Elderberry dreams

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T12:26:00.003-07:00

How can you tell it's Easter in Kodiak? By the fresh snow!

We had snow showers all day yesterday, but the snow was melting quickly. The temperature dropped a few degrees last evening, and it snowed lightly all night. This is what I awoke to - 3-4 inches of new snow!

It almost never fails to snow on Easter here. It is beautiful, today especially with the sun shining so brightly. Our daylight hours already exceed 12 hours, increasing several minutes each day. I imagine the children hurrying to find eggs in the snow, their hiding spots betrayed - the snow around them dyed pastel red, blue and green!

Still Settling

2008-03-20T23:23:00.003-07:00

I am still housesitting, and in the meantime, looking for a more permanent place. I had not counted on there being such a shortage of rentals in Kodiak, and on rents being so excessively high! It has been quite the sticker shock for me - to look at 450-sq. foot apartments going for $950/mo., or new, roomy apartments for $1375/mo. ! Maybe I am just picky - but so many places don't measure up to my standards of cleanliness or just decor. Of course, I left my own home that Bren & I decorated with our own hands and invested 'sweat' equity in over the past 5 years. It's decorated in our collaborative style of Asian modern with art work in all the rooms. The other hard part is finding a place with room and light to do my artwork. I need a space where I can make a mess, and where I can 'spread out', and that has good lighting. That is a challenge! I have been feeling increasingly discouraged.

It doesn't help that I am such a creature of habit, and a homebody. I miss my home, and my things - books, masks, art supplies - and most of all, my life-partner and my pets. Until I had traveled back to my home town, and slept in a strange house the first few nights, it hadn't occurred to me that I have never lived by myself. When I went away to college, I had roommates. Then my son was born, and after college, I lived with my mother for 10 years. Then I moved to Seattle and have lived with Bren for the past 11 years. It isn't that I can't stand to be alone - on the contrary, I've always relished my 'alone time' - having the house to myself for a few hours, or getting up early on a Saturday and drinking my coffee while reading or sketching, or just musing.

This is just a different phase of my life. I am too busy now to be lonely - there is always my mother to visit, or errands to run, or another apartment to view. The sun has lengthened her hours in the sky from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. The cold winter days have persisted, and the hiking trails remain icy, but I can enjoy a brisk walk after work across the bridge to Near Island, toward the boat harbor.

Settling In

2008-02-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here is the view from an upstairs bedroom window of my housesitting gig. I took this photo yesterday at sunrise. There were eagles and crows alighting on lampposts and rooftops all around me, but my zoom isn't strong enough to get non-blurry pics of them. It was around 20 degrees yesterday morning.

I'm working on a slideshow of the photos I took yesterday. My nephew Herman & I hiked out at the State Park - Abercrombie. It was snowy & brisk with a wind coming from NW, right into our faces. For some reason, all my photo uploading services are extremely slow the last few days. I'll post the slideshow here when (and if) the pictures get uploaded!

Here's a slideshow of the photos I took yesterday:

The Big Commission - Finished!

2008-02-02T22:13:00.000-08:00

The Sunday before I left for Alaska, my art patron picked up the large commission I had worked on since last August for her. The finished panels turned out great - and my client was delighted with her pieces. The photos don't really do them justice. But here are the finished panels, which measure 2.5 feet x 3 feet each. The panels hang side-by-side, but the column of my blog page is too narrow for the photos to show up that way.

(top) Octopus with 2 Jellyfish; (middle) Hair Seal Inhua, Salmon, and Bubbles with Jellyfish; and (bottom), King of the Salmon with Bubble and Jellyfish. The King of the Salmon piece measures about 26 inches long, and 24" wide; he carries 8 small salmon on the fin-like appendages (they are about 3 inches long). The Octopus measures about 28" across her longest tentacles. The frames around the panels are about 2" deep. The masks are stained with oil-based stain, and the panels are birch plywood, stained with watered-down acrylic, and finished with paste wax.

