In January, I entered the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana’s Miniatures show. Each piece could be no larger than 2″ in any direction.
My piece is called “In Error”. It is a 2″ square of pencils cut to different lengths but none over 2″. They are arranged with the erasers pointed out.
I used old pencils whose erasers are in varying stages of petrification. Some were from vintage pencils, and some were from cheap, new pencils. All of this makes them even more varied and interesting.
My second piece for the Art Noir show at the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana was inspired by my cat Shamoo who died in December 2017. It is titled “Shamoo Was a Good Cat”.
For the piece, I wove some of his whiskers together to make an interesting shape. I had collected these whiskers as they fell out naturally and he left them around the house. My piece partly references the Victorian practice of braiding locks of a loved one’s hair after they died and then turning them into jewelry to use to remember that person.
The whiskers are suspended by a thread and hang in front of a whirling frame of black odds and ends. The collection includes vintage buttons, strings of beads, fake flowers, and cicada shells that I painted black.
The entire piece is enclosed behind glass in a shadowbox.
The piece is all in black and white, taking inspiration from the theme of the show. To me, it seemed fitting for a mourning piece. It is also perfect that Shamoo was a black and white cat.
One of the best compliments I have received about my art is that my style is “quirky conceptualism”. This is a good example of that.
This piece won third place in the 2D category. At first I was surprised that it was included with the 2D art, but now I think it’s pretty neat.
I haven’t posted anything in my art blog for over a year! That doesn’t mean I haven’t been making art, though most of what I’ve done has been photography for my job at Patchwork Central and for my garden blog. I’ve also been expanding my art garden environment, and I’ll share more on that in the future.
Recently, I’ve had a couple deadlines to inspire me to create some sculptures for exhibit. I’ve got inspiration tucked throughout my studio space. My inspiration makes an interesting photo, too.
I’ve been working on this series of little birds made out of parts of toys, broken jewelry, an old fur coat, and a few other scraps of things.
I’m working on a display for them next, and a name will come later as well, but they are fun little guys, so I tool photos of them individually before combining them into something bigger. They’re a work in progress.
Click on any of the images below to get a closer look.
Here’s the line up:
Bird A:
Bird B:
Bird C:
Bird D:
Bird E:
Shots in the snow at a less-complete stage:
And at the beginning stages when you could see what they’re made of:
They move in a sweet and wonderful way that, unfortunately, can’t really be part of the final display. While I was photographing them, I noticed the way the wind would catch them and make them bob. Here’s a sample with chirping birds in the background:
In June when we needed a last minute guest artist to lead sculpture week at Patchwork Central (where I normally work as Co-Director), I was happy to jump in. I enjoyed interacting with the Arts & Smarts participants in a way that was different than I usually do. They were wonderful students.
We created fabric people. For our materials we pulled clothing out of Patchwork’s small clothing bank and used them in addition to the regular art supplies that have been donated to the Arts & Smarts program. I’ve done this project with many groups now, but each time I lead it, things go in new and interesting directions. This time around, each sculpture became a fleshed out character and its creator wrote its backstory.
On the last day of the class, we went around the room and everyone shared the story behind their character. It became a wonderful storytelling circle in which everyone was encouraged and celebrated. It was wonderful.
Below is a slideshow of the art that was created. If you click on an image, you’ll be able to read the story that accompanied it.
Amy Rich 