Just did an interview for Tor.com, care of the fabulous Lana Crooks!
Tor Interview
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
the million days of Christmas
Haven't had much time to post in the last month or so - the Holiday shopping season came on fast and furious, and I've been sequestered in the lab cranking out what probably amounts to thousands of bars of soap...
But I did still manage to make 4 new pieces across 2 different Plush shows for December - one in Columbus and one in Chicago.
These are "Verdancy" and"Winter Wanderer", which were shown at Rivet Gallery in Columbus. I tried sculpted antlers for the first time on this guy:
And I sent these two to Chicago - they are titled "Thanks, Grandma" and "Tundra". Tundra sports yet another set of antlers, while the other guy wriggles in an itchy woolen sweater.
I'm really looking forward to Christmas - not necessarily because of the holiday itself, but the small rest period it represents, and the closure of yet another year of Squeaky Queen Laboratory. I usually take a break between Christmas and New Year's Day, where the shop is closed for that week, so I can clean, take inventory, do finances, drink some wine, and just rest up for the next onslaught!
But I did still manage to make 4 new pieces across 2 different Plush shows for December - one in Columbus and one in Chicago.
These are "Verdancy" and"Winter Wanderer", which were shown at Rivet Gallery in Columbus. I tried sculpted antlers for the first time on this guy:
And I sent these two to Chicago - they are titled "Thanks, Grandma" and "Tundra". Tundra sports yet another set of antlers, while the other guy wriggles in an itchy woolen sweater.
I'm really looking forward to Christmas - not necessarily because of the holiday itself, but the small rest period it represents, and the closure of yet another year of Squeaky Queen Laboratory. I usually take a break between Christmas and New Year's Day, where the shop is closed for that week, so I can clean, take inventory, do finances, drink some wine, and just rest up for the next onslaught!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
bye, guys...
Another group of critters is all boxed up, next stop Chicago - at the OhNo!DOOM Gallery!
I really loved making these guys, and I'll miss having their big eyes staring up at me while I work in the studio. I'll be posting more shots of my pieces from this show in the coming week (including the three large pieces I did), but for now, here's a parting shot of the little misfits. Goodbye!
I really loved making these guys, and I'll miss having their big eyes staring up at me while I work in the studio. I'll be posting more shots of my pieces from this show in the coming week (including the three large pieces I did), but for now, here's a parting shot of the little misfits. Goodbye!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Deadnettle
I'll be at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this year, helping man the Rivet Gallery booth. I teamed up with Rivet and made an edition of 13 exclusive, handmade pieces, called Deadnettle. As you can see, he glows in the dark!
More pertinent info can be found on my forum here.
More pertinent info can be found on my forum here.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Black Walnut Dye pt. 1
Yet another chapter in my Urban Homesteading files.
Since I spend a lot of time and experimentation dyeing and staining fabric and paper, I thought I'd try my hand on a very old, very brown, and very smelly type of natural dye. The dye of the Black Walnut. It's colorfast and lightfast, and, as anybody who has these things littering their yard knows, the juice from the green nut-husks is extremely potent and dark, and takes a year to wear off of sidewalks. It's been used as a dyestuff for a very long time.
A friend of mine (and fellow soapmaker) was kind enough to send me a big box of walnuts from her yard. They were a bit dried-out and molded by the time I got to them, but they just need to soak in water to soften up for a bit. Once softened, I used a knife to cut chunks off of the nuts.
Nuts and husk-chunks get tossed in a big pot with some water, to be boiled. The boiling walnuts smell really terrible - not a "bad" smell per se, but a permeating, overly-sweet, cooking squash type of smell. I find it really nauseating.
After a few hours boiling, starting to look nice and dark. Here I am about to throw a handful of rusty nails into the pot - Black Walnuts are a "ferrogallic" dye, and the color deepens with the addition of iron.
After another hour or so, I'm going to turn the burner off and let the whole thing rest for a day or so. Then probably some more boiling, and reducing. I will post more pics as I make more progress.
Since I spend a lot of time and experimentation dyeing and staining fabric and paper, I thought I'd try my hand on a very old, very brown, and very smelly type of natural dye. The dye of the Black Walnut. It's colorfast and lightfast, and, as anybody who has these things littering their yard knows, the juice from the green nut-husks is extremely potent and dark, and takes a year to wear off of sidewalks. It's been used as a dyestuff for a very long time.
A friend of mine (and fellow soapmaker) was kind enough to send me a big box of walnuts from her yard. They were a bit dried-out and molded by the time I got to them, but they just need to soak in water to soften up for a bit. Once softened, I used a knife to cut chunks off of the nuts.
Nuts and husk-chunks get tossed in a big pot with some water, to be boiled. The boiling walnuts smell really terrible - not a "bad" smell per se, but a permeating, overly-sweet, cooking squash type of smell. I find it really nauseating.
After a few hours boiling, starting to look nice and dark. Here I am about to throw a handful of rusty nails into the pot - Black Walnuts are a "ferrogallic" dye, and the color deepens with the addition of iron.
After another hour or so, I'm going to turn the burner off and let the whole thing rest for a day or so. Then probably some more boiling, and reducing. I will post more pics as I make more progress.
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