Month: January 2020

Corvid Moon

I started the third sculpture in the Dark Sky-Virgo series last Friday. The raven is proving challenging. I am using some beautiful Birdseye maple for the body and wings of the bird. I turned a shaped open bowl, cut it up and started carving. Power burrs were the order of the day. By the end of Saturday I had roughed out the main shape and tail. I also integrated some thumb skin

Progress so far:

Continue reading “Corvid Moon”

Exploring multimedia

  • d:6″ Ash bowl with irridized glass rim
  • d:8″ Pecan bowl with turquoise glass mosaic
  • d:16″ Manitoba Maple platter with dichroic medalion
Over the years I have been tempted to add glass to my turnings. Note to self: turnings are spherical so mosaics have to be small! These three turned out well and the light reflections and color changes add a dynamic interest. The Ash bowl was initially turned when I was just getting started with turning. My local club (Bytown woodturners, Ottawa) insisted that I join them at a demo at the local home show exhibition – I thought they were mad at the time, the experience was absolutely terrifying but fun.

Path of the Cherimoya

This work dates back a few years but was pivotal in my development as an artist using wood. In 2016 I designed a turned/carved Cherimoya fruit that I was going to submit to the Women in Turning “Fruit of our Labor” show case. However as my husband, Richard’s health deteriorated I lost heart in woodwork and the Cherimoya was left incomplete. In the Spring of 2017 after returning from a wonderful trip to Australia to visit my brother, I felt the need to do something that would help my mind focus and revitalize my interest in woodworking. The abandoned Cherimoya fruit I had started in 2016 as a simple turned box was ideal. While the turning was more or less complete, I had yet to start on the carving and guilding. The sequential, repetitive task of removing small slivers of wood to reveal the skin texture was the perfect task for my wondering mind. My attention span which rivaled that of a gnat when I started, progressed to the point where I could enjoyably spend several hours chipping away. The found rotted branch. which just needed to be cleaned and sealed was the perfect “nest” to hold this precious piece. Life on My Own as an artist started and LOMO2017.com was conceived
“Cherimoya” Turned, Carved, dyed basswood. h:5.5″, d:3.5″

Dark Sky: Virgo

  • Hunter Moon
  • Harvest moon
  • Harvest moon (side)

Tubac, an artists’ community near the border with Mexico is working towards an International Dark Sky designation (https://www.darksky.org/). As part of that effort the local organizers are working on a number of community events to celebrate the dark skies around Tubac. We have optical telescopes on nearby mountains so there are already some restrictions on lighting.

I’m anticipating a call to artists in the New Year and am trying to get a jump start on things. The full moon and the constellation Virgo will tie all the pieces together. The first piece, Hunter Moon is a commentary on our need to chase the night away with lights. As our bodies lose sight of the natural rhythms of day and night, so too our own internal circadian rhythms become disrupted. Many of us turn to pills to restore sleep. Virgo the constellation is revealed in the New Moon dark sky.

The second piece, Harvest Moon still features a red moon, but this time Virgo is front and center. The message lies in the harmony between the sun, earth and moon in the context of the cosmos represented by virgo, the maiden

The next pieces are still mind works…