tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42564833986300490402024-03-12T17:54:32.335-07:00The Gospel According to DustiThree pumpkins don't make a snowman.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-66500701480234956332014-11-20T19:28:00.000-08:002014-11-20T19:33:13.129-08:00Faces<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been enamored of faces lately. Our brains are actually hard wired to see faces, even when they're not there. We've all seen faces in wood grain or a cloud or a pancake. Emotional responses are easily conjured up from faces; they can either pluck our heart strings or strike fear in our hearts. Nobody ever said "I never forget a foot" or "the back of a head". It's the faces we never forget.<br />
This necklace is my favorite latest piece. I painstakingly cut this face
from a ceramic virgin Mary figurine and mounted it to a beautiful
silver-plated jewelry finding that had a perfectly complimentary shape
to serve as a foundation. I carefully formed her crown from another vintage jewelry finding and fitted it and the silver horns to fit her head perfectly. I love using found object and unconventional materials in unexpected ways. Taking disparate elements and blending them together in a harmonious way is like the visual equivalent to solving a riddle; it can be infinitely more pleasurable an activity to me than making things from scratch. I find things that I love to hold and look at, I study on it. I find a way to put the puzzle together in a pleasing fashion.<br />
This piece conjures up ceremonial, mythological, iconographic, pagany idolatry. The fact that her eyes are closed really interests me. Eyes closed means rest, dreaming, meditation, prayer, deep concentration, shutting out this world and going <i>within</i>. When we're being formed in the womb ours eyes are closed. Many animals are born with eyes closed and they remain so for weeks, so young and vulnerable, not ready to look out onto the world yet. Eyes are closed in death too, or at least that's how we prefer to present our dead. Think of all those beautiful plaster death masks; a face frozen, eyes forever closed to the world.<br />
I think her eyes are closed because she is a Shaman in a trance state, interacting with the spirit world. Shamans treat ailments that show up in the body or in the tribe by mending the soul; they find a spiritual solution in the supernatural realm which in turn manifests itself the human world.<br />
She looks peaceful, calm, confident; she is studying on it. She'll find the solution she seeks, I have complete faith in her.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-34749833380847266402013-03-18T18:51:00.003-07:002013-03-18T18:56:46.568-07:00Ghosts My very first best friend ever grew up in this house. I first spent the night here at age 5. I went up to Brandon at the beginning of Kindergarten and asked "Do you want to be my best friend?" and we were thick as thieves after that!<br />
Mine was the first family to live in our little house, it was all new in the 70s. But this one was my first real taste of historic architecture and it made a huge and lasting impression on me.<br />
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It is now at the end of its long decagenarian life. It had two stories and seven fireplaces, high ceilings, single pane windows, beveled mirrors, glass door knobs, Victorian shingles, ten inch wide pine planks, and a vibe and smell all its own. It was scary at night yet comforting all the same. The floors creaked, it had the aura of multiple cats all about it and was chocked full of beautiful antique things that also left me with a lifelong appreciation of them.<br />
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I was about this age when I first came here:<br />
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I made a pilgrimage to the house recently and walked all around, where we used to play in the dark sandy soil and thick cedars, in the shade and in the sun, racing her pony and her Arabian all around their circular driveway. Also my first taste of living with horses in your own backyard; lifelong impression number 3.<br />
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I am working on going with the flow, resistance is pain and this hollowed ground is a magical happy place. I feel lucky to have had the chance to go say goodbye to the old stomping grounds. I will hold it like a historic landmark in my hear, intact forever.<br />
I had a dream about the old house across the street from my own family home, years and years after it was torn down, years and years after I had last been inside. It was a powerful, lucid dream in which I was physically walking, eyes shut, through the psychic blueprint of the Walker's house, every single detail faithfully rendered by my mind and I knew if I opened my eyes it would vanish.<br />
I know this one will live on in the brain of Dusti, but I wouldn't mind going for a few more pictures while it is still in this world. It's startlingly beautiful in it's dilapidated state.<br />
That ground will always remain haunted by it, this house is its own ghost. Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-64823814962158499972013-03-06T17:36:00.000-08:002013-03-06T17:36:45.893-08:00Mississippi pilgrimage Part II am a lifelong Mississippi visitor. The trip has been a family pilgrimage all my life. This time was to surprise my Mimi with Mom & Cassie for her <i>87th</i> birthday!<br />
This is "The Boob & The Butt Peach" in Gaffney S.C. as my sister & I named it when we little. A cool landmark and giant sculpture of a peach, it looks like a big butt from the interstate and has what looked like a boob near the bottom to our juvenile minds. We have passed on a sense of anticipation and reverence for The Peach to my sister's kids. When you see it on the way down, it's the first Mississippi roadtrip landmark; good times are inevitable once you set your eye on this monument!<br />
Seeing it on the way back home, you know you have nearly made it and you will soon be back home, it's a happy close to the end of a long journey.<br />
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We were all prepared for the 600 miles of fun armed with snacks and sandwiches with our names:<br />
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Cassie felt like a queen with the entire backseat to herself, a <i>rare</i> luxury. She is a spectacular traveling companion; initiating car games, asking questions, taking pictures for me when she sits in the front, talking about what all she's looking forward to once we get there and "just tryin' to keep the conversation goin'" in general. Rest assured, she will keep the party goin'.<br />
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As we rolled up into Mississippi, it was just before dark and <i>gorgeous</i>. You always roll down your window once you cross the Mississippi state line no matter how hot or cold it may be. Nothin' like that first blast of Mississippi air!<br />
