I've been tagged!

And I need to post about the unfinished projects in my studio so here it goes...

Much thanks to my friend Marilyn for the push I need to talk about myself *BEG* (big evil grin)... I'm supposed to tell 7 things and tag 7 other people... let's see how I do...

I'm going to talk about my unfinished projects I have at least 7 of those:

1. I started this water shrine when I was up in So Lake Tahoe with Stacey. There are a few bejeweled tentacles of seaweed that I didn't photograph, but here's a photo of what I have so far











2. Then I came back from the Lake and had a few days to recuperate while getting ready for 4 days of classes with Michael deMeng - have I told you all how he's my fave? Oh, yeah, see the most recent post for the slobber fest! Here are examples of the work from the first day:

Light Bulb shrine - I'm stubborn so even though Michael tried to tell me how this little guy wasn't going to fit I insisted on trying - it totally didn't fit and I've put the entire thing - even though I love it - aside for now:

Its hard to see, but there is a button with some paper flowers sent to me by my friend Robin ages and ages ago. The baby is from an ephemera collection from my friend Chel and the trim on the skirt is from some Dresden paper from Castle in the Air in Berkeley (LOVE that place!) In the back you mostly see the light bulb and behind that some other distracting stuff from another class - did I ever tell you how I am NOT a photographer?



This is the little shrine all cold and empty inside... but fear not! I have plans for the little cutie patootie! BIG plans... err, uh, small plans...I think the big plans were likely the problem in the first place! :)


Seriously, though just look at the inside of a light bulb... so cute! It just looks like a little person waiting to be built... ok, yeah, again with my photographic skills, but in my defense... its dark up there at night and if I wait until I have good light I'll just be working on art!
3. The next day was the "I can see clearly now" class which is about transparencies - LOOOOVE IT!!! I've used transparencies in nearly every piece of art I've done since this class... too cool for school... did you see Judy Wilkenfeld's Esh in CPS recently? She used transparencies and the look is so amazing. Here is my cigarbox shrine using a bicycle chain that Lexee found in the bushes the day before class and an old glitter jar from my Grandma Suzie's old paint box, a polymer moon face from my friend Ann and oodles of other fun stuff. Did I mention that I have about 10 things I still want to do with this piece? One of them is to resolve the ugly green box, one is to add a large piece of mica to the window, and another is to secure a few odds and ends that Lexee added once I got home!
4. The third day of class was the Morpheus box. This is a really cool project that I will have a hard time ever doing again, but the concept is really cool and I love how the texture came out. Again, the piece is completely unfinished, but then we're all works in progress, aren't we?

side view - texture-y, huh? this was the most completely finished of the 4
sides

5. The next and final day of classes with MdM was the anatomical man class... seriously? We got these crazy clear plastic dudes complete with little brightly colored guts from the dollar store and turned them into some crazy creations. One of the women in the class got photos of most of the pieces - I was too exhausted by this point to shoot photos of anyone's including my own. One thing I will say at this point is that I was so tired I could barely think which is sometimes a good thing... I have never created anything that looked like this... I'm not so sure its always a good thing... I probably learned more during the final moments of this class than in the other 3 days just because I was too tired to be in my head, I was stumped, I hated where I was art wise, but a few tips from the teacher and I was in a whole new place. I think this is going to be a cool piece when its done...

My Dad calls me a bleeding heart... I guess I took that literally :) I mean what's with the bleeding heart???













6. Ok, so back here at my studio I got to teach my first class of students! WooHoo! Now, I have two more unfinished shrines, but what I really have is a dear appreciation for what it means to be teaching. Going back to that dangling heart from the previous point, I notice that a lot of the time that I'm in art class I'm up in my head trying to create from there. I know that I am listening and taking in the techniques that are being taught, but I make my best art when I'm able to make that 2 foot drop from head to heart. On Saturday I took a few minutes before class to just sit down with the ladies and talk about checking in with ourselves while we're working.
I was honored that the ladies were able to work with me on this project... they even let me film them, tease them and one lady even did the "build your own bird house" tiny shrine just to see what it would be like! I'm sure I'm not supposed to say which one is my favorite, but I think hers is actually my favorite! I can't wait to see how everyone finishes up!

7. Phew... one last thing... its not even an unfinished project, just straight confession time... I'm watching American Idol while I'm typing this! Its true, I'm hooked on Idol!

There we go, people!

I think that I will tag some of my friends at ZNE... Chelise Stroud-Hery and all of my fellow Design Team Members! Love you guys!!!

xoxo
jul