'Trilogy'

my Wandering
Lost soul
hoping to be Found

Inspired by my life's crazy journey. I have wandered all through my days and ultimately I've become very lost,
but somehow I seem to be heading somewhere.'Trilogy' is a OOAK wall hanging. Made of paper mache. The piece measures 18" x 26".
http://www.etsy.com/listing/49718231/trilogy

Written on my Body

Years ago I had the word Freedom permanently inked on my body. Inspired by a Janis Joplin song. The word has been the driving force in my life. Freedom is about my constant struggle with myself. Mostly about being free of my entanglements with a false reality.


I know I am a slave to negative thinking and this is my battle . . . The master does not let go of the slave easily and this is why I rage, why I scream and why I curse.

For Real Fridays

If I am anything it is thrifty. I hardly ever buy anything new. All my furniture belonged to someone else. I use to love shopping for what was considered retro. I suppose my style would be post modern eclectic. Clean lines with minimal bedazzle (dust collects in the dazzle). I have started thinking that it would be nice to buy something brand new, so what I am dreaming about is this bed.I spied this at CSN Stores
It would be the perfect match to my style, and it would stop me from hiding things under my bed . . .

Now something for the rest of you.
A CSN Giveaway for anyone in the U.S. or Canada.
A $40 gift certificate to any of CSN's stores

The rules are: Leave a comment on this post and place my button on your blog. The contest ends July 9th and I will randomly pick the winner.
There may be shipping charges or in the case of Canadian addresses, international fees for certain products.

New Work in Progress

Not exactly sure what this will be titled, but it represents three layers of me.

I made a batik for the background and again the forms are made of paper mache pulp. The faces were all pulled from the same mold, but because they have been shaded differently they all have their own persona.

I am trying to add more color to my work and well you know how much I love orange, so this is where I start. I am making lots of bluish clay flowers to add to the piece.

Be honest, Is my work too dark?

Yellow is Brave

For the past week I have been involved with the e-course "Flying Lessons" with Kelly Rae Roberts along with many others interesting and creative people. A bit spiritual as well as technical lessons. First day or so we explored our fears. We wrote them down and we all seemed to have many or the same fears. What struck me, is that fear is based on untruths. Assumptions we make about the future. Next time fear starts to open its mouth and spill some lies, I'm gonna tell it to shut up . . . I am hoping to replace this betrayer with with an undaunted confidante. Fear is a liar
Words are whispered
To keep me from flyingIn Bravery there is truth
The words are loud
And tell me to soar

-nat

'Yellow is Brave'
paper mache, fabric, batik fabric, clay and wire on wood
11" x 19"

For Real Fridays

'For Real Fridays' is a new way for me to show all of you who I am. Some Fridays could be pretty, some could be ugly . . . Today it is all about messy.

I live in an apartment above the garage. Just myself and my dog Moo. I suppose the whole place is my studio, but I keep the messes in 4 distinct places . . . Sometimes there is a trail that runs between.

This little space is for working in clay, paper mache and some painting. I have a complete understanding of how to work in this mess. Mostly what I don't use is on the floor. But everything on the table, I need . . . until I push it off the table . . .

The trail leads to my dyes and fabric stiffener. It is not a big space, but they all get along here . . . The floors suffer the most in my world. Between the dyes and my dog's toe nails, they will have to be redone, therefore I figure I can't make it any worse. I am sure my 'landlord' will one day say something . . . but my dad has a hard time walking up stairs, so I'm not stressing about it . . . am I a bad daughter? If I had to be careful and clean, my art would suffer . . .

One large step away is the drying table, along with my ever increasing collection of plaster moulds . . . I'm gonna build a wall one day out of all the moulds.

I live in the trees, amongst the squirrels and birds. Sometimes the sunrise can be blinding since the windows face East, but most of the day I have great natural lighting and a killer view.

This is the largest of the studio spaces and actually it is not so messy. I think it is because the mess is spread out more, so it looks organized. It was a screened porch that we finished into a room. I do all the sewing of the dolls in this room. It is where everything comes together and yes the floor is a mess in here too . . . I may be trying to be open and honest with this post, but I am too embarrassed to show the floors.

The mess does not consume the house. For the most part I am very neat . . . Now Moo is another story. He leaves a trail of fur to follow.

Can you guess what my favorite color is?

Am I the only person who lives with orange walls?

Relief in Progress

I've been making these new 'Relief Dolls' for a few months now. Paper mache is a very messy but wonderful medium to use. I get to reuse newsprint and telephone books, so I suppose that makes these pieces partly green. I begin with a clay model. The clay I use is 'Sculpey'. I never bake it, so I can keep using the same clay over and over. Once finished, a plaster mold is made.
My molds have been coming out beautifully. I then use vaseline as my release, although I would love to hear any other suggestions as to what I could switch to. Vaseline tends to leave a stain, but so far I like the imperfection of the stains.The mold is filled with the paper mache pulp. I usually apply three layers, allowing each layer to dry. After about 4 to 5 days I can pull the piece.The piece is rough and imperfect and I have to fill in some holes and do lots of sanding, but again, this is what I love and I am finding virtue in the flaw.Once sanded, I accentuate the features with a black water color pencil. I know this is totally different from the cloth Art Dolls I make, but my style is still present and lives on. I hope you all are liking these. They are allowing me far more ways to express my own deep emotional state.