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We got into Laurel a little after dark.<br />
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My Mimi lives in the renovated home of my great grandparents in the country. My Aunt Suzi and her family live there and Mimi just had her suite built onto it about a year ago. Suzie had planned a surprise "88th" birthday party for her...actually it was her 87th! She's still a spring chicken. Apparently, she's never had a birthday party in all 87 years! Suzie invited us to come for the long weekend but Mimi didn't know. The guise was, Suzie was throwing a baby shower for a friend-on Mimi's birthday. My Mom told Mimi on the phone "Suzie does so much for you, but I just think it is <i>tacky</i> to throw a baby shower on <i>your birthday!</i>" Really rubbing it in.<br />
We walked into the house while Mom was on the phone with her, and as Mimi heard her voice on the phone and in her house at the same time, she thought "Well I don't know what button I mashed on this phone to make it sound like this!"<br />
Cassie was so excited to be executing the surprise!<br />
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We walked into Mim's kitchen and surprised her, she was nearly speechless, and Cassie can mimic her reaction <i>perfectly</i>. It was a huge success!<br />
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I wrote in my journal, the old fashioned way, every night so I wouldn't lose a thing in my leaky memory.<br />
We sat up and visited and recounted all the hilarious things that occurred on the drive down.<br />
Mississippi Part I, complete!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-82513874938611126082013-02-27T18:22:00.001-08:002013-02-27T18:27:11.790-08:00Sianara February!It only just ocured to me this morning that February is almost over, tomorrow is the 28th!<br />
Where I ask you, the-Hell-does-the-time-go? I have a big show coming up in April to build for, and it will be upon me faster than a jackrabbit on a hot date.<br />
I am so spoiled and lucky to make my own schedule and answer to no man, it's a necessary luxury for me; one of the perks of having MS. I can do a <i>whole lot</i> in bursts, stress slows me down, exhaustion comes on without warning and the only thing I can count on is everyday being different.<br />
So I make hay while the sun shines!<br />
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I am building three trumeaus, my goal being to use as much recycled material as possible. I am loathe to have to actually go out and <i>purchase</i> materials like a commoner. Every good artist should be able to conjure up what they need with their own resourcefulness, not from Home Depot.<br />
Taking a break in the studio, I stumble upon the spoils of RR hiking from long ago. I got it bad for those rail tracks. I moved away from my favorite ones about a year ago, I used to walk there every day and not only was it a beautiful naturey escape from the city but also a cornucopia of material riches! Beautiful things, deer bones, iron in various forms, bountiful lumps of coal, and bless all those poor reptiles, sunning themselves on the hot rails. In summertime I'd sometimes get three terrapins in a week, fresh snakes, all tragic sunbathing accidents but at least they didn't go to waste.<br />
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I have had a good February. I love the changing seasons, and spring is so exciting!<br />
Of course I wait til the end of winter to buy new jeans. By the way, I'm never buying anything other than Levi's again. I feel so fancy!<br />
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And speaking of feeling fancy, I got my nose re-pierced this week. It's been five long months, <i>that</i> time failed to "fly by." I'd gotten it pierced for my 34th birthday but lost it last September during my hip surgery. Monday was the first day my hip felt significantly improved, it's hard to tell because the healing is <i>so slow</i>, but on this particular day I was zipping right along! Normally I am a fast walker, not a dorky speed walker, but I don't ass around, I get where I'm going quick. All this hip hoopla has really slowed me down. I hate that. But I'll take any little improvements I can get. I'll take 'em and sashay this bionic hip right into the piercing parlor and celebrate with a little nostril bedazzling.
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Good bye February, I'll always remember the Cabin Fever show, the slight movement improvement, making new friends and buying new jeans and nose jewelry!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-6879983762416924442013-02-23T17:44:00.000-08:002013-02-23T17:44:32.508-08:00Cure For Cabin Fever IIDays of bein' holed up, still getting the studio together, rearranging, working, crashing.<br />
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A last minute final touch, the scroll making. As part of our Rasputin inspired event we decided to serve "cyanide tea" with cakes, his last meal. I used a small collection of tiny glass vials as vessels for handwritten fortune scrolls, cutting the paper long enough so it would stick out of the top for easy retrieval.<br />
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I inscribed ten different predictions or proverbs on each and stuck the vials in cake squares, like birthday candles.<br />
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And served them in coffee filters on a silver tray for studio visitors. They were adorable! And the homemade chocolate cake Brandi baked was <i>delish!</i> I don't know that each and every one was appreciated as I had intended, but I know <i>one</i> was. A friend's little girl told her Daddy "I want to take it with me to Momma's house", proving her appreciation. If the fortune scrolls only reached <i>one</i> little girl, it was worth it!<br />
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Up in the gallery Thorin, a fellow Clearwater artist did a <i>cool</i> instalation in the fancy old elevator cage. It was mirrored on four sides with a ghost lit up on the floor and extension cords repeating infinitely in the surrounding reflections.<br />
It was so inviting, just being there with a big gaping open door, looking all exciting and interesting and I invited myself and Vanessa to stick our heads right in for full effect! We attempted some pictures and "ooh'd and aah'd" and just as we were retreating-BAM! A blow to the cranium! The ghost nailed me in the head with a piece of plywood, it seems a certain sister had left the door open, it was not intended for you to stick your head in, guillotine style. Fortunately my skull is built like an interior combat helmet and I was unperturbed and unharmed. <br />
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Friends came by, wine was imbibed, scrolls were unfurled, merriment was made. Another longtime friend Sally slings fire, poi like balls of flames on two chains that she slings around vigorously in a decidedly groovy fashion. She performed for us right in our own building! It was the fanciest. All while we sat around our fancily rearranged parlor area and I did not take <i>the first</i> picture! I normally take pictures almost compulsively, but sometimes you just have to be, just exist in the now and enjoy being fully present for the moment, and that's what I did.<br />
