Beaker & Bunsen

Finally some silver...

2010-07-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here's some tiny silverware I've been working on. The spoon was the hardest, just because of shaping the spoon part, but these are a lot of fun to make. They are going to become necklaces this week, although I kind of hate drilling little holes in them...but otherwise, all I can do is sit here and look at them. Next photo gives an idea of scale.....

This is one I did out of PMC. I'll be listing all of this as soon as I can in my store on Etsy.

Back at it...

2010-05-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back to building armatures for a new stop-motion film. I am really excited to get back to business. Can't really say much about it, except that everyone involved seems to be going in good directions and it should be a nice little package with it's own personality. It's wonderful to see it all evolve. Here's to a few years of work!

I'm Back.....

2010-04-24T21:54:00.000-07:00

I abandoned my poor little blog for a while there....I'll try to be better. Some wonderful old friends and roommates found me on facebook this week- sometimes that thing is wonderful. Can't wait to catch up with them. It was like getting christmas present in April! So, here's some things I've been working on over the winter, along with revamping my Etsy store (still in the process of that).

I got way into felting and knitting/crochet this winter. I've got a whole bin of yarn and about 8 unfinished projects going on. Here's some photos of the felting...

Working on some silver clay jewelry right now...they are in the kiln as I write this, so hopefully will have images soon. I've decided to try just selling jewelry for a while in my shop and keep it simple, instead of having paintings, prints, sculpture, etc....was feeling too jumbled and not really cohesive. It's nice having a platform to experiment with. And let me finish with the fact that most of the Etsy hacks stopped working with Etsy's site changes!!!! This is truly horrible. Those things were wonderful. I think some still work and the guy who does them is updating them to try and get them to work with the changes on the site....and all I can say is please! please! please!

2010-02-10T20:08:00.000-08:00

Having a hard time really being motivated lately. Have a lot of stuff need to take pictures of but just can't seem to set everything up to do it. Probably doesn't help that I pulled something fierce in my lower back today while lifting my dog into the car - taking her to the vet b/c a large puss filled wound appeared over night on her belly - tasty, I know...

Oscar Nomination!

2010-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

Coraline has been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film!! There's some stiff competition, though...not sure if we'll really be able to pull anything off since "Up" seems to be the favorite, but, like they say, it's an honor just to be nominated.... feels great to be a part of it.

Encaustic marathon

2010-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Here's some more stuff I've been working on lately...the bird above is my fav so far - just love the look of egrets and herons. I'll never forget fishing early one morning on the Sandy river almost at Marmot dam (which is no more) - the forest coming up around me, testing out the weird made-up flys I did the day before. No one was there yet (it could get annoyingly crowded and tended to attract a lot of snaggers, chucking all kinds of monstrosities into the water), and I'm standing on a rock, casting out into the water, and all of the sudden this massive Great Blue Heron soars out through the trees and and follows the river a little, coming straight towards me through the misty, crisp morning air, breaking through the constant white noise of the river. It looked prehistoric- like I was on a movie set. It was just SO massive, it seemed unreal. Wonderful bright color, too - intensely dark periwinkle blue. It wooshed over me and disappeared again. It obviously realized what a bad fisherman I was and got the hell out- but I still had a great time climbing around on the boulders trying to find the perfect spot to cast my fancy little flies that no fish wanted... and the heron made my day all worth while.

Been experimenting with jellyfish with the encaustic because it has such a nice translucent quality about it. Still trying to get the tentacle area right. It's been hard to make it stand out enough and look right, but not too much like a craft project gone awry with streamers and whatnot.

Here's some more "stitching" patchwork stuff. I kind of like the idea of a 2-D object having to be stitched onto the page to make it stay.

Here's a little landscape after a scene in a movie I was watching. It's St. Petersburg in Russia.

More encaustic...

2009-12-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show you the beautiful simplicity of the materials needed for encaustic painting. Pure beeswax, Damar resin crystals, a little carnuba wax for hardness, and pigment. Love it. Half the fun and intrigue for me and making art is the mixing and getting to know the raw materials and the recipes that have been unchanged for centuries. I love just looking at the chunks of raw ingredients sitting around in old jars and sacks and measuring and experimenting with it all. There is something so beautiful about elegantly simple natural materials. Beeswax. Tree resin. Ground earth pigments. Perfection...

