Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: art, artist, costume, halloween, Mixed media, printmaking, tea
Halloween is nearly upon us, and I’m already exhausted by the whole thing. My son keeps telling me ways that we could make our house look MORE SCARY, with fake tombstones, etc. He doesn’t seem to realize that because of my poor housekeeping skills, the house already IS scary. WAAAAY scary. Case in point: a contractor was over yesterday installing new storm windows. When he came inside to do something, he asked, “Got several kids?” My response was, “No. One child, and one poor housekeeper.” Sheesh.
My skills lie elsewhere. I don’t yet have the map to that “elsewhere”, but I’ll let you know when I get there.
I spent gobs of time making my son’s costume this year. He wants to be a dragon. I balked. Why can’t he be something EASIER? So many kids are going as ninjas. What a simple costume! Just have them wear black clothes and wrap a black cloth around their head. Simple! Done! Or, better yet, a black ski mask! I kept trying to convince my son that a viking would be just as cool as a dragon, and infinitely easier to make. But, no. He’s spoiled by my craftiness, so he knows that a dragon costume is the better thing to push for. So, here it is:
If I thought that I could make these quickly, it would be smart to make some for my Etsy store. Perhaps I should start now, and I might have one or two made by next Halloween? Perhaps I need to start drinking caffeine again? No…that’s a bad idea, as mommy is already high-strung. Doesn’t this look like a dead bat on the floor, or is that just me? FYI…I may eat all of the Halloween candy before tomorrow…I am both filled with remorse…and chocolate.
But enough about my ridiculous domestic chaos…my printmaking teacher and friend, Christiane Corcelle, has a solo show titled, “A Better Cup of Tea” at Artspace in Maynard, Ma. This show closes TOMORROW (Oct. 31) so you must go NOW to see it! It’s a great show, and I was really happy to see what great things she has been making. Here are some images from the show…
Christiane Corcelle, Choisissez Votre Chapeau!
and a detail:
Christiane Corcelle, Choisissez Votre Chapeau! (detail)
I love the image transfers of vintage illustrations on teabags. The texture is so fascinating! I think that it would be cool to make a garment/coat out of these layered teabags.
Christiane Corcelle, Going Green
This, believe it or not, these colored squares are teabag wrappers that Corcelle has printed on, then collaged. I love the simplicity of the black ink on the colored wrappers. This would also make a fantastic quilt.
Christiane Corcelle, Kaleidoscope
Christiane Corcelle, Kaleidoscope (detail)
Corcelle has collaged tea bag labels, including their strings. I especially liked this one in the center of the image…I think because some of the labels were tea stained. Don’t you love the effect of the hanging strings? You can imagine that each board is a different person, with their own tea drinking preference/personality.
Christiane Corcelle, T-Duck
Okay, I LOVE this. This may be my favorite piece in the show. I love how simple, yet graphic the form is. I love the shadow that is cast by it. It makes me think of some kind of Duchamp readymade (although this is clearly not quite “ready made”.) Brilliant!
Christiane Corcelle, Melt Series (detail)
Can you guess what those blue blobs are? Yes, they are MELTED MILK BOTTLE CAPS. Amazing, right? I love how bold and irregular each one is. She has a whole series of these.
Christiane Corcelle, Red Ticket (detail)
I’m sorry that I only have a detail photo of this piece. The overall photo that I took is pretty blurry. Again, Corcelle has hidden little found treasures in these used teabags. I love that there is some organization to the arrangement of the items…and I love the unifying color scheme.
Great show. Overall, I tended to prefer the pieces that kept the teabags lose and flexible in some way, like in Red Ticket and T-duck, as opposed to where the items were more rigidly collaged, as in Kaleidoscope. Perhaps because the teabags seem to be almost a textile, I like when they maintain their soft/loose quality.
For those of you in the Boston area, some of my drawings are going to be included in a show, “Drawings Out of Lines and Marks” in the South End. The reception is November 13 from 6-8pm. I’m super excited, as the other artists are uber talented.
Now, to figure out what we should have for dinner tonight…does a mystery vegetable from the freezer sound appealing? What about just having Cheez-its and some Halloween candy?
If you’re thinking of calling DSS, my name is “Cindy” and I live in Omaha. Thank you for your concern.
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts... | Tags: art, artist, carving, halloween, newspaper, pumpking
I had NO time to see any art these past couple of weeks (save for the stuff that my son makes, but more on that later…) I have, however, rediscovered shrinky dinks in the past week, which I am now OBSESSED with. The only negative is that I’m convinced that by baking them, toxic vapors are released into my home. Is this irrational? This is the reason why I haven’t bought any of those “melty beads,” that kids love so much. (well, I also don’t feel like sweeping up spilled beads for the next six months…)
That’s a whole lot of plastic. How in God’s name did they even do that? Maybe they used a hairdryer? I thought that you had to use an iron to fuse them? More importantly: why do I think that “shrinky dinks” are less toxic that these “melty beads?’ Who knows.
In an effort for your mind not to go completely numb, I did find some art online that I thought looked pretty amazing. Check out this FANTASTIC artist whom I thought I should share…MYRIAM DION.
That started out as a newspaper page. NEWSPAPER. She takes newspapers and turns them into beautiful lace. Is this not mind blowing? Don’t you think it’s phenomenal????? Look at the detail of her work:
Is that not completely gorgeous? Her work is sooo breathtaking. Please check out the links that I provided to her website. She’s from Montreal, so the website is in French. Here are many of her pieces together, with the paper scraps below:
Look at the papers draped together on the floor! AMAZING. I am in complete awe. I would LOOOVE to see these in person. What are the chances that she’ll come to Boston? Hmm. Well, it’s slightly warmer here…but then again, we have less fashion sense and most of us don’t speak French. Hmm. Yes, WHY would she come here? Sigh. Nevermind.
What’s also incredible is that I can’t imagine that these pieces will last, as newspaper is so fragile. She has created beauty of what is normally depressing and dirty. (Why does this immediately make me think of my lack of housekeeping skills???) I should get inspired to pick up around here. Or not.
Speaking of paper…my son has taken it upon himself to make Halloween decor for the house. Sigh. Clearly, my string of pumpkin lights aren’t enough. He felt the need to make THIS:
That’s a zombie.
And THIS:
That’s a mummy.
And THIS:
That’s me. (just kidding!!! Sort of…) I helped him a bit with this one, I confess. My arms and hands aren’t really that big, though…BTW…
He also convinced me to buy this pumpkin carving kit:
Do NOT be tricked into getting this. Yes, it is “safer” than using a kitchen knife. It becomes less safe, however, when your five year old keeps wanting to point out with his little fingers where you should be cutting WHILE you are cutting. They should have provided a set of handcuffs for the kids. My beef with this project is this: carving a really detailed pumpkin, while impressive, is A TOTAL PAIN IN THE TUSH. Here’s how ours turned out:
I know. This isn’t even THAT detailed, but it felt like it took aaaaages. Probably because I was frantically trying to work on it whilst making dinner. I’m a mommy who multitasks. My son was also interested in somehow doing the QR code, as shown on the kit:
No joke. I tried to explain to him gently that carving this would likely cause mommy to want to perform hara-kiri with the pumpkin knife. I’m sure that if Myriam Dion did a pumpkin, it would be pretty phenomenal. I’m just going to settle for “happy that I didn’t cut off anyone’s finger.”
Halloween is still 20 days away. I’m not sure I’m going to make it with my sanity, and fingers, intact…
slightly wonky 