Decorations

This last weekend was the culmination of months of planning with the decorations committee for the Vampire: the Masquerade game that I was involved in during three of the nights of KublaCon. Each night had a theme and required that we make the very large space appear different for each night because the game was set in three different locations, though in reality we were using the same physical location all three nights.

The first night was themed "Rebirth" and was supposed to evoke the idea of a phoenix rising from the ashes. The second night was without a theme, as it had been decided that we would use the existing space  as is to give a clean/uncluttered feeling as a juxtaposition to the other nights. The last night was "Masquerade" which was my favorite and, by far, got the lions share of my attention and imagination and resources.

Nights one and two were fine, but I want to share night three, since that is the decorations that not only looked the best, but brought about comments that they were the most amazing decorations the convention had seen (considering that the same was said for the decorations I did for one of the nights last year, I'm extremely proud of continuing the upward climb). The space was a large tent with ten round 6ft tables, chairs arranged around the tables, chairs in a few rows, a small dance floor, a small platform that was dubbed a stage, and a few tables that we could move around the outside of the very large tent. Everything was white or drab, as befits a stereotypical hotel pavilion, but we made it rich and vibrant.

Through the use of fabric in reds and golds, masks, fake beaded fruit, jewels, fake candles, vases, fake flowers, real flowers, ribbon, fur, and hard work, the team and I made the space amazing. There was a plethora of art by my friend Jenny J. (who I will link as soon as I have her permission), who was of great assistance with the decorating committee as well as being an amazing illustrator and painter and costume designer, and I feel that her art pieces really made the space what much more imaginative and festive and beautiful. Thank you Jenny for adding the depth to the space.

Pictures will be posted as soon as I can get ahold of them.

Balloonacy

At noon there was already a short line at Millions of Fishes, an art collective that a few acquaintances are and have been a part of, for an amazing experience. While waiting for Balloonacy there were a few of the extra sturdy balloons in the waiting area that everyone was playing with. These balloons were large and sturdy and a couple were huge. It was finally time to go in and there were a string of warnings: if you are claustrophobic, don't go in; if you have a fear of latex or latex smell, don't go in; if you get disoriented and need help getting out, there are lifeguards that will help you find your way.

The warnings were well deserved. I waded into a solid wall of white balloons held in check by the confines of the room and two layers of curtains to keep out light. Once inside, it was super surreal, there were balloons everywhere that glowed when jostled and as other people moved the balloons got pushed into me and I pushed other balloons into other people. At one point I noticed that the ceiling in one area was very tall and that there was some extra space up there, so I threw a whole bunch of the balloons in the air, scooping them and tossing them, watching them glow as they gently descended.

After wading through the chaos, one of the artist, George, offered to take me upstairs for a look down. Wow, it was so cool. There's a second floor to the room with a strange balcony/catwalk that extended over the pond of balloons. All I could see down there were glowing orbs moving around and giggles. Fantastic is putting it lightly.

Inspiration

Today I read a fabulous book called Altered Curiosities by a fantastic artist named Jane Ann Wynn. There are whimsical stories behind her art works and she has good technique in her construction. I adore the fact that she ages everything and gives objects a creepy twist and yet the pieces remain light-hearted and fun. I feel so inspired that it makes me really sad that I have to go in to work today. Why can't I be home making amazing things? Oh, yeah, bills. Grrrr.

Supporting the Arts

Just received a fantastic duvet cover that I ordered from Deny Designs. The one I chose is by a fabulous artist by the name of Valentina Ramos, who specializes in illustration. I love her use of visual texture and heavy detail work to make each piece special. I feel so inspired by her art and the fact that she is working hard and selling her creations and doing her own thing just makes me want to do all that much more. Is it silly that I want to be her when I grow up?

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Today I worked a bit on cutting out images for collages. While National Geographic is great, I think that catalogues will be giving me some interesting images, due, in particular, to the nature of the images that are in catalogues as being a presentation of the item rather than a piece of art unto itself, like most of the photos in Nat. Geo.

Also, made a trip to Lowes and purchased a lovely clear coat to protect my collages, 2 gallons of Elmers glue for sticking everything together and doing papier-mâché, and a bright light for my makeshift art studio in the storage area/chickenlandia/basement. I'm ok with sharing the space with 25 chicks, so long as I get to make what I want. 


Lastly, hung up 3 found paintings in my studio. Had to clear away cobwebs, since the spiders move in pretty quickly, but now that they are up, I want to add more art to the walls. Will post pics of these random paintings as soon as I can find a camera.