Finished At Last - Adam & Eve

I am done... yay!! Finished with both Adam & Eve. I've made wooden tags for each one too. One side says: Assemblages by Roberta. Assemblage is an artistic process in which a three-dimensional artistic composition is made from putting together found objects.Assemblage is the 3-dimensional cousin of collage. The origin of the word (in its artistic sense) can be traced back to the early 1950s, when Jean Dubuffet created a series of collages of butterfly wings, which he titled assemblages d'empreintes. Many artists had composed "assemblages" prior to that, Marcel Duchamp & Pablo Picasso were two famous artists who found expression in & through their assemblage art.

The other side says: ADAM. The ADAM assemblage is created from a male mannequin torso. The material covered heart insert has an antique tail light inside. The side tin insert has a carved wooden rib bone. Adam is covered with pictures of Adam, Eve, snakes & leaves over blue tissue paper, finished off with 12 coats of polycrylic, and a brass apple on the top cap. Enjoy this unique assemblage creation by artist Roberta K_____, _______, WI _(email addy).

The Eve tag says: EVE. The EVE assemblage is created from a female mannequin torso. The insert is a wire basket with a wooden apple core & jointed wooded snake threaded through the basket & through the side of Eve. Inside is a sky scene. Eve is covered with pictures of Adam, Eve, snakes, apples & leaves over green tissue paper, finished off with 12 coats of polycrylic, and a brass apple on the top cap.Enjoy this unique assemblage creation by artist Roberta K_____, ______, WI.

So, now I am hoping to show them to a friend tomorrow and hopefully we can make an agreement to have them in his shop. I kind of hate to let these go, but I really don't have a place to keep them, and I'm already in the process of making another... .plus all my other ideas I need to bring to fruition too! *L*

Dad is doing GREAT! YAY!

Today was a long day of waiting at the hospital while my Dad had some heart surgery procedures,... thankfully it was taken care of by putting another "stint" inside one that had worked it's way loose and had scar tissue blocking the blood flow... the surgeon said all went well, and looks well... Dad comes home tomorrow morning...he and all of us thank those who were praying for him!!
Thank you Lord for my Dad, may he be with us for many, many more years... (and Mom too!!))
*time for sleep* Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

Adam & Eve together...

Here are my Adam & Eve assemblages...almost finished, together for the camera. *L*
I still need to carve a rib bone for Adam, and anchor it in the space, maybe I'll go around that space with some kind of trim too? Not sure yet?... I need to put a few coats of polycrylic on each of them, anchor the apple in Eve and anchor the tailight/reflector in Adam's heart, and I think I am done?

Anyway, so far I'm really happy with how they've turned out. *S*
BUT... I have a newsletter deadline to meet, lots to do today... and tomorrow my Dad is having heart surgery... any pray-ers out there, please keep Jerry in your prayers, and my mom, Barb, too. Thanks so much for prayers on their behalf..

Off to work..... more to come....

Josh & Jake's Cicada Safari

Today was my being gramma day. I had all three grandsons (6 yrs., 3 yrs. and 1 year old). We went on a safari hunt over to Lake Geneva where we went with the Youth Group on Wed., so the boys could collect some cicadas to take home to show Mom and Dad. My son (their Dad) will love me for it, I'm sure! *L*

They loved looking at the cicadas and I made up a page for their memory book of the pictures and info on them too. Maybe in 17 years, when the cicadas return, when the two older boys turn 23 and 20 years old, they can perhaps remember back when good ole Gramma 'berta took them to see their first cicadas. The baby, Jeff, slept thru the whole adventure...ahh well...he'll hear the stories from his brothers perhaps when he's older too?

The one picture I laugh about - where they are looking disgusted, I had suggested we take the cicadas home and eat them for lunch, maybe with a little wild honey like John the Baptist did! They didn't think that sounded good at all!..*haha* They were hoping for a McDonald's Happy Meal instead.... and since they seem to have this gramma wrapped around their little finger, I gave in and took them there. *S*

After stopping at a few rummage sales on the way home (the boys had to carry their bug jars with them and show EVERYone their treasured cicadas..*L*), then at Staples to run off more laser prints of Adam & Eve for my Adam torso, we came home, played in the sandbox, got on swimming trunks, sprayed each other with water guns and hoses, then came in and swang on the front porch swing while cuddled up in towels until Dad came to get them... it was a good day... but I'm ready for a NAP!! *L*

Adam Assemblage Continues

I decided to go with an insert for a rib bone as part of this assemblage, along with the heart insert. So guess what we had for dinner last night..*L*....spare ribs! I may have to look more however for longer or bigger spare ribs because these seem kind of small, but we'll see after I get things more assembled.

I found a cool tin piece to fit for the insert, cut the torso to fit it, then decoupaged (Mod Podged) blue tissue paper on him. I've started adding the pictures of Adam and Eve that I had, but I will need more.... and some leafy things as well to fill in.

Sooo, that's it for tonite....Tomorrow the grandsons come for the day, so time to pack everything up and out of the way.

More to come....

Ewwww Cicadas!

