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Hope in the Window ... Reincarnated, Framed, and Planted

5/28/2022

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Painting & backing board
   I would never claim to be a painter, but I do have a few paintings remaining from college classes that I took many years ago. I recently un-earthed a 13"x16" section that I had excised from one of those paintings (I had "liberated" what I felt was the more interesting portion of a larger composition). As is often the case for me, this kind of rediscovery can be the impetus for a "reincarnation". In my mind I immediately pictured this image of a woman peering out of a small window. The proportions of the woman and her apparent proximity to the window would make her look larger and the window look smaller. I also wanted something on the sill - perhaps a small flower pot containing a seedling?
   I began this piece by adhering the painting to a 1/4" thick piece of birch plywood so that I would be able to mount it in the to-be-constructed window frame and to insure that the canvas wouldn't distort over time. I then proceeded to construct a small window that included a recess on the back side where the painting could be attached with small screws. I painted the window an off-white, and, before installing the painting, I painted out the partial image of a second figure that could be seen over the left shoulder of the woman in the foreground. 
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"Window" constructed & painted
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Back side - showing inset
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Painting edited & mounted
    The next step was to tackle the potted plant for the sill. I had a 3" terra cotta seedling pot that was a perfect size for what I had in mind, but it was "new", so I "aged" it using acrylic paint. I wanted to attach the pot with a bolt rather than simply epoxying it to the sill. I put a 1/4 thick layer of Apoxie clay in the bottom of the cup to prevent the pot from cracking when the bolt was tightened, and then drilled a hole through it after it hardened. I then drilled a hole in the sill and made sure that the pot would screw into it securely.  I was ready to "plant".
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Seedling pot - before & after "aging"
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Attachment set-up
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Styrofoam "plug"
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...planted
   To create the illusion of a dirt-filled pot, I first fashioned a slightly tapered cylinder of styrofoam that fit into the pot. I coated the top of the styrofoam plug with a 1/4" thick layer of Apoxie clay, and textured the clay to look like dirt. After the Apoxie clay hardened, I used acrylics to paint it a "dirt" color and then epoxied the cylinder into the pot. The final step was to drill 2 holes so that I could "plant" 2 very small (plastic) flowers and then screw the pot into the sill. C'est fini!
​   (P.S. I generally have some sort of internal narrative or back story to most of my work, and the title "Hope in the Window" for this piece came from my dismay over the war in Ukraine and my hope that good will triumph over evil .)
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"Hope in the Window" ....complete
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Midsummer Night's Dream ... Mask Sculpture for River Arts

5/1/2022

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    As the May 7th deadline for the upcoming​  "Wild Things" show at River Arts Gallery in Damariscotta approached, I consulted my inventory of potential sculpture submission pieces. The piece that jumped out as most appropriate for the theme was a mask that I had done a number of years ago. It featured the face of a character that had a jester-like appearance with wild hair, a broad collar with bells, and large donkey-like ears... and, with a little tweak, would fit the bill.
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Mold ... gessoed mask ... plaster cast
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Front view
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Detail
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Detail
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Back view
   The original process for making the mask had first involved making a life-mold of my face and then making a plaster cast from that mold. The cast was covered with plastic wrap and then then draped with artificial chamois cloth that had been dipped into a mixture of wheat paste and wood glue (1/5 ratio). Once the chamois dried it was trimmed into the desired shape. I  added ears cut from sheets of backed gray felt, then coated the mask and the felt backing with gesso. After attaching the mask to a dowel and sealing the inside of the mask with a thin handmade paper that had pieces of natural grasses imbedded in it, I tinted the face with color and added leather eyebrows and thin strips of leather for the hair. Finally I attached the small bells on wires to grommets I had placed along the edge of the mask collar. Ready for fun and frolic.
​    In order to show the mask to best advantage at the River Arts show, I wanted to mount it on a stand, but I still wanted to be able to preserve its integrity as a usable mask. To this end, I drilled a hole in the end of the handle so that the mask could be placed on a base for display, but could be easily removed, if so desired. I made a base out from a 6" x 6" x 3" block of sapele wood. I sanded and sealed the base with satin poly and then added a short 1/4" metal rod.
​        "Midsummer Night's Dream" was now ready for show! 
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Base
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Midsummer Night's Dream
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    Author

    Cynthia Smith, Maine artist, originally from Connecticut. Taught art at secondary level for 35 years, retired in 2004. Sculpts in bronze, wood, stone, clay & plaster. Her work can be seen at several mid-coast Maine galleries and shows.

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