Commission after commission!

This week brought closure to a delightful project I’ve been working on for some time.  It’s an elaborate, large format commission piece that features an extended path with trees and flowers.  It is personalized with fabric from the owner, including a rich purple cloth from their wedding houpa.  My rule is that I won’t show an image of the completed work until the patron sees it first, so I can only give a sneak peak of a small section with the promise that I’ll post the entire image at a later date when their home renovations are completed and they can accept delivery. 

Bringing that project to a conclusion means I’m putting more energy into the next two commission pieces on my plate.  The first will revisit a favorite piece, “Summer Salad.”  It involves creating a lot of detailed vegetable pieces to scale.  This week was devoted to assembling the sliced tomatoes.  I put the outside skin on the six slices I prepared, leaving the project of layering on the details of the meat and seeds in the cross-section.  The cherry tomatoes for the piece are almost as cute as the ones that are coming off the vines in the garden.   

There aren’t many actual tomatoes as I’d like, since some creature of the night is stealing all the big tomatoes and some of the little ones, but I’m getting a taste.  I’ve built all of the shapes that I need for the mushrooms from felted sweater pieces, over which I’ll needle felt soft grey carded wool to make the surface look realistic.  Ahead of me lie the radishes, celery, onions, broccoli and cucumbers.  I promised to complete the piece by mid December, so I feel like I’m on schedule with all my other responsibilities.  The sliced vegetables seem to have attracted another big-headed ant, though.  They asked me to create one more worker for the exhibit at Wonderlab.  

 The reception for the ant exhibit will be held during First Fridays on November 6^th from 5 to 8:30.  The ants will be provided, but it will be BYOP (bring your own picnic!). 

As I scurry into new projects, my exhibit continues to hang at the Convention Center in the Rogers room.  I realized that I neglected to take a photo of one piece before I hung the show, forcing me to zip back in to grab an image of “Looking at the Water”.  I had so much fun making the lawn chair and posting it on Facebook before I attached it to the piece.  

 So many people thought that I had reclaimed an old seventies-era aluminum lawn chair by replacing the fabric.  When they saw the piece on the kitchen counter top for scale it became clear that it was a miniature.  Still, the piece seems to bring back fond memories for a lot of people. 

Life is building to another crescendo this week.  Monday begins the last week of rehearsals for the “Phantom of the Opera” show that begins on Saturday, October 18^th.  It continues for two more Saturdays, and they’re trying to sell out the shows to help cover the extensive costs for the elaborate falling chandelier and hundreds of costumes, among other investments.  You can see the evil monkey atop the ornate music box and the dead body I created for the show too—it’s incredible how much has gone into this production.   

Tommie is a chorus member and Jacob is in charge of the lighting.  Grandma will come to town for opening night and Jim will watch, cook, and keep everyone calm, so it’s really a family affair.  Oh, and speaking of my sweet husband Jim, he made me two apple pies on Saturday.  One went to a party and was consumed, but the other provided a slice for my Sunday morning breakfast with espresso. 

I should also mention that last week was the public school’s Fall Break.  I needed a break too, so the boys and I drove south west for a day adventure to French Lick.  It started with a beautiful fall drive along winding roads.  The little towns, with their unusual names and cultures seem very different from Bloomington.  We started with go-kart racing followed by a stop in an arcade.  

The boys deftly played a five dollar advance into enough tickets to buy us all tiaras and moustaches, which became the official family attire for the trip.  We found a hole-in-the-wall pizza place where the waitress was a little taken aback by our attire.  Then we played a round of mini golf (still in costume).  We have a family rule that the winner buys the ice cream, which of course turned out to be me.  No ice cream place was in sight, so we decided to venture into the West Baden Springs hotel so the boys could see the grandness of the dome from the inside.  As we approached the front door, a sharply dressed fellow asked how he could help us. 

