Wednesday Wonder- make hay while the sun shines

Sometimes when I pick my Wednesday wonders I pick what I think could not possibly have purpose in art as a medium and most of the time I am gratefully wrong.
I do not know why Hay popped in to my head but it did and here it goes.

This picture is from Amazing Art, another website to visit again and again.

This link will take you to their main page.

This picture and the one below come from them.

This is the page for amazing hay art

http://ama-zing-arts.blogspot.com/2009/06/aweosme-hay-art.html

Click the link above to go see some bale art. This really is amazing.

Make sure you go see the rocket ship and castle.

Hay, there is a whole festival in Killington, Vermont for hay bales and some great hay art.

You can find that at About.com

http://gonewengland.about.com/od/vermontfallfoliagephotos/ig/Killington-Hay-Bale-Art-Photos/

This picture is from the Killington Hay Festival 2010 at About.com 

At the website Zuza Fun there are some great pictures of hay art too

http://www.zuzafun.com/great-hay-art 

scroll all the way through, some great pumpkins.

And if you are into Farmville

Here is a whole Farmville Wiki page on virtual bale art.
http://farmville.wikia.com/wiki/Hay_Bale_Pixel_Art

And here are a yaffle of hay words to keep you up to date from the Hay in Art page!

http://www.hayinart.com/000141.html

Or visit Hay in Art they have a data base of over 6700 of great works of hay!

Yep, people someone has spent more time than I have to help you learn about hay in art and art made of hay!

One more straw, hay!

Hay there even is a a tourist attraction in http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/7274

Forkland, Alabama - Jim Bird's Hay Bale Art. No hay!!

And just so you know, I got this from Answers.com

"Hay is dried grass.
Straw is the dried stalks of harvested cereals, such as wheat, barley and oats."



Hay, I knew that!!
Well, I gotta bale!!!

Hay, have a great day will ya???

Oh, wooden it be lovely? a diy story part 2

The one on the left is Ivory and the one on the right is wood.

Ivory is done the same way, the colors are just different.

Continued from part 1

and here is part 3

http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/11/oh-wooden-it-be-lovely-diy-story-part-3.html

All links will lead to my Hubby's on line store Clay Factory.

I endorse this blatant plug. ;-D

You will need:

2 blocks of Opaque White Cernit
1 block of White Porcelain Cernit
1 block of Caramel Cernit
1 block of Champagne Cernit
Clay Machine
Acrylic roller
Clay Slicing Blade

12. This is the picture and step12 from the last post, part 1.

Here is the stack from the side so you can see the thickness.
Roll the length of the whole stacked sheets through clay machine on the thickest setting.
You will have a big long strip.

13. Hold both of the ends of the sheet up so that you can find the middle of the sheet and cut in half.

14. Turn one of the halves 180 degrees and stack on top of the other sheet so both cut edges are on the same side of the stack. The caramel side of the top sheet will go on to the Opaque white side of the other.
Press them together or roll with your roller. Not a lot just to tack them together.

15. Roll these two stacked sheets together lengthwise through the machine on the thickest setting.
Cut the sheet in half and then rotate one of the sheets horizontally 180 degrees so the cut edges are on the same side.

16. Now stack these sheets and roll with the acrylic roller to tack them together.

Roll the length of the sheets through the clay machine again.

17. Cut this sheet in half as before and stack the same way by rotating one of the sheets and stacking with the cut edges on the same side.

18. Here is the stacked sheet. Do not roll through the machine this time. You are not going to roll it through again until you get to the end.

Cut in half again. Stack one on top of the other.

I have a lot of cracks because I am stopping and photographing in between each shot and step. But... cracks are good, and this is some of the best faux wood I have ever made.
I was getting upset and I thought I'd have to re-shoot this all over again, but I decided to show you what really happens and when I was done it was gorgeous.
When I am doing this technique I am going through the steps one after the other and I have a lot less cracking.
The Cernit is really wonderful for these layered techniques because of the depth the porcelain effect adds to the technique.

