Having grown up in the 50's and 60's it was only natural Flower Power would have an effect on me. Little did I know it would invade every part of my studio recently.
Here's a sample of the pieces I've been working on over the last several months, which I'm calling my flower power series. They all involve flowers in some way. The organization and testing is a time consuming process.
I have a number of flower groups going at once including forest, seashore, pastel, and psychedelic in various stages of the process. I log each flower onto a spread sheet detailing the type of clay used, types of glazes or slips, and the firing schedule. Then there's the testing for the lusters I plan on using.
To conserve energy usage, I try to fire a full load. Since most of the flowers are small, it takes a while till I can fire a group of them. I've also made flowers to hang directly on the wall, attached to other clay pieces, functional and non-functional, and various other pieces drying in the cabinets.
Once I've completed a flower, I decide if the flower will go into a frame, shadow box, diorama, or how it will be used. I spend quite a bit of time blending the acrylic colors to get them the way I like them. I've also mounted some flowers on natural wood with stains or bees wax. I'm still working on the background colors and mounting details for these two.
The good part of this lengthy process is I get to use all the things I've collected like shells, driftwood, pieces of metal, etc. I also get to work with all of the materials I like: different clays and slips, acrylic paint, found objects, wood, and other artifacts. Stay tuned for more flower power real soon.
Flower Power Series by Linda Starr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at bluestarrgallery.blogspot.com.
I Love this! All these great elements that you are so good at bringing together. I have always admired creative folks who love the process. Great idea for a series.
ReplyDeleteHi Teresa, thanks, just wait till you see the psychedelics, can't wait for them to be done.
ReplyDeleteCute Linda, stick those on some metal stems and put them in the garden :)
ReplyDeleteSeems such a natural thing for you to be making since you had such a great garden in Ca.
Linda, I absolutely LOVE this theme. Flower Power was a huge movement in the 60s. It's one of the reasons I don't mind being as "young at heart" ( translation OLD) as I am. I eagerly await the psychedelic images. I'll be all over that!
ReplyDeleteGrooooovy Linda..! :)..
ReplyDeleteThey are terrific..
T.
Hi Tracey, thanks, yeah I might try to make a few to put on metal rods, I remember Jen Mecca said once anything for the garden sells well. I miss my garden, but not all that work.
ReplyDeleteHi Becky, thanks, I'm wanted some wild and crazy colors. Remember psychedelic posters.
Hi Trish, thanks, feeling groovy, Ta du du da da da da - Ha.
Like the idea of them on rods in the garden. That third one is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThey would be beautiful in the garden and won't die in the winter. If you put them on copper stems the copper would patina over time and would be a nice complement.
ReplyDeleteGreat series! Love these, they are truly gorgeous and so are your flower photos.
ReplyDeletelovely! you are always trying something new and i admire that.
ReplyDeletewhen you said "flower power" it reminded me of this mattel toy i had as a kid... you poured some sort of goop in metal flower molds then "cooked" them on the "flower power" hot plate that came with it. they came out rubbery and you could glue them on stuff. that was when no one cared if small children played with hot things ;-)
This is a delightful post, Linda.
ReplyDeleteI love the first and third ones. I've heard that Flower Movement was very powerful in the States. Did you join the Woodstock? Love your palette too!
Your flower power series is beautiful. I see that we both are working on carved flower creations. Great minds :)
ReplyDeleteHi Patti, thanks, I'll have to figure out how to attach them to some metal rods.
ReplyDeleteHi Lori, thanks, yeah copper, kind of pricey in cost right now though.
Hi Marguerite, thanks, maybe I'll put a flower in every home. Ha.
Hi Michele, thanks, what a fun toy that must have been. I used to grow flower indoors when I was child.
Hi Sapphire, thanks so much, I did not go to Woodstock, but I did go to plenty of other concerts on the West Coast and was in San Francisco in the 1970s to enjoy some of the free concertst there.
Hi Cindy, thanks, I was so surprised to see your platter, which I love by the way, it is a wonderful design; you are really on to some creative ideas with your work.