Sculpture of a Woman in-progress

I've never sculpted a figure before. This is the 2nd session, with maybe a dozen sessions to go. Hey, it's close to Halloween (those wire arms!). It's intriguing, this process of clay and sculpting from life, and very challenging. An iPhone pic that I used a filter on. She's about 17" or 18" tall (if she were to stand).

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Parchment Figures: Doubles, Doppelgängers, Clones, 2010-2013

Parchment Figures: Doubles, Doppelgängers, Clones, 2010-2013, 24" x 30", 61cm x 76.2cm, oil, acrylic, gold leaf on stretched canvas.

So much has been going on that I haven't written about in my blog. One whole wall of my living room is now a working studio, and as I was moving canvases I came across this one. And began working on it again. That's it for now... it's taken days, delicate work ...photo is best I can do at the moment - it was taken in direct late afternoon sun, colour not bad but not quite the shine you'd see if you looked at the painting.

Below, a slideshow of the past of this painting.



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5 by 5, a group art show at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto Oct 12-26

I woke up this morning remembering my mother...

I woke up this morning remembering my mother, who passed away a year ago today. I am glad she is not still in the nursing home going through what she was going through. She died at 89, after a long life - the way it's supposed to happen if we are lucky enough. The grieving through the last year has been different than for my Dad, who died too young at 62 of an illness he fought against as hard as he could. I am not haunted by the months of her dying the way I am still by my father's. She was ready to go. Surely to live long enough to reach a place of acceptance of one's natural death is an inestimable gift. Yet I have still grieved, and acutely at times. I think it is only this week that good restful sleep has begun to return. They say grieving is 4 seasons, a whole year, before you open again fully to the life you are living. It doesn't hurt so much; I can walk by the nursing home where she passed away peacefully on a beautiful warm, sunny day and feel grateful that she has escaped its confines. There is peace.
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self-portrait photo

Selfie last night... if the new fashion is wide frizzy hair, why all I have to do is comb mine (though you can't quite see how wide it gets in this late night bathroom mirror pic). Ran the iPhone 4 shot through a few filters, still a bit on the yellow side.

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