Pointe Mosaic Complete; Archeology Project Started

I've just spent a very frustrating hour trying to log onto this site. I never can remember my user name or my password or whether they are case sensitive. Finally, after resetting a password countless times, I figured it out. Maybe these frustrations are the counter result of a glorious weekend in my studio. My altered book, American Dream, is now more than completed. It has been photographed and made into a mini-video, complete with a melodramatic instrumental score of Foster's melodies recorded by the Pittsburgh Symphony. All forty-two pages flip over for viewing. My statement is there too. I have no idea if this video can be posted on this blog, but it is posted on the MySpace which is linked to this blog.

I finished Pointe Mosaic, a piece done for Radenko Pavlovich's Columbia Classical Ballet company's autumn fund-raiser. I totally decontructed a pair of miniature sized, $5 sale pointe shoes. I cut the sections into mainly half-inch squares and added acrylic GAC 400 and paint. This actually made little "tiles". I then adhered them to a piece of painted wood and added all sorts of bead and found objects. The overall effect is almost primitively African. I actually looks really good and not at all like a pair of ballet pointe shoes.

I was glad to be done with the charity piece because I could turn all my attention to the upcoming archeology project. In only a few moments all tension left me. Nothing in my studio was sacred; everything was open to transformation. I can honestly say I've never had such a good time in my studio. My mind just followed each passing whim, from fabric to paper, from stitch to paint, from found object to recycled old piece, and beyond. I have three, nearly antique leather suitcases to fill with "artifacts", newly created, mysterious relics of a fantasy culture. Time just flew, but so did the results.

This afternoon Mathias flew back home from Japan. He said that security was as heightened as the media had suggested but that the flights were fine. His guest dancing with Sapporo Ballet went well and he has until Thursday to pack for England. It is hard to believe that he is eighteen years old and moving to another country later this week. Tomorrow we are throwing a small, informal party to honor his recent gold medal from Varna.