Arbor Inspirations

Jim and I are in the process of building and installing several arbors up at the cabin.

Yesterday I was at a trendy new shopping center in Costa Mesa called SO CAL and saw this woven twig arbor.

It was love at first sight.

This arbor is is a neighborhood next to ours up on the mountain.

I love the simplicity and the curved and flowy lines.

I showed it to Jim so he has begun to build one for me.

Almost done.

As soon as it's in the ground I'll post a pix.

Kevin & Nida, This Heart is for You!

When seniors Nida Fatima and Kevin Tang built these Twig Sculptures separately they honestly didn't like them very much, so both kids donated them to me to teach with this year.  Well over the summer I had stacked them on top of each other and when I pulled them out the other day I liked the way they fit together, like a big heart.  So I took some wire and laced them as one.  What do you think??

Here is the place I have displayed it;  over top my fresh new dye garden.  Sorry about the shady cast shadows.

Also this summer I spun up a bit of art yarn and made bunting triangles, then used the clothespins that we over-dyed in our Tye-Dye unit to hang them with.  Pretty clever, huh??

I've brought in some new dye plants to work with this year, a deep red African daisy, an ornamental chili plant, marigolds, begonias and basil.  so we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I miss your infectious smile Nida, and your crazy wonderful laugh Kev.  

Can't wait for you two to visit and tell me all about college life  :)

Lots of love to you both!

Twig Sculptures - Student Work

 

Earlier in the year I had posted about a new assignment I was going to try using fresh vines and branches.

I tested it out on my hubby and he did a fantastic job building the foundation then free-form weaving the structure. 

With a bit of recycled paper pulp poured over top below.

Advanced 3rd year 3-D students Rita, Kevin and Nida really liked the twig part and enjoyed going round the school looking for windfall and I'm sure doing a bit of pruning from a few of our bushes, but asked if they could try something other then paper pulp to embellish sculpture with.  Over the years, I've learned to listen and be flexible as a teacher, so I was open to their suggestion.

In this piece, senior Nida Fatima found some textural weaving yarn that she wrapped around and thru her form.

Senior Kevin Tang decided to go ahead and use the paper pulp idea, mixing up his pulp a bit chunkier then my husbands.

And senior Rita Labib really wanted to showcase her free form weaving structure and not cover it up so instead she chose to dangle hardware from it, for a really cool look.

It was creative play watching the kids build these and see the various forms they came up with.  Not sure though if I will repeat the assignment.  I'm going to ask the kids for their feed-back. 

Susanne Bauer - Mixed Media Artist

Another new inspiration that I found thru Art Propelled is mixed media artist Susanna Bauer.  Again, her work is right up my alley.  She finds leafs, twigs and rocks and turns them into intricate works of art with her fibers and needle skills.  I recently purchased a leaf from her very much like the one above.  It also arrived from Fed Ex in a similar condition to the piece I posted yesterday after paying an enormous shipping and handling fee, for Susanna lives in Cornwall, England, and the package had to travel a long, long way.  Fed Ex, let's get it together!  

I borrowed these excerpts off Susanna's website with her permission:

"I go walking

I find a leaf, a piece of driftwood - or sometimes it finds me.

I take it home and its new life begins.  

This website is about the work that started alongside my career as a modelmaker.

I have worked for the television and film industry for over 16 years, making objects like King Arthur's chalice, cheeses for Wallace and Gromit, miniature buildings, robots and spaceships.

I have always been driven by a great love of making and working with my hands and over the years have acquired a broad knowledge of materials and techniques.

Most of my pieces are small sculptural objects often based on found natural materials. I like giving time to the inconspicuous things that surround us and often go unnoticed, paying attention to small details and the tactile quality of objects. Appropriating traditional craft techniques like weaving and crochet as a means of sculpture brings a contemplative element to the development of my work. I am interested in unusual combinations of materials, the experimentation with fragility and strength and the individual stories that evolve and shape themselves in the process of making.

I was born 1969 in Bavaria, Germany, and have lived in England since 1996 where I used to divide my time between London and Cornwall.

Since 2010 the West Penwith area of Cornwall has become my permanent home and inspiration for my work."

Susanna Bauer