I think I'm going to try and compile a good listing of link to art supplies. (not just in random posts that you have to sift through). I usually shop around a lot on line before I buy, looking for the best info and prices on everything. It will take me a bit, but I will do it!

good basic encaustic supplies and good prices...
http://www.swanscandles.com/store/encausticsupplies.html

ENCAUSTIC, ENCAUSTIC, ENCAUSTIC!!!

2009-12-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

OK, time for some pictures...

Started playing with encaustic and I absolutely love it...it's my new best friend.

Craft fairs done!

2009-12-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Met some really great people at the craft show yesterday in Sellwood, so that made the slow sales a bit better. The really great thing is now I can pack away all the crap that you need for the craft shows that's been taking over my house the last month and a half! Now that I have all the stuff to set up temporary shop, there's really less of an excuse to not do it again when they pick up in the spring. The sales on Etsy have been great because of the holidays, and I'm trying to offer gift wrap and direct shipment for those who still need to send their gifts elsewhere - we'll see if anyone takes me up on it - I hope so b/c I've got some cute pearls and snowflakes with sticky backs that I'll get to play with if someone orders it.

Cobra my a*s

2009-12-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

Sorry - no pretty pictures this time...I'm pissed...

Boy, you know, it would have been nice if I actually had received any kind of notice that the cobra subsidy ended last month.
I just had a doctor's appointment today (meaning I've "used" my insurance already this month)and came home and opened my insurance bill and it was 3 times what it had been. Like it wasn't bad enough that it got subsidized, but we didn't hear about it for 3 months, so when we were informed, we still owed for the 3 months we didn't know about, if we wanted to take the subsidy. (Hmmmm.......Maybe that's why not huge amounts of people took up the offer - who has hundreds of dollars laying around when you are unemployed - for 3 months of something you can't use - I used my meager savings thinking it was the "right" thing to do). So I paid out almost $500 for coverage I didn't know I had and was useless to me, just to get the subsidized rate... How much does that kick up the "subsidized" rate? It's kind of important to let people know about these things....oh, I'm sorry, I forgot, we live in the last first world yet socially third world country in this world.

Holiday Artisans Sale

2009-11-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

Well, here's my little set up for my first show of the season. This was the practice run to see how it all came together. It rained all day and there was not a lot of foot traffic through the area, but it was great to go and actually do it to get used to the whole thing. Next week I'll have a much larger set up, complete with canopy and more items. Just got in some great shadow boxes to figure out a good way to present the dead fairies as a nice whole package. That will be my fun experiment for the week and will hopefully have some done for the big show at Pioneer Square.

Rediscovered one of my favorite weird places to go when I lived in Chicago, this past week. American Science and Surplus!

Here's the website.. www.sciplus.com

Too bad they don't have a store out here. It is a wonderful place to just go and browse around in - you might even come home with some frogs in formaldehyde, as well as the parts to make a little motor for your mad scientist projects at home, or maybe just a bag of interesting blue buttons!

My hands are going on strike!

2009-11-16T18:14:00.001-08:00

I haven't done much of anything lately besides making pullovers! Got into another show in December. It's so hard knowing how much to make for these things. At least I have a week between each one, in case I sell out of something, I can make more...You like that positive thinking! Or should I say WHEN I sell out of something. Trying to figure out credit card transactions, all the bits and pieces I'll have to pack for the day, and then the fact that 2 of the shows are outside - in late Nov.! Just bought to metal 2' x 8' grids to hang prints on for an upright display. They are a little too tall, but they were half the price of the other ones, so I'll be dremelling a foot or two off. Luckily they fit in the car- but they won't once everything is packed for the show - so off with their heads...

Eco-fi Fleece?

2009-11-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

I am having the HARDEST time finding any of that fleece that is made from old plastic bottles!!! I would love to start making my pullovers with the stuff, but so far the manufacturer I found has no info on where you can get their product!...weird

More craft shows!

2009-11-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

Just found out I'm also in the Downtown Holiday Artisans Fair at the World Trade Center Plaza on Friday, November 20th, thanks to the people at Handmade NW!

Here's a link to their homepage:

http://www.handmadenw.com/index.php

I'll be doing this show and the Portland Arts Bazaar on Sunday, November 29th in Pioneer Square. Hope to see you there!

Here's some Ladybug ornaments I'm making for the show.... back to the factory now...

Portland Arts Bazaar!