You might or might not think that tiaras and moustaches were appropriate attire for the fancy hotel, but he let us right in and even became our tour guide.  He gave us lots of details about the history of the place and the renovations that were done.  I’ve seen pictures of the place, but until you’re standing there to experience the scale and the grandiosity of the place it is hard to appreciate.   We ended up having ice cream at a parlor in the hotel before the boys found an ornate chess set and board that was actually an inlaid table.  They played while I wandered the hotel to get a better sense of the space.  All in all it was a perfect day out and a break in our routine.  But now it’s back to art!  And the Phantom!  He says that tickets are available online, so we hope to see you there!

Until next week,

Martina Celerin 

Back from Michigan!

This week I have to start with some vacation news from a delightful trip my family made to Michigan.  We visited with Grandma and shared the house with cousins Dave and Martha, who drove up from Mississippi.  Dave was born and raised in the Saginaw Valley, but Martha is a true southern belle.  We had a wonderful time traveling around, shopping and just hanging out and talking.  Martha is a true storyteller!  I spent a lot of time laughing.  Another highlight was going on a fishing trip on the Lila Mae with Jim and Tommie to find some walleyes for dinner.  

Saginaw Bay is very shallow where we launch north of Linwood, so the first and last part of the ride involves a slow trip through tall cattails and marsh grasses to reach the bay.  We passed a lot of turtles, some egrets and lots of other wildlife along the way.  At that point we could power up and enjoy a ride on the waves to reach the Black Hole.  Really--that’s what it’s called!  We drifted to the secret spot and managed to catch a mess of walleyes.  Of course I had to be different, so I also caught a huge catfish (he went back safely, a giant white bass (very tasty!) and a freshwater drum. 

 Tommie caught a few walleyes and Jim did most of the netting, unhooking and managing the boat.  I got choose exactly the right colors of lures for the day.  To Jim’s surprise, black with red spots was exactly what the fish wanted. 

The long drive to Michigan meant I got a lot of time to needle felt.  The boys were focused on their electronic devices, Jim was focused on the road, and I was able to make many of the carrots, radishes and cherry tomatoes for an art piece I’m calling “Eat your Veggies.”  It’s going to be similar to a piece I did before called “Summer Salad.”   

After a seven-hour drive each way I’m doing pretty well on the veggies.  Also, before we left for Michigan I attached all the crocheted leaf clumps I had been working on for my giant commission piece.  I only managed to leaf out one tree, so I spent some time in Michigan crocheting the rest of the tree canopy.  I’m looking forward to attaching the leaf clumps this week.  Of course I actually have a bunch of projects going on that I’ve started and I’m determined to finish before the summer art fairs.  One of my current themes has been pieces involving bicycles.  I’ve been creating a big batch of bicycle wheels for different projects.  Fortunately, Friday was the History Museum’s annual garage sale.   

The boys and I both found treasures, but mine included bangles for bike wheels and silver cording that’s perfect for wrapping the bangles to mimic the chrome rims of the wheels.  I’m envisioning a new composition that involves riding bicycles along a path into the sunset.  It will features an orange-to-yellows gradient path and bicycle wheels of different sizes winding their way along a trail. 

Looking forward, this Saturday brings Bloomington’s Art Fair on the Square.  It’s my first summer show and I’m glad it’s in town.  The weather looks perfect right now, so check out the show around the courthouse square - after you visit the farmer’s market on Saturday.  Since I can’t be there, I’m thinking I should slip out to the Tuesday evening market this week to pick up some blueberries.  It’s never too soon to start thinking about another pie!  I’m sure Jim will make one if the berries appear.  I will need to get a bunch of stuff done before then, and I’m hoping the humidity will stay down low enough so I can paint frames for my new pieces.   

Oh, and I meant to mention that while I was in Michigan, I got to meet up with another family cousin, Terri Close.  She’s been making some really sweet garden pieces that are essentially stacks of recycled china, bowls and plates to create display flowers.  Of course we had to have one, which now sits in front of our house to make it a little cheerier.  Thanks Terri!

Until next week…

Martina Celerin