Butterfly kaleidoscope - real wing photographs

Butterfly kaleidoscope - real wing photographs, a photo by PoPkO! on Flickr.

 I have a lot of butterfly wings in the studio. They are beautiful. I often just open and close the boxes to get a little glimpse of them shimmering in the light. They have unusual shapes, and unique patterns and some have the most rich, velvety colors. I started photographing them to make these kaleidoscope images. I'm working towards a project that's a little different that my jewelry. 

(Keep an eye out for the finished project by late October.)

It's refreshing to have something to work on just for the fun of it right now. I am neck high in custom orders, which I love (don't get me wrong), but I already know the outcome of that work. I know what they will look like when I'm done. This is a little more free- perfect for the last long lazy days of summer. I can just let my imagination play.

I used real butterfly wings, photographed them in different formations and then started manipulating the images on my computer.

In the Studio: Curious Finds

 I'm preparing my new studio, yes, still. It's been a very very VERY hot July and August and at some point I just became completely afraid of melting if I even approached the third floor. 

Oh just look at it, clean and empty. I should just have gotten it to sit still and not even bring a single thing to work on, like a meditation room. I love empty spaces.

I decided to clean out some storage and put it all into my new space to properly go through the boxes (completely interrupting the zen), while I still had a lot of open space to spread out with that project. I found a lot of old things. I studied Sculpture in school and there were a few things I hadnt taken out of the box for 12 years. I know. But seeing them again was lovely. It reminded me of all the hours I worked diligently on them. I'm talking about the feet in the box.

They are casts of my own feet, in different walking positions. They have holes on the undersides so I can set them on pegs in the grass. I cast my feet with wax (made for peeling off your skin). Then made rubber molds (which I had to learn the hard way how to make sure they didn't leak). Then poured plaster into the rubber molds, then coated them with wax. I didn't let them dry enough before waxing them though, and they never fully took to the plaster.

I used to do a lot of casting back then.

Bronze plaques/plates, about 4x4" and 4x6"

I actually don't quite remember making the bronze plaques of body parts. I think these may have been after college, when I apprenticed for a Sculptor in Provincetown. We poured a lot of bronze back then, but I cant jog my memory when I cast these. They appear to have some reasoning behind the amount of casts I did, in sets, maybe to make a box? I plan to finish these.

Its almost September now, and the weather is better, cool at night. My studio should be ready for work very soon. *crosses fingers*

New work: New store - Color Me Clayful in NH

New store: Mud Pie Pottery - butterfly jewelry by PopkoShop, a photo by PoPkO! on Flickr.

Here's a dozen new pieces created just for the Color Me Clayful boutique attached to the paint your own pottery shop in Amherst, New Hampshire.

The 'glass dome' necklaces that you see are something new in my line 

(#2,3 & 4 L-R, the sunset moth dome, a small blue and large blue dome)

I think they will be a big seller at shows this fall and winter.  They are simple, reversible, and feel nice and smooth.  I even made one for myself- yes I did, for the first time in years I have my own new piece of jewelry, for me, made by me. That says a lot. This style can be made in almost any color wing. Look for them in my Etsy shop in September.

Hope you are all having a fabulous summer- and go to CMC!