Making Flora

It’s been a busy month that broke my routine a little bit, and I just realized that maybe I should promote my upcoming show! The Flora, Fauna & Fascination Opening Reception is on Saturday, September 7 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 609 South Boulevard, Evanston, Illinois 60202.

Hosted by Ice House Gallery Evanston, Flora, Fauna & Fascination explores the art of nature through a variety of media. They are featuring Flowers, Birds, and Animals alongside other nature-inspired works.

I had downloaded Brenda Schweder’s StartrPeg 101 paks, with every intention of making a bird for this show. Spoiler alert: did not happen. But here’s what did:

I made some flowers from one of the templates. These didn’t quite turn out as expected, but they make fun earrings nonetheless.

Then I found a video Brenda did with a similar setup, and watched that PetalbyPetal Motif video tutorial for the Now That’s a Jig! while I made a few ladybugs for the swarm.

Then it was my turn to do:

So much easier when you know how it goes! Soon I had an assortment of stakes and ornaments.

While making I listened to my brother Koen Herfst’s LEO Album, which was cathartic as it is about my father too. I am not a metal fan, so the beginning is jarring, but each time I listen to it the skills exhibited by the musicians impress me more. The lyrics are meaningful to anyone who has lost a parent.

The show encouraged us to experiment with showing small and large format simultaneously, so I revisited the SWARM concept with a different approach.

I had to assess what I still have in stock, and also account for upcoming shows in September.

I spent a few days replenishing the ladybug and dragonfly collection.

I also added some stakes to the mix.

Then I picked the ‘outfits’ for my new critters.

Long hours were spent waxing 40 pieces.

Each is then hand-cut to fit the wire form (I wonder if Xacto does sponsorships…).

Soon I had a colorful flower collection.

They are part of a Swarm component, and another structure I will reveal in my next post.

Flora, Fauna & Fascination opens Saturday, September 7th and runs through December 28th. It will showcase painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media, etc.

Gallery Hours are:  Friday-Saturday 12-6pm & Sunday 12-5pm. Ice House Gallery is open Weekdays by Appointment Only.
The gallery location is 609 South Boulevard, Evanston with free street parking. It is also very close to CTA Purple Line South Boulevard stop. I hope to see you there Saturday the 7th!

 

PS: It is extremely hard to photograph multidimensional pieces. I can take pictures of my jewelry no problem, but once things get tall and round, it ‘s a whole different ballgame! Tough to accept in this “make it Instagrammable” age.