A former neighbor of mine recently moved to Florida. Her new house is on a lake wherein alligators reside. I don't know if these are friendly alligators, but if they are I'm sure they've gravitated to her place because she's well known for her hospitality. She may have even purchased some chaise lounges for their sunbathing pleasure, as well as a variety of snacks they would find appealing.
She asked me a while back if I would make her a paper mache alligator. It wasn't that she was lacking for alligators. I think she just thought it would be nice to have one that could live in the house. It would, of course, also remind her of me and all the fun times we used to have exchanging our mail and getting to know each other.....all because we shared the same address. It's a long story and one I think I've already written about on the blog. Now that we've both moved on to different zip codes, I'll just leave it in the archives.
I decided to take up the challenge. She only wanted a little one she said. About 8 or 10 inches.
Here's what I have so far. It's pushing 12 inches....because sometimes the paper and wire and tape have minds of their own. They don't like to follow orders.
As soon as I decide in which direction the feet should face I'll start applying the paper mache. It should go together fairly quickly. I'll find an old shoebox and send him off to Florida....where he is sure to find some kindred spirits. And when the postal clerk asks me if there's anything liquid, fragile, perishable or hazardous inside, I'll just have to tell a little fib.
I decided it might be a good idea to finish something, rather than always starting something new. So I'm in the process of completing a couple of needle-felted witches for the fall craft fair. Maybe the collector who bought my needle-felted Santa last Christmas will be inclined to start a collection of witches.
So, Mr. Gadget and I were recently discussing the fact that there are teachers of various things aboard cruise ships and maybe I could approach a cruise company about teaching one of my various crafts and we could save on our, I mean his, bar bill. I had needle-felting in mind, since I had many inquiries from shipmates about what I was doing.
One of those inquiries came from a woman who lives not far from the Calcondo. She wanted me to teach her during our recent summer stay, and I offered to do it for free because I wanted to see if I had enough know-how to actually teach it to someone, and then I conveniently lost her phone number after she asked to buy one of my santa ornaments, and when I met up with her later to deliver the goods she tried to bargain with me like I was a street vendor.
I think I would enjoy teaching something crafty on a cruise ship especially if there were benefits involved. But it did occur to me that there could likely be a lawsuit if a newbie needle felter happened to stab themselves with the needle. It's gonna happen. I've bled a few times on my work. I just call those added features design elements, but I'm sure not all beginning felters would see it that way. Some might expect to be evacuated by helicopter to the nearest hospital with a trauma center. It could happen.
So I think I'll just stick to my deck chair and forget the whole thing. I guess I could teach knitting, but then I'd have to worry about those sharp pointy knitting needles....and the threat of impalement...
After several attempts, I think I've hit on the right painting formula for my little clay birds. Watercolors. I'm sure watercolor artists would cringe at the thought of using these paints on clay, but I'm OK with that. Here he is before painting.
I wasn't happy with the bold color of the acrylic craft paints. I had something more subtle in mind. And I wanted to be able to have one color gently blend into another. This bird is mostly blue, but he has a blue-green head....which is not obvious in this picture. I have a whole tray of cheap watercolor paints with many color options, so I'm visualizing a big flock of multi-colored birds. But, of course, I have to finish up in the Witchworks first. Or not.
Now it occurs to me that I may have too many witches for the October craft fair. I'm pretty sure it's possible to over-witch. Maybe I should slow down. I could start in on the birds and work until I get just to the point of over-birding, and then I could switch to Santas. You can probably guess where this is going. But it's all much better than over-eating.....a skill that I've pretty well perfected.
On Saturday I took the train down to NYC to attend an art-journaling workshop. It was a beautiful day and I was able to be a tourist on my walk down 5th Avenue.
The workshop was entitled "Everyday Matters" and was led by Danny Gregory, who journals every day about his life using sketches. It sounded interesting. It sounded like something new and adventurous for a woman who usually roosts in a well-furnished rut. I decided to sign up, but only if I could get there on foot from Grand Central. I am not a subway person. I'm not much of a taxi person either.
I was in luck. It was a straight shot, just 12 blocks down 5th Avenue. I signed up.
The materials list was short and I didn't need to shop. I had a sketchbook that was at least 5" x 7" and some rollerball pens with black ink.
Danny assured us right up front that we didn't need to be good artists to draw about our lives. Many famous artists threw away most of their work and only occasionally produced a masterpiece. Some didn't even sell a painting during their lifetime (Van Gogh). The secret was to practice, and most of all to just enjoy the process.
By the afternoon we were doing a few personal sketches.
Who knows? It may not be too long before I'm publishing The Macaroni Monologues....the illustrated edition. But there'll have to be lots of practicing before then, and right now I'm gnarled-knuckled-deep in the Witchworks.
You're probably wondering if I took the mugs with me to buy the shirts, or if I took the shirts to buy the mugs. I'll never tell, but of all my shirts my favorite is the white one. I've taken extra-special care of it for several years now so as not to spill anything on it (I'm notorious for not wearing aprons when I cook). I never wear it when I eat spaghetti. I'm pretty sure marshmallows would be harmless. In fact, I've been known to grab a few out of the bag when I'm wearing it.
There's not much going on here at the moment. I've been making some slow progress on witches, although I did take 30 minutes off to do a speed-cleaning of my work area. It's amazing how much clutter a person can clear if she sets a time limit and moves at warp speed.
I also made a list of items I'd like to have completed for the old hotel craft show in October. This should help me stay on some sort of reasonable track instead of going off on one of my usual tangents.
Here's another witch in progress.
Months ago I covered a bottle with paper mache and attached some arms. My original plan was to make a Santa. But I've been having so much fun sculpting witch faces I changed my mind. Do you see that snake skin behind her? That's vinyl and it's my sewing machine cover. When I was much, much younger I made most of my own clothes. I got an idea one day to make a snake-skin raincoat. I was quite the fashionista even then...
My mom (who taught me how to sew and, more importantly, how to rip out stuff that wasn't right even though I always thought whatever I was making was good enough) and I shopped long hours looking for the right snake skin print. It had to be just the right shades of black and white. I wanted something subtle. I finally found it in a fabric store in the L.A. garment district. I loved that raincoat and wore it all the time. I wish I still had it; I don't know what became of it. But from the remnant that was left over I made a sewing machine cover, and it's served me well for all these years.
I loved making my clothes and I'd still be making them today if I could be sure that on Friday I'd be the same size as on Monday...
