Tales of a Magpie

I've got legs!

I have lots of legs!  Before you start worrying that the green pod aliens somehow transformed me into a big spider (it was a close call), I'll put your mind at ease.  

I won these legs on Ebay:

Some of these girls have very well developed calf muscles and I would say spent a great deal of time hiking up the side of a mountain.  Most need some painting and since they will hang on a wall, I am thinking I can use acrylics and seal them.  They are a great collection of sizes and I really like the old fashioned fat calf ones.  But what am I going to do with all these legs?

Remember this doll that I made in a class at Zinna?

I did make another one:

The evil butterfly girl in the lower right corner was a purchase at Glitterfest last October.  But back to the dolls.

I have been collecting tins and doll heads since I took the class with Paul with plans to make more of these.  The plan is to cover the kitchen wall with them.  So imagine my excitement when I won the bid.  Now I think I have enough body parts to make quite a collection.  I'm still collecting tins, but I am sure I will find more when I run out.  These are great fun to make.

It's a beautiful day here, warm, birds singing.  Perfect.  I have someplace to go after lunch so I am going to hop on the bike.  Even more perfect.

A great weekend to you all!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The saying that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction just might be the case.  Or is it that the truth follows fiction?  But before I elaborate on that phrase, let me tell you a story...

I woke up this morning to gray skies and started on my morning walk, just a short one, what I have time for today.  The air was cool, damp and I was thinking that rain might move in.  I walk and my mind wanders.  So much is blooming now, I noticed as I walked through the neighorhood.  I passed by some honeysuckle and smelled them before I actually saw them:

I remember as a kid they were prolific pretty much everywhere you went.  We used to pick the blooms, very carefully with our fingernails detach the back of the bloom and pull out the stamens, capturing a little drop of honeysuckle juice.  Then we would put the drop to our tongue, tasting the sweetness.

I continue on up the hill.  More blooming and I realize I don't know the name of 99 percent of the things that grow here in California.

I'm enjoying all the blossoms, the heavy smell of green that the damp air provides.  I continue up the hill and think maybe it's just a different climate up here because it is a bit higher.  But the blooms are definitely getting larger and maybe just a bit more sinister looking.

It is beautiful, almost leathery looking and I wonder if it could be poisonous.   I admired them a bit before I continued on.

Then I saw these:

The vine seems to be everywhere, trying in earnest to cover every tree around.  And there were...things...hanging from it.

Rather large things.

So you can see the size I have held my hand next to one, but not too close, they are sharp, prickly and I wonder, do they bite?

It looks like it has grown a little tail and I looked a little closer at the others.  Uh oh, look at this one:

Is it opening?  I'm afraid so and when I crouched down...gulp...this is what I saw:

A pod full of aliens!  And it looks like they will be coming out head first.  It's kind of nasty looking and I am sure the movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is just one green pod away from becoming real.

What are they?  Just some run of the mill invasive vine?  I think not.  And just in case, I'll be keeping my eye on these little creatures.

And speaking of green things, the San Dimas Farmer's Market is starting tonight.  If I see anyone selling green prickly aliens I am going to run.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic week! 

The Tintype Workshop

Oh, what fun we had.  

During the first part of the class on Saturday, Sean told us about the process of making tintype photographs, the chemicals and materials involved and how to work our cameras.  We sat in rapt attention, took notes, the excitement building.  Then he demonstrated how to take a photograph with his beautiful box camera.

We divided into groups of three.  One person from a group would take their photo, then one person from the next group and so on until everyone had taken a photo.  Dede (who set up the workshop in her home) and Sean had a dark room set up and the group would go in and under Sean's guidance, the one person taking the photo would start the process:

Peel off the protective coating from the tin.

Pour the collodian over the dark side of the tin.

Wait just a bit until it feels tacky (this was difficult to tell)

Put it in the silver bath for 3 to 4 minutes

Take it out of the bath, load the tin into the camera and wipe off the back of the tin.  Nervousness sets in and you realize it is a ritual of sorts that you are performing.