19. OK, I have stacked one half on top of the other again. See this little tab.

Cut it off.

20. Place it on top of the stack anywhere you want. It will add yet more variation.

21. Here is what all those little layers look like on the side.













Stay tuned to part 3...

Oh, wooden it be lovely? a diy story part 1

 

Changed pictures, this one is so much better. A little more light today than yesterday.

Here is a close up, you can click on the pic to make it bigger

There is that heart box again. Did I tell you I love those inexpensive mache boxes?

I am using a technique of layering colors together to make faux wood.
I also make bone and Ivory this way. More on that later.
I use 4 colors of Cernit to do this. Opaque white, White, Caramel, and Champagne.

All links will lead to my Hubby's on line store Clay Factory.
I endorse this blatant plug. ;-D

You will need:

2 blocks of Opaque White Cernit
1 block of White Porcelain Cernit
1 block of Caramel Cernit
1 block of Champagne Cernit
Clay Machine
Acrylic roller
Clay Slicing Blade
  

1. Condition the Opaque White and then condition the Caramel.

2. Mix 4 parts of White with 1 part of Caramel until one color and roll out on the thickest setting in your Clay Machine. Or 1 block Opaque white mixed with 1/4 block Caramel.
The sheets that I made for this technique were about 4 1/2" by 3 1/8". You can make them smaller if you wish. A little over 1/2 a block will make a sheet this size.

3.Condition all of the other colors, including more Opaque White.

4. Start with a caramel sheet.

5. Now make a sheet of the mixed caramel and opaque white.
Cut it to fit the caramel sheet. You do not need everything to be perfect, in fact the more irregular everything is the better the wood looks so I do not trim away ragged edges, they are an asset.

6. The next color to go in the stack is the champagne.
Trim away excess.

7. The next sheet to go in the stack is the white porcelain.

Trim away the excess. See how perfect and even my sheets are. NOT!
But you, you must be perfect, hahahaha!!

8. The final sheet will be the Opaque white.
Trim away the excess.

9. This is what the stack will look like from the side.

10. Roll the whole stack out with the acrylic rolling pin till it is about 1/4" thick. Always roll the length of the stack, so not roll the width out.

11. Here is the sheet on the other side it is getting thinner and longer. The width has expanded a little from rolling but not much. The length though is a lot longer.

12. Here is the stack from the side so you can see the thickness.














Stay tuned to part 2...
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/11/oh-wooden-it-be-lovely-diy-story-part-2.html 

and Part 3
http://mariesegal.blogspot.com/2010/11/oh-wooden-it-be-lovely-diy-story-part-3.html 

To everything there is a season

Lately, I have been feeling the change of the seasons. Things are starting to slow down, get quieter, the days are getting shorter.  There is a change in the light and the way it looks outside.
I adore this time of year.

This and spring. Spring is an opening, a birth, a beginning and this is the ending, a slow down, a harvest and clean up time. A time to take stock of all that has passed, a time to put things up for the season, a time to change the clothes I wear or dress in layers. It is very subtle this change here where I live, a little harder to see.
I feel myself start to go inward and think about the past season. I slow down to experience the change.
I notice the sun setting earlier every day. I feel the chill in the air some days. The fluffy clouds, the clear blue skies, the birds changing directions.  It is very subtle.
If I spend all of my time indoors and never go outside, I tend to get slammed with this time of year more than if I notice.
If I notice I do not seem to get as depressed, it is the change of the season, the time to slow down, the time to go inward, the time to reflect.
The sun rises later in the morning and I want to stay in bed and sleep.
It is the thankful month the time of change, thankfulness, and harvest.
A time to eat more apples, corn, and potatoes. Soup  and casseroles.
Squash of all kinds and nuts, seeds, and root vegetables.
I am thankful for my life and the change of the seasons. I honor the changes in me as I live with the world turning.
I am gentle with myself in these changes.

There is magic all around me. I just have to get out of the way. I watch and listen.