It was great.<br />
Here's to many more!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-12586273324778462232013-02-19T14:23:00.002-08:002013-02-19T14:23:14.871-08:00Cabin Fever ICabin Fever is the name of our studio event this Friday, the 22nd.<br />
The last little bit has been getting ready for this, and I've had a wintertime cold type thing for days.<br />
I went in today to wrap up one of the projects, a planchette for the custom OUIJA board. Very fun stuff.<br />
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At the bandsaw today, tragedy struck; the power coupler for my Shopsmith plum <i>busted!</i> The nerve. Not to worry, I can replace it for about $30, but damn, thanks timing.<br />
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At some point during the nose to the grindstone I took a break to just be sick and enjoy the snow! One could not ask for better layin' around weather.<br />
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We also take breaks while shuffling to and fro for gyppy WHATABURGER soft serve for everybody. Cassie is quick on her feet, dashing in and out and divvying up cones to all. She's make a great carhop!<br />
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Back to the studio with a carload of kids and a belly full of chocolate and vanilla swirl.<br />
Bran & I worked together on the mirror. She is fast at knockin' out a tracing and I love the tedium toiling of painting the etching acid onto the glass. What a quality OUIJA board, it will be the finest in all the land!<br />
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Back among the civilized to spend the night in Charlotte and rest up for the home stretch starting tomorrow!<br />
<br />Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-84560120622915634592013-02-14T21:30:00.002-08:002013-02-14T21:30:38.186-08:00Irons in FiresI am exhausted in that particular way you are after of day of creative production.<br />
I've got a short time until our "Cabin Fever" open studios and after party coming up on February 22. I am finishing up several necklaces. This piece already has suitors lined up, lots of interest already.<br />
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Brandi and I got a lot done on this piece for an installation in the gallery elevator. Here as we were setting up for projection. You'll have to wait and see what it is... <br />
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So hard to keep WIPS under wraps before a show...definitely requires a cold one or two. I am so damn fancy I put my beer or chandelier crystals in the cooler. These were found in a dumpster, when I asked Bran why the Hell anybody would throw away a treasure chest full of crystals she replied "'Cause all they know how to do is purchase".<br />
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Well Gods bless 'em, that's my valued customer. Purchase <i>my</i> wares!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-82673950186145391852013-02-13T21:00:00.002-08:002013-02-13T21:00:15.105-08:00Valentine's DayA few things about Love today.<br />
No matter your current relationship status, remember:<br />
You were someone's first love.<br />
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You are someone's pride and joy. You are a spark in a long line of family tradition, you are the light of someone's life.<br />
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From birth, you are a miraculous gift who changed lives for the better, forever. You are the center of someone's universe.<br />
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You are someone's peamite, sugar plum or pumpkin seed.
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You were a first best friend, a sibling, aunt, father, partner or hero.<br />
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There are people who would walk over hot coals for you in a heartbeat. You are the object of someone's undying affection. You are someone's muse. You are the unobtainable heart's desire to some poor soul. You are the person many people depend on and love, admire, respect and desire.<br />
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Not everyone else except you, <i>you </i>are. So any time you might find yourself suffering from poor-ol'-me syndrome, you think about that.<br />
There's more love for you than all the tea in China. Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-64081739224279405012013-02-13T18:55:00.004-08:002013-02-13T18:55:52.890-08:00Today I was farm bound.<br />
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It was my very favorite kind of weather, cold, misty, foggy, moody.<br />
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The drive out there is a one hour, 35 mile meditation, a tradition dating back to about age 5. Once you turn off Hi. 601 it is country the whole way out. And while a lot has changed, it still offers gorgeous views as far as the eye can see. I soak up all the familiar landmarks, like my own personal historic markers.<br />
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Driving out there alone, on a day so easy on the eyes, listening to favorite music, I don't speed. I am in no rush for the ride to be over, my minds wanders to all kinds of enjoyable places. And it <i>is</i> like a ride, there are steep hills and curves, and somehow the drive guides your mind to wandering.<br />
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I headed back home just at dark. The very last sliver of light in the west is a little wisp over the horizon. Even in the dark, it is a beautiful drive.<br />
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I took my sweet time, coming back to boring old Charlotte which I am awfully non-nostalgic about for my hometown. It's as if traveling between the city and the Farm <i>requires</i> an hour adjustment period, so you don't get the bends, like a built in decompression chamber.<br />
So I crank the heat up, roll the windows down, and listening to the early spring tree frogs chirp in the cold, another kind of meditation, another kind of ride.<br />
Preparing to leave wonderland and head back to the land of traffic lights, discarded cigarette buts and pharmacy chains.<br />
And it's still magic.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-36775182169759632932013-02-10T17:10:00.002-08:002013-02-10T17:11:11.927-08:00Livin' The DreamMore stuff organizing, it is something that is never ending. It's Zen-like to me and a great way to get a little inspiration, pilfering through the stock.<br />
This little dollface has been staring up at me with eyeless sockets for a couple of years now, it's time to get her together. I cut a mask shape off the head of thrift store doll to use in necklaces. I love faces and using them in jewelry.