2009-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

I just found out that I have been accepted into the Portland Arts Bazaar in Pioneer Court Square on Thanksgiving weekend!! I am now a one woman factory. My 2 assistants sleep all day and then act like they haven't been fed for 2 weeks at precisely 5 pm everyday. Sasha is especially apt at walking through anything and obliterating any sense of order. Nicolas' specialty is jumping onto a pile of tiny, tiny glitter and me not noticing until I've tracked it through the whole house...I guess it made me vacuum, though. Well, I have some definite goals to meet now. Let's see how much I can get done in a month and a half!

Screen Printing...

2009-10-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I've learned how to silk screen this weekend so that I could add labels to my "Perfect Pullovers" on Etsy. I'm setting up a separate shop called "the Pullover" on Etsy to keep them somewhat separated from the more arty stuff, and b/c I didn't like the name Fairy Funeral being printed on them...It just didn't really make sense.

I've found that I really like the way the actual screens look after you've been printing on them- I'm going to have to find some way to use them.

My Little Lady, Ruby

2009-09-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

The love of my life, Ruby, is finally peacefully sleeping forever. She passed away early Thursday morning as I lay next to her on my living room floor after collapsing the day before and never really regaining any strength. She was about 13 years old and the best damn dog I've ever known... more human than dog. I only had her for 3 years. I adopted her from a springer rescue group here in Oregon. I wanted to write about this to encourage anyone thinking about adopting a dog to really consider an older one. I wasn't sure how I would feel after Ruby died about my choice of adopting an older dog, knowing that you will have a limited time with them, but now that she is gone I know that I will do it all over again, because even though death is hard, the few years I did have with her were SO worth it, I wouldn't trade it for the world! And if you have an affinity for a certain type of dog and haven't really had any luck at a local shelter, there is a rescue group for just about every type of pure breed out there - just do a little digging, have a little patience, and you will find a good match. So, consider and older dog - they are already trained at least somewhat, they are beyond needing huge long exercise sessions, and basically just want a cozy person and home to feel secure in and live out their retirement years. Yes, they may come with a few more health problems (sometimes), but you just need to be aware of that and plan accordingly - they are worth a few extra visits to the vet! So, that's all for now....goodbye my little Ruby. I love you forever!

Some Beautiful Glasswork!

2009-09-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

I saw some beautiful flame worked beads yesterday while browsing through the Etsy Finds email I get a few times a week. Here's the link to her shop:

AKDlampwork:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5297302

Anyway, her work just has an element of elegance and calm that I always wish I would see in American glasswork, but for some reason rarely happens . I know I've commented before on how I really want to like flameworked glass, but I dislike the "carnival trinket" look of flameworking - and finally I've found some work that I really love!
Funny thing is that I asked her what kind of glass she uses and it was the very same stuff I was looking at yesterday after I got a new glass catalog in the mail. The color palette is much more appealing to me than I've ever seen before. Now, I know next to nothing about Borosilicate glass, but it seems like they are finally making soft glass in a range of colors and effects that I think I've only really seen in the harder Boro glasses before. If anyone knows, please enlighten me!

Music Day

2009-09-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

Went into the recording studio yesterday to lay down some cello and violin tracks for a friend's album. I've been so busy, I hadn't had time to develope any parts, but we got some good stuff in the end. The engineer was very good, too. It's amazing watching someone who really knows the board and the programs and is fixing and comping stuff in real time in between takes. It's like magic! I'm not sure if the studio is called "The Odditorium" or the rest of the building, but it's the Dandy Warhols building for whatever they want. Looked like there were some greenscreens around for shooting video/film and an area the size of a large club with a stage for a band. Basically, it looked like a warehouse that had been used for raves and no one took down the decorations. I think they might record there, but it might just be where they record acts they like or work with....all very vague to me! All in all, it's fun going in and acting like a quartet to add a little something something to some songs. Now back to restoring these windows sitting in my studio! Happy Labor Day all!

here's Pill Thief's info: http://www.myspace.com/pillthief

Window Restoration...

2009-09-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm in the middle of restoring all the second story leaded glass windows for a client in town here. Pretty basic windows. Re-soldering all the broken metal joints, scraping out all the old putty, and reglazing the entire thing. You scrub the putty in with a scrub brush and the putty is a mixture of the regular window glazing putty, turpentine, and a colorant. It's the consistency of thick peanut butter. Needless to say, you get pretty sore from doing this for several hours! Sometimes it is pointless to try and do this with old windows, but these guys are in the perfect condition for it to be worthwhile.