Close up the camera.  You have 7 minutes to take your photo.

Depending on the sun, the shade, you leave the shutter of the camera open for the amount of seconds you think will work.  There's no way to be sure until you develop the photo.  You count...one, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand...

Close the shutter and head back to the dark room.

Open the camera, take out the tin.

Developer is in a shotglass and you pour it over your photo.

Take the tin out of that container and put it in a bath to stop the developing.

Take it out and put it in the fixer.  Move the container, swishing the liquid back and forth over the tin type, washing out the blue that is on it and then you see it...the picture slowly comes into being...or not, depending on if it decides to come out at all.  There are so many variables, Sean tells us and that is definitely so.  The light is constantly changing and that makes a difference, the humidity or lack of it, the solutions you are using, the camera, or whether or not the tintype Gods are smiling down upon you at that particular moment.

My first photo was a bit dark, but you can see some of the image, a still life I had set up.

The tintypes have been varnished and are shiny, the reflections make it difficult to photograph.  Sean made some changes to the developer, thinking that will help the photos to come out better.  And apparently it worked.  I took one other photo and it is beautiful:

Yes, I rode Bruce to class on Sunday and got this photo.  I am so excited about it.  And of course, I want to continue learning tintype photography.

Here is the camera I used (and we got to keep them!!!):

I was in a group with Dede Warren and Leslie Marsh, two very talented women that I am very glad I've gotten to know.  I think we made a fantastic trio!

And here is a picture of Sean standing next to his camera:

Sean is a wonderful teacher, incredibly talented and made this workshop so much fun!  Thank you Sean for a fantastic class!

Thank you Dede for hosting this incredible event!  It was a great group of people and such a fine weekend, mighty fine, I tell you.

And now it is Monday.  So it is back to the flour mill. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is having a wonderful start to their week.

Weekend Class

No, I am not teaching a class this weekend...I'm taking a class!  Learning what, you might ask?  I am taking a class from Sean Kochel learning to make tintype photographs!  To say I'm excited about this class is an understatement.  Lately, I have used tintypes in some of my work and they are not always that easy to come by, especially when looking for certain sizes.  I am imagining all sorts of possibilities with this class.  So I will keep you posted about this weekend's adventure! 

Spring has arrived...or is it summer?

I do believe the Gods have declared it to be Spring!  But then again, it might be summer.  Sometimes, here in Southern California, I just can't tell what season it is.  More than likely, that comes from living most of my life in places where it actually snows in the winter and the seasons are delineated with such physical presence that we are left with little doubt.  True, it gets mixed up once in a while, and here?  Well, I like to say the seasons are subtle; there is a change in weather, just not so drastic.  

A few weeks ago, poppies were blooming on a nearby street and I walked over to take a few photos of them.  I love the tissue paper quality of poppies, like someone's skilled hands constructed them of various colored paper, glued them on stems and during the night, stuck them in the ground, fooling us into believing these are real flowers.

Interesting how these two decided to merge:

I've always enjoyed closeup photos of flowers, so hard to take at times.  There seems to be no wind at all until you try to take a close up photo of a flower.

For the above photos, I used the digital SLR, a Nikon D-70 with my lens and macro filters from my old, non-digital Nikon SLR camera.  The only downside is that you have to use manual focus, hence noticing the wind more.  But that is also one of the reasons why I am loyal to Nikon; I can use my old camera lenses on the digital SLR.  I use the little CoolPix for most of my blogging because of ease but really, the big one takes the best photos.

The weather has been very up and down lately but I am glad the warmer weather has arrived.  We planted a few herbs, a tomato plant and a few pepper plants over the weekend and that always signals the start of better weather.  

And work-wise?  The shows are over for now.  I had so many things back to back, which certainly made things busy but good that it is all done at once, too.  I am working on some new projects and hope now to return to and finish some older pieces that have been sitting for a while.  And I hope that soon, I can start experimenting with some new materials and combinations.  It's all exciting to me and I want to make the most of taking the time off from teaching.  

And when I can, I'll go for a motorcycle ride!