While She Naps

peacock

I have been thinking of making a peacock for a few weeks. 

I knew it had to be a white peacock because I am just really not in to blues and greens for birds generally, at least not right now. 

As with creating any new piece there were lots of stops and starts and problems to solve all along the way and I think I tried to document some of them this time. I hope that it is interesting to see the process as it unfolded.

First step - research.  I looked on Flickr and Google images to find some peacocks in the pose I wanted - walking with tail feathers tucked behind.  I will do one with feathers splayed at some later time.  This photo seemed to be particularly good for me, although I sketched from several peacock photos to get the eyes and the beak and wings and legs just right. 

First I made the sketch and from there drew the pattern pieces onto freezer paper and cut them out. The pattern consisted of a big profile piece, a head gusset, two under gussets, wings and a tail.

Then I went to gather all the bits of Kona cotton in all the shades of cream and white that I have left over from other projects.  And I picked the same mottled gold fabric from the last owl so that the finished collection that goes to Young Blood will look unified. This fabric would be the dark parts on the peacock. 

I ironed the pattern pieces onto the fabric, cut around them and sewed the bird's body together.

Because I sew such tiny pattern pieces I keep the walking foot on my sewing machine almost all the time.  This seems to prevent the pieces from being sucked down into the machine. 

Then, using my surgical forceps I turn the bird right side out, starting with the small bits like the leg tops and the head.

I usually set things aside at this point and come back fresh to begin stuffing.  Stuffing is a long process and it has to be done carefully.  I pinch off bits of wool batt with my surgical forceps and stuff really firmly, starting at top of the head.  At about 3/4 done, I stop to insert the leg wire and then finish stuffing around it.  No my bird is starting to look recognizable!

Once the bird was firmly stuffed, I shape the legs and feet using needle nosed pliers.  Then I stuff some more and sew the opening closed. 

I wrapped the peacock's toenails with brown floral tape and then sewed torn strips of fabric to the top of each leg and wrapped the legs firmly.  Look, it stands up!

Then I wrapped the legs again with black thread. 

Now it was time to work on the wings.  This involves lots of tearing of fabric strips and many an hour at the machine sewing folded loops to the wing backing.  Then I hand sew the wings to the bird.  I added tiny gems to part of the wings later to make the peacock look more regal. I also made some head feathers with sewn fabric circles and thin wire.

Now it's embroidery time.  One of the many many things I love about making soft sculpture is that it incorporates so many types of skills.  Each step is a problem to solve and each step is different from the one before.

And then I made the tail.  More loops.  Lots and lots of loops. And some gems.

Finally, a bit of tweaking here and there.  I made a new beak that is shorter and a bit less curved, did a bit more embroidery on the eyes, added a few extra loops here and there to even things out. All together, about five days of work, working an hour or two a day.

And there it is.  A peacock.  I think she's a beauty.

owl

While the girls were at school this morning I got a manicure (with no polish), a pedicure and I got my bushy eyebrows waxed.  Friday morning I get a haircut.  I'm sprucing up the shabby storefront, as Charlie and I like to say, and it does feel good to spend a moment on myself. 

I finished a new owl last evening.  This is the first in a series of three owls that will be in my show at Young Blood in March.  I thought it might be interesting to show some progress shots, although I didn't think of that until a bit late in the making of this piece.

Here is owl on my desk two days ago, waiting for some feet.

And then later in the day with the wire inserted but not yet covered.

 
And finally finished.

I wanted to mention that I've put the bird ornament from the previous post up in my Etsy shop.

And finally, a big hooray for my new camera.  Like in so many things, having the right equipment can make all the difference.  I have just begun to figure it all out, especially the lighting, but the capability is finally there.  My sister-in-law is a professional photographer and I'm bringing the camera to Connecticut over Thanksgiving in the hopes of getting some pointers.  

bird ornament

I took a bit of a break from owl making yesterday to make this little bird ornament with glittered wings.  She is flying in my studio now.  I'm Jewish, as you might have guessed by now, so I've never had a Christmas tree to decorate.  Mostly I'm more than okay with this, but I do get drawn in to the idea of handmade ornaments.  Sometimes I can't resist making a few, although certainly they will be given away or sold before the holiday is here.