After Tina picked up her artwork, I began a marathon of preparations to return to my home town of Kodiak, Alaska, where I began my new job on Friday, Feb. 1. I shopped for necessary items on Monday (including new boots for the muck & snow), and spent Tuesday packing. I made it to Kodiak Weds. evening, after an almost uneventful flight. We spent an hour on the tarmac in Anchorage, after a check light failed to come on. We taxied back to the gate, and sat playing trivia games for cans of pop, pretzels, and a few lucky airline miles. Our Alaska Airline flight attendants were great & cheerful, and we finally took off over 1 hour late, and arrived in Kodiak after dusk. I was bummed, as I had chosen a window seat to see the islands as we descended. Of course, all I could see were the lights of town. But my first few days home have been spectacular - sunny, everything sparkling under 8 inches or more of snow. More to come in another post on my temporary new digs, the scenery, the snow, and my new job!

Homeward Bound

2008-01-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

Here's yours truly and my partner, Bren at the Capitol in Olympia on New Year's Day.

For those of my friends whom I've gotten to know through the blogosphere, I want to share the following announcement, which I sent out to my friends and family members earlier this week. It won't make any difference to those of us who only know each other through the vast expanse of the Internet, but is likely to have a huge impact on my blogging, my artwork, and my outlook on life overall.

I applied for a job with my regional Alaska Native corporation, Koniag, just before the Christmas holiday. Last Friday, January 4, I traveled to Anchorage for a second interview, returning home that afternoon. Late Tuesday afternoon, I received an offer from Koniag, which I have subsequently accepted. The position is hareholder Communications Specialist, and is based in Kodiak. I will be traveling frequently (every other weekend) around Kodiak Is. (to the villages), as well as to Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, and to Seattle. I am very excited to return to Kodiak working for Koniag, Inc. I start my job on Friday, Feb. 1, and anticipate arriving in Kodiak a couple of days prior to that. My last day at work here in Seattle will be Jan. 25. I will be making arrangements for temporary housing, and then looking at a more permanent situation after I get settled at my new job.

Bren will be staying here to hold down the fort, as tax season is just starting up, and she already has clients beating down the door! Some time after April 15, she will come to Kodiak for a visit, and we will start planning what do to for our long-term living arrangements.

We are both really excited about this opportunity. When the job posting appeared in the most recent Koniag Newsletter, I felt like it was an answer to my prayers to figure out how to spend more time with my Mom and Dad, who are both in their late 80's. This affords me the perfect opportunity to enjoy their company as well as my other friends & relations (at least them who live in Kodiak), have a good career with challenging new opportunities, and a healthy diet of salmon, halibut, and hiking/beachcombing, etc.

Thanks to you who have supported me in this endeavor, and with whom I've worked in the past! I will be in touch as soon as I have a new snail-mail address, etc. In the meantime, the best way to contact me will be via my e-mail or checking in here at the blog. Here's a link to Koniag's website:
http://www.koniag.com

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-11-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

November Work for Sale

2007-11-02T15:19:00.000-07:00

I have been busy getting ready for an art sale tomorrow (Sat.) at the Koniag Native Corp. Annual Shareholder's Meeting. These three small masks, and eight little boxes are all done and ready for Saturday. These masks are inspired by old masks that were collected in 1842 by the Russian ethnographer, Voznesenski. The originals are housed in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Koniag Bird Man mask: 7" high, 4" wide, cottonwood bark, roots, acrylic paint

Koniag Sandpiper mask: 10" high, 12" wide (including feathers), cottonwood bark, roots, turkey feathers, acrylic paint

Koniag Happy Fellow mask: 9" high, 10" wide; cottonwood bark, roots, copper wire, duck feathers, acrylic paint

Small boxes. These range from 1" diameter to 2.5" diameter, 2.75" high. Each box has a leather closure and hinges, with a glass bead clasp or button. Some are inset with glass seed beads. All but the obelisk (far right, second row) have painted designs inspired by traditional Yupik paintings. I used either a sun or hand symbol for these boxes.

For all of these pieces, I used acrylic paint rather than oil-based stain with a beeswax finish. The colors are more intense, and of course they dry much faster. I usually use the oil-based stain mixed with tung oil, which allows the wood grain to show through, gives the pieces a more subtle aged patina, and hardens and protects the wood.

