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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Art, Apples and Fairy Houses

Yesterday I played with japanese papers, paint and wax. My favorite is the ghoulish lady above; I like to think of her as a consumptive poet. Feverish color in her cheeks and poor handwriting. I love how the pictures talk to you as you work.

She needed a sister and so she got one.

Then I went to school and played in wax some more. I think I've figured out the difference between using a torch and a heat gun on the wax. I have more control with the flame from the torch - it's like the difference between painting with a small detail brush and a big sloppy one.

Here is my magnum opus. It's the first one John hasn't made the pickle face over. That's progress.

The farmer has an art project of his own going on outside. He's building a home for our firewood. It is 27' x 10' and already I am coveting it to store my stuff in. He ordered the roofing today. I love a man who knows how to build things. I've learned so much from him. On our first date he picked me up in a '55 black Ford pickup and HE brought the picnic lunch of fried chicken and strawberries. (we went fishing and then to Bagby Hot Springs.) He taught me where the rainbow trout hide (behind the riffles) and I pretended like I was an old fisherwoman from a 'way back instead of the thoroughly sissy city girl that I am. He saw right through me and loved my charade. Ahh, sorry. I digressed.

Here's the little conestoga wagon (actually a cloche) bearing the peppers across the prairie - I mean the garden. Our peppers are still ripening inside. They don't know it's clammy and cold outside their little home.

Autumn brings the blooms of the Maxamillion Sunflowers. Multiple heads among the blue salvia. The flowers would look beautiful in a pumpkin vase if I were the sort that fussed. Instead I'll just take a picture of them and call it good.

The walnut orchard ready for the yearly visitation of the crow-angels. I love crows. Don't you ever be sayin' bad things about crows. They know things. I especially love their piercing cry.

Here are the fairy houses I promised you. Growing under the Douglas Firs in an area of the yard that is most like a forest floor. Don't the roofs look like shingles? Tiny yurts for fairies.

And these too. Our yard is full of mushrooms. If I were a real witch I would know which ones to cook up with the eyes of newt and frogs. Blech. No worry. I would never cook a frog.

Boxes of apples. This is autumn to me. Dodging the spider webs, gathering in the apples and pumpkins, readying all for winter. The veil between the worlds grows thinner and thinner. For the next few days we in the northern hemisphere can expect visitations and spirits and spooky business too. Hope you're enjoying the fun.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the firewood storage but an art hideout/clubhouse would be good too there. :) I also like seeing your encaustic artwork because the thought of heat other than a glue gun sort of scares me. All of your art is so beautiful. Happy Halloween.

Ro Bruhn said...

Another bountiful harvest in the garden and the studio. I love the paintings, so loose and free.
You could rent out your wood shelter for accommodation. Great photos, thanks for sharing Judy.
Ro
xo

Seth said...

Can I just say that your table is a work of art! And "magnum opus" is fantastic too.

Pam Aries said...

I love the idea ! Your art is awesome! (awesome is a way overused word,I know! )

Anonymous said...

I think I like the sister art piece the best...no wait, I like the ghoulish girl...no, no...wait...I like the table the best!

Bridgette Guerzon Mills said...

it's like the difference between painting with a small detail brush and a big sloppy one

hmmm, interesting...i felt dangerous when I used a torch! :)
I'll have to give it a go again. I learned a great trick from Patricia Seggebruch using a torch and shellac.

Anonymous said...

i am SHOCKED and AWED by your latest work. dig john's woodshed, the shingled mushroom urts, every flower and leaf in that fiarytale garden.

Diane said...

What a post Judy. As always, you make me dream with my eyes wide open.....

Anonymous said...

I love that you just painted her a sister...I have always wanted a sister, but never thought to just paint one. ;-)

is there ever a time at your house when there isn't something very exciting and fun going on? ;-) lovely! xo

katie said...

thank you for the romp through your studio and garden...peek out your window...do you see me out there,running barefoot, playing hide-and-seek with the fairies and gouls?...
xo

Anita said...

I found your blog at http://rosa-josies.blogspot.com/....
What a beautiful place you have! And your artwork is fabulous! I'm glad I stopped by!

Gwen said...

everything.is.so.beautiful! This is a post rich in so many things, love the fairy houses, and the paintings, and those sunflowers among the blue salvia.

You are making me want to try encaustic...

Becky Mairi Farrell said...

Wow you've been busy since I was last here. I love what you're doing with the shellac, it makes me want to play too. Atm I'm up to my eyes in lizards but once that's done I'm going to have a go. What materials do you use when you carve your rubber stamps? I mean, what do you carve them into? I think I'm going to do some experiments with some small pieces of lino.

Karen Cole said...

Gotta try that torch thingy!!

Tara's Art Camp said...

what a nice blog entry, thanks for a little glimpse into your world.

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva said...

the wax work is getting so good...the sisters are wonderful...wow to have a man who can make things...i am jealous...the sunflowers magnificient...blessings, rebecca

Barbara said...

in our area we have the "roof"mushrooms and i love these ones . My mother cooked this mushrooms like a Wiener Schnitzel. Only one have had a place in our pan because the mushrooms are so big.

Amy Stoner said...

I love your new encaustic piece you shared - and that work table covered in wax makes me swoon. Ooh, I love it. I will just HAVE to take that class at a later time. I was just worried about all the fumes and pigments and the baby and so I waited. oh well.

Hope you get time to play in your studio. have fun!

Anonymous said...

Gosh what a post. Love the art, and the nature. I grew up on a walnut orchard and your photo stirred a longing in me.

Diane Duda said...

Everybody needs a sister!
Yours are beautiful!!!

Anonymous said...

I really like your consumptive poet. My mind started to reel with stories about her. When did she live? where did she live? was she sent to Italy like Keats with the belief the Mediterrian's climate was healing? Did she suffer in silence or was she admired by the romantic mythos of consumption as a by product of passion?; or cast away to live in solitude with her sister? As you can tell, your work always inspires me to look beyond the surface. :D

Robin White said...

What a wonderful blog to stumble onto...another crazy artist like me, who's heart is bursting forth with colors and creativity! I read your article on blogging Judy...and now..I must blog! Thank you Thank you Thank you for for taking the time to let us in on your real life fantasy!
Robin in Austin

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Gosh! "Tiny yurts for fairies." Did you know, Miz Judy, that fairies lived in my underwear drawer when I was a little girl? I remember them as if they were real (maybe they were). They were only about 3 inches tall, with beautiful hair and amazingly delicate wings. I even had clothes for them, which I remember dressing them in. I also changed them into nightclothes before I put them to bed each night. No one knew about them but me. I think that was the condition by which they stayed. The only way I can explain it now is that I either had an overactive imagination, brought on by an achingly lonesome childhood, or they were real. I choose to believe they were real. :-)