Happy Halloween!

Some of us are glad it's over....LOL
ivan in disguise, originally uploaded by EllenJo.

Halloween is almost here...

I don't know why, but this year, I finally warmed up a bit to Halloween.

I think it is because I caught Bram Stroker's Dracula" on TV again, for the millionth time..you know, the one with Winona Rider? I love that movie. The costumes and sets were AMAZING.

( still not really loving Keanu in the role...he just seemed too 'modern' or whatever)

Also, Flickr helped me get in the spirit too. I cruised around for some great Halloween decor...and now I want to throw a party someday.

I can't this year, I have to work, darn it..

Maybe next year!

I love these pix! Don't they put YOU in the Halloween mood?

Nawlin's....

My trip to New Orleans is almost here, I'm so excited!!

It's such a magical place.

When you first arrive of course, you notice all the usual stuff... the restaurants, the river, the beautiful architecture, the drunken and rowdy tourists.

But then, after awhile, you start to feel the rhythm of the river, the music and the mood that is Creole, Black, French, Spanish and more, all mixed together in a trinity of the best of all those cultures together. Like good gumbo.

There are ghosts too. This is a city with a sordid past.... the Las Vegas of it's time maybe.

Marji and Sue are seasoned travelers, and I know they will be a hoot to hang out with. We have already agreed to do the Plantation Tour, the Ghost Tour, Presevation Hall...and, if I am lucky, I will get to go to Court of Two Sisters for Brunch, since that is something I didn't get to do on my 1st and only visit. I also missed the Garden District, the streetcars that take you there, and all SORTS of other things. Girls, we have a LOT to do! LOL

Trying something new!...Sculpture Class in AZ

Here I am in AZ !
In between work, I signed up for a night class at the Sedona Arts Center, located in GORGEOUS Sedona AZ.

Sedona of course, is always 'swerve-off-the-road-cause-you're-gawking beautiful...and is EXTRA gorgeous now since it's a bit cooler!

But, I thought I would try something I have never tried. Sculpting.

Wow! I had NO idea sculpture was so technical!

( And there is LOTS of math! EEk~)

I suck at math of course, but I am muddling through.

You actually have to measure most the live animal's bones, and calculate the length in 1/3's, or whatever scale you are working on!


Yes, I mean most of the bones.....as in all the major bones in each leg, back, neck, etc!
Also, the thickness of the animal. And then figure out what that equals in inches on the tape measure.

Tonight we did a dog. A Greyhound/Rhodesian Ridgeback type of dog. The owner says he is an

African Hunting Dog. What a great model he was, he stood for 2 + hours and let us do our thing!

The clay is great, it's not messy, but you have to heat it in a turkey roaster type of cooker. It never really dries out, so you can set your sculpture aside for months and just warm it up
(a couple of hours in a parked car does the trick) and go right back to it! That's a real plus.

Tomorrow evening we will do a horse. I'm hoping I am better at the horse than the dog...lol.

Knowing the muscle structure under the skin is imperative.


(Of course MY dogs are so danged fluffy and FAT that I have never seen the muscle structure....lol....but horses, yes. )

That's what I'm telling myself anyway. I'll let you know! LOL

If you've ever looked at a sculpture and just had the feeling something was "wrong"...it was because the sculptor was 'off' on his anatomy in 99% of the cases.

I will let you know how I did. Meanwhile here is the clay dog I did. He's not done, but he's chillin with me in the hotel now. lol.

Update:

Here are the Teachers, Jason Scull and Ken Rowe. And

here's the horse we are doing below. A rather non-descrepit Quarter horse...so I decided to take artistic license and make him a race horse.

The others in the class kept ooohing and awing about the horse, which I found funny, and it made me miss a REALLY gorgeous horse,

my Walter. The gentleman in black is Chris, a very talented sculptor from Tucson.

I met the most interesting people at this class!

You can see the armature on the wood...that is what we start with, before the clay.

Ken and Jason, the teachers, want me to come back in April for the advanced class. Not sure if I can, since the classes are really expensive, but it would be fun.

There is a class in June that is focused on the horse and rider. I think I'd like to do a cutting horse.

Turns out, everyone in the class except me are already artists!! Yikes! I was amazed at how good some of the sculptures were considering some of the artists weren't horse people!

My Horse------>

Here is a pic of the various sculptures...looks like a mini heard of ponies! Pretty nice scenery in the background, eh?