day 49-exploring the neighborhood

It's time to get back to the journey. Not that I ever left, but I haven't offered up any thoughts on where I'm going or how I'm going to get there lately so here you have it.

Here's an excerpt from my notes from a while ago:

1. exploring the local neighborhood

1. collect scrap wood from the garage, tin roofing, card board, foam core, buttons, found objects, plaster gauze, more 
2. create miniature “house” and “barn” pieces to be used later
3. experiment with materials

What I mean by all of this is, make art using what is immediately available. Personally, I've been using cardboard and scraps of anything and everything from around the studio to create those sweet characters. And instead of making miniature houses and barns, I think I'm going to expand on that to create miniature campers as well. I just love the idea of the teardrop.

Yesterday I started building a birch tree and today I need to paint it. I also started a pine tree out of cardboard and it needs it's plaster gauze and paint/collage. While I originally intended to over simplify my house and barn theme to it's minimalist roots, today I'm thinking of creating a cottage a la Baba Yaga. Read about Baba Yaga here.

from Slavic Folklore and Dreaming

All of these pieces I'm doing seem to be combinations of slavic/southern/native american themes that keep swirling around in the noggin. I suppose the cottage will be similar.

found this pic online of a colorful home in the Ukraine.

I'm also working on creating environments for these figures and yesterday I thought about a nighttime landscape inside of a box with a large bear on the top that embodies Ursa Major/Minor. 
Obviously I've got a ton of work to accomplish. 

guide book: How can you reduce the main theme of your artwork to it’s bare essence? What do you have in your immediate environment from which to create a piece of art exemplifying your theme?

“home” work~ create a piece of art using found objects and cardboard. 

Looks like I've got a busy day ahead and I haven't even walked the pony, I mean the puppy yet. 

Enjoy your day folks. Be true to yourself!

staci