what's up Wednesday, part 2

These guys are just starting to take shape. They are incorporating reliquary objects like the Hadad's,Vernor's summer bottle. I don't have much to say about them yet. But I can share the history of the reliqary objects.

The bowl part of the new Monkey Bowl is a small Chinese bowl. It was gifted to me by one of my dog-walking clients in Brooklyn. She left it for me, full of homemade cookies! She said take the bowl with you and remember me and my dog. Along the way the bowl broke, but I kept it. It reminds me of her and her sweet little dog, of a bowl full of love.

The Blue Valentine Monkey, has pink eyes made from 2 beads from an old necklace that belonged to my grandmother, I believe it is from the 1920's. I wore it a lot when I was in art school. The blue heart charm is from an old friend I lived with for a few years, while I was going through hard times. She gave me the blue heart and I wore it everyday during that time. The bottle is another gift from a dog walking client. Who left for Spain with her new husband to start an exciting new life there. It is full of the memories of 6 years spent walking her sweet Golden Retriever, on the streets of Manhattan near CBGB's and The Mars Bar.

These items have one thing in common, love. What a powerful medium to work with!

onward-
Onward Monkeys!

what's up Wednesday

This piece is still not quite finnished but it is almost there. It was inspired by a trip to Hadad's Lake here in Richmond VA. Hadad's is like an 80's teen camp movie set. With all the trimmings. But the most distinct thing about it is the magical color of the water, or should I say frightening! It is the most unnatural color of blue green-ever. Yes, I did swim in that crazy coo-coo water, and lived to tell the tail.

The bottle is a Vernor's bottle. Vernor's soda or should I say pop, was a big part of growing up in Detroit. Made in Detroit! It made your tummy feel good when you were sick, it made your tummy extra happy when it was combined with ice-cream--yummy! It was medicine and a treat and the big sign was there smiling over Woodward Ave. I still keep a few bottles around just incase I need it for my stomach, head or to taste a bit of my childhood.

The crystals and star piece are things I found in NY and have kept for years. I used to find crystals shed off of chandlers when I walked dogs in the city. Louis a big ol Rhodesian Ridgeback and I walked past a parking lot that served as a flea market on the weekends. Each Monday I looked forward to snagging a few crystal treasures from the asphalt lot and stuffing them in my pocket, like shells on a beach.

My friend Tere has been doing reliquaries, one new one each week, check them all out, her work is amazing. It inspired me to dip into my treasures, the relics of my life for some of the new work. In this case it is incapsulating odd summer memories from my hometowns, Detroit, NY and Richmond...what a strange trip it has been!

Finally, it is all topped off with the creepy summer moon smiling down on my memories.

Onward!

I have been busy like a bee

Like a vacation, I took a little trip into the world of illustration. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the process of bringing words to life. The story, a children's book, is about a conference of little critters airing their grievances with man. The story takes us to another world an illuminated place, with a much different perspective then the one we as people have. It teaches empathy and hope.
One day while I was working on the illustration a bee landed on my window screen. The light shown through his body and illuminated him like a light. He seemed to be there to cheer me on and also to remind me that though this illuminated world I was visiting was swell--I needed to get back to my Monkeys!

I finished up the illustration and lickety split, got my tail back to the monkeys!

onward!