We've been blessed with glorious sunshine for much of the past few weeks, very unusual for us this time of year when the rain, clouds and darkness normally descend for weeks on end. It has made my usual seasonal depression lift and for me to face the days with energy and excitement. Scrubbing decks, moving firewood, working in the studio, cleaning out more of the garden, cleaning off the driveway...all have seemed doable and have been done.
One thing I have noticed is that when the low winter sun is shining directly in the windows, every piece of dust, every fingerprint, every cat hair shows up on the furniture, on the tables and counters and floor. Housecleaning has seldom risen above the lower rungs of my priorities list (although I love a clean house, I don't want to be the one doing it all), so the newly visible neglect has made me do more cleaning than normal too.
December 1st marks my oldest daughter's birthday as well as letting me know that solstice is just 3 short weeks away! Then the days begin to get longer....Such a relief. At times, I feel like a primitive person must have felt who perhaps did not understand the cycle of the seasons and did not know that spring would return.
Anyway, I have made some time in the studio and here's what's new.
Oops, I should have rotated this I guess, but you get the picture (no pun intended). Remember the large clock face I picked up at the bins a month or so ago...about 15" across. It is replica, a paper face mounted on wood, but with all the appropriate crackling and scratching one might expect on a really old clock face. The dark part is part of resin clock with Roman numerals on it. I used the other part of it in a work that I sold...and I cannot now remember the title. At this point, I have just fastened the rusty metal bar to the clock with bolts.
Here it is, right side up. I still haven't decided how to attach the dark, Roman numeral part of it. On top of the rusty metal piece, you will see a wooden part from a cuckoo clock that also came from the bins, and on the left, an old camera bellows I purchased from friend Tabor (and which is very hard to use because I like it so much!).
In this detail shot, you can see a tiny cuckoo (from the same clock) that I attached to the bellows. Now to figure out how to put it all together and what to put inside that inviting space inside the bellows.
Months ago, I picked up this very old, hand carved loom piece (just the wooden parts without all the other stuff) at the bins. This is the start I am finally making. Oh my, there are those little black plastic finials (thanks, Su...again) fastened on, and that metal curlique I got at my last bins trip seemed just perfect to attach to the bottom (I drilled holes in the wood and wired it on from the back), which I realized the second I got it home and in the studio. Now what?
I found the old wooden oval while rummaging around in the old studio one day. Finally, it seems like this is the place for it. And then we'll see where this all goes....
Oh my, giveaway time again too. Will pick a name and a prize and post that tomorrow, I hope.