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Thursday, December 4, 2008


I tell myself that I am a morning person.  And I DO love waking before the rest of the world, when the sunlight is watery and the birds are just beginning to shuffle about.  I love the ridiculous productivity that can happen before 10:00 am, the feeling of actually wanting lunch at noon (rather than around 4:00, which is when I usually tear myself away to eat) and feeling that the day has been full by the time the sun sets.



But the truth is, I can not keep myself from working late into the night, sipping on a tiny glass of Amaretto, pencils flying, fingers (and wrists and forearms) covered in sticky, glue-like matte medium, Jack Johnson strumming in the background and my terrariums keeping watch like portly soldiers.




These are both in progress (I know, I know, how many "in progress" items can one gal have?) but I've been enjoying working on these the last few nights.  Part collage, part watercolor, soon to be mounted on panel and covered in a thick, protective layer of resin, they are loose stories of small discoveries made while walking through my neighborhood.

So the question is, are you a morning bird or a night owl?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are so natural and breathtaking even in its first stages, and they tell a story too!

Have you worked with resin much, I found it so difficult to get the concoction and catalyst right that I threw out the whole thing in frustration one day. I had been putting them over the tiny photograph blocks that I sell but a single block took almost a whole week to cure, was costly for my application of custom orders and time consuming, but alas the final product when done properly was so beautiful, as I am sure these shall be too!

Best of luck and I hope all goes smooth!

candacemorris said...

Well I heard nothing of these, little miss secret. I guess we still have our own little dirty secrets despite our proximity.

Have you ever thought about the fact that we both do the dirty deed only 114 feet from each other?

Sick. Sorry to deface your blog with my naughty thoughts.

I think you, like the extroversion/introversion conundrum, are entirely on the fence with the morning bird/night owl thing. Yet another lovely perplexatious nook inside the deep well of raw umber.

Caitlin Kenny said...

I want to see more of these collage/watercolour/resin beauties, I find myself wanting to write "can't wait to see more" again.
I find myself to be a night owl and a morning bird who frequently falls asleep during the middle of the day...
I can't wait to see more of your myriad works-in-progress.

jordan said...

morning person most definitely. my body tells me to go to bed before 11pm every night and i generally can't sleep past 9am even on a weekend. none of this in bed till noon stuff...unless i've been up WAY too late and am hung over. then it's allowable. (and doesn't happen too often, thank god)
nice pieces of work there lady! can't wait to see the finished products

UmberDove said...

Well I have to report that last night, after writing up this post, I officially got to bed at 1:50 am. So there's that.

LSP - I haven't worked with it very much, but enough to know that the cure-time can take FOREVER (and do not, under any circumstances, stick your finger in the very center of a piece to see if it has hardened yet. Just saying. Not because I've ever done that...). I'm using a different brand on these and I'll let you know how it goes.

Mme. - Yep. I actually have thought of that. Twice. Both on Sunday mornings when BC and I tried to ring your door unannounced for the farmer's market. Dirty deed doer.

Caitlin, Jordan - Thank you both! I can't wait to see them finished to! ;)

Em in SF said...

Uh oh, more Umber lovelies to tempt my pocketbook?

Mme: TMI! TMI! (I feel like I need to shower now)