Busy Times!

2009-09-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well, when up to my mom's house for a few days of family time/hard labor and built this deck for her back yard. While I was doing that my mom and brother were building a retaining wall and pick-axing the horrible cement-like material that claims to be dirt in her yard. I think I got the better job. It's very satisfying to bang out a project in one day!

And here's part of the wall...

not my favorite stone material, but she's just doing it to fix the place up and sell in a couple years - so I guess I should keep my snotty opinions to myself. Hmmm, too late.

Love Print Work...

2009-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

This little guy was chosen in an Etsyian's Treasury today!

I'm getting way into making prints! It's a whole new way to think about things. It's making me think of things more graphically or stylistically (if those are even the proper terms). And it is very challenging to design a simple image or idea and still make it sing - at least for me. It's a new approach for me, but one I've always wanted to explore and just never took the time to hone in. The new printer is a great motivator. The prints are just wonderful. I can't believe how nice they've been turning out on the Epson Velvet Paper. The prints look better than the originals sometimes! I'm not sure if that's good or bad...but I'm going to take it as good! One thing I would like to mention about the Epson R1900 is that even though it was specifically designed to use the thick stock coated art papers, and even has a feeding slot just for them - it doesn't work!! I've been able to get maybe 1 or 2 prints to go through and never the actual Epson velvet paper (only other brands of similar stock that was slightly thinner). I even took back the first printer to make sure it wasn't a defect and had the guy at the photography store try it, too. The second printer did the same thing! But I'm happy to report, after 3 days of pulling my hair out, that you are able to just say "ignore" to the window that pops up and feed it through the front slot for regular paper and it works just fine...go figure?!

The Little House

2009-08-14T19:30:00.001-07:00

Here's the next stage with some paint...just trying out some stuff at this point, but this one has been fun!

I'm building a wall...

2009-08-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

Well, last night did a little quick experiment to see if I could easily get a stone looking facade and it totally worked. Now with some paint I'll send it through the old time machine and make it look 100 years old. Now must decide on the rest of the set. Stone pathway? window panes opening outwards? separate panes so they reflect differently? gauzy sheers just barely hanging on? ...the tough part there will be getting a fabric with the right kind of weave that will be appropriate for the scale of the thing and not look stiff...

Tiny Setback...

2009-08-12T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, my trusty ol' computer decided to go into a coma this week, but thankfully it was kind enough to warn me that I better immediately back up all data and replace the primary drive before it froze for good! So with my external drive in hand, I march into the future of computers, hoping everything will be readable for the new guy. And although I do indeed love the speed and storage space of this new computer, I feel like my parents sent me away to a foreign land for an arranged marriage I wanted no part of. My new husband's name is Vista 64 bit. Why couldn't I stay in the arms of XP, so familar, so predictable. I knew all of his faults, by this time in our relationship I had slyly figured out ways to work around his control freak tendencies and pretty much did what I wanted. It was perfect! And now I am forced to look at Vista's cold staring face every day, hiding simple things from me, doing what he wants with little or no explanation to me, constantly questioning my every move! Could my parents have at least found someone who looked like XP? What happened to my nice thumbnails?! Vista has let me down. I know, I know, get a Mac, get a Mac - well, I am not a princess with unlimited funds, so for the time being, I am stuck in this unhappily arranged marriage with the Microsoft family.

Printer Mania!

2009-07-28T15:00:00.001-07:00

I've done it! Just brought home my new printer...now for a week of wanting to throw it out the window before I get it all running smoothly - but, hey, I love a challenge. Let's just hope the living being wins the battle over the machine. Must go rearrange the entire room now - this beast is almost 3 feet wide!

The Little Ones...

2009-07-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

Here's some process photos of My Poor Dead Fairies... Ameil's dress is grass seeds still in their outer skins, individually glued against each other. Very tedious, but I love the effect, so very worth it.

Some of the girls hanging out, waiting for me to make some final decisions. I'm beginning to think of myself as the official mortician for the fairy world.

printer again...

