Friday, April 16, 2010

Exposed...

Do you have dreams of standing unclad on a bustling city street or perhaps on a blazing stage before an audience? Luckily, I have not experienced such a dream, but trust me, I do have some bizarre ones! However, the idea of exposing my folk art characters in their various phases of development does create a similar unveiled feeling for me. Often rough to the touch and bare-skinned white, each is without a coat of color and pattern. It takes me many steps and layers (and did I mention patience?) to create each figure just right. Initial sculpts are coarse and unrefined, and they beg for a patch here and a tuck there. More and more layers of papier mache and sanding along the way will eventually create a look I am willing to accept, and then I allow the paint and creative juices to flow again. As you will see, I have been busy sculpting and stock-piling my folk art pieces. Here is a glimpse of what has been drying on the rack. Some are ready for paint while others are just taking form. I must admit, I am feeling a little exposed right now, but I think it will be therapeutic to share here on the world-wide stage of my blog......
~ Johanna :)

Racks-of-sculptures
* Drying racks house a menagerie of naked Halloween goods from owls, witches and bats, to skellies, pumpkins and cats....

Owl-awaits-Paint
* "Peek-a-BOO" says the 'lil owl in the crowd....

WIP
* This sweet JOL is drying her "do".....

Unfinished-Skelly
* With no arms and no trims, this little skelly leaves much to the imagination...

WIP-Bats-&-Cats
* Ahh, a glimmer of paint here and there, and LOOK, do you recognize those bat wings from my last post? Things are starting to take shape... ever so slowly.....

Naked-Owl
* Cover your eyes, this owl is au naturel!....

Blank-Faces
* The lid of a witch candy container is in her initial phase.. Don't touch as she may scratch back.......

Base-cat
* Happy kitty here in the crowd is smiling as he IS ready for paint!

11 comments:

Skelly Addict said...

DYNOMITE JOHANNA...loving everyone in their skivvies and dreaming about the beautiful color you’ll be giving them...especially in love with the skellys!!!!

Unknown said...

Johanna so nice to see your working process. Sometimes I've wondered at the magic process that brings all your art work to life. Just fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing it with us :)

Hugs....

Anonymous said...

After you've painted them, send them ALL to ME!

Max.....

Benedetta said...

They are all so very stunning-can't wait to see them finished :)
Hugs and Love,
Benedetta

susanc said...

They are gorgeous even when they are au naturel! I love seeing the creative process in action. Thank you so much for sharing this!

Carolee said...

What fun! I love seeing them like this, so full of possibility...Can't wait to see the finished pieces too! :)

~ Carolee

Unknown said...

I always love to see an artist's work in progress. Lot's of lively personalities that's for sure! :-)
- Deb

Baroness Bijoutery said...

Your work is awesome as always..can't wait to seem them all adorned and ready for their travels....

ShellHawk said...

Since I work in clay, I understand completely what you're talking about!
Your new babies are looking great! I can't wait to see what colors they'll be!

Val Reaves said...

Oh, this is such fun to see the works in process! Thank you for sharing...
Val in Kansas :-)

Doreen Frost said...

Hello Johanna...everything looks just wonderful..bare bodies and all..your work is just fantastic! I especially love your owls :)

Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving me such wonderful compliments on The Tweedles...you made my day :)

Wishing you a lovely day,
Doreen