Kind of Strange

Just thought I’d post an updated shot of the bone mask.  Still plenty to be done to it, but the overall concept is starting to come together.  It’s actually wearable now, with straps made from thrift store salvage belts, snaps and a bit of wire rigging.

Lazily shot on my hallway carpet.  Surprisingly the cat is nowhere to be found.

I’ve been in a bit of a creative lull for a while now for various reasons.  I have a lot of half finished pieces that I need to finalize, but haven’t been able to get into the right state of mind to dedicate myself to them.  It’s coming back, just a tad on the slow side. 

While I’ve resigned myself to never being a great illustrator, I do like to doodle. It tends to help kick my brain back into the right mode for making things.  It’s not always fruitful, I draw a lot of random crap that will never see the light of day, but it’s cathartic and helps kick start my more physical creativity tinkerings.

Here’s a doodle from last night.  He’s nothing all that special, but I like him.

Click for embiggened image. (opens in new window)

Apologies for the lack of updates recently.  My lovely new laptop decided that working beyond 3 weeks from date of purchase was just too much strain for it to handle.  While I’m working on getting it sorted within the next few days, I’ve been tech deprived at home for a few weeks now save for my non-image-editing OLPC.

Some good updates coming shortly! (…I hope)

I’ve had a request for a larger shot of Late Spring.

While not necessarily a new image, here is the original image in a larger format, which gives a slightly better picture of the detail and overall color.

Behind the cut due to general bandwidth hoggery…

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Reminder:  I will be at Crypticon Seattle at the DoubleTree hotel this weekend shilling my wares.  Look for me at a table full of the leather masks of the mad genius behind TormentedArtifacts. 

Two more work-in-progress shots of pieces from the upcoming Naturalist series.

“Late Spring” - Hand painted with bright green, gold, antiqued gold and black.  Detailed shots coming after I finalize the top and coat the center section with some matte poly.

Currently unnamed - a modification on an earlier design. 

With the addition of my foredom, I’m now able to drill through stone!  I had initially purchased some round, pre-drilled stones for use in this series. After trying them out, I found their shape was far too refined and overly symmetrical for the sort of style I’m trying to accomplish.

I’ve been working with a few pieces that will eventually make up a new series in the Order of the Bone line.  Currently called ‘The Naturalist’ line, though that name is not yet set in stone.

Squirrel jawbone, very thin brass wire and some manner of very brittle maroon and black stone.

Still to do:

• Replace chain with soft, beige leather necklace
• Stain small sections of the jawbone on either side
• Possibly add a small brass charm on top of the stone
• Take better pictures with real lighting, rather than the ‘it’s 1am, tired and can’t be bothered with appropriate lighting’ effect 

Working on a few new pieces tonight, one far enough along in the process to share a first look.

The copper spiral will be shaped, hammered and buffed to be a bit more flat before the leaf charm is attached, and the brass wire bits will be wrapped up and sealed.  That was an exercise in patience as the brass wire is one continuous piece, hand threaded and wrapped.

More images to follow as it wraps up.

Also experimenting with more natural materials in other pieces, so more images to follow soon. 

Happy Fox Steals the Moon has been sold! 

I am both happy and a little sad to see him go.  I know he’s going to a good home though, so that certainly mitigates the majority of the protective twitching I get when I sell something and have to let it go.