The last time I had my work for sale at my native corporation annual meeting, the little boxes were very popular. Everyone enjoys being able to own something that bears marks inspired by our ancestors. The Alutiiq people were expert craftsmen. They made beautiful wooden boxes and bowls for food and tool storage, and adorned them with powerful symbols of protection, or to honor the animals that gave themselves to humans for food and clothing.

Brief Update

2007-09-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

While I was on vacation the first week of September, I completed another mask for the commission. The piece below is the 'Seal Inhua' - unfinished. This mask is dry-fitted together. When it's stained it will be white (it represents a hair seal), with black and a little bit of red. The original mask was surrounded with a white caribou fur ruff. Lacking access to caribou fur, I will replace the ruff with a 'ruff' of white feathers. This mask is about10" long and about 5" wide.

The crack that runs diagonally across the piece is inherent to the cottonwood bark - it is actually the grooves in the front side of the bark that I carved down to. I thought about filling the crack with putty, but the piece isn't unstable - I did insert a dowel through the underside of the crack. The oil stain should also seal the wood and keep it from checking - I've never had problems with the bark doing that. The only other option is to make a new seal.

On vacation, I also completed a partner doll for my friend Rebeca's Baba Yaga. This is Pavel. I finished his clothes last Sunday, and he has now gone to his new home, where he is keeping Baba Yaga company. Pavel is dressed in a Cossack costume, with a green tunic and trim that match Baba Yaga's outfit. I'll have to go visit Rebeca again to take a photo of the two together!

Commission Work

2007-09-05T23:12:00.001-07:00

I didn't take vacation all summer - except the odd Friday off to make a long weekend. So as summer's end crept up on me, I decided to take the first week of September off - since my birthday falls in this week as well. So I've been off since last Friday - not a vacation to travel to any exotic locale - but a vacation nonetheless.

Earlier this summer, one of the managers in my office commissioned me to do some pieces for her office. Specifically, she wants a wall that will instantly take her to the ocean. I've spent much of my time off this past week working on the pieces for this installation. It's a long wall - around 15 feet, and about 4 feet above the tops of some cabinets that will be transformed into the sea. We can't paint the walls, so I decided I'd cut three large panels of birch plywood and stain them for a background for the masks. Each panel will feature a large mask, with some smaller pieces. The first piece I've completed carving is the "King Salmon" (two views below):

The piece hasn't been stained yet. It is dry-assembled here. The big salmon will be blue/black with a white belly. The hoops won't be stained. The long fin-like appendages will be white with a red groove. The smaller fish riding on the appendages will be blue with white bellies. The assembled mask is about 22" long and 18" wide (from the tip of one of the long narrow 'fins' to the other). The story behind the mask is that it represents the King of the Salmon - who 'herds' all of the other fish up the river so the people can catch them, and the fish will be plentiful.

To create the undersea feel, the larger masks will be accompanied by 'Jellyfish' masks and 'Bubbles', below:

These are small pieces - the largest is about 4 inches across, the smallest about 1.5" across. The top row of 'Jellyfish' will be white, with red insets. The 'Bubbles', bottom row, are blue, white and red. The jellyfish are meant to have three white feathers, as do the bubbles, but I may only put feathers on some of them.

The second larger mask, which I finished today, is a hair seal. I haven't taken a picture of it yet. The third large piece will be my original mask - an octopus. That is the only piece my client specified, along with fish and sea animals. She just wants to look at her wall and feel like she's been transported to the ocean.

This is a challenging project. I've never done an installation of masks before. It's quite different from making a collection of pieces that can each stand on their own. But it is fun to work on - and since I'm a child of the sea myself - having grown up on an island - it is easy in many respects for me to imagine the effect and how to achieve it.

My favorite sculpture

2007-07-08T21:10:00.001-07:00

Fellow blogger Marja-leena posited this question on her blog last week. I generally don't have 'favorites' of things, but there is a sculpture in Seattle that I'm very fond of, and feel like it's now living in the shadow of the new Seattle Public Library. Of course, for a while, it was in storage while the library was being built, so I was glad to see it reappear. I have seen other George Tsutakawa fountains, in fact, there is another only a few blocks up hill and south of the library, and there is at least one on the campus at Western Washington University. My 'favorite' of the moment is "Fountain of Wisdom" by George Tsutakawa (of course, it looks much cooler when the fountain is on):

What's your favorite sculpture?