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I have filed and sanded and shaped the plastic to fit perfectly in this gorgeous gold bezel, looks very "Catholicy" to me. I haven't yet started on all the rest of what this piece will be, but I know this face belongs in that bezel. The epoxy is setting right now...I can hardly contain my excitement!<br />
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Wish I had gotten a picture before I left of all my epoxied assemblages that will be set up and ready to go upon my return. The anticipation of coming into the shop after glue is set and clamps can come off furniture and epoxied metal is ready to be worked is absolutely intoxicating!<br />
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I have 4 or 5 things setting in 6 hour cure epoxy that I wanted to do
last night before bed so I could get right back on them this morning but
when I hit a wall, I hit a wall and I am <i>done. </i>I am always sad to wrap things up at the end of the night and start my long, nearly neurotic, necessary bedtime ritual.<br />
One last longing look at my workbench before bed! <br />
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I had a fairly productive day and as per usual once I got into my zone things were falling into place, in that natural, nearly effortless way that is so pleasurable. Didn't even bust my first saw blade until about 10:30!
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My sister and I often discuss our process. The more I make art, the more interesting I find each person's particular process and experience of flow. I find that when I sit down to work and am uninspired I can simply engage in any type of "grunt work" relating to what I'm working on and get some things done while I await inspiration to creep in. I might organize my stash and tools, or start rough cutting some metal, or lengths of silver fretwork for cuffs. Brandi who makes paper mache sculpture, often creating hollow spheres around inflated balls, so she will just make a bunch of hollow forms when her creative gumption is lacking. Then at least you are being productive and usually by the very act of dipping your toe in those creative waters, sooner or later you get swept away in the current.<br />
Then next thing I know I'm covered in a thin layer of dust and aching all over.<br />
By the way have I mentioned lately how much I love our new studio? It is a constant ongoing process of getting this place together, but rest assured that I am going to go ahead and throw some fanciness together amidst the chaos. Finally, surroundings befitting of my to die for art deco buffet and mirror with gorgeous lamps casting a warm glow on top. In my last house-which I adored-I had a really gyppy dining room where this vignette went and took up an entire wall, it was just so cramped, but in this gorgeous old brick carriage house, it finally has room to <i>breathe.</i><br />
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I am a make-do-with-what-you've-got-when-you've-got-it girl from way back, but it is so wonderful to finally have the space to create and conjure, work, live, <i>breathe.</i><br />
I feel like an absolutely spoiled queen and I'm afraid from now on I will accept nothing less than a combined working and living space.<br />
It's not too bad having entirely attainable dreams. Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-3056702585522812132013-02-08T09:05:00.001-08:002013-02-08T09:12:31.590-08:00Blood and SpiritMy Grandaddy Wilbur Pearson was so gifted, talented and hardworking, in the way we uphold that Greatest Generation. This is a cameo of my mother he carved in wood from an old apple crate. I grew up with this image burned into my brain and as children often do, I loved to hear the telling of its origin over and over.<br />
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This was how it looked from my little kid perspective. You can really see the the depth of the bas relief. I've seen the photograph he worked from, I believe it was of her at my aunt's wedding. I love her hairdo and the little cluster of flowers in the back.<br />
What I came away from after my hours upon hours of studying this was A) a burning desire to carve wood, B) a high standard of woodworking and artistry to live up to and C) my mother was the fairest woman in all the land whose classic beauty inspired men to carve her likeness, like a Greek Goddess.<br />
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When I visited "The Grandparent Pearsons" as me and my sister called them at their home in Columbus Mississippi, I got to seriously study and covet this fine example of his skill. It's a replica of Napoleon's coach, probably about a foot long and perfect in every tiny, meticulous detail. Grandaddy was long enamored with all things French, he spoke a few
phrases that he used at every occasion although he never got to go
there. He started a lifelong tradition in my immediate family of
pronouncing butter "buttoire" even though that is incorrect and "the
table" "la tab-le", which is correct, as in "Put the buttoire on le
tab-le".<br />
I was not allowed to touch the little coach, a fair enough rule for such a work of art, but I'll admit to tip toeing in the living room when all the grownups were taking their daily naps and very carefully, silently opening the little door to sneak a peek of the interior, it was upholstered in that lovely Frenchy blue velvet and if memory serves, there was button tucking. To die for! Yes, it was beyond frowned upon, but I was a careful child and I never damaged it. My Grandmother Pearson always said "do as The Spirit moves you", and it moved me to soak up as much detail of this little work of art as my mind could hold.<br />
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Each time I carve, I summon his blood in my veins, generations of woodworkers and craftsmen. I'm lucky to have his influence as well as that of my Grandmother Pearson's father, my great grandaddy Hicks whose craftsmanship and love of trains also lives on through me.<br />
When carving, I feel close to my ancestors, drawing power of their spirit through my hands guiding my chisels and gouges to take away all the surrounding material to free my creation hiding within the wood.<br />
Here is a Rococo medallion with Laurel sprays and Louie flourishes I did for one of my favorite trumeaus. <br />
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I swear, I can feel my ancestors' spirit over my shoulder when I am in that creative zone. Maybe that's half the draw? And although I didn't have children of my own I know my spirit will live on through my nieces and nephew, and their children and on and on through the magic of common ancestry.<br />
I hope to leave enough art behind me to serve as talisman for them to connect with their ancestors as I have, but the blood and The Spirit alone will be enough.<br />
<br />Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-11844226181779259102013-02-06T17:53:00.002-08:002013-02-06T18:33:18.368-08:00Three LionsI've been moved to work with these three lion's head drawer pulls. I've had them for absolutely years and the inspiration finally bubbled to the surface so they could come to fruition.<br />
The first one I did was sold o a friend with good taste the morning I finished it. He bought it for his wife to wear to the White House for her mother's acceptance of a National Medal Of Technology and Innovation Award. I got to meet her and her family in December, fascinating and wonderful people. So something <i>I</i> made was in the room with the President and a bunch of <i>super smart</i> people!<br />
