plaster landscapes

I love plaster. And especially plaster bandage. I haven't been working with it for awhile but lynne hoppe's recent foray into plaster bandage on muslin inspired me to muck about with something similar...plaster bandage on muslin, rubbed with chalk pastels. These close-ups are a lot more interesting than the finished pieces. They remind me of miniature plaster landscapes.

mask

I generally don't like masks. They scare me a bit. But I like making mask forms from plaster. I love the process. That element of trust and contemplation while under the plaster and the feeling of re-birth as it is peeled off. Once I have a mask I have little desire to embellish it. I like to leave them white...not so scary. But in the attempt to prepare for a mask-making workshop I am giving in October, I decided to do something with one of my white masks. I collaged it with some of the paper I had prepared in Haliburton and added a few extra elements. Here's the result. A little creepy I think...but I have only myself to blame :)

soulful vessels

Inspired by my plaster "clot" forms which I experimented with in February, I decided to try something bigger. I ended up with these soulful vessels and I am in love with them. I could photograph them for hours!

reliquaries new and old

I participated in a local studio tour this past weekend and made a few new reliquary pieces. I thought I'd show them here over the next few days with some of my older pieces.

shout (2009), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, plaster bandage, ink, thread

shout (detail)

tenuous abundance (2007), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, thread

tenuous abundance (detail)

contained no more (2008), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper

contained no more (detail)

sanguine yearning

Red Alert - Week 1 opens today. The vernissage (opening) will be the evening of Valentine's Day. I've called my piece sanguine yearning. Sanguine refers to blood but also to optimism and confidence. I will refrain from saying what the piece means to me. My hope is that it will evoke personal associations and emotional responses from those who view it.

clotting

Motivated by Red Alert, an upcoming red-themed exhibition in which I am one of the participants, I've been mucking about with plaster bandage and sanguine ink. I started to experiment and ended up creating what I have come to consider as small clots, but they are essentially nests or vessels (of course!). Below are some glimpses of my materials and process. The show opens in a few days and I will post some photographs of my finished piece when it is done. I'm always finished at the eleventh hour...