Mermaids and Mobiles

2007-05-27T12:06:00.001-07:00

I started making mobiles a couple of years ago. This February, the agency I work for moved our offices to a new building. I brought in a simple mobile of copper and stainless steel wire, glass beads and beach glass to hang in the cubicle I share. My boss liked it and commissioned me to make a mobile for her daughter's 12th birthday. I suggested a mermaid theme - and she brought in some beach glass from Heather's collection. Here are two views of the finished mermaid mobile:

The mermaid is sculpted out of anodized aluminum wire I bought at Daiso, the Japanese 'dollar' store. Her scales are woven copper wire, strung with glass beads. The mermaid's face, seahorse and fish are cut from recycled tin containers and painted with model spray paint. The other pieces are stainless steel wire, glass beads, beach glass and shells.

I made an earlier mobile with a celestial theme for my friend's baby, Ethan - but won't post a photo until Ethan gets the mobile - don't want to spoil the surprise!

Water and Earth

2007-03-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've finished two more of the Elementals boxes. "Water" is below:

"Earth", which has three snakes slithering accross the desert:

Here are "Water" and "Earth" side by side. My camera was giving me trouble getting things in focus.

Here's one more side shot of "Earth" showing the detail of one of the snakes painted on the sides.:

As with "Air", all of the boxes are 6" x6" x 3" deep, and I built them out of 1/4" poplar, with a backing of 1/4" plywood. The sides of the boxes are painted with acrylic, and the background paintings are gouache on Bristol Board. The fish and snakes are carved from cottonwood bark, and painted with acrylic. The edges of the acrylic are nailed down with small #18 brads and studded with glass beads.

It has been very rewarding to work on this series, and perfect work for winter months. My garage shop has been too cold. Bren bought me a drawing table, which is set up in the den, and I have a handy set of Ikea birch plywood drawers for my paints and brushes.

New "Elementals" Boxes

2007-03-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a new series of boxes since early February, based on the theme of the four elements. I built 6" x 6" boxes out of 1/4" x 3" popolar. The first box I completed was Elementals - "Air":

The background is gouache on Bristol board, which is mounted to the inside plywood back of the box. The outsides of the box were painted with acrylic, and then sealed with matte acrylic varnish. The inner sides are covered with foil origami paper. The tree is made of a root, wrapped with steel wire and beads. I carved the little dove out of cottonwood bark. The box is sealed with plexiglass, and held in place with glass beads on wire brads.

The paintings are more inspirations from the Tibetan Buddhist tangkhas, with my own twist.

Here is a shot of 3 of the boxes in progress:

From left to right: Air, Fire, and Water. "Fire" has a carved dragon that's breathing fire. I'm making a rock out of paper mache for him to stand on. "Water" will have three fish carved out of cottonwood bark floating in front of the waves. The fourth box is "Earth" - and I haven't started the painting on that one, or constructed the box. I had originally conceptualized 3 boxes: Air, Fire & Water. Then my partner and a friend both said: "What about Earth?" So I'm working on it! I have carved 3 snakes from cottonwood, and they will get painted. The snake is a symbol for Earth in many American Indian cultures, as well as for Buddhists and Wiccans.

Where has January Gone?

2007-01-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

Hey - it's been forever since my last post. But work has been crazy busy lately, and my home life has been hectic too. I have had time to work on some new art though! I made another painting for my sweetie - this one's for Valentines Day. I call it "Heart On Fire"; it is gouache on Bristol board, and is 10"x10".

I started another painting - intending it to be a birthday gift for my son. I had a clayboard panel that I bought at Christmas time at Daniel Smith. I was itching to see how it would handle the gouache - and was sorely disappointed. The newest painting is a dragon - but the clayboard didn't absorb the gouache like paper does. When the first coat dried, and I wanted to apply subsequent coats to make the colors more intense, the first coat just got wet and moved around the board. So I finally had to apply a third coat of acrylic paint over the under coat. The colors turned out to be a good match, though I'm having to mix my own orange and purple - but I had a basic set of acrylics, at least. I really like how the gouache handles on the Bristol board, and the colors get so intense. The matte finish of the watercolor appeals to me more than glossy acrylics. But I guess I can apply a matte medium varnish when I'm done with the painting.