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Then I made one with gorgeous vintage rhinestones hanging from his jaws. "Ice grill", if you will. It was love at first sight for my sister, so I gave it to her for her 40th birthday present. It looks so stunning on her. Something about the lion holding something between its teeth makes me think of "strength". This piece is both strong <i>and fancy</i> like her, thusly it was meant to be.<br />
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Today I went further into the realm of layering and draping, I like things <i>drippping</i> with texture and movement. I also altered the .22 and .38 shells, making them a little shorter, until the dimensions started to make that"click" sensation in my brain. Making things is all about playing with different elements until everything is as it should be. I design mostly as I go and loathe compositional sketches and maquettes, once you get that energy started on something just go with it. No need to waste it on too much planning.<br />
Have "Courage":<br />
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It is 8" long with a 4.5" drop from the lion's head, ending in chains and more shells that make the most delightful tinkling sound as you move. I am a sucker for super tactile things, and things with an audible quality. This one is beautiful from every angle and a treasure to the touch.<br />
I think wearing art does impart a sense of courage. Keep little pieces of art on your body and see if it doesn't make you feel special.<br />
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Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-45846086199738062162013-02-04T18:56:00.004-08:002013-02-04T19:16:11.060-08:00Southern Hospitality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I like to fly by the seat of my pants, do as The Spirit moves me. I had myself a delightful little diversion today that only comes to those who are loosely scheduled at best. </div>
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A couple years ago, my sister & I met The Most Interesting Woman In Charlotte shopping in our favorite thrift store. The three of us stood outside under the unflattering parking lot lights for at least thirty minutes chewing the fat about our works of art, nature and dumpster diving.</div>
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We discovered that low these many years, she had a little shop where she made her one of a kind floral arrangements and lived, not 2 miles from where we grew up. Small world indeed! Through the magic of social networking, we have kept in touch and today she suggested I come by her house in Mint Hill and pick up a bunch of silver casserole stands, having remembered that I use them in my jewelry making. Now, it is a Monday and I had planned to go work at the studio, but since I needed to clean up around the house and recover a bit more...I thought, why the Hell not?</div>
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I should mention that I am not the most likely visitor you may ever meet; usually I like to be the hostess and my friends come to me. But I come from generations of "callers", my Granny, my Popaw and my Dad all are the type to drop by friends' places, unannounced for a friendly visit. I've always admired that spontaneous quality and although I may not come by it naturally, it is a quality I wish to cultivate. So off I went!</div>
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I am what you might call a "talker" and Paula is too, so I knew it might be a while but having the whole day to do as I please I setted in for a long tour of her grand estate. It was her mother's house and sadly, she passed earlier this year and Paula is doing her best at clearing out. She told me she would be having a tag sale real soon and had lots to get rid of. I asked her what's the difference between a tag sale and a yard sale and she said "It's more expensive" with a sly grin. And boy, what a fine tag sale it will be! She has got wares like you've never seen. It's about like walking through one of the buildings at Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta, just more finery than one can take in all at once.<br />
I was overwhelmed with all the layers of gorgeous things and only had the presence of mind to get just a scarce few shots.<br />
Here is one of her arrangements. I wish I had made a better effort at capturing all the detail. She builds a moss base and painstakingly glues in individual fungi and lichen, many of which she names herself and many of which she knows the Latin name for. She collects and dries her own insects and adds at least one in to everything she makes. This orchid piece includes a cicada, naturally hangin' around on one of the leaves.<br />
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She has a very cute 1950s trailer at the beach-that I can guarantee you is <i>the fanciest</i> one on the NC coast. She went down there with a friend to board it up for the gathering hurricane Irene and while she was at it-just had to go on ahead and rebuild the subfloor and lay out her own herringbone floor. She showed me pictures on her computer, it was all just gorgeous, and sturdy; it weathered the hurricane just fine. She will go down after a hurricane and take laundry baskets on the beach to collect nature's bounty, she has more horseshoe crabs and every kind of shell and starfish and manner of seaweed than one can shake a stick at. This one here was probably a good 10" long!<br />
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Also like me, she has a weakness for sparkly things. She showed me one walk in closet packed full of intricately hand beaded formal wear, with the familiar thrift store tags still stapled on. Her idea was, maybe she could rent them out to the drag queens, except "they're too big for 'em". The vintage stuff is mostly in smaller sizes. But for $2 to $12 each, they could not be passed up! I told her "If I had come in here when I was a little girl I would have thought I'd died and gone to Heaven!" Actually, I may have said something with more cussing. Paula cusses like a sailor which is one more endearing thing to love about her. <br />
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She'd told me before I got there to just come on in through the garage and find her, and I walked in right in mid disaster! Her plumbing was overflowing and she was shop vac-ing the water off the floors and an exotic bird was greeting the sound of this stranger's voice with an expertly enunciated "Hello" or some such thing to which she would holler "Shut UP!" and when that didn't work "Shut the <i>fuck</i> up!", I couldn't have felt more at home amidst the chaos. She has birds and cats and 55 gallon aquariums and bones and shells and antique Persian rugs and Art deco objets d'art and Mucha prints and vintage millinery all about.<br />
She is talented at upholstery, carpentry, construction, prop making, drawing, painting, gardening, cussing, dumpster diving, animal husbandry, nursing, decorating and <i>God knows</i> what all I'm leaving out. Truly a Jane of all trades and master of <i>many</i>.<br />
Here is a pen & ink she did some time ago. <br />
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Her mother was a great admirer of the art nuveau artistAlphonse Mucha and my own personal favorite, the art deco artist Erte. She had collected stacks of framed prints of both their work as well as some fine textiles. After she had given me the silver, she then insisted on giving me two Mucha books <i>and</i> a great big gorgeous framed Mucha print, truly an embarasment of riches!<br />
