While She Naps

One Last Spool (Nest of Thread XIII)

Originally I set out to make a quail in black and cream and gold.  As time went by she seemed less quail-like and ended up without a plume and perched on a box over her clutch of eggs.  I always save the empty wooden spools because I really love them and I was glad to use them here. 

Here is a closer photo from above and indoors. 

I painted her legs several times over and I'm really happy with how they are now - gold with dry-brushed black at the tops and lighter gold tips at the ends. 

I hope you are having a happy Halloween. Stella is trick-or-treating as a cow and Roxanne as a bumble bee, equipped with a bejeweled larva necklace of her own design.  I carved 8 pumpkins this week. We made a witch and a ghost to put out front and we're expecting over a hundred trick-or-treaters before 6:30 this evening.  Pictures to come!

Wading Bird #3

I love yellow and black and gray together.  The wonderful mustard fabric I've been using on the wading birds' beaks makes up the body of this new one, and the ruff, of course.  The wings are two different Japanese prints, some black Kona cotton, and a piece of vintage cityscape fabric that Mimi gave me last week when I was at her house. That piece was how this bird began - like I've said before, it's all about the wings.

Here she is with her two counterparts, looking out into the world inquisitively.

What you may not know is that only moments prior certain birds were behaving rather uncooperatively.

This is what most of my photo shoots look like most of the time. Glad to know I'm not alone in this.

little shop update

This is just a little post to tell you that I have made a little shop update this morning.  This piece
and this one are now up in my Etsy shop.  I hope you will check them out!

Also, today I am shipping four boxes of work to Artworks! in New Bedford, MA, for their holiday art sale which runs November 8 - December 29.  If you live near there, stop by for some lovely holiday shopping. 
   

Wading Bird II

A second wading bird.  The first one is so happy to have someone to peer at.  This new one is made from white and natural-colored linen and has a ruff, too, like the other one. Picking the fabric for the wings is how I start each bird.  The reds and pinks here all came together around a Martha Stewart Everyday kitchen towel that Amanda gave me the last time she was in Boston (When was that?  More than a year ago, certainly. I guess I was hanging onto it for just the right project!).

The juried show I'm in, "Volume: On and Off the Wall" at Lynn Arts, closes on Friday and there is a closing party from 6-8 pm Friday night.  Charlie and I will be there, and if you're in the area I'd love to meet you.  And we are going to Uncle Pete's in Revere afterward for barbecue.  So good. 

Happy October!

From sweet little devils

and precious pumpkins alike.

"Think"

"Think"
9" x 12" collage and soft sculpture with vintage patch

This bird's head is turned and cocked to one side.  I feel like she is talking to me, and she is a sweetheart.  I set out to make a black and white and cream piece here. I do like the neutral colors. 

Wading Bird

I made this wading bird from new and vintage fabrics, including some more lovely Ikea fabric from my sister.  I missed making these tall birds.  I really like their form. 

I added a ruff to the front.

This piece will be part of a show I'm having in April at Paper Boat. I will be showing with Amy Rice, whose work is so beautiful.  All of my pieces will be free-standing soft sculpture for this show, and Amy's paintings will be on the walls.  I actually will be having another show that month, too, for which I'll be making bird collages, but more details for that one will follow later.