Carving the Queen and then....Off with her Head!!!

So like I said in an earlier post, I made the queen too tall for the kiln so I carved her and then sadly I had to cut off her head. It will be glued back on after firing.
I had the idea of the roses on her body being like tattoos across her chest. I was going to carve an image of the queen in her garden underneath the roses. But I liked the rose pattern so much that it began to be a dress that she is wearing
I can't wait to piece her back together so I can really see the end result.

MAd HaTTeR

Here he is with his tea cups and a pot.

Watching

One more picture from the Natural Science Center in Greensboro. The cutest kid on the block- the meercat. He was up taking watch, guarding the new little ones him and his mate hatched. They were absolutely the most cutest specialest attraction there. If you haven't seen Meercat Manor on the Animal Planet it is worth a watch.

Can't Resist

I know, I know every dog or animal owner posts pictures of their pets but who could resist this face?

Madonna

Last weekend we went to the Natural Science Center in Greensboro for a friends birthday. And there we saw some amazing animals but these 2 peacocks were my favorites! Can you believe how beautiful they are? I was in awe and still am at the beauty and grace of these birds.

This Madonna coffee table is going to a gallery tomorrow and I wanted to document it before it goes.

the show is coming along all though I don't have any new pics to post just yet. The queen will be carved on Sunday and then OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!! literally.....I made her too big and so I will have to cut off her head to get her in the kiln. I decided that I would have one of those starchy white ruffly collars around her neck so the seam won't show.

Building the Queen

The Queen and her croquet

I don't know who remembers from childhood the details of the story but in the Queen's garden they played croquet.
The croquet mallets were flamingos and the croquet balls were porcupines.
Here is the prototype for some porcupine bowls. they are fragile and sticky and hard to make and I'm not sure the idea is even a good one but I like them.

And the queen. She has a chest. Sorry if this offends anyone. She will be wearing a dress in the show.

Alice's arms and an update

Here are the arms of Alice sitting a top the Mad Hatter's hat.
And then the final finished frame with the mirror. There is me and Chickweed in the reflection. The frame is now housed in a gallery and that is very exciting because I was always afraid of breaking it. But it is safe and sound and hopefully someone will take it home with them. I am making another one for the Alice show with Alice entering the looking glass.

Daring?

Me?
I used to be very dare devilish in my twenties but now I am definitely not the one to volunteer to do anything that may cause bodily harm. But this weekend I was a little daring. Me and Will went to a kayak clinic. It was great fun. We started in the pool learning to flip upside down and let someone turn us back over ( hands of God technique ). And then learned to use an other's boat to turn ourselves back over. With those skills we went to flat lake water- Blue's Lake in Stokesdale- and learned to paddle forward and back and practiced rolling ourselves over...no one in the group got this technique on there own but it was fun trying. Then we were off to the river. The New River in Va. Gosh, the beauty took my breath away and I would have been content to sit and watch the pouring rain come down and look over all the beautiful lush green moss covered rocks but we were to go and practice what we had learned. Well, we caught eddies and ferried over running water. But the daring part? We lugged our kayaks up a rock only to get in them and slide them 20 feet into the water. I was resistant but all of my group was doing it so I fell to the peer pressure and went down. Before I knew it I was upside down and going down a rapid. Thankfully my instructor gave me "the hands of God" and we went down together. It actually was fun and I didn't panic. I went down again goaded on by my group and this time I stayed upright. It was so much fun me and Will are going down the Yadkin this weekend. Yay for daring! It makes me feel a little younger and definitely more alive.

Alice- the bored trouble maker.

Here she is! The star of the show. I finished carving her yesterday and I still have to make her arms but she is basically done. I still am undecided about her hair. I really want it to be blond...or white but it looks like it needs to be dark. I still have time to decide, even after the bisque fire I can still slip it black if need be. Anyone with opinions speak up. I would love to hear them. I am making her arms today. They will be doll-like arms that can move. Will is going to help me attach them after they are fired.
I have still been working on the table setting. I had a set back when I used (stupid me ) a commercial glaze that crawled around the rim of the plates I was making. Half of yesterday was spent re-carving 4 plates. I was so aggravated I wanted to slam the door to the studio and and go to the movies but I hung in there and I think the plates are better than the first ones.

Mad Hatter

I have the Rabbit done so the next character I wanted to make was the Mad Hatter and he is finished.
The first image is of him and his hat. He is too fragile now to wear such a heavy thing but the side of his hat says, "I am mad, " and is black everywhere else.
The images on the Hatter is of the tea party. The Mad Hatter , the March Hare and Alice are at the table with cups and saucers and a teapot Above them hang branches that blow in the wind. The back of the Hatter's balding head is covered in the same sort of leaves. He wears one sleeve and one white glove.

New Tree

Here is this weeks tree painting.
I tried for a different feel here, a softer feel not quite so much impasto.
Don't know if it works yet but I keep looking at it hoping something will come to me... a way to finish, a new direction...something.