To everything there is a season, and


a time to every purpose under heaven:



A time to be born, and

a time to die;

a time to plant, and

a time to pluck up

that which is planted;



A time to kill, and

a time to heal;

a time to break down, and

a time to build up;



A time to weep, and

a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and

a time to dance;



A time to cast away stones, and

a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and

a time to refrain from embracing;



A time to get, and

a time to lose;

a time to keep, and

a time to cast away;



A time to rend, and

a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and

a time to speak;



A time to love, and

a time to hate;

a time of war; and

a time of peace.

Halloween- Madi's second

It was Halloween night.

One little girl was getting ready to go door to door.

 Madi got dressed reluctantly.

She doesn't like anything on her head.

It only lasts a second.

I do not want it.

Well, maybe!

No Hat!! hahahahaha.

I got it off!

Cute Eyes!

I think I'll eat it!

I'll do it myself.

I'm happy.

We went trick or treating with Mario and Luigi.

And Princess Peach.

Wednesday Wonder- a bone to pick

I have a morbid fascination with bones, this goes back pretty far. I can remember thinking that porcelain looked bone like. I made a necklace that was "bones" pretty early in my clay experience. It was 1972 and I sold one. I still have some of those beads made from porcelain.

Here is the modern-day version of that necklace here.
This necklace was published in Arts and Crafts magazine when it was still around.

I have lived most of my life in a rural setting and I attribute my obsession fascination to that and probably genetic memory.

We were always around life and death when I was growing up, it is the cycle of the farmer, animal breeder, and rural liver. We also have tons of owls around here and there is this cute little package of bones called an owl pellet. You can open them up and sometimes see a perfect little animal skull with the vertebrae intact. I think of them as owl hair balls.

We used to find whole frogs with the guts squeezed out and just a hollow form from them being smashed on the road. I found a whole horse carcass once. I always wondered what happened to that horse.

Sick, I know, but I always used to think of ancient man and if they would have made a purse out of that frog and if they would have worn mouse bones in their ears for adornment. They probably would have done something with the horse so that there was no trace of it left.

I had a lot of time alone when I was a kid living in what was called the boonies.

So, it would only be natural in my opinion to like bones and to like looking at them. If it is in my art work, it is only a matter of time before it makes it to a Wednesday wonder as a non traditional medium. After just having Halloween and the Day of the Dead. I thought it a perfect time to talk about it.



See more of Francois' art at his site http://francoisrobertphotography.com/
bare bones political statements.

 Here is a Francois Robert's Bone Art.

You can see Francois Roberts awesome pieces at the Carl Hammer Gallery page
where I got these photos.

Here is a fascinating article on using all types of body parts for art medium
http://weburbanist.com/2010/08/23/body-art-creations-made-of-human-flesh-blood-bones/


Sarah Perry is another artist that uses bones and body parts as a medium.
You can see her work here



Sarah Perry's "Pull of the Moon"
photo from http://www.netropolitan.org/

 WOW, that is so beautiful.
You can see some more of Sarah's work at Artnet.com
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/426011091/173223/sarah-perry-the-meek.html.

There is Christy Rupp chicken bone art
http://www.christyrupp.com/new/twomoas.html

There is the Bone Church, this is amazing and very cool!
http://www.artgraphica.net/art-shop/prague-kutna-hora-bone-church.htm

From Curious Expeditions, a site worth going back to again I think!
http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=79

Then there is bone as canvas, as in Scrimshaw ala Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrimshaw

Here is an article for cleaning and bleaching bones if you are so inclined to use them in your art.
http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/peroxide-bleaching-skulls.html

Just a bunch of stuff to bone up on. ;-D

Happy Dia De Los Muertos

I built this altar to honor our dead. Please feel free to leave your loved one's names on this post.

Blessings all over them. May they be safe and well.

Rosalie, Renee, Clay, Mary, Julie, Jill, Vivian, James, Annie, Chuck, Ila, Marlene, Butter, Gail, Poppy, Irv, Harlan, Herby, Stan, Menasha, Goldie, Sid, Morrie, Fred, Evie, Bazoo