phase 6 - each art-thing is a responsibility, continued

Beautifully installed and at the Lichtenstein Center until Feb 28th

 A busy week in Artlandia! Openings for the Ten Spot Show at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts and Gallery 46.

black and white stripes with silver boots -
I have to say, this may be
 one of my favorite looks

And! Great pictures of the show in the Berkshire Eagle:

http://photos.berkshireeagle.com/2015/02/11/photos-10x10-exhibit/#11

For my sister, who wanted to see the new hairstyle
- all its natural color ( and longer than an inch)
for the first time since...junior high, maybe??
Oddly, to me, it looks faker it's natural black color
than it does dyed.(and so unfortunately emo - haha)
Life imitating Art imitating Life?

 "The Drake" by Eli Merritt
Not only it this dragon sculpture awesome, but -
it's assembled so that it's not dependent on adhesive!(!!)
putting my recent "adhesive issues" into perspective ;)

I had a terrific visit to Pittsfield Massachusetts for the opening and the 10 x 10 festival. I also saw 10 terrific new short plays by the Barrington Stage Company. I don't know much about theater, but love listening to short stories on the radio (nerd! :p) and this was like another level of awesome beyond that. I also got to visit artist studios, which is always a treat, and stop by the Berkshire Museum...where I almost fainted when I walked in and saw taxidermied animals, nature dioramas, and case after case of birds :o.

(Of course, the first thought is "I am surrounded by dead things," [deer in headlights, deep breaths - Eep].) I wouldn't want any living thing to die or be hurt so I could take a photograph, but since that ship has already sailed for these particular creatures, I took pictures. I'd been wanting close up shots of raptor feet and fur over shoulder blades.

[fair warning - griping ahead] Unfortunately, they aren't the best shots because, I conscientiously put the camera battery in the charger the night before, and conscientiously checked (twice) that the camera was in my bag in the morning before leaving...but it helps if the nicely charged battery is actually in the camera (doh!) This is boring and petty, but I mention it because I feel like it's a bit of a phase 6 - Fail (especially because it's not the first (or second, or third) time). Maybe next time I should turn the camera on when I check that it's in the bag before I leave? (Steps that lead to more steps that lead to more steps - oy.)

New bear block, carved when I got home. The visit and building on the memory/photo of a raccoon as the guide
must have helped, because I think this turned out better than the lion (was it only 2 weeks ago?) which is the same scale. (Though the unicorn from January may still be my favorite of the small animals, the bear is growing on me...)

a new plant - being a little bolder and starting to use the broader carving tools more

I continued working on the diptych from last week. It was good to have a break for the openings, so I could steel myself to try something new with these. I covered the surface in a clear acrylic. These are pretty fragile and to get an even coat, the timing is constrained/tricky, but I went for it (no risk, no reward, and really, it's just paper after all, right? ;) ). The acrylic creates an even surface in terms of sheen and seals the paper so that it's less reactive to moisture (and so less likely to wrinkle) and prepares the surface to accept other media without having it react with the glue. After sitting it under weights for a day, I added the landscape in pastel and acrylic. Not sure what I think of that yet (too naturalistic? not naturalistic enough? Hmmmm.) -will finish the diptych, then think about it. 

 

concluding with a lovely (if random)"seen on the street" picture from this week, just because  :)