Alice and good with the scale of the piece, which is very large.  

Next Saturday, the 21st of August, I will be giving a demonstration with my rabbits (the process and the paint techniques) at the gallery in Occoquan from 5 to 7 PM. If you are at all interested in sculpting with epoxy clay or painting with layers on 3D objects, stop by and see how I do it. 

The gallery is Art A La Carte in the historic district of Occoquan, Virginia at 310 Mill Street. 

Weekend Getaway

With Covid restrictions and a sister that lives relatively far away, I had not seen her in almost 2 years. So it was time to go on a road trip and enjoy a weekend in Wytheville, Virginia, a drive of 4 hours on a good day. All 3 of us had a blast, it was so good to be together again. The Chautauqua Festival was happening all weekend with music, art, and food. Hot air balloons were scheduled to launch both days but the wind kept them down. Needless to say, there was still plenty going on.

This sister, the youngest lives in town and has a beautiful property in Bland County. We visited her farm where she has setup a she shed, complete with solar power, rain barrels and a place to shoot target practice. 

I am not fond of shooting but learned something from the experience. Unable to wink my left eye but totally right handed, I am a pretty good shot using my left eye. That winking thing, it was telling me something. 

Leslie was really good!

There is also a large barn on the property which she cleaned up and had doors made. Paths are mowed so you can walk the fields.

Her property is next to the Jefferson National Forest with a nearby Appalachian trail path. The creeks were low but still beautiful. The plant life there is incredible. Cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata), striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum), and numerous perennials!

There was live music every night at the park, bluegrass and country. The Gate 10 band and Tony Jackson played (Friday and Saturday), both were totally enjoyable! We finished off the weekend with a little felting, making gnomes to be exact. Mine is on the left, Leslie's middle and Kim's right.

It was so good to be back with family once again. It had been too long.