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I was probably there for about three hours, not even enough time to scratch the surface. She regaled me with tales of her work, snippets of her childhood in <i>old Charlotte</i>, trials and tribulations of caring for her mother through the end of her life, all while walking me through her mother's grand "fuckin' French Chateau" family compound. All I could think was well, I'm gonna have to become an amateur documentary film maker to capture this National Treasure! A Southern woman who's skills, charm and generosity of spirit are rivaled only by her uniqueness: she is truly one of a kind.<br />
So...who wants to join me on a project?Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-65136487780900438282013-01-29T14:14:00.002-08:002013-01-29T14:14:21.782-08:00Four Months InAn update on the hip. Four months ago I had a total hip replacement. Hip surgeries are notoriously easy and most people are all healed up inside 6-7 weeks. I was on that damned cane for over 3 months! Really cramped my style, to say of all the pain.<br />
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I did my best at entertaining myself and keeping ahold of my patience the past weeks and months. Better time of year for healing I guess.<br />
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Today I returned to my favorite cemetery for a long overdue walk. And my how things have changed! Well, really the only surprise was this bounty of cedar roses! Aren't they gorgeous? They are the seed pods of those beautiful Japanese looking evergreens. I tried to look them up for the proper name, but to no avail.<br />
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I used to go here daily and I look forward to putting in some real time here again. Last year I spent all spring here, in lieu of my beloved rail road tracks, which I still miss powerfully. Still, not a bad trade. I gotta get my nature fix somewhere in the city, and RR tracks are notoriously difficult to walk on. Of course I rather enjoyed the challenge, but seems like a cruel thing to put my hip through, after all that damned healing up.<br />
So it's back to the cemetery for me, to put many miles on my fancy new hardware!<br />
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<br />Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-53169266957440787072013-01-29T13:48:00.002-08:002013-01-29T13:52:22.204-08:00Time CapsuleOh law, I opened up the time capsule last night. Been draggin' this little foot locker around with me everywhere since I was a teenager. I haven't dared open it in over a decade, for fear of all that nostalgia. Last night I felt a powerful compulsion and I couldn't resist. The Devil made me do it.<br />
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Four photo albums and two packs of Philmont mail and pictures. I didn't dare read the letters, the pictures were enough.<br />
Here's me my last summer at Philmont, 1998. In order to ride out with the cowboys, I was made to use the saddle. That summer was actually the first time I learned how to abide a Western saddle. I'm a saddle hater, but it is a necessary tool for any working cowboy. These boys took me out to mend fences, and test my horse sense. We went out at a full gallop for several miles non stop. I passed.<br />
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I befriended them, such a cute bunch of horse boys. I got to ride out with them on many an evening. Let me tell you, the majesty of hauling ass on the open New Mexico range was not lost on me. What an experience!<br />
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The boy in the middle here was a 17 yr. old cowboy named Nate something. Sometimes I made them all bunny eggs for breakfast and they <i>loved</i> them! When asked how they got their name I explained it was because they are soft and fluffy, like a bunny. Nate was so enthusiastic about them, he literally hopped up & down in place in the kitchen one morning in his excitement pronouncing "They're soft and fluffy like a bunny!" as he did so. Too cute. He also told me he liked art class, and he made roses out of clay, forming each petal individually. He gave them "to a girl I liked" at school. I can not imagine any girl resisting his charms!<br />
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I didn't dare read all the letters, I can always do that later. I did sort of skim through a pile and was tickled pink to find several correspondences from my dear sweet <a href="http://dana-dee.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dana Dee</a>! It pleases me to know that our friendship is the same as it ever was, and she is the same one of a kind hilarious National treasure she's always been.<br />
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1996, first trip to Grand Canyon with my sister. If you haven't gone, make it happen, the sooner the better.<br />
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1995, my first year at Philmont. All geared up to go hiking out of tent city at base camp. Good times!<br />
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This is me and my bf Nadine Fernandez, a friend I met that first summer who got me through awful homesickness and took me home with her on days off to nearby Wagon Mound NM. She was one of those people I just took a powerful shine to and we adored each other, becoming fast friends and practically inseparable all summer. She was a really amazing spirit and to my southeastern eyes an exotic beauty. I'm still looking for her and I hope she is doing well and living a happy life.<br />
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This concludes a brief skimming of my Philmont days. I wouldn't trade those 3 summers for all the tea in China.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-13159713551709123852013-01-25T20:42:00.002-08:002013-01-25T20:42:31.402-08:00Winter <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In wintertime I like to go inward and be cozy. I plot and gather for coming works, and hone my powers of observation.<br />
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I go back to favorite old talismans and refresh my admiration and inspiration.<br />
I enjoy every slim chance at a wintry mix. I like my winters to be <i>wintery.</i> I love cloudy days, overcast skies, rain, sleet, snow, fog, whatever I can get.<br />
Come to think of it I do have a fever and the only cure is more snow! I remember when I was little, on Emory Lane. The snow turned our Charlottey yet serviceable woods in the back yard into an almost C.S. Lewis-y blanketed wonderland.<br />
We had a black cat named Midnight and we'd walk around those woods, with all the trees black in the snow and strung with thick vines (Gods, I think it was poison ivy!) singing out "<i>Miiiiiidnight!"</i>, looking for his signature kitty prints in the snow, wanting to bring him in from the cold. Little girls tracking a tiny black panther in the snow. Pure magic.<br />
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That is just the kind of image I want to draw from in my upcoming works. I just hog up all the things that are beautiful and pleasing to me. Store all that up this winter arrange it in my mind and bring it into the world in the coming months.<br />
Wintertime has its own unique kind of beautiful stillness. I will slow down and take it all in.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-31352650744820907582013-01-15T20:31:00.003-08:002013-01-15T20:32:40.959-08:00FlowI pick away at a piece on and off all afternoon. It can take a minute to get into the groove, the swing, the hustle & flow.
