Feet of clay

What you've been seeing as support for this figure is the modeling stand that I use for all the figures. This particular one asked me for feet and in fulfilling her request I think that she may need to be suspended for presentation-

Now that she has feet, she's become part of the dance, which I am pretty sure was her intention all along.

I'm of two minds (unsurprisingly) on the position of her feet. I like seeing her heels pointed at each other, but once she is suspended, I'm thinking that it might be better for them to arc out behind her as if she were in flight, or caught just before leaping.

One more step in the journey

While Paula is busily configuring a body for the bonticool head, I am finishing the two minds figure (see its virgin appearance a couple of posts ago) I am chronicling its progress here. I've managed to tack on a collar around the neckline of the body and put a coat of primer on the body parts. My initial thought was to stain the primer and warm it up a bit, but I have to admit to being really seduced by the white velvety surface as it stands.

After getting the collar on and dry fitting the heads to the body, it needed some kind of interaction between body and heads. I love the thread trailers on the body, it speaks to both of our attractions to simple line and adds another dimension of scale without being fussy. So, I added some Paula magic (as supplied to me in a bag of stuff and bodies) and affixed some crazy curly wire- it helped but was still a little too unrelated-

I added the tiny green leaves this morning-

It's getting magical.

Bonticool

In an effort to maintain my title of collaborator with Paula, my hero- I had to grow another head.

Our plan, as it has unfolded, has been to supply each other with heads and bodies, respectively, (heads/ me and fabric bodies/Paula) and see what happens- I've been playing catch up ever since.

I have several bodies, one that has all its parts (but not finished) as seen in an earlier post, and more that have clearly spoken to me that I have not yet translated. So, this heavily Lee Bonticou inspired head, will be the first head that Paula will be translating. In true Paula/Jean style we have already emailed back and forth with the pretty much the same ideas for her finishing.

I think we are taking "making friends" to a new level.

Stop and sniff the thistles

As some of my friends recently reminded me, the time to do things is now. I have been looking at these thistles on the side of road for a week and thinking that I really need to stop and photograph them. So, I did.

The light was not exactly right, the conditions were not optimum -but here it is and I'm celebrating.

Now, for the rest of that list...

I wish the impetus for this destruction of fear and procrastination was not so jarring or that it would not require such personal drastic rewiring on my part. From the outside it would not seem to be such a big deal to do what is in front of you, to exercise your passions or to say how you feel. But I am out of practice.

The biggest reason for this sudden attack of vulnerability and mortality was that one of those reminding friends recently suffered a stroke. So, I am feeling small in the face of that enormity and trying to deal with the fact that this personal rewiring job of mine, that I let overwhelm me most of the time, is so very, very minor.

Reward

Gardening has its own rewards, but none better than the beauty of the tools at the end of the season.