You've Gotta Have Heart...

Each birdcage angel has a heart...

Rusted tin painted and sprayed with a bit of walnut stain.

You don't suppose I could just pass them off as simply: 

"birdcages with a little bit o' heart?" (wink!)

Giving Me a Little Lip!

So... these "Messengers of Hope" finally have a little lower lip!

(Actually... not such "little" lower lips!)

And their birdcage bodies are just about complete...

The wings need some walnut stain and a soft sanding!

Each of these guys will have a rusty metal heart hanging inside 

his birdcage; visible through the wire bars.

I also added heavy eyelids so give them a little empathy...

Next... the heads need a base-coat with raw umber or soft black.

Their hats are made from hand-dyed wool felt that we found

in Lancaster County last summer... stamped with some of Katie's

favorite rubber stamp images (mine too!)

Thank you for stopping by... enjoy the remains of the day!

Daryle

Messengers... Waiting on Lower Lips!

These guys are beginning to take on a life of their own...

In spite of the fact that I didn't get to their lower lips and chins today!

I'm thinking checkerboard wings; to add a bit of whimsy.

Bote des Herzens

I'm working on a new series of three angels:

"Messengers of the Heart" (German: Botes des Herzens)

I've had these three wood and wire mini-birdcages 

(literally) hanging around above my studio table for eight years...  

I began to work on several dolls for the annual 

Riverfront Renaissance Gallery show, which opens in November... 

These cages were destined to become (the unsuspecting) 

bodies of three little mixed-media angels!

I have based-coated them with flat black and plan on

dry brushing some "Grotto" chalk paint over them next.

Paper clay heads are in the plan...  I'm picturing disproportionate,

"boxy" little bodies with paper/wired wings and a rusty heart

strung inside each birdcage.

Perhaps they'll each become a reliquary for the safe-keeping

of tiny treasures or keepsakes.

The Perfect October Afternoon

Just a mile or two north of us, is Hill Creek Farms... 

an apple orchard extraordinaire!

It was the perfect afternoon to be out-and-about, 

with boatloads of sunshine and some time to just relax.

We stopped to pick up some fresh cider donuts (my "healthy" choice!)

and a sampling of apples (Katie's "healthy" choice!)

But sadly... not a single pumpkin found its way home with us!

"Before" and "After"...

The "after" photo really captures the natural colors much better...

Off to the show next week!

Die Wachter der Hoffnung

I found this well-loved composition head and cloth body child’s doll in a recycled art shop just outside of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Stuffed with natural excelsior, the doll has a wonderfully tactile appeal.   

Articulated arms and legs are attached with what appears to be the original, tin and wire joints.  For the most part, the doll is in its original found condition. One of the legs is quite literally hanging by several threads! The guardian wears a

small vintage red-cross pin, which reads: “I serve” 

"The Angel of Hope"... The guardian angel resides in a repurposed and reinvented reliquary metal shadow box with a hardware cloth back.

I am showing this mixed-media doll later this month at the

Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts  

Repurpose, Re-use, Reinvent, Reconstruct Show   

Details of the paper maché tissue paper covering.

A reliquary is a type of shrine used to provide a “house” for long cherished relic.  The notion of treasuring items considered sacred or “set-apart” goes back to Biblical records and items such as the Ark of the Covenant. Reliquaries became even more popular in Medieval Europe, and after 1200 A.D. they made their contents visible through the use of portals or windows.
Thank you for stopping by... Daryle