2009-07-26T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well, it's really looking like the pigment ink is the way to go. Dye-based inks soak into the fibers of the paper while pigment inks lay on top, kind of like paint. This is what professionals use and is how they get professional results with inkjet printers. It seems if you get the holy trinity correct of proper scanning, color management, and printer capabilities, you get absolutely wonderful results that will last for years. There is also a large assortment of art papers available that are coated specifically for inkjet printing, as well. I can't wait to start playing around with it all!

Feels better to finally be coming to a decision on all of it. Now I just have to cross my fingers that my poor computer will be able to handle all that information for high quality prints!...it's always something, isn't it?

By the way, it's really, really, really hot here right now and will be all this week, but I broke down and bought a small window air conditioning unit for my computer room so I can at least work on something without dying of heat stroke! Had to totally re-invent how I installed it so as not to damage the vinyl replacement windows, but it worked out great and I was able to do it by myself. Completely worth it. I've never liked central air in a house really, but love having one room to retreat to when necessary. Although now that I'm working from home, I might be rethinking that.

Stardate July Something 2009, entering Black Hole of Printers!

2009-07-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Printer Monster!!!

I've been researching printers to make high quality reproductions to have some more affordable items in my shop and it is KILLING ME. There is so much info and models that my brain is being eaten alive. Pigment inks, archival inks, dye-based inks, 6 color, 8 color, wide format, glossy, matte, different ink colors, how much ink it uses, buying different ink and screwing up the printer. When I look at forums, the model numbers are different in each country so it's impossible to tell which one you are reading about until you notice the person is in Australia and that's why it looks like that printer doesn't exist. I'm a stickler for quality! I want to know I'm printing pieces that are rich and will last! I'm going to try and find a local store that has several on display that I can look at and maybe see the difference of dye or pigment inks - if there is any! I thought dye inks didn't last as long, but now someone told me that epson's dye-based inks are archival and will last. I know, blah, blah, blah...

Coraline DVD!

2009-07-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

It is going to be so nice to be able to go through the movie and pause in spots to see all the weird little things you can't in the theater. I hope the extras are interesting! It really is unbelievable all the work that goes into something like Coraline, even when I worked on it! It takes SO many people to get it done. I suppose that's some of why it was so incredible to be a part of it. In the end, you almost feel like you went to war with all of your coworkers! It was a 4 year battle - and we won! A few interesting factoids - each one of those puppets cost between $25,000 and $50,000 a piece to make, and then there's the near constant upkeep as the animators use and abuse them to get their scenes shot. Whenever I was training someone on how to work on Coraline's hands, I would always tell them one of the hardest parts is just learning how to hold all the tiny parts in your hands and be able to work on them without dropping everything. We're talking accuracy of less than a millimeter on a lot of things! The sweaters in the movie are actual sweaters a woman hand knits with silk thread! Even all the sweaters folded and stacked in the store in town, which was probably on screen for less than a minute, were each knit with custom knitting needles the woman makes from thin wire. She came by the studio one day and everyone was completely mesmorized and basically shocked at what she does...and this is everyone that had been working on miniature things for years - now that's saying something! I'll try and find her web info and post it....

Here's a link to the short Focus video on Althea Crome (the knitter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muce8MVqTaU

Here's a link to her site on all of her knitting projects...

http://www.bugknits.com/

Code

2009-07-17T20:12:00.001-07:00

chxaf4jub2

Coraline

2009-07-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post some pics from "Coraline", which came out earlier this year. I worked in the Puppet Fabrication Department and worked long hours and made thousands of hands, among many other things. These are some of Coraline's hands being worked on.

and here's our main character, of course...

This is my mess of a workspace, but everything is right where I need it! I have to say, I love all my little tools. The amount of detail and precision is really unbelievable at first, and then it just becomes par for the course.

Some odd concoctions from spare parts to brighten my day...

Now comes the long wait until Ocsar time...

A Little about Core-Forming Glass

2009-06-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

Core-Forming is the oldest form of making glass vessels. This was back when people hadn't figured out how to make a fire big enough or hot enough to melt and heat enough of a mass of glass that is needed for blowing. They formed a core of materials like dung and straw and and melted tiny bits of glass around it. The vessels were very small and were used to carry very precious materials.
Now days, you make something that looks like this. I use a high-refractory plaster and cast it onto a bead mandrel.

Next, I carve away until I get a shape That will work for what will became the void space on the inside of the vessel.

