Holy smokes . . .

. . . who the heck turned winter on?!!!  With the snow on the ground this morning, I'm glad I've got something with a little heat to show you.

This lovely pooch belongs to my daughter, Rochelle - check out her page; you're going to love it!   I've been working on towards this piece for weeks months.

Daisy

The original photo shows a wee bit less colour, as you can see.

I'm a rabid fan of Dean Russo's work and have been trying to create a stencil of Daisy for a long time.  This side by side of Dean's pooch was approximately where I wanted to go.

So from the time I started up til now, I've burned nine stencils, printed around 15 of them on gel prints, and created a massive pile of no-goes!  It can take dozens of hours to even get a start on a new technique, right?

So now that I have a reasonable stencil made (above, left), I can create another painting any time at all...Rochelle might be getting a new one every year for Christmas.  Can you hear her cheering???

And yes, I promised you a video this week that takes the book folding a little further, so here is the process for turning the basic folded book into a wacko 'Expat Offspring'.  It took ages - in my world that is - to video just one page tear, and to do the original Expat from Arcturus took that x about 150, so be warned.  It is not a fast process!

You may wonder why the 'Offspring' has googly eyes and so few tentacles when the parent (is that male/female/androgynous?) is eyeless and heavily tentacled.  

'Expat Offspring' © Win Dinn  Folded Book Sculpture 2018

You may not have known that on Arcturus, only babies under 25 years have eyes - the fully matured adult sees through their third, invisible, inner eye.  Each year, they grow a new tentacle and when they reach 25 they start to shed an eye per year.  Aren't they are brilliant?  By the time they reach 162, they are truly stunning.

'Expat from Arcturus' © Win Dinn  Folded Book Sculpture 2017

Whatever planet you're from, I'd be delighted to hear what you're up to...your comments keep me on my toes and creating!  Sending tentacle-y love from my planet to yours! 

Here's a sneak peek...

... for you.  And trust me, it's really sneaky because they're closeups of some pieces I've been working on over the past while months.

This one is part of a book sculpture called Expat from Arcturus.  It's created from a science fiction anthology, and every time I look at it I giggle (how very mature, right?).

If you've never seen a rosette made from a dryer sheet, this piece could remedy that.  Who Let the Genie Out? is a tiny altered bottle.

You know I have a thing for shoes, so when I found a cocktail boot in a thrift shop, Who Needs Gucci? was born.

 Another book sculpture, this one is Midlife Crisis...so organic-looking considering it's made of something nobody wants!

Do you know what those little medallions on top of wine bottles are?  They're part of a supply called wine bottle shrink capsules, and yes, I had to google that.  They're really fun to use in mixed media when they're part of something called Squaring the Circle V.

Distressed toys call to me - always - so how could I pass up a Ukulele Gone Wild?  I think this piece would be a great addition to a child's room!

This is all in aid of an upcoming show at Centre 64 called Material Change.  The brainchild of Darcy Wanuk, an extraordinary textile artist, all work in the show features upcycled, repurposed items. From the fabulous design stylings of Alison and Bart Bjorkman at Puffin Design to Darcy's deconstructed/reconstructed clothing and my crazy mixed media incorporating all sorts of items that were headed for the landfill, it's an amazing array of new from old.

While the show is running from June 6 to July 1, we'd love you to join us for the opening reception on Saturday, June 10 from 2 - 4 pm.  Meet the artists, and be amazed!