I got a new camera today!  After more than four years with a crappy Nikon Coolpix 4300 we now have a Nikon D40!  Wooohoooo!  I have high hopes for the potential of a new camera.  So now I'm in the learning phase.  I took the above photo with it and I'm impressed with the clarity, but still need some help with lighting. I took this in auto mode without the flash.  Any D40 owners out there who take lots of still lifes and have some tips for me?  I would very much appreciate any help you can offer.

calendar

Have you seen this beautiful calendar? 

Kathreen from Whip Up created a lovely 2009 calendar using images from various artists that have been featured on Whip Up this year.  I feel so honored and excited to have my orange raptor right there in the month of February. 

So many awesome artists are included and I think this calendar will be really inspirational to hang on the studio wall. Plus, I bought one for my mom, too.  The calendar is printed on demand from Red Bubble and was under $30 including shipping from Australia.  So cool!

flying

A second flying bird.  Actually this is the third one.  The real second one is now at Art Star in Philadelphia along with this owl and rooster pair.

If you live near Philadelphia I hope you'll stop in at Art Star. It looks like an incredible gallery and store. 

As part of the show at Young Blood I'm going to make a whole series of birds flying in formation.  There will be white, gull-like birds up high and  then black crows taking off.

I wanted to mention, too, that I just received and incredible bag from Yorktown Road. I bought it as a gift for a good friend, but I must say it is tempting to keep it for myself.  The leather is just beautiful and the workmanship and styling - oh my.  One of the best things I've bought from an Etsy seller for sure.

show planning, a new rooster, and a bubble bath

A new rooster in deep reds for the show at Young Blood. 

I cleaned my studio space and did some brainstorming and planning at the end of last week in order to get ready to make things for the show. 

The color palette will be the colors that I love the most right now - pale yellow, deep red, black, dark brown, and cream.  And the birds will be in series. I put a big list on my white board of everything I need to make and then I felt such a deep sense of calm.  I can choose what to make next, check it off when it is done and then choose another, all the while knowing that each piece will contribute toward a great whole. 

I am secretly hoping to go to Atlanta to install it myself.  It seems to difficult to do something like that right now, to travel by myself and leave all my home responsibilities to other people.  Still, I'm dreaming about it. 

These were my girls on Sunday evening, swimming in the bubbles together. 

This was a rare time when Roxanne agreed to bathe with Stella and then actually turned to face her for a few moments in the tub. 

The few times she has agreed to have "double tubby" she always turns her back to Stella, essentially dividing the tub in half with her body.  I think this created a tender moment because this morning she said to Stella, "We took a bath together so we could play train tracks together."  Stella enthusiastically agreed, of course, but then Roxanne changed her mind and left the room to play alone. 

Stella hangs in there, though, for the fleeting moments of togetherness.  

teacup pincushions

Friday morning I had an hour free and got to go to an incredible estate sale in Needham.  A little cape-style house was being emptied of its contents, clearly a lifetime of collected treasures from an elderly couple.  I always feel so sad at these sales, seeing old family photos up for grabs along with spoons and forks from the kitchen cupboards and paintings off the walls.  Sad, but excited at the same time, of course.

This couple had collected figurines and china from Occupied Japan.  Possibly a military connection?  Beautiful things to look at and handle.  I came away with two teacup and saucer sets, both marked on the bottom.  I knew they would make incredible pincushions.  Here they are:

A green one

 

and a red one:

You can see the mark on the bottom.  I've made some shrink plastic pins to match with little red flowers and green leaves.  The teacups are firmly glued to their saucers and the cushions are made from a patchwork of natural and striped linen and are firmly stuffed with 100% wool. 

They look so lovely I think and I hope you will agree. They are now listed in my shop.