I know I've skipped a few steps here, but it's a little difficult to take photos while you're balancing 4 different things in your hands and everything you're holding is about 2000 degrees! So, using a flameworking torch, I take glass rods and simultaneously heat the rod and the core and keep everything turning in my hands like it is on a rotisserie - both hands are doing this at once. When everything has reached the proper temperature, I begin to coil the rod around the core ( like making a coiled clay pot). This roughed-in form is heated and turned until it begins to resemble the above photo. After the form is solid, then you begin the decorative aspect of the whole thing. This could be more layers of different colors (basically repeating the first steps), blobs, dots, swirls, etc...
The key, and difficult part, is keeping the temperature correct. Everything is eyeballed - you need to know what the glass looks like at each stage. The whole thing is annealed in a kiln for about 12 hours to ensure it will not crack. Sadly, some don't even make it to this point. Glass is a very fickle thing!
I'll continue this later...

Back again!
A little more info... It is very hard to find info on core-forming, simply because there aren't that many people doing it. It has gained somewhat of a comeback in Japan, and I have seen some amazing pieces. They have a classic feel, kind of a throwback to the original days of the American glass movement in the 1920's and 30's (Tiffany, Lalique, etc...), but it is still really hard to find images! I like the work because it doesn't have the look of Saturday morning cartoons that SO much American flame working has. Sorry, all you glass people - please don't take offense - but it's just not my style and I think it looks cheap. Just because something is small, doesn't mean it needs to look like a carnival souvenir. The Japanese work has a calm settled feeling to it and you wouldn't necessarily think it was only 4 inches tall, and I love that.
They also seem to make more free-standing vessels, where as Americans tend to make pendant vessels that are strung on a necklace.

in the middle

2009-06-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos of some of my current egg tempera projects. Still getting used to and playing around with the multiply thin layers thing. I'm finding I have to just "keep the faith" at this point and force myself through the middle stage of painting - I tend to ugly it up before it really starts coming together. Thought I totally ruined this one, but, of course, now it's starting to come around. It kind of feels like a massive house cleaning, where the place looks like a tornado came through and you think you'll never get done, and then you look around and everything starts making sense again...and a week later - voila! clean house!

Also having trouble deciding how far to take each one...sometimes I like the beginning stages as much as a fully worked piece...might have to do some of each. Here's the india ink drawing on the chalk gesso ground. And man, I love the feel of a chalk gesso panel. It is just so buttery smooth and cool to the touch. Half the fun of egg tempera is prepping everything. I kind of feel the same way about etching. One of my favorite things was beveling the edges of the plate and burnishing and polishing it. Drawing on it was just an added bonus! Here's a few later stages...

This one is finished now and I'm in the middle of varnishing. This is not the finished pic...I did paint the figure..just don't have photo yet..and it's probably going to be a bitch because the varnish is rather shiny..hmmm....

Little Boots

2009-06-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Here's my first pair of puppet shoes I've designed and made. On "Coraline" (Laika), I mainly worked on armatures, casting, and seaming - so I got to cast some shoes, but they were already in production, so no chance of designing much of anything. These were a little experiment that turned out much better than expected! The soles are sculpy with some metal re-enforcement and the "leather" is a cheap fabric. I found the key was routing out a channel along the outline of the foot on the top of the soles to give a place to tuck the fabric into, to give them a realistic look of shoe construction. They are an actual "left" and "right" shoe, as well. That's a regular pair of nail clippers in the background to give an idea of scale.

new pigments!

2009-06-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

So, my latest thing is egg tempera painting - mixing your own and using real egg, etc... Did it years ago in school and loved it and in my current state of unemployment after working on the film "Coraline", decided to give it a try again.
Just got my order from Earth Pigments today! They were a joy to mix on the palette! I didn't need to even grind them more... just used the old palette knife and water. There is something so satisfying about gathering raw materials and making your own supplies. I've really got a thing for old techniques. I like thinking that this is exactly how someone would have stood here 700 years ago, preparing materials for egg tempera.
I'll post more of my experiments into other ancient things later...like the first way humans made glass vessels...before they figured out blowing or had the capacity to make fires hot enough to melt larger globs of glass.
Oh... the pigments were really a good price as well. Anyone should check them out if you're into this kind of thing. The full set of earths and ochres end up being $4 apiece for 100gm each...

Hmmmm...

2009-06-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go. Time to jot down some of my random experiments and follies with everything - but mostly experiments with making stuff - mostly art stuff...