Other news on the art front: I didn't get the TACO proposal. Oh well - I would probably be in a state of panic if I had to fulfill my proposal. I only hope the work they picked is better than the work that was on display last fall when we went to visit! I'm sure other things will come along. And there's always Montana this summer!

Birthday Painting

2006-12-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

My honey's birthday was Friday, Dec. 1. This year, instead of a card, I decided to make a painting for her, that we can frame and keep. Inspired by Tibetan Buddhist murals and Tangkas, I used gouache watercolors for this original piece. I call it: The First Sunrise. I finished the painting around midnight Friday. It's 8.5 " x 11", on bristol board.

Saturday, we attended a memorial service for our dear friend John Flunker. He lived a full life (87 years), and he was a wonderful person - full of life, always of good cheer, and ready to dispense advice or tell fascinating stories from his life working as a merchant marine. Your ship has set sail on its final voyage, John. Rest peacefully, dear friend.

After the repast, on our way home, we stopped at Daniel Smith art supply store, and I bought a gessoed panel, to do my next Tibetan-inspired painting! I also bought some more safety-cut 'linoleum' for my holiday cards. I've been working on those this weekend. It's been a tradition for me to make my own block-printed cards (well, for the last three years, at least). I cannot reveal this year's designs until they are mailed off to family and friends. But I'll scan in the designs from past years, and try to post those this week. Hint: they are definitely not traditional holiday cards, but they are from a tradition in my past.

It is so good to be thawed out after our frozen snow last week turned roads into ice-skating rinks. Well - at least I got a snow day out of it!

A (Modest ) Proposal

2006-11-11T00:45:00.000-08:00

To borrow a title from Jonathan Swift. But I won't be proposing a shocking way to abate Irish poverty here! I am submitting a proposal for an art installation in Tacoma. There, an arts organization, TACO, sponsors installations in the old Woolworth's display windows. The building itself is now occupied by the local transit authority. But the cool display windows face three streets in downtown Tacoma, in the heart of the historic Theater District.

My proposal is to install five large (life-sized) figures made of driftwood branches and roots, with heads carved from cottonwood bark. The figures would represent the spirits of my ancestors - similar to the effigees that used to be placed at the Eskimo burial grounds through out western Alaska. Traditionally, the figures represented the departed, and were outfitted with the dead person's tools of trade: cooking pots, harpoons, bow and arrows, shaman's regalia, clothing, toys. While these grave yard figures no longer exist in Alaska, there are wonderful photos of them in the Smithsonian Collection, among others. (see this website for examples - Taos Blue)

Go to my Flickr photo album, in the Artworks Masks set, to see the 15 photos that I'm submitting with my proposal. This is just an example of my work - it won't be the pieces for the installation. I'll be making five new large figures: a hunter, a dancer, a drummer, a shaman, and a child. The proposals are due Nov. 20 - and the artists are supposed to be notified in December whether they get accepted. There are five windows, and installations will be up for 8 weeks. There are several rounds of installations on display over the year. Wish me luck!

Fall Work

2006-10-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

I have been working on some commissions this fall - even though I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I'm posting some photos of the projects that I've been working on.

On the left is the Baba Yaga that I made for my friend Rebeca. I had to borrow her back for the weekend to sew some clothes for her. Now that fall has arrived, she was getting a little chilly! The photo on the right is of the three Babas I've made so far - the middle is for my sister. They are each dressed in traditional Russian peasant-style skirt, blouse and apron.

This is a mask I made on commission from a friend and co-worker. She is called "Evening Star". This is an original piece, with influence from the Yupik traditional masks. I used parrot feathers given to me by my good friend, Fr. Sergios, who has a host of birds in the aviary next to the monastery he has been rebuilding in Calistoga.

Below is "El Sol", in progress. He will join "Evening Star" when he's done. I've got two coats of stain on him so far (orange and yellow), and then he'll need some red parrot feathers. I hope to finish this piece this weekend.

