I thought I would post much more frequently during the last couple weeks to show the progress. Sorry, but I was exhausted by the evening. Since my last post I was working pretty much round the clock (well, round my clock which is never too early in the morning). From about 9 or 10 am to about 8 or 9 pm everyday I was working in my studio finishing this piece. I met the deadline (barely), and I did take photos of the progress along the way. Below are those photos and captions. Enjoy!
Stamen & Pistils: Each stamen are produced from small strips cut from a white polyester blouse. The strips are each singed and hand-molded over an open flame and then painted. The pistils are a length of muslin, folded in half lengthwise, and then all the weft threads are removed at the edges toward the center fold about an inch. These are painted/dyed using watered down acrylics. After drying, they are combed through and the edges trimmed before being attached to the form.
The beginnings of six flowers=42 stamen & 12 strips of pistils.
These pieces are so small that unfortunately a photo doesn’t capture the scope of how labor intensive flowers can be. The piles of petals and leaves here represent about 375 pieces. I used more of the polyester white blouse for the petals and a green ultra-suede skirt for the leaves. Both of these fabrics are great for small bits that will be handled a lot as all the edges need to be singed well so as not to fray when handled. When I singe the petals I also spend a bit of time forming them while the edges are still hot. This gives each petal a more organic curve when attached to the form.
A shot of my work table as I prepare to paint the petals, leaves and start assembly.
Close-up of a completed flower.
The grouping of how the flowers will appear together on the ta-ta covers. Each ta-ta cup has 3 large flowers, 3 large buds, 3 medium buds and 2 small buds for a total of 214 pieces each or 428 pieces in total…and we haven’t even reached the spines yet:)
A close-up of the spines. About a year ago Hershey’s cocoa changed their packaging from the classic tin cans to brown plastic containers. I drink a cup of Hershey’s cocoa every morning instead of coffee and the man in my life has saved all of the containers. Good thing, because I cut up half of them and used them for the spines. I’ve decided that the cacti will be fishhook barrel cactus, otherwise known in Mexico as “Manca Caballos” – Horse Cripplers. The brown plastic containers were perfect for this as the center large fishhook spines are brown – for once no painting required. All I needed to do for those was cut a thin length and form them over an open flame into a fishhook shape. {Yes, there were a few mistakes until I got the hang of it and many small burns on my fingers from over-melted plastic.} The smaller spines do not protrude but rather form a type of textured covering around the cactus. Since they are quite a bit smaller than the fishhooks and they did need to be painted, I cut strips 3cms wide from the containers. Then, over the open flame molded the strips into slight curves, painted them and then cut them into small narrow points. The finishing touch of a rounded base was produced by holding the piece over a flame until the edges melted. All are glued down to the cacti forms using superglue and an epoxy overcoat. Total spines=580
And here’s the final piece….unfortunately, showing it on the blog is against the rules for WOW. I am allowed to show this to my local media in San Miguel and Mexico but not allowed to show it anyplace “international”, which includes blogs, websites, facebook, etc. However, if your a friend of this blog and would like to see the final send me an email (or comment) and I’ll see if it’s OK to send it to you directly. Otherwise, you’ll need to wait….sorry for the anticlimax:)
