Lady Gaga

I decided to make a Lady Gaga statue without knowing much about her.I spent some time looking at her videos this morning. I really admire her costuming. She's even braver than Bjork. I hope I do her justice.
I'll go with Jim tonight to watch him play. Musicians almost always need an audience to be happy . I have it easy. I don't need an audience in my work, just customers.

Day of the Dead Authors

I spent a large part of the day on this.
I read that J.D. Salinger died today. I suppose he was able to live on the royalties of his tiny output of books. That's impressive. I read he wrote, just didn't publish.
Harper Lee never wrote another book after"To Kill a Mockingbird". She's still alive. She didn't write a book before that, either. The book was expanded from a magazine piece that she had written. Truman Capote, her best friend, helped. He was Dill in the book. It was semi autobiographical.
After that she helped him with the research for"In Cold Blood". You see her character in the two movies made a couple of years ago about it.
Capote estranged all of his society and Hollywood friends in the last few years of his life. He was an addict with a sharp, bitchy tongue and a poison pen. He wrote a book about his friends and they dropped him. One of the things he said was that he had written"To Kill a Mockingbird". No one believes it because he was such a dick.
I wouldn't totally discount what he said, though. I'm intrigued.

Today

I'm just about done with this custom order. I had to redye the red silk. Otherwise I'd have to order the silk over the internet and hope for the best if I wanted red. Fabric stores are becoming few and far between. Silk is hard to find. I've bought fabric online before and it worked out, but buying from a picture is dicey.
If I could make an improvement on dogs I would give them fuzzy noses like cats . Having a dog stick his nose in your eye is not fun.
Next I'll make a skeleton popping out of a cake unless I get distracted.

Vikings Lost

Someone wants Frida Kahlo in yellow. Here she is. I don't make people buy something. I make it and tell them it's there if they want it.
Jim and his friends recorded this weekend at Chuck's house. I was the driver. What a nice bunch of people!
I'll mail my skeleton dog off tomorrow.

Late January

Here is a pile of skeletons. Here is a great creepy scene from "Blue Velvet" with Roy Orbison's voice. Dennis Hopper is terminally ill. Sad.

Roy Orbison

The late Roy Orbison. Wonderful!

3D

I am going to make skeletons instead of penguins for now. Some people have asked for them. One wanted a red cloth skirt, so here I am dying white silk. I won't know if it's red enough until it dries. With all the fabric I have, you'd think I'd have just what I want(maybe I do and I don't remember)
I went to a matinee yesterday and saw "Avatar" in 3D. I'm glad I did because the effects were dazzling. I'm a sucker for visually beautiful movies. It wouldn't be the same on TV. The plot was awfully familiar- evil corporation, gentle natives, earth mother, rousing speeches, Yadda yadda yadda.
Here are some more Minnesota Monsters, and no, they didn't come that way.

January 18

I was going to go to an "Avatar" matinee but when I double checked the time I realized it wasn't in 3D. I could go to the zoo and see it in IMAX, but I don't care about that. Maybe later this week. Certain movies are made to be seen on a big screen. Molly and I saw "The Lovely Bones" because we had read the book. The movie sucked.
I have to go to the Post Office because I sold two pieces. The Bone Fairy is one of my favorites and I've sold a few.
Right now I'm thinking about more penguins.

The Art Shanty Project

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the temperature was above freezing. We thought we'd better take advantage of the weather and go to the art shanty project. Alex and his friends created a funny little green house they called "The Gunderson's Spy Shack". It was great.
There's something marvelous about a large gathering of people and temporary miniature buildings placed in the middle of a lake. I grew up further south, where this couldn't be done.
Lots of dogs were there,some wearing coats and booties.
Near Alex's shack was the dance shack. You could hear music coming from the tiny shack. When the song "Hey Ya" came on it was like a flash crowd (flashdance?) The music was turned up. Dozens of people quickly gathered and danced with joyful abandon. "Hey Ya" has that effect on people.

Bad Dog

Watson knocked over my lucky plant. My vacuum is broken. It's above freezing today and he's outside. I feel like leaving him there.

Warming Trend

I've started working on a mad scientist for Cassidy. I'm also still making kokeshi dolls. I haven't sold any, but I enjoy making them.
It looks like most of the pictures I've taken for the last three years are lost in cyberspace.
Oh, well.
I won't be able to bore anyone with my pictures from Greece.
I've always figured that future generations might not be as in love with all the pictures we've taken as we are. Don't get me started on scrapbooks.
I just checked on craftgawker. One of my kokeshi has been accepted but they aren't notifying me by email.

Polar

I have a bunch of glass hearts that I've hardly used, so I thought that I'd (for once) make something before the holiday. This is"cold hands, warm heart (tasty toes).
A piece of mine got accepted on craftgawker. Good.
Alex convinced me to go on facebook. He set it up for me.
We'll see.

Snow & Ice

I'm trying to get used to wearing my glasses. It's like I don't have panoramic vision anymore. Everything is in a limited frame. My distant vision isn't really very bad, but I know that once I start taking them off I'll misplace them.
I'm working on a Mooseman fetus for Alex's art shanty. Maybe I'll freeze it in a block of ice rather than put it into a jar. It'll be well below freezing out there on Medicine lake. Glass probably would break.
Here is a picture of Watson I just took. His right ear is trying to migrate back up.
It warmed up enough to snow. Now the temperature is going back down.
We got the beginning of the third season of "Big Love" from Netflix. It's great.

Eleventh Day of Christmas

I'm still making the little dolls, Here are two more. I'll probably reject the first ones. I picked up my real glasses tonight. I've been wearing readers for a long time. I misplace them, lose them or Watson destroys them. It was time. I keep wanting to take them off, but I know better.
I read that Prince (Minneapolis' homegrown darling) and I are the same height-5'2". I remember that they always described him as "diminutive". Interesting. Few men that I've met are as short as I am.
It's damn freezing outside and they're predicting snow to add to the foot we already have. Typical January here.

Interesting

Subzero

I've made three more little Kokeshi- like statues. I think I'll make a few more to get it right and to time them.
The video is Jake playing for Screaming Mechanical Brain. He is Molly's boyfriend.
Cassidy wants me to make a Dr. Frankenstein for the cd cover. That reminds me, I have to make a Mooseman for Alex and this year's art shanty.

New Years Day

Spent a large part of the day on these. Still not fast enough. I think I'll try to make five in one day. I'll either be really better at or very sick of it. Maybe both.