Posts

Bats!

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Who doesn't love bats? Well, probably lots of people. But I'm not one of them. Me? I love bats! I came up with these for Christmas decorations in Austin (where LOTS of people love bats). They literally flew out of the booth... sorry. Now I make them all year long. My bat ornaments are available in my Etsy store

The Light in the Forest

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This piece is an exercise in color. I found this great costume necklace with these great big green cabachons... what could I do with it? When I  think of green, I see lush forests, wild overgrowth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, even Swamp Thing. I think of mystery, magic and surprises. I think of danger and that sense that I'm being watched by something that I can feel, I know it's out there... but I just can't see it. It could be anything or anyone. It could be a racoon or a hunter ... but it could also be Titania... or Bigfoot. Wouldn't that be cool? The Light in the Forest is available in my Etsy Store

Art and Craft

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The pieces in this picture are all one of a kind. They are also mass-produced. It's possible to be both... I create unique pieces of art for people. I want them to be special, cherished by my clients. I also want them to be affordable, so I try to create pieces that someone at a street fair with just a few bucks in their pocket can pick up, take home and say "Wow, this is cool!". I can do that by using a set of molds I've developed. I press polymer clay into the mold and when I pull it out, I go to work on it. Stretching, molding, customizing. I shave a bit here, build up a bit there. I use little wax carving tools on the clay and give each piece its own character... like this... This Tiny Sun necklace is available in my Etsy Store .

Northern Lights

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Another piece from the Amazing Pink Things session... Northern Lights is available in my Etsy store

Wake me when I'm smart

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Okay... three street fairs in four weeks... I'm pooped! The U-district was great fun this past weekend. I got to see many old friends and supporters and also got to meet some new ones. But, really, working my booth feels like doing stand-up for 10 hours straight. It's totally fun, but it leaves me with a hangover the next day... and I wasn't even drinking. Luckily, I have a piece that perfectly embodies the way I feel... "Wake me when I'm smart" is very much old school work for me... when I started, the found components I liked to use were almost always surplus electronics. I didn't know anything about electronics but I knew what I liked. the colors, the spindly, angly connectors, the simple, distinct colors. And the way I could use it all to create miniature cyborgs... all of whom seemed to seem to want a new job. Wake me when I'm smart is available in my Etsy store.

Sacrifice

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It's hard to process the big things sometimes. I did this piece about ten years ago. It's in response to something that had happened eight years prior. That's when my friend Lee passed away. He was an amazing creative entity... actor, dancer, writer, singer, catalyst. He could talk anyone into trying anything. He did it with mischievous gleam in his eye and a laugh that seemed to say "This is gonna be fun, but only I know how much fun it's really gonna be". He was the first person i personally knew who had to live with HIV. Unfortunately, he didn't get to live long. I think he made a choice that if he was going to go out, he was going down swinging. He worked so hard in that last year of his life... songs, scripts, shows and always planning for more. I think he pushed himself until he literally burned himself out. In this piece, I'm trying to balance the beauty and tragedy of that act. The cross the figure hangs on is made from artist's materia...

Life is swell...

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When I was young, my Aunt Lil would take me up the street to play. In my neighborhood, "up the street" meant "Central Park".  We weren't in any way rich, we just lived  up at the top of an old brownstone in a great neighborhood within walking distance to one of the prettiest parks in the world... just like half a million other people. And sooner or later, they all came to the park. It was wide open, quiet, and free. I remember seeing benches filled with little old ladies, sitting in the sun, feeding the birds, catching up with old friends, sharing a little gossip... even in the winter. And they always seemed happy. Some of them might have had money, but most of them probably didn't. But it didn't matter... the park belonged to them. I love doing pieces like this. She's wire on the inside, the body is a rough figure in clay and the clothes are done by stretching out clay with my pasta machine and draping it over the figure like I'm ac...