For days now I've been taking off the double-layered plastic bags and putting them back on, inserting the dampened towel...all to keep it dry as I do the work. I look at the dragonfly piece...each time thinking "ok, I'll finish up today." Yet, always some new glitch, such as how to prop upthe wings for a more dimentional effect. Or, looking at my original texturing created ay a metal belt (actually belonged to my mother -- the motto: SAVE FIRST, USE LATER). Or, realizing the background..a complex spider-web grid still not cleaned up to show an even, yet soft pattern. So...another day to tending to detail.
Part of producing this piece demanded I had to call upon the encyclopedia of the Internet -- looking for close-ups of dragonfly wings, for some possibilities of how I could translate the fantastic patterns in nature to a strip of clay.
Even now, I wish I could have incorporated some multi-media presentation with transparency and exactness of the designs in thenatural world. But I'll leave this pondering for another piece.
The terrors of the kiln await. I'm testing the limits of clay in this work -- of course, worrying about air bubbles, too thick, too thin, totality of dryness of clay. I will have 2 pieces to bisque soon: the fluid movement of a tree; and the dragonfly on a a bed of dandelions.
As I complete these pieces, I'm already thinking about the next step -- decorating, glazing, considering this time to utilize waxing so some areas just the color of the clay body. And then experimenting with glazing multiple colors. Oh...and think I will call Gail to see how to use melted glass in part of the flowers?
Upon completion of these two pieces, I shall begin the work on the next show "Artist as Muse." For this show, I must hunker in and get to the task at hand -- creating a series of nude bas relief pieces based on photographs of me ... photos already taken. At 65, I want to remain true to every bit of flab, sag, and cellulite ... though always the temptation to fix just this and that...
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