There has been huge improvement lately in the spider making process and I’m making a lot of them. They are still pretty labor intensive but not nearly as much as before.
The friendly spiders ( most of them are friendly) will be in the shop next week with a lot of other things I’m working on now, if you are on my mailing list I will let you know when the new things are available.
Some owls in progress with their horns in curlers; I’ll finish and name them over the weekend. And a havisham spider, the first thing made from the ghostly ballgown .
Have a lovely weekend and if you are in NYC checkout Heat Waves in a Swamp: The Paintings of Charles Burchfield – it’s wonderful and this is the last weekend.
This edwardian ballgown arrived recently – it’s incredibly fragile and delicate – much of it disintegrates when I touch it but there is still tons of usable and inspiring stuff. I spent the better part of a day photographing and examining it and then taking it apart. I found a label in the sleeve that says B. Altman & Co. NEW YORK; it is one of my all time favorite garments and reminds me of the very first antique gown, or really pieces of a gown, that inspired my very first birds. I didn’t photograph the gown, I so wish I had, but I still have two of the birds and I’ll show them to you soon.
I’m making a havisham spider from it today, if I finish it before the light goes I’ll post another picture.
I picked up a piece of an old fountain glass on dead horse beach earlier this summer ( I have lots of other treasures to show you soon) , it’s edges are soft and the surface is frosted – all seaglassed out. I think the shape is interesting, it’s lovely in general and makes an ideal toothpick dispenser – I use a ton of tooth picks for various tiny paint and glue situations.
The little tornado we had last week knocked out my internet and I’m using my neighbor’s wifi ( I asked). The signal comes and goes, everything interweb related is taking me forever but it is a perfect opportunity to sew bats ( which also takes forever) while I wait for shipping labels and other stuff to load, it (almost) completely eliminates the frustration.
And birds and spiders too.
*This week will be the last opportunity to order sweethearts for a while – I won’t be able to take new orders for the next few weeks (I will still be adding ready made sweethearts occasionally). I will stop taking sweetheart orders on August 20th.
I’ve just put Barnabas in the shop and there are also some new spiders –
and new pirates, campers and corsage girls.
miss bird says hello
I think the headless bodies are kind of creepy – a band of mindless marauders.
** And also- this is so up my alley – maybe yours too- tonight on PBS: “Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World”
“A fantastic sea adventure, a cautionary economic and environmental tale, and a mythic saga of man and nature, INTO THE DEEP: AMERICA, WHALING & THE WORLD will premiere on the PBS series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 9PM.”
Thanks to everyone who turned up at last weeks shop update ( part 2 later this week) -things went quickly and if you were disappointed there will be more very soon, I’m already working on several new owls and spiders and bats including another bad owl.
He’s made from the backing of an antique crazy quilt I’ll show you later on and bits of several garments.
I’ve gotten several really old black garments lately.
I think the lace cuffs are going to be spiders.
The weekend was beautiful, the park is blooming and it’s spectacular.
The spider and owl (orlando) will both be in the shop later this week along with lots of other new things. I’ll continue to post previews here as I get the new stuff photographed. I’ve been in extreme busyness for weeks, not in a miserable way, but definitely too much and I’m looking forward to slowing down a little and having time to work on some new things and ideas and I have some interesting garments and flea market things to show you too.
“all the world’s a stage”
“A woman drew her long black hair out tight And fiddled whisper music on those strings And bats with baby faces in the violet light Whistled, and beat their wings’ – T.S.Eliot
I love it when there’s a label.
I’m curious about Mrs. F. C. Brown and what she was up to in 1917. Her skirt is very sensible with pockets and a modest train. The fabric is fabulous.
* note on the photo- I’m not giant, the chair is mini – I got it at the flea market a couple weeks ago.
It was fun to try on and I was surprised by how good it felt, the way it moved, the pleasant weight of it and how the little train felt behind me, it isn’t in wearable condition though, and I probably shouldn’t add “wears period clothes” to what I already have going on anyway. I’m going to make a collection of things from it, the first is a mrs. brown spider.
