KARABOUTS

I made a teapot

I've been taking pottery classes at The Educational Alliance Art School.  My teacher is Lynn Goodman and she's terrific.  She had everyone in the class making bowls, cups and mugs in no time.

Once I was able to make an assortment of shapes, I decided to make a teapot.  

First I went to the wheel and threw the body, a spout and a lid.

After the pieces dried to a leather hard stage, I did some trimming to shape them up.

Then I cut a hole in the bowl of the teapot and attached the spout.  I also added lugs to hold a handle.

After bisque firing I added glaze to decorate the teapot and make it waterproof.

 After the final firing I attached a bamboo handle I ordered from bigceramicstore.com.

Now the teapot sits on my shelf waiting for you to come over for tea.

 

 

 

 

Rothko Rug

What do abstract artist Mark Rothko and former letter turner Vanna White have in common?  Probably not much but I've managed to unite them in my latest crochet project - a rug based on a painting by Mark Rothko made out of Vanna White's acrylic yarn.  Rothko's painting sold for $72.84 million at Sotheby's.  Vanna's yarn sells for $3.99 at Michael's Crafts.

Here's the painting:

And here's the rug:

To make this rug I used a technique called wiggly crochet that I learned from Susan Lowman.  If you're interested in learning how to make a wiggly crochet rug of your own I suggest you order this excellent booklet written by Susan.

This rug is so pretty I may just hang it on the wall (and someday sell it for either $72.84 million or $3.99). 

 

Something Pretty

Norwegian Black Metal

Our latest amigurumi is a Norwegian black metal guy.  Norwegian black metal is a music movement.  Its artists wear corpse paint.  They have bullet belts, spiked gauntlets, combat boots, and inverted pentagrams to show their anti-religious stance.  I've included all of those things on this guy.  I also gave him a little flying v guitar so that he can play you a song before he burns down your church.

 
His bullet belt is made out of silver beads strung together with yarn.  His arm spikes are #12 cut tacks I spray painted silver.  His pentagram was sold to me as a pentacle earring by a nice Wiccan named Stacey.

Some of the photos I used as inspiration for this amigurumi were taken by the wonderfully talented photographer Peter Beste.  You can see some Peter's stunning photos of the black metal scene here and you can buy his beautiful book "True Norwegian Black Metal" here.

One of the hardest parts of this project was making the flying v guitar.  I've never played a guitar (Mike's the musician) so I had no idea how big guitars are.  My first ones were way too small.  Mike had to print out a bunch of photos from the internet of people playing a flying v so that I could get an idea of the relative scale of man vs guitar.

 
 After several attempts I got one that I liked.

The body and neck are crocheted but the pickguard is made from gray wool felt.  The volume knobs are silver studs meant to be used for "bedazzling."   The tuners are silver beads, and the frets are made with embroidery floss. 

We photographed our black metal guy today at Green-wood cemetery in Brooklyn.  It's a beautiful place.  You should go.

As always, Mike took care of the photography.  Here are a few of his fabulous, fabulous shots.

 

 

 

UPDATE:  Chuck and Shove over at Doomed to Live just posted some great homemade videos of black metal silliness.  These crack me up.  Shove also made an adorable little black metal amigurumi of her own!

In front of the computer

Today I spent all day in front of the computer - PAINTING in front of the computer.

 

I'm taking an oil painting class at the LES Educational Alliance. My teacher is Chris Wright. 

For our final project we could do anything we wanted so I decided to take a stab at recreating Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring.  Today I did an underpainting in burnt sienna and white.  

On friday in class I'll add color.
  
 

 

 

Clay!

My nephew Will wants modeling clay for Christmas so today I went to the art store and got him a few bricks of a nice non-drying variety.  Of course I had to get a brick of clay for myself as well.  Me with clay is like a teenager with a video game.  I am TOTALLY OBSESSED!!!  I want to lock myself in the office and make stuff out of clay until the sun comes up.  Luckily/unluckily I have a husband to keep me sane so I can't seriously indulge in this clay-obsessive-behavior.  But I did manage to get in a few "clay rabbit people" before Mike made me clear off the coffee table so that we could eat dinner.  (I think you can click on the image for a bigger view.)

I took this photo with my NEW CAMERA that Mike got me for Christmas.  It's a Canon S90.  It's way too nice for me - but I love it.  (It was a top pick from Wired Magazine.)   I haven't had a new camera since 2004 so this is almost as exciting as clay!!!!
 

Bold as Love

Yesterday when Mike and I went to pick up the keys to our new apartment, we walked by some nice art in the Broadway Windows (Broadway at East 10th Street).   The show is called "Bold as Love".   It's by the artist Adam Parker Smith.  The work is basically a bunch of creepy heads impaled on wooden sticks.  The heads are made of felt and held together with pins. Even the blood spatters are felt. It's really kind of extraordinary. It makes me want to do something with felt!  If you're in the city, go check it out.

Note: The above photos are from a New York Times article entitled Humble Fabric Takes Center Stage.