Opulence

This is the final piece that will be at the Wood Icing-Heather Haymart Gallery on display beginning tomorrow and debuting at the reopening gala tomorrow night.  I named it Opulence because of the richness in the fibers and varying beads I used.  As per usual I dropped the first large fibers first and there was a partial coil shape.  I then worked around that idea and then added layer upon layer of supporting fiber and a pearl focal point.  The piece is mounted on 10" x 10" x 1 1/2" birch cradle.  Remember, pearls are always in style.

Thanks for joining me on these peeks!!

Oddington Place

 


So far in my travels, my favorite place is a close tie. I fell in love with the Cotswolds in just one day when we traveled to London four years ago.  Venice, more exotic-looking overall yet steeped in history,  is neck and neck in my mind.


It was just a day, but it was the perfect day in my memory.  I think of it often so fondly.  How do I define a perfect day?  It's really like the movie the Perfect Storm for me, because there are a few elements that must come together.  It starts with who is sharing the day with me.  In this case, it was just the three of us, but on that day we were perfectly in sync and all three of us enjoyed each stop on our tour in our own way.  Sam photographed it beautifully.  Jim walked in contemplative thought.  I just kept marveling as each new beautiful area unfolded before me and chattered happily.  All very different responses, but all very family Curry.  Not only is it who I share the day with, it is often the people that I meet along the way.  We visited three very different towns during the tour and so many of the people I met were genuine and responsive.  I had quite a few wonderful conversations, much to the chagrin of my quieter family members, since often they were engaged at the same time.  My third element (in no particular order)  is the ambiance. The pictures below give a glimpse but just are not able to do it all.   It's always nice when a day surprises you, too.  No pictures to share, but this is also the day I discovered Sam Toft's Mustard Family world and now (thanks to my sister) have a smattering of Mustard moments all through my foyer and in the studio.  I smile every time I see them. I grin every time I see Doris.  And finally, the feeling of repletion at the end.  That feeling, so full of emotion and imagery, doesn't come every day.  I savor it when it does, though. 

It's then not a reach that I've decided to do a series of paintings inspired by that day and Oddington Place is the first in that series and the original will be available here starting on Friday night.  Oddington is a charming town (with a charming name)  in the Cotswolds.   There may eventually be prints in my Etsy store, but right now there is this one original.  It is 9" x 9" x 2" on deep cradle gallery-wrapped canvas and is ready to hang.  I hope I find out who takes it to a forever home.  It will always be in my heart.  

Concerto

I mentioned at the beginning of 2015 that my word for the year was LEAP. Here is a jpg of my first piece going into a fine art gallery here in St. Louis.  I'll dole out the other two this week to gear up to the opening reception for all the artists.  This piece, Concerto, is a mixed media piece that features metal powder, water media, fibers and beads on  12" x 12" birch deep cradled wood.  2014 brought forth a stamp with a treble and a series of stencils in that same design.  I hadn't planned to do a motif related piece but since I work intuitively with the fibers, this is what started happening when I dropped the black handmade fiber onto the substrate.  No, the whole treble wasn't there but the fiber dropped with the hint of the shape and my brain did the rest.  Most of you know my psyche is very connected to music so this piece resonates with me.  It was hard to take it in.  More to follow later this week. 

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  I've loved to make them my whole life.  I love to get them, too. Heart shapes have always resonated with me.  From my heart to yours, today. 

 

The design is very simple.  I took a 6'  x 6" x 1" birch square and painted the sides with black acrylic paint.  I had found some vintage paper with dots and pink hearted ribbon that I couldn't not buy at our local store a week ago.  Those became the background. 

I got out some gold detailed embossing powder, black cardstock,  and a heart stamp and went to town making the focal point.  I don't often emboss now, but still have that wow moment when the gold turns into a lovely molten pool.  Just love it.  I cut those out after they cooled. While I was waiting, I cut out squares  of  2 1/4" black cardstock and 2" squares of ivory to frame the heart. 

Now for the pièce de résistance..... my love stamp.  After stamping that in black StazOn, I affixed it to the block with ScorTape.  I also repeated this design on paper for mailing.  It was a fun, easy project! And not the only one I've been working on!

It's hard for me to believe that half of February has already passed.  Here in St. Louis, we've been lucky so far to have a blue sky laden, mild winter.  That translates to a happy Nancy. My studio time has been chocked full of playing in the DLP project.  Photos of those spreads are on my Nancy Curry Art page, preparing for a grand re-design at Wood Icing in Chesterfield, where I will be finally exhibiting a smattering of my finished work, and doing some designing for  ????.  You'll have to wait for that announcement.  My involvement in doTERRA continues to grow.  I have had the time to do classes here at my house the last few months and will soon be doing classes for others.  The oils are powerful and continue to do amazing things for me and people that I have shared them with.  It's nice to have other options besides medication.  It is soon time for my art classes to begin again.  Look on my website for a partial schedule of where I will be this year.

Have a lovely day with those you love:  humans, canines, family, and  friends.  It's the bomb.