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I am nocturnal by nature, try as I may to overcome this and learn to compromise. I have to go with it before bed when I feel compelled to return to a project. I just have to, and I allow it because that is when problems I've been running into all day long effortlessly work themselves out. In that last hour or so, I make all the progress I need for the next morning. I'll pick up, moving right along naturally from there.<br />
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I follow a family tradition of go with the flow, or "do as The Spirit moves you".<br />
Words to live by, if you can just allow it.Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-92095531696786282262013-01-13T19:46:00.002-08:002013-01-13T19:46:24.340-08:00Muggy In January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here it is, half way through January and it's been warm and muggy in that specifically Southern way. This is prime wintertime, but here in N.C. you can hit 76 degrees out when it's supposed to be 40. The days are still short (they are at least getting longer) which goes <i>rather oddly</i> with a sunny muggy afternoons. </div>
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I drove home today with all the windows and the roof open. That is crazy!<br />
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I'm commuting, and still settling and orchestrating the new space, building workbenches, etc. I'm moving a lot of stuff. I feel like I've been moving around more now than I can remember and the time just goes by in an impossible time warp.<br />
I delay spring fever as long as I can, that is to say I appreciate the season I'm currently in. I try to enjoy and revel in and soak up all the good stuff about whatever is going on <i>now.</i><br />
January has its own beautiful stillness; it's a time for a certain kid of internal gathering, hibernation,. It is the calm after the storm of The Holidays and the calm before the stormy brightness Spring brings. <br />
What I really want is a beautiful frosty weather event, the sooner the better, but right now it's a sleep with the windows open kind of night. It won't go by unappreciated.<br />
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<br />Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-74604736505068144432013-01-02T18:54:00.002-08:002013-01-02T19:01:27.528-08:00Pimp My BandsawWell,it's that time of year again, time to treat the ol' family bandsaw to a set of fancy new orange urethane tires! Actually it's not so much the time of year as it is an overdue maintenance issue. My Shopsmith is at least 40 years old and the rubber tires were crappy and misshapen and I've always had a bit of a time keeping saw blades tracking properly. O how I've learned not to use any other brand of blades. P.S. It also didn't like 1/8" blades. It's been rather finicky. I haven't tested with a 1/4" blade yet, but the 1/2" works like a dream and I think the space age tires will indeed track far better, as everyone claims.<br />
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After you remove the old rubber tires you can clean the decades old glue off, I used a brillo pad. While I was doing that I simmered some water on the hotplate and warmed up the new tires in the hot water. A can opener worked to keep the urethane under water, and it matched.<br />
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I was super careful trying to get them on at first, they were so tight it felt like if my fingers got trapped underneath they'd be squished to smithereens. But after shooting the tires off the wheel several times like a rubber band I came to the conclusion I'd have to just wrassle 'em in there, fast and furious. You can also use a little dish soap to lube up the water and pop them on there, it really helped.<br />
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Also I would be remiss if I didn't mention, I of course wore safety glasses because as Hank Hill says "Now remember, safety glasses don't just make you look cool, they also protect your eyes."<br />
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I just know I'm gonna love my better tracking, way fancier bandsaw upgrade!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-58711874613987734112013-01-01T13:15:00.002-08:002013-01-01T13:15:25.807-08:00StyleWe all think we got it, even if only in our own minds.<br />
I've been studyin' on altars and I plan to create around that idea this year, more than ever.<br />
I'm one of those who makes a point to have aesthetically pleasing surroundings.<br />
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I end up making little vignettes everywhere.<br />
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Composing shape, line, texture, color wherever possible.<br />
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Because of this tendency I with relish making assemblages in the coming months. Brand new year, brand new studio, long cultivated plans coming to fruition.<br />
I welcome 2013 with eager anticipation. Come on Lucky 13! Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-61021420794404761702012-12-31T14:27:00.001-08:002012-12-31T14:27:44.646-08:002012Here we are at year's end, 2012! So many new things for me in the past year.<br />
Most painfully, some new hardware. <br />
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Also I moved studios to my a fabulous new building to share with my sister, all to ourselves! That is truly the realization of a dream.<br />
And you can see it in there, a new (6 yr old) car "Sequin" as Cassie named it! <br />
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And finally using objects d'art long collected to collaborate on assemblages with Bran.<br />
Here is our raccoon retablo.<br />
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I have so many ideas to come to fuition in 2013 and I eagerly anticipate all the new things in the year to come!<br />
My list of things to look forward to includes:<br />
A healthier body, mind and soul<br />
Massive expansion of creativity and production<br />
Mastering new skills<br />
Drinking more wine<br />
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One does want to imbibe on occasion.Happy New YEAR!<br />
<br />Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-10663206987949151662012-12-19T13:42:00.001-08:002012-12-19T13:43:43.836-08:00SpaceGetting things set up at work in a purposeful way, I'm sometimes surprised at how much great stuff I have. It's all waiting to be made into something else, something way better.
