Tag: light

Rousseau 1:12 Mural First Cuts

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palm01_cut

I sketched out and constructed a palm plant motif in Illustrator, then reversed a copy of it to make the most of the painted papers.

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Here are my first cuts of the pattern from two of the painted papers, flung onto the wall. I was working against the losing of the light (because hey, Game of Thrones). They will work splendidly as a middle background layer, when arranged.

Still undecided how I will stick them down.

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It took me a couple of cuts to get it right, but here is what a (partial) painted paper looks like after four passes of cutting. Still plenty of material for hand cutting parts available.

 

Albie, Yucca, Frustration

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This is Albie, absorbing the morning sun through the studio sliding doors. Our large middle cat, he is a handsome warm inky black, and very difficult to photograph. This one has zero interest in destroying miniatures.

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Re-working the Modern Miniature Succulents + Sundries set a bit. I built a corner planter for specimens, and glued in one yucca tree with the new, narrower leaves. For the rest, I want to keep the plantings fluid and easy to change out, so I devised a kind of armature on the stalks of rolled brown paper for elevation. They are planted to the floor with tacky wax.

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Here’s how it looks planted out, and with other plants massed around, like a typical nursery.

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Still experimenting with colorways on the different stocks. This is the original shape leaf cluster in medium green, with leaf and pine markers. After the glue is set, the leaves are separated and arrayed.

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Here is a similar leaf cluster, scored down the middle with the back of an Xacto knife. it makes it into a whole other plant.

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Here they are side-by-side. So much potential!

And now for the frustration rant: Cricut has released a new version of their Design Space app that has inexplicably broken my SVG files — the format for my drawings used to cut all these shapes. I have been in close contact with their support staff for the last two weeks, but no answers, fixes or workarounds yet. I even abandoned Firefox for Google Chrome. It is all very tedious, time wasting and — frustrating.

Alcatraz Afternoon

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alcatraz_model

There’s a 1:87 scale model of Alcatraz Island at Pier 33. (You can get a good overview of the model in this video made by Family Travel Fun.) The guard tower in the dock area was especially well done.

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Poking around the island and its buildings is a compelling and visceral history lesson. This trip I became interested in the textures of decay. Here is a light on the Electrical Repair Shop, just past the Guardhouse and Sally Port.

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An interior light switch in the New Industries Building.

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A map of peeling paint on a cement support column.

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Overseen by pipes, velveted in rust.

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There was a new art installation in the New Industries Building, but I found this partial view more interesting.

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A busted sink and commode. And pipes.

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Closer to the sink. It looks friendly.

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Looking north towards Marin, the remains of the Post Exchange, built in 1910, as a general store for soldiers and their families. (When Alcatraz became a federal prison in 1934, the PX was converted into a recreation hall and officer’s club, with a dance floor, gymnasium, two-lane bowling alley and soda fountain.) It was destroyed in a fire in 1970.

The quotation on May’s welcome page, “New ideas need old buildings” is from Jane Jacobs.

Decorations, Sketchbook

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stormy_ball_garland.jpg

The latest issue of the newsletter Cut, Fold+Make is out. If you missed this month, the sign up is over on the right. It’s a short curated list of ideas and links that inspire and support creative practice.

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There’s a fun suggestion for a miniature paper garland, and first looks at the new sketchbook kit.

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Possibly what’s most adorable is the ephemera pocket on the inside back cover. They’re  available as kits now over at MMS+S in iconic black cover, kraft, as well as the Warm colorway (orange, yellow and gray) of the Office Essentials line of organizers.

It is spring!

 

Where I’m At

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Between my good fortune of building MagnaTiles by the first warm light of morning with a four-year-old adept…

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… and extended bouts of staring at the walls, change is ahand and afoot here in Nancyland, in the best possible way. The Office Essentials suite of kits over at MMS+S is still imminent, plus of course I still keep thinking up more essentials — the quintessential journal?! — and wait, a graceful, worthwhile pencil cup! But, and so you see. However. The newest edition of the inspirational newsletter Cut, Fold + Make is about to be released, and I think the wee pencil cup plans will be the giveaway. Please sign up if you’ve not already.

You know that feeling of being drawn in several different directions, all good, all at once? A bounty of opportunity and satisfaction. I choose this way :)

Same As It Ever Was

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The late night sorties continue, despite my best defenses.

alice

This just made me laugh out loud; she so looks like Alice in Wonderland/Grace Slick doing “One pill makes you larger, and…”

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Zilly and Stormy continue to meet up after work, and are really enjoying getting to know one another. Here they are, chatting away, sitting on what I refer to as the “floral footstools of anxiety”. It’s got nothing to do with them, and is a story for perhaps another time? The fabric, however, is fabulous: “London Calling” from Studio RK for Robert Kaufman. I want to reupholster everything in it.

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For my birthday I purchased a set of lenses for my iPhone from Photojojo. I’ve not had much time to purposely explore them — it’s not even quite my birthday yet— but here are a few snapshots.

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I was most interested in the macro and telephoto, but could not resist the fisheyes and filter lenses. Above is EC01 Echeveria, looking fabulous larger than miniature life-size.

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These are very lively moss flowers, less than a half-inch tall, growing on the backyard retaining wall, as seen through the macro lens. Who know spores had EYES?!

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And here is either the fisheye or super fisheye, good for laughs and turning one’s home into a hobbit-hole. In the foreground are the lens boxen. I heartily recommend!

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I’m about to go south, and then north, for a couple of days. I wrote and photographed the instructions and listing for the first of the MMS+S Office Essentials, in colorway “Warm” today, but will hold off actually listing them at MMS+S until I return and have a chance to kit and document the whole series.

The south part is to my family in Santa Cruz, and the north part is to a *very* special tour my delightful husband has managed to arrange, of a very special archive of amazing artifacts, all housed on a fairyland ranch that is so sprawling and gorgeous it takes one’s breath away. (And/or, is typically Northern Californian.) Happy birthday to me, and all the March babies!

Shade Concept

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Inspired by the bicycle basket of Almira Gulch, I’m happily exploring different size weavers on the 1/16-inch paper spokes loom. (Wait, please click the link. Years ago I had a boyfriend who would hum this song whenever he thought I was being too crabby. It still makes me smile.)

Anyway. This is made with eighth-inch weavers. The shade is 1.5 inches in diameter, supported by two interior rims, cut from cardboard and covered in cardstock.

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Here you can see the intriguing patterns cast when light shines through the structure. Considering that the flat weave is made from two rectangular shapes, the effects of layering and light are interesting. (I don’t know why my thumb looks like a misshapen grub.)

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I’m also working a 3/32-inch weave. That’s one less than an eighth. Finer.

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Hard to compare the eighth-inch weave because of the curvature, but maybe squint your eyes? Don’t yet know which I prefer.

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Light shining through. So pretty! I see now that I’d move the lower rim to the very bottom of the shade. Undecided if additional trim is warranted. Next I will fiddle with a top thingy to channel the wires (I picture this as a hanging lamp). Don’t think I’ll mess at all with a harp, as it all seems so particular to the kind of bulb one is using.

Lightists, now is when I would *love* if you’d chime in and tell me all the things I’m missing and should consider. I’m just here watching the Miss Gulch clip a few more times :)