Aside from these projects, my partner and I have been keeping busy going to the gym. We signed up for my birthday in September, and have been going Mon.-Fri. evenings. I go to yoga 2-3 times a week, and we do weight training and cardio the other nights. We both have health in mind for our goals, and a total combined weight loss of well over 100 pounds. We both feel much better, and have lost about 10 pounds each. All my evening time is taken up with working out, so I haven't had any time to blog! I'll try to post more regularly. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Halloween is in the Air

2006-10-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's October - and I have not been posting very much lately. I have been working on some projects, and will post some updated photos of my three Baba Yaga dolls in their costumes (Russian peasant costume, that is). Till then...I've been interested in Art Dolls, and browsed some really cool sites. I'm linking to a few of my faves so far...will also attempt to add them to my "Links" section soon.

"Strange Dolls"

" October Effigies" - the art dolls of Kerry Kate

and these unclassifiable oddities - but beware! this page isn't for the squeamish or those inclined to weep over dead birds, mice, or kittens... "Curiosities"

And just some cool Halloween decore/memorabilia: "Dragonfly Design Studio"

More to come! Happy Fall...

Happenin's

2006-08-22T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hey - I didn't realize it's been a month since I posted! I have been busy, doing a bit of travelling recently - last weekend - to my nephew's wedding in Albuquerque.

I have made a couple versions of a Baba Yaga doll out of driftwood sticks and roots, and a chair for her to sit on. We have gone beachcombing, done yardwork, all the usual summer activities here in the Pacific NW.

This is the Baba Yaga doll I made for my sister on the left, next to her 'little big'sister on the right. The smaller one is the one I made to go with the hut, in the background.

And this is a bigger Baba Yaga doll that I made for my friend Rebecca. All of the dolls have a chair made to fit them. Also, as you can see, the littlest Baba has a skirt, blouse and apron, which the other two will soon have. This is a typical Russian Peasant style outfit. They are all poseable, with wire joints. The two larger dolls were made with driftwood gathered at Camano Island Beach Park. We went there last month after travelling to the Camano Is. Arts Festival -it was gorgeous weather, and a beautiful park!

Here I am, at Camano Is. Beach, modelling my Montana Peak hat I bought in Bozeman in June. There was some great driftwood here, but there was even more wood at the south end of the park!

Antony Gormley

2006-07-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia had this as a header article today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Place it's about the installation art of Antony Gormley. I am fascinated by figurative art, especially when it's on display in public places, such as this. Gormley's figures have an eerie quality to them - especially the iron men covered in barnacles!

I recommend going to the link provided, Gormley's Flash website with more great photos of his other works: http://www.antonygormley.com/

Even if I 'm taking a break (pretty much) from making my own art - I still enjoy looking at the work of others - whether it's in a gallery or from my armchair over the Web!

Beautiful Weavings

2006-07-18T16:22:00.000-07:00

An article in today's Seattle Times Life & Arts section caught my eye. It's about ikat weavings that are on display at 2 local stores. I love ikat fabric, and am going to try to catch this exhibit after work tonight. I wish I had some money right now to buy some with! Check out the article:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2003133412_borneo18.html
I'll post more later if I get there before the store closes!

Phots from Montana Workshop

2006-07-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

The workshop was Sat. & Sun., July 1 & 2. It was a blast! We had six students - all women. As last year, everyone turned out fantastic work! It is so energizing to be around a group of creative people, and in such beautiful surroundings. The Bear Canyon School of Art & Craft is up in Bear Canyon, surrounded by rustling cottonwoods and mixed brush. There are also shrub alder, redbud dogwood, and other native plants, and a stream rushing by a few hundred feet from the school. We had respite from the 85 degree temps in Bozeman up in the canyon, and enjoyed light thunder showers both days.

Below is the group shot on our second day of the workshop. I'm on the right in the plaid shirt. Everyone is holding their pieces.

I've posted the photos from my Montana workshop on my Flickr photo album. Check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elderberrystudio/sets
I'll post later about my trip to Yellowstone on Friday, and upload those pics to Flickr as well. It was a great trip, and full of activity. I had a memorable time - and now it's back to work tomorrow!

It's Official!!