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Last night I got this set up, at least temporarily.<br />
The feeling of the new space down the hill is so perfect; relaxed, clear, beautiful, conducive to productivity, energetic, it feels right. <br />
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There's a window in front that casts a bright half moon across the floor and up the wall in the afternoon. <br />
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Here's the window. Roxi slumbers comfortably underneath.<br />
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I've been working on jewelry and cleaning, organizing, arranging and settling in this week. Santa's workshop is a merry place indeed.<br />
All I want for Christmas is to be here!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-50489908459335843802012-12-10T17:04:00.002-08:002012-12-10T17:56:14.650-08:00Last Saturday was another open house at the gallery for Clearwater. We made some big changes and I must say it looks gorgeous. This is just one wall and I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of the others, but I was whooped, also this wall has a bunch of my work on it.<br />
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My sister and I collaborated on several pieces with objets d'art from our precious personal collection. This is one of my favorite sweet little goat skulls from Mississippi.<br />
"Goat Door Knocker" <br />
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This one is from my best friend's personal collection, it is her wedding gift. The skull was actually her's, I snuck it from her place while I was house sitting! It was months ago and I can only assume she hasn't noticed it was missing...I hope!<br />
Once again, I made the silver chamfron and Brandi sculpted the horn from paper mache.<br />
"Unicorn Skull"<br />
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Here is really a favorite of mine from Brandi and I. I think the skull was from Brandi's collection and the rest was my own hoarded items and jewelry bits and pieces.<br />
It gives me a feeling of giddy anticipation looking through the convex glass window to the secret inside...<br />
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"Cat Retablo"
It's a little kitty-hoogitt-boogitty-box!<br />
This was a clock case I found and only loved for the box; the clock itself was gyppy and unremarkable. I cut the window from a circle to an oval to accommodate the little Italian brass frame with bubble glass. I buy and hoard any form of bubble glass I find because I have an affinity for things behind it. But I don't have it just to have, I eventually use it for something special, like this.<br />
We added a crown which was the wick surround from a tiny oil lamp, which you can hardly see here. Affixed to the skull also were a pair of tiny gold wings and a button with a vintage rhinestone set in its center.<br />
I added some gorgeous ruffled ribbon Bran picked up from M&J Trimming in New York to the inside of the window to add an even more Victorian touch. This piece is so much fun!<br />
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I think we did an amazing job in a very short time. Brandi took charge of hanging the show in the gallery, which she excelled at and took to like a fish to water.<br />
Our pieces looked fantastic displayed among Thorin Medford's fire paintings. The show was a wonderful opportunity to breathe fresh air into the Clearwater Gallery.<br />
Now, just wait 'til next time...Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-59115331607794263122012-12-05T17:53:00.003-08:002012-12-05T18:09:38.974-08:00Studio Movin' The saga continues!<br />
I have been lucky enough to share a large studio with my sister Brandi for over a year now and we just got luckier. I just moved studios a week ago and the new one is a <i>huge</i> improvement. Plenty of space, ventilation, running water, natural light. We have our own building and can be sequestered more in the way we like. It's just perfect.<br />
Here's a piece I started on since moving in...just playing around with materials.<br />
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Roxi is a home girl, but she seems relatively pleased with the new digs. It's no big deal to take her outside and I think she gets less antsy. I know I do. Plus we can open all the windows!<br />
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Here's my first creation to break in the new space! It's a beautiful assemblage with silver and wood, metal and bone, hard to see details here. Just me hamming it up.<br />
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I used the underside of an antique silver tray. Polishing Mom's silver when I was a kid, I always noticed how gorgeous the patina always is underneath. I'm so taken with the colors and textures. Reminds me of bluing and color case hardening in fine guns. Hard to duplicate.<br />
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It's comforting to know that as time flies by, I am making progress. Movin' on up. I look forward to years of productive creativity in this new space. I was looking through my pictures in the computer for this post, sequentially from now on back through the year. It automatically started flipping through them chronologically and just just sat and watched my life flash before my eyes. Really. Birthdays, cars, family, friends, vacations, weddings; a staggering number of snapshots of this year of my life. It just seems to keep speeding up, which causes me to have to enjoy it even more.<br />
I am thrilled to get to take another huge leap forward in this, the very last month of the year. I'm not saving up my resolutions for the New Year!Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4256483398630049040.post-46670517688783566172012-11-26T16:55:00.003-08:002012-11-26T16:56:30.538-08:00WATERWORKS Studio!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So much to be thankful for these days. My sister & I are moving into a 3100 sq. ft. studio, with garage doors, climate control, running water, out own bathroom and an enormous electric hoist! We can hardly believe our good fortune.<br />
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We signed last week and are moving across the parking lot into our own building this week. We have yet to move the gigantic pain in the butt shelves so right now it all looks like a huge garage sale threw up in there. But it's all coming together.<br />
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When I went to look at my old studio over a year ago, I was hoping it would be in this building:<br />
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It was actually a separate one behind this one, but <i>now it's mine.</i> Ours. And we have a 3rd studio mate also but there is plenty of room.<br />
I will be able to wheel things outside to spray lacquer or to strip pieces. I have running water in the studio! I could conceivably drive my truck in there to work on it. I'm just itching to cut out & upholster a headliner for the cab and I have a ton of other little things in mind...<br />
December is a crazy month and I really have my work cut out for me just getting set up in here, but o the anticipation for what the new year will bring!<br />
Happy Times! Dusti http://www.blogger.com/profile/12080241616139949182noreply@blogger.com1