Art Is What You Make It!

"Art is what you make it" - a wonderful statement for the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Virginia, where it's such a joy to go and make art surrounded by friends in the studios there. I took the dogwood photos out the window of the clay studio where I'm preparing more "tree houses" for my little bears for the upcoming show in Philadelphia.

I think these photos could be good subjects for paintings and I might do that if there's ever time. Just now, I'm working in three dimensions making "wood" out of clay.

So here we have the beginning of the process. After rolling out the slab of clay, I then roll a piece of driftwood across the clay.

I roll a large piece of this clay around a form - in this instance, its a large oatmeal box. I then partially dry the clay with a hair dryer so that it will be stable enough to stand upright.

Then I turn the "tree" upright and slip out the form. After it dries for about a week, covered by plastic so that it won't dry out to quickly, I'll cut the door and windows for the tree house. I'll post those photos as the tree house progresses! I'm actually making a few of these houses in different sizes to use in the forrest scene where my little bears will be playing for my table for the show! I hope you'll enjoy following along with their construction!