Project Plans for 2013 and photos of 2012 Folk Art Projects

Spiral Gazing Ball.

Happy New Year everyone!  I wanted to blog about my project plans for 2013.  I also wanted to take a last look at the projects I completed in 2012.  Time is a funny thing.  It seems as if the projects took forever to complete while I was working on them, but at the end of the year I look back and wonder how the year passed so quickly.

Diorama: Devil Looking for Trouble in a Small Town.

My plans for 2013 are actually based on a synchronicity.  During the summer of 2012, there was a series of storms here that left my home without power for a couple of weeks.  I spent a lot of time at the library.  One of the books I was leafing through during that time was a book on folk art toys.  I saw a string powered carousel.  The toy components were very basic.  I thought it had some potential, and listed the idea as something for future thought.

Folk Art Pig.

Then, I was clearing out some (very) old magazines, and leafed through them to see if there were any articles I wanted to keep.  I found plans for making a rocking horse.  It gave dimensions and construction information.  That reminded me that I had considered making a carousel.  The plan moved up a notch on my radar.  But I really did not want to do just a carousel.  A lot of people are doing those, and while they are beautiful, I don't want to do something that looks like everything else.  I was pondering how I could make a carousel and how I could make one that was different from an ordinary carousel.

A few weeks ago, one of my friends called and asked if I wanted to make a day trip to a folk art museum.  We went not knowing what to expect.  Inside the museum was a beautiful carousel with hand carved animals.  I absolutely fell in love with it.  The animals were not horses.  They were zoo animals.  It was amazing!  I could have stayed there all day looking at this magnificent creation.

Wild Rose Walking Stick.

After coming across three instances of a carousel, I feel that perhaps the universe is suggesting that I make a folk art carousel.  When I keep crossing paths with an idea, it really seems to me that it is an indication for the direction that I need to go.  So my major project for this year will be a carousel.   I am planning on it being a mixed media carousel.  Some parts will be wood, while the figures will be paper mache.  I might be inspired to try carving as a side project, however, I don't think my first carving project will make it into the carousel.

Diorama:  Faux Tesla Coil.

My other planned project at this point is another walking stick.  This particular walking stick has a unique shape and has been hanging around for years waiting for the inspiration to come.  The bulbous top of the head has always seemed to have an animal head shape to it, but I could never quite figure it out.  Now I'm thinking of something in a completely different direction.  I was watching a television show on Easter Island, which started me thinking about Polynesia, and the oral traditions that they practiced.  I considered how dance and art cues played a part in helping to remember the details of the oral tradition.  So now, I'm considering that this walking stick may have a tribal design that details a (fictional) tribe with perhaps a line of poetry in the design.  The tribal design would represent pre-literate  ancestors, while the poetry would represent linking the ancestors to the manifestation of the tribe in the current literate world.  The walking stick poetry would have overtones of linking a shaman to the tribal ancestors.  That is a tall order.  I haven't gone any further with the idea than this.  However, inspiration has spoken loud and clear on this one, and I know that what is needed will fall into place as I begin working on it.

So those are my two big plans for the moment.  (I also have a couple more on the back burner, but more on those later.)  I don't have any idea how long it will take to finish these.  That is the good thing about making art without production deadlines.  When it is finished, it is finished.  As long as I work on something consistently, making some step on it each day, it will come to fruition.   The journey of making art is as important, if not more important, than the product.  My 2013 journey starts today.  I'll be heading to the arts and crafts store for supplies.  

I also wanted to take a look back at the art I completed in 2012.  I completed five pieces this year.  I don't stick with one particular medium because my interests are all over the place.  Also, if I keep working with some particular type of art for too long, I become bored with it.  For me, it is better to switch off from one type of work to another.  Then I can come back to a medium refreshed and ready to work in it again.  So the projects completed this year include a stained glass gazing ball, the Devil Looking for Trouble in a Small Town diorama, a Folk Art Pig, the Wild Roses Walking Stick, and the Faux Tesla Coil Diorama.  Many hours went into these projects.  From the standpoint of how much enjoyment I received from creating these projects, it was time well spent.