The heat

It has been so incredibly hot! As a by product of the triple digit temps our heat pump has been running non stop. Last year I hooked a PVC pipe to the condensation run off from the heat pump. It made a nice little oasis. I added a terra-cotta bowl and pretty little rocks to complete the area. It is a place Truman our Lizard like to hang out. I have seen frogs, toads, birds, bees and chipmunks drinking and lingering in the nice little spot. However, it was over flowing due to all the extra condensation coming down the pipe this week. So, I added a "river" and two more basins. It is even sillier looking now, but that much more enjoyable for the little critters.

I was also able to use the power of the sun to dry my paper mache faster. The Monkey bowl is coming along! He looked so happy laying in the sun.

Onward Monkeys!

life's unexpected distractions

Last Friday Mr.Eleven and I found we had to do an emergency make over on our horrendous little bathroom. It had gotten to the point that I would rather walk up two flights of stairs to use the facilities, than go in 'that' place. When we bought our house the bathroom was a full on 1980's country cottage frilly mecca. The walls, as well as the door were covered in wallpaper with little blue and pink hearts, there were fake flowers and cactus with jiggly eyes glued on them (I freed the cactus and it is thriving in a real pot with no eyes glued to it). My favorite item was a crochet blue toilet paper cozy that looked like a poodle (also with jiggly eyes).

Over the past 4 years we slowly got rid of all the 80's kitsch and I even stripped off the wall paper. After a drainage problem the floor was ripped out. We were all set to renovate this past Winter, when we saw the price of tile and balked--broke down and gave up. It was basically abandoned with raw cement floors, black glue marks, walls that had bits of wallpaper and glue stuck to them. Part of me loved this little hell hole in our home. It reminded me of all the crappy-messy-gross-discusting bathrooms I suffered in NY. So, in a sense it felt like home.

But this time we had to follow through and get the job done. In order to pass an inspection, that will lead to big savings for us. So we worked as a tag team all weekend! We got it done and it looks spectacular. It is clean crisp and modern! We are very pleased and Bella likes it too!

I feel like these 4 days of diversion from my work have gone on forever. I was using my skills, my art skills that is, so in that sense it wasn't so bad. Now that it is done I am ready to roll--

Onward Monkeys!

Monkey Bowl paper mache=delicious

A word of warning, do not leave your paper mache unattended in the presence of a Pug!--Bella!! I am adding a paper mache layer to the Monkey Bowl and got up to rinse my hands off. A few seconds later I found Bella lapping up the paste! Luckily it is just flour and water. There is a good reason I am working in non toxic materials--her name is Bella.

Onward Monkeys!

Monkey, Monkey, Hare

Here is a pictorial of the creation of the Standing Monkey, Seated Monkey and Hare. The project started on May 18th and ended on July 18th. I worked on them constantly during that time.

Onward Monkeys!

Monkey-Horse a look back...

I posted a little pictorial on the Monkey-Horse. I finished the other 3 sculptures and wanted to make sure I had good documentation on this one, before I go forward. Like cleaning house, getting ready for a new season, I needed to do this. I will create a pictorial for the Hare and Monkeys next.

One thing I wanted to get across is how long the process is. I don't think I accomplished that. It still looks like a few easy steps. But I have to question why I feel this need to let people know how hard it is to create things from nothing. I see similar pictorials by other creatives and they say, step one, step two and step three, you are done. I get so frustrated by this easy as pie attitude. You have to make choices constantly and they can't be photographed. It is this intense struggle, creation. Painful yet rewarding, I want to share that. It seems important to me, to understand, in order to appreciate art.

When I was at the Museum (the new addition to our Fine Art Museum in Richmond is spectacular!, more on that later), last week, I noticed how quiet it was in the galleries, all you could hear were gasps and hushed "OH WOW"'s. It made me so happy to hear this background sound, as I wondered through the amazing new spaces. It is the sound of people connecting and "getting it". It is the sharing of our humanity. They may or may not be thinking I bet this took a long time, this must have been hard. But they are experiencing it.

So there I go answering my own question. My job is to make those decision and make my statements strong enough to illicit an "oh wow". Not to make you feel my pain!

Onward Monkeys!

As of today

The animals have been through a lot in the past few days--and this is where they are now. They still require a bit more work but I am liking the color. I plan on putting together some pictorials on the long road they have taken from strips of news paper to what they are today. But first I have to finish them. As always I question every decision I have made along the way and hope I learned from the experience. I have grown quite attached to each of them. There will be time to reflect another day--for now I better get back to work!

Onward!

Snog party!

I took a bunch of shots of the kids playing while we were on Stay-cation. To me they look like various acts in a play about relationships, I named, Snog Party. From deep anger to overjoyed love, they act them all out. Please leave a caption on any photo that speaks to you. In-any-case, check them out for a laugh.

Visit The Snog Party here!

Onward.