Diorama - Competition Voting - Field Project

More leaves added to the trees.

The photos this week don't have the best lighting.  I've been going so hard this week that I'm having to do everything at top speed.  I did not have time to set up lighting and all the extras that make for better photos.  Last weekend, my husband was complaining about the slowness of the internet.  I suggested that perhaps it was because so many people were Christmas shopping.  Then it hit me.  Oh no!  It was the end of October and I have not even started on Christmas.  So this week I have been hitting the stores and shopping the internet.  It took up the whole week.  Not that I am finished; only just well begun.

Birds are more visible with the addition of contrasting leaves.

The holiday party season has begun.  Halloween was Friday night.  We had a few trick or treaters, but not as many as I had expected.  Saturday night we had a party to attend.  November is starting to get booked up as well.  My studio time is going to be somewhat limited until the end of December.  However, I hope to have this diorama complete by Thanksgiving.

Competition entry:  About that Flying Dream.

I managed to complete the leaves on the first tree and start on the leaves on the second tree.  That is about as much as I had time to do.  The leaf bundles take longer to make than one would think.  Part of the extra time is because I am working on such a small scale.  When pieces are small, they are difficult to handle.  The other part of the situation is that I am using hot glue to glue the leaf bundles to the branches, then the branches to the tree.  Hot glue is somewhat difficult to work with because it leaves long sticky threads of glue everywhere.  I get them on my fingers, on my clothes, and on the project pieces.  Some can be dealt with later, but some have to be dispensed with immediately to keep them from becoming a permanent part of the project.  Every little bit adds to the time it takes to get those leaves on the trees.

Field 11-2-2014.

On another subject, I entered the Mystery Build competition.  The main prize is awarded by a jury.  There is also a People's Choice award.  People can go in and vote for their favorite project.  I'm hoping that my readers will vote for my project, but of course there are many worthy projects there.  At least you will get a chance to see some other art.  Voting is open from November 1st through November 20th.  You can vote once per day.  My project is project number 37 which is on page 2 of the entries.  Here is a link to the voting:  http://mysterybuild.com/

Today is Sunday, so there is another picture for my field project.  Today's picture was taken at 8:50 am.  The temperature was 43 degrees (Fahrenheit).  Winds were 15 to 20 miles per hour.  It was overcast with spats of rain.  There is a freeze watch here for tonight and a freeze warning at higher elevations.  It is hard to believe, but there are only a few more pictures left in my field project.  I started on Winter Solstice 2013 with the intention of documenting the changes in the field from week to week as Winter changed to Spring and the field was planted and the crops grew.  Unfortunately, the field was not planted this year because the field was sold.  The entire neighborhood was glad that it was sold to a farmer and not a developer.  Because the sale was so late in the growing season, the new owner put in some tomatoes and a few greens and left the rest of the field fallow.  That was not exactly in line with what I was planning.  Oh well, such is life.  I will continue with my plan to document the field for an entire year.  The project will end on Winter Solstice 2014 which is about seven weeks from now.  Maybe I will try again next year.  I haven't made up my mind yet.  I do enjoy going out for an early morning walk.

More on the diorama on Wednesday.