sitting on a glowing red egg

Truman has been thriving in the hot weather. Each day I place her in the garden, she relaxes and enjoys her day. If she feels ambitious she will stroll over to the tomato plants to nibble on the tasty leaves. But mostly she finds a good leafy plant to take a nap under and doesn't do much moving at all. Today I kept her in the studio with me, sometimes a change is good. Her reward for staying in the studio was a whole banana! It is a rare treat an entire banana, but she is worth it. As you can see she was very pleased!

The big red egg is actually her hot water bottle (a cold water bottle today). Every so often she likes to stratal it and just lays there for hours..today was one of those days.

onward!

Color!

I have to laugh at myself for talking up how I was going to go bold and Pop with my color and then the first thing I do is turn to grey! The Thinking Monkey has already gone through about 5 full paintings. Each time I sand a bit more and build up the color layers. Working with Milk Paint is awesome, however, it does have it's own personality. They all do, Oil, acrylic, Milk each has it's own perks and issues. I am getting to know my new friend Mr. Milk Paint and how he reacts to paper clay.

I do love Milk Paint color and how easy it is to mix the colors. You might think this is a grey monkey but there is pink and blue on the face and the body is varying layers of greens, blues, red and black and white.

I love the surface flatness but that will actually not make it to the finish. The paint will need to be sealed and I am going to use wax. It will still be mat but not so calk like. It kind of bums me out to lose it. But the wax will seal the surface and make the sculpture feel more sold.

I thought I was going to do one coat of paint, a bright color and be done. But isn't that always the way, surprise, its more complicated than that! But that is what I love, making the complicated look simple...or maybe I am making the simple, complicated-

Onward!

Happy Birthday Mom!

count down to color

We are all here working in the studio, Truman, Bella, Frankenstein and I. The sculptures are all but ready for color, just a few small touches left to get just right. As you can see I have plenty of support.

Onward!

frankenstein Friday

Love, play, sleep, that's what the kids do, eat, poop and repeat.

I can see Frankenstein's round head in the Thinking Monkey sculpture. His perfectly rounded shapes and delicate edges. I think the top photo of Bella needs to be a new sculpture. The twist of her body and weight on the pillow. But for now let's just enjoy the goodness they bring and smile!

onward...
and a happy weekend to all!

Today's cuteness

After a nice walk and some breakfast there is nothing left to do but play!

onward....

Progress report: Hare and Standing Monkey

I am so close to color! I can't wait to start painting them. I will concentrate on the Thinking Monkey today to bring it up to the same level as these two. Then the final pass of sanding, then color! I love them white, but dream of color, they could go through a few color changes and end up being painted white again--I never know till I try. It is a whole new world and I am just getting started!

Onward!

In the garden

Here's what is going on in the garden: melons, beans, luffa, eggplant, radish, tomato, peppers, basil, various herbs, Lavender, and lots of flowers. The bees are working hard all day long and inspiring us to try harder and do better. I found a baby toad in Bella's water bowl this morning. It was so tiny and cute. I helped it escape before she spotted it. Frankenstein is keeping the chipmunks on the run. It is a team effort! That's how my garden grows.

Onward!