It was my intention to keep the left hand blurry, as if it's farther in the distance, and too far out of the shallow focal plane (if it had been a photograph). But I don't happen to love this effect, now that it's done. I was unsure all the while working on it, but that's often the case for me, only becoming confident when a certain area is all-the-way realistic. With this piece, I am very tempted to paint over everything but the right hand and its shell, leaving a smooth matte area of negative space around it. I don't mind taking a Skillsaw to the left side and top of the panel, removing the excess area to better center the composition. Live and learn, I guess. If I do make these changes, it wouldn't be the first time I covered over something, or added something to a piece, years after the first time it was considered 'completed'. For the time being, the composition as it is shown here is on display at Art Connections Gallery in Bastrop.
I had another piece underway, but it got temporarily sidelined. This is as far as I got with 'Exaggeration'.
I was having a lot more fun rendering the wasps' nest than the fingers. Usually it's the other way around. Hey- do ya like the hangnail?
So now I'm at a ... well... 'crossroad' isn't the right word, but I'm coming to a point where I have some decisions to make. I used to hate hearing people say they needed to 'find themselves'. That sounded so self-absorbed, and pretty ridiculous to me. But I kinda get it now. After working a silly retail job for awhile, and getting myself side-tracked with costume making for a live theater group, and the occasional cooking (catering) burst, I seemed to have lost track of my precious pencils and beads. But at the same time, I'm asking if there are other media I'd like to take a stab at, or something else I can MAKE.
Anyway, I'm about to buy a small kiln for metal clay, and hopefully enamel work. That will allow me to enhance my jewelry pieces and elevate them from their current 'costume jewelry' status. Images are all inside my head at the moment. Nothing to see here!
I also have an impulse gnawing at me, in the form of hand-sewn, hand-painted garments. I've been wanting to dive into that kind of art form for a couple of years now. Again, 'dive' isn't quite the right word, as I may not get too submerged. I may only 'dabble' with it. How else will I fit everything else into my waking hours? OY!
Anyway, Summer please be good to me! Your heat and humidity should be a good deterrent for leaving the house! This unemployed chick needs to find her direction, and hopefully the focus to string a few beads together, and the clarity to better string a few sentences together! Summer, serve me salience!