2006-06-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Artworks Gallery in Bozeman has their photos of my masks up on their website! The show opened on Monday, the 19th. It's been almost a month since I mailed all the masks off, but somehow, it just feels more 'real' now that I see the photos of my work on the gallery's web page. I leave next Weds., the 28th, in the morning, arriving at 1:00 p.m. Thank goodness it's a quick hop of a flight - since the travel is on a Dash-8 or similar, via Horizon. I'm used to taking those small prop planes from Anchorage to Kodiak in rough weather, but they are a bit of a squeeze!

I think it's finally summer here in Washington! It's still cool for this time of year - only getting up in the mid-to-high 60's, but it's supposed to warm up to the low 70's this weekend. Not that I mind the temps - it's just been so cloudy, I still look pretty white. Guess my pale skin will shock anyone expecting to see an Eskimo when I do the gallery opening!

Many thanks to you all, my cyber-friends, who have been so supportive! I've been occupied with lots of yard-work and home stuff the past month - kinda my decompression after all the mask-making. But I don't want to just let my blog slide.

Baba Yaga and Her Hut

2006-06-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo (finally) of Baba Yaga and her hut which I made last summer. I have a love of fairy tales, especially illustrated books, and have a collection of Russian fairy tale books, among others. More than ten years ago, I made a large (almost life-sized) figure of Baba Yaga, the archetypal 'witch' from Russian folklore. She was in my featured artist show at our co-op gallery, The Dancing Salmon in Kodiak. My friend in Montana now has Baba Yaga in her dining room. Last spring, I started a series of 'spirit houses', which I haven't yet completed. But I did make Baba Yaga's hut, which stood in the middle of a birch forest, upon chicken's feet so that it could turn in all directions. Baba Yaga had a fence made of human bones, topped with skulls whose eyes shone with a red fire at night. One of the most well-know stories with Baba Yaga in it is "Vasilisa the Fair", about a little girl whose cruel stepmother sends her into the forest to seek fire from Baba Yaga. You'll have to read the story to find out the rest!

My Baba's hut was made from some reclaimed cedar siding, some cedar plank driftwood, cut into shingles, and cottonwood bark. I painted the hut following some fairy tale illustrations. The chicken feet are carved bark, as is Baba Yaga herself, and the crow on the roof. The roof lifts off, and the door opens. She has a table and bed inside, but the interior still needs to be painted, and Baba needs a dress. I also need to fix the front porch, and paint the skulls. I look forward to finishing this project, and picking up on the rest of the series!

Oh - the size: the hut is about 8"x8"x15" high. Baba is 5" tall (excluding her hair). Her arms, legs and neck are jointed with copper wire so she's poseable.

Bon Voyage, Little Ones

2006-05-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

My 'children' are on their way to Montana now. Our den feels empty, our hearts are saddened, and yet full of excitement for the upcoming show. My partner and I pulled an all-nighter Friday night, labelling, wrapping, and packing the masks to send them off on their journey to new lives. Maybe some of you think it's silly to get attached to a piece of art - hunks of wood. But the masks each have their own spirit, and we have enjoyed having them displayed on the wall of our den these last months. The wall is now blank, save for the empty hangers. We will bring down several sets of finger masks I made last year to fill the space. Anyway - we were up till 5:00 a.m. Saturday, then got up around 9:30 to scoot off to the Post Office to mail them. All but two pieces are on the way to Bozeman.

Below is a 'family portrait' of me and my masks, before their departure:

I crashed yesterday afternoon for a nap. Later, we went to dinner, and saw "The DaVinci Code" at the theater. I won't spoil it for anyone - though if you've read the book, there won't be any surprises. The movie was much better than I anticipated, though I think if you haven't read the book, you might miss out on some background material.

It seems so strange to be done with my big project - and have all this time to do simple things, like go shopping for flowers for our porch. The weather has been rainy all week, so we didn't even feel up to taking in Folk Life in Seattle. Of course, I still have some things to do to get ready for the workshop in July. I'll do a slide presentation on Yupik masks for the public (last year it was at the library), and update my handouts a bit. I have some other commissions I've put off since February, so I'll have to pick up where I left off. In all, it's been an intense and enjoyable four months!