Exquisite Corpse

I can't show you what I have been making lately, as it is for the school play...perhaps I can post some production stills later...

But I can post some links to my most current writing. I recently reviewed the book Exquisite Corpse by Mark Nelson and Sarah Hudson Bayliss. It is about the connections between surrealism and the Black Dahlia murder. It combines my two interests of art and forensic science. You can read that review in its entirety HERE.

But here is an excerpt, or an amuse bouche if you will :

The authors of Exquisite Corpse, Mark Nelson and Sarah Hudson Bayliss, posit an extremely interesting hypothesis: that the murderer of the "Black Dahlia" was inspired by, and intimately involved with, the surrealist art movement. This in and of itself is an extraordinary claim, which unfortunately relies on too many layers of assumptions and suppositions to be held truly credible in anything but the realm of pure theory.

The core of the text makes the basic assumption that the murderer of Elizabeth Short, a.k.a. The Black Dahlia,was George Hodel. This information is relied upon as if it were fact in this book, which unfortunately, it is not. There is one major source that proposes Hodel is the Black Dahlia killer, and that is his own son, Steve Hodel. Exquisite Corpse fully hangs its hat on this idea of Hodel being the killer. If this were not the case, their hypothesis would crumble like the walls of Jericho. Once one buys the idea of Hodel as the killer (largely based on the presence of two pictures of a pretty, young unidentified woman in a Hodel family photo album, which Steve Hodel identifies as Elizabeth Short, frankly, I don't see the resemblance), then the connections to the surrealist movement can be made.....

Superhero

I love fun silly saturday morning time wasters. Here is my newest one, the HEROMACHINE.

I have generated two alterego's for myself:

The Lab Girl:

Has the ability to...

• Prepare lessons at lightning speeds
• Implant info in students' brains telepathically
• Blast the occasional jerk with a "Behaviour Modification Ray"
• Fold time for grading purposes
• Look fabulous Doing it
• Repel stains and evildoers with her Lab Coat of Majesty

The Good Girl Mary

Has the ability to:

• Create something from nothing
• Whip onery felt into shape
• Get others to shop Handmade

• Blast the Big Box Stores (metaphorically speaking or course)

• See the good in everything
• Alter space and time to pack more matter than possible by mere physics into a small space
• Blow away creative blocks

You can make your own SUPERHERO at:

http://www.marvelvc.com.br/Hero/

Have fun!

What have I been doing with myself lately?

You might have noticed that I haven't been posting a terrible lot in the recent past. This is because I have been working my little fingers to the bone costuming our Winter Musical. I thought that I would post a couple snaps of one of our latest creations.

This is Miss Marissa, a lovely young student at my school who is playing Lena in our production of "Singing in the Rain." The gown was sewn by my sainted mother and myself. We mostly completed the bodice together in a couple afternoons and one hectic morning during her Christmas-time visit, I then completed the remainder of the dress last weekend. The wig is constructed from two wigs, that are supported with foam inserts and supplemented with flowers, bows, birds and yes a cage.

And this is just the beginning.

Christmas Gifting

So...I haven't been able to show you much of what I have made lately, because it was intended for Christmas gifting, but as a couple of the recipients are in transit and out of range of the possibility of Internet corruption, I can reveal a few of the goodies I put together, but only a few:

I whipped up some felted soaps for stocking stuffers:

I made a gift box of 20 handmade cards for my mother to send. I thought that this would be a nice gift. They tend to be cute, as does she....

....but a few trend to the artsy...

The other goodies I can't show yet! I plead for patience!

Punk hair for babies...cause they don't have any...

I have been busy lately making Christmas stuff and not stuff so much for Etsy. Thus, if I posted photos of the things I have been making I would be giving away the secrets of Christmas gifts. I did, however make a prototype gift of a baby hat with a Mohawk, for all my post-punk parent friends. Unfortunately, I truly screwed up the measurements and the thing fits me. Soooooo, I now have a Mohawk hat, and I still have to make half a dozen of these before the Holiday arrives. This one was supposed to be for a friend's 3 month old boy.

Errrrghhh!

If I had known I was making it for myself, I would have given it a longer crest, and the crest would have been pink. DAMN.

Raw Bones: Felted necklace

This is the "Raw Bones" felted necklace. When I finished the snake, treated it with the acrylic, and cut it, I thought that it looked like uncooked bones....which is kind of creepy to me, being a vegetarian. However, with the little rose quartz spacers and the touch of red coral, it turned out to be quite the engaging necklace. The upward facing side of the cut beads really does frame the face.

Even if it is a little...morbid?

Felt Heirloom Roses

So...I am off the Peonies for a little bit and on to Heirloom Roses. I consider this little guy to be an heirloom rose, cause he is so open. Aren't those the roses we always remember as smelling the best and lasting the longest, even if they were not the most showy in the garden?

This 4 inch wet felted and hand beaded beauty with needle felted details would dress up any ensemble, from a simple black turtleneck, to a blushing pink evening gown. It also looks spectacular in a chignon, and that is why it is convertible from a hair fork mounting to a traditional corsage pin.

I love making these, and I made the flat felt for this over the summer, and had it sitting about for a while waiting for it tell me what it wanted to be. Last night it whispered to me...so I helped it along.