Studiology

Winter

It's officially winter with another drab and cloudy day. The gardens are dormant, but promise is evident with buds on witchhazel, helleborus, and a few native azaleas. Lettuce is under cover, the texture gives the perfect crunch, the taste as good as it gets. In our climate so little is required for great winter crops. 

I am also growing bulbs in pots, sunken for better insulation and topped with row cover, an experiment to see if I can force them early. The greenhouse is finally set-up with electricity and plugs, the next step is to finish the floor. With that done I should be able to utilize it as the bulbs mature to the point of bud set. 

This morning was another hoar frost, and the front meadow was a glistening white. My photographs don't convey the beauty, but it was lovely. The lack of color is par for December and I'm fortunate to have all of the color I need in my art studio where lots of projects are underway.

 

If you lay down and photograph at an angle to the sun with a macro lens, you can capture frost orbs. I intend to get better at this.

 

Krampus Land

It's been a couple of years since I've been able to build the larger, fourteen-inch Krampus's (Krampi?). After finding a source for these bigger, blank, wooden nutcrackers, the season has begun. The official Krampus night or Krampsnacht is December the 5th, but with the close friendship between St. Nicholas or Santa (Krampus takes care of the bad kids), they are often displayed together, right through Christmas. It's been a whirlwind season, and they have sold as I make them, so Krampus Land is what has become of my studio time and space. 

As raw nutcrackers, they come as drummers, or giant lollipop holders, so the ball shaped hands are removed as well as the drum. The biggest obstacle has been replacing the hands with something that has creepy long fingers. It's been a couple of years, but I have come up with a method using wire, epoxy paste and clay. 

The best creepy hands to date have been on this masked Krampus. Just enough expression and matchy, matchy to make it outrageous. The fingertips are now black to add to the creep factor.

There are several in the works which go to McGuffey Art Center or C'Ville Arts in Charlottsville, VA. Complete with chain or cowbells, I'm always surprised how popular they are.

I learned a new technique for creating small, free standing characters from Michael deMeng, which is illustrated here. Two thin wood panels are cut (I use a scroll saw) to carve exact replicas and then cut the top one down to create a skeleton half. The bones are built with clay and then the painting finishes it all. This is the drawing and another subsequent Krampus character.

It will soon be time to get back to more innocent items, but I did finish this small "Shell Collector". He is forever searching for the perfect shell.

And back to work I go.