the garden is haunted
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010These last couple of weeks have been chock full of art making and art shows…so much so that I missed the last two updates and for that I’m sorry. The Frank Strunk III show where I had 4 collaborative pieces went awesome. Three sold and one of them had to come off the wall as it was a birthday gift. I don’t even have a photo for you. We ended up making another piece to take it’s place which is where this week’s comic derives. I loved the haiku and concept so much and knew very few of my readers would see the actual art piece so I decided to make you a comic. Here are some photos of the original piece:
The Garden is Haunted
Calan Ree | Frank Strunk III
close up of the flowers i made with paperclay and twigs:
ghost cat
the haiku is on a distressed page from a medical dictionary. it has fish poisoning among the definitions. 
Here’s some photos of the other pieces we did.
I am frustrated that I don’t have a decent shot of this post-apocalyptic dancer piece. In person, it’s really moving. She was the star of the opening for sure. The title of the piece is a haiku (of course).
amid the debris
no audience can be found
the show must go on
Calan Ree | Frank Strunk III
It’s a pretty large piece and hard to see in a little photo. Here’s some close-ups of the dancer. I made her out of pods, paperclay and skeleton keys. Remember not long ago when I didn’t ‘get’ paperclay? I totally love it now!
Frank used wood, metal and fire and I used paperclay and paint. Together we made this bad ass music box which plays ‘the hills are alive…with the sound of music’. The hills are definitely not alive in her environment which made it the perfect choice!
‘This Shit is Bananas’
Calan Ree | Frank Strunk III
‘Remembered’
Calan Ree | Frank Strunk III
It’s hard to read the haiku in this blurry photo. It reads:
red bloom on cold stone
an act of acknowledgment
bones shiver and sigh
The other piece…well it’s gone and I didn’t get a photo. I think it might be going in to a local business though so perhaps I’ll get one at some point. If you are in the Tampa Bay area between now and the 29th of May, you can see the collaborative works along with Frank Strunk III’s solo works which combine metal and photography over at Kahwa Cafe South – 2nd Avenue S and 2nd Street, downtown St. Pete.
In addition, to the Strunk show I also participated in Art Rock in West Palm Beach. I made this new art doll for the show. Her name was Helga and our time together was brief. She went home with a nice lady who insisted on buying her. I was debating keeping her for myself because I really loved her expressive face. I can see that art dolls are going to be hard for me to part with. It’s not the same as a painting or cool illustrated jewelry piece. These little creatures really feel like a part of me and it’s weird to hand them off to someone else and never see them again. The zombie finger puppets are gone too. Once again, I’m really grateful for the support and interest in my work, but yeah, it was hard to say good bye to those two.
Here’s Helga. Her hair smelled like cloves.
So that’s what I’ve been up to. Two art shows plus the jewelry making, graphic design stuff I do regularly wiped me out. Things will settle down now a bit. I have one more small art fair this weekend and then I’m going to relax…maybe. I do have this project in mind….
This Sunday, you’ll find me selling stuff and fanning myself on the porch here:
<3 Calan
May 19th, 2010 at 10:41 am
the dolls are so lovely. the hours you’ve put into them make them more like little art children than the jewelry. When i made my sock dolls i couldn’t part with them i still have them even though most of them are in storage.
May 19th, 2010 at 10:48 am
thanks Amanda. your sock dolls sound interesting. i saw this book recently on how to make all sorts of dolls out of socks – other than sock monkeys – and they had so much personality and can be so wonky and adorable i thought about making some myself. i don’t sew though…not for about a zillion years. i’m going to have to re-learn that skill i think before i get into anything plush. even for my clay dolls it would be nice. presently i sort of fold and glue in to place if i want fabric on them.
May 19th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Chasing ghost field mice
From little bunny foo foo
Makes ghost cat happy
You ROCK Calan!
May 19th, 2010 at 11:36 am
xoxoxo!
May 19th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
“shit is bananas”
sounds like a lot of my life
i like the cat too.
May 19th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
dancer thrusts her arm
onto the stage like a key
turning the applause
the curtain rises
nervous laughter ripples through
as house lights turn low
shadow follows her
as she turns the cylinder
and begins to dance
dance dance she dances
to an odd-tinny music
on legs made of wire
clicks across the floor
pirouette à la seconde
as graceful as rust
May 19th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
helga is beautiful i know it was difficult for you to let her go
she would have been difficult to live with you see
i know her type an opinion on everything as if having
skinny legs was a right rather than accident of birth and
eyes that would bore through you if you dared to stare
the constricted throat mistaken for a symptom of love
she was glad to go stick figure hearts have no room to breathe
you see she was demanding and difficult, if not beautiful
May 19th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
you know what else is beautiful Sera? your writing.
May 20th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
i’m a real fan of your dolls (can you tell?) you are getting better and better at them, they are true works of art.
May 20th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
thank you. i feel like these creations have been trying to surface for ages and clay is the perfect outlet. i’m feeling my way around some different types of clay, etc. but i’m certain this direction is exactly what i have to do…it’s kind of wonderful and satisfying and exciting and stuff.
October 13th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
thts really kool how do you make those things? really, id like to see some of your peices of art in the museum