The 17 year locust (cicadas) are here! They've been around for the last few weeks, mostly over in the Lake Geneva area. We took the Youth Group over tonight to see them , since none of these kids have seen these in their lifetime, and the next time they will get a chance is when they are about 29 or 30 years old.

Here is a bag of them I collected for my son to take to Camp where he'll be a counselor this summer... it will be interesting for kids to see them, I think...although they will probably all be dead by this weekend....they say the infestation will probably be winding down by the end of this month anyway.

When I went to Lake Geneva this afternoon to find good places to take the kids, the cicadas were "singing" up a storm then, they were very loud. But they evidently quiet down at night... that is, unless you pick them up by the wings and stick them in a plastic bag...then they "scream" and make a lot of noises. *L*

Did you know you can eat these insects? Blech!! Experts say that the best way to eat cicadas is to collect them in the middle of the night as they emerge from their underground burrows and before their skins harden. When they are in this condition, like soft shell crabs, they can be boiled for about a minute, and they are said to taste like asparagus or clam-flavored potatoes.

Guess since we gathered ours in the early evening, IF we decide to eat them, they'll be tough, and not as tasty eh?...*L*

Here is a skeleton of one of the cicada's on a leaf. There were hundreds of them all over on the ground, I remember when I was in junior high school seeing the cicada shells stuck to trees up near my aunt and uncle's cabin on Lake Wisconsin.

Anyway... it was an interesting Youth Group night as we explored the strange things that God has created, and learned a bit more about them too...*S*

Adam Assemblage Started

Some interesting things on the scripture story of creation and Adam & Eve....

Genesis 5:2 "He (God) created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man"."

In Hebrew "man" is adam, which translates as mankind. I don't believe that Adam was to be taken as a literal person, but instead as a name for people (men & women) in general....mankind. This scripture supports that too for it says when "they" were created he called "them" man.

Anyway....I find those kind of things interesting when looking at God's inspired Word in scripture, to know more like that helps explain a lot, (well, sometimes - but much is still a mystery to me - I am still learning, always learning).

Sooooo, here is my start of the creation of the "Adam Assemblage".... I found a velveteen heart box and cut the hole to fit it into Adam's chest. The item inside the heart box is some kind of reflector/tail light which I found at a rummage sale. I would like to find a long, narrow box and insert a rib bone in it, carving a space in the side of Adam for that... (that's still in the idea stage, but I think it would be cool).

Wish I could stay and work on this more....but I am waaaay behind on my reports for a Vestry meeting tonite.... sooooo, (hi-ho, hi-ho) it's off to work I go.

More to come.....

Eve Almost Complete - yay!!

I think I am almost done.... here are views from all sides of Eve. I decided to go with blue & white tissue paper inside to look like a sky scene, and not put anything else inside because it would be too "busy" I think if I did and take away from seeing the apple core and snake. I still need to finish off the bottom edge a bit and spray a protective coating of varnish or polyurethane on it and it's almost ready to put up for sale.

I was thinking maybe I should change out the color of the stand and cap on the neck? Any suggestions would be appreciated and welcomed! Constructive criticisms too.

Eve...Eve...Eve...and still not finished!

I'm not very good at this collaging... *L*...well, at least at having enough pictures... guess I'll have to keep adding more tomorrow. Here's what I've done today. Time for a break for tonite.

I am thinking seriously, however of getting a laser printer for things like this... since using pictures from the ink jet doesn't really work well for collaging.

Note to Biby....thanks for the nice comments and for visiting my blog.... come back again soon!

More to come....

I'm gonna need a LOT more pictures....

Well, I've added some pictures of Adam and Eve to the

"Eve" torso... but I am waaaay short of pictures... so guess I'll need to gather some more.. .and here I thought I had plenty!

Ah well.... time to get to my job, and dream of doing more this afternoon.

More to come....

Eve - Green With Envy? Or the Jolly Green Giant's Wife?

I've decoupaged green tissue paper on "Eve" today. I had wanted something that would look garden-ish or leaf-ish to be under the pictures I am hoping to decoupage on the body, I thought at first I would paint it, but decided on tissue paper and I think it's a neat way to get a leafy like look. It's pretty green, but a lot of it won't show after the pictures are applied.

I'm still working on something for behind the stomach cage that has the apple core and the snake winding through it... not sure if what I had thought would work, will actually or work or not? It's a wooden plaque with a tree... it would symbolize the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mentioned in scripture in Genesis 2. But I may need to paint around the tree part on the plaque to make it show up better, or see if I can get my scroll saw to work and cut it out.... I hate that scroll saw, it is too hard to change the blades when they break.

One thing I did today with the tissue paper is mod podge - I'd never used it before...during the clean up, as I was peeling the stuff in large hunks off my fingers and my hand, it reminded me of how I used to love coating my hand with Elmer's glue, letting it dry, then peeling it off....*L* I know...weird eh?...ha!

I also went to the local print shop and had them make color copies of my ink jet pictures of Adam & Eve so that when I decoupage them, hopefully the color won't run at all because it's a different kind of printing...laser printing I think? Anyway... off to cut out those pictures, and let my green "Eve" dry....

....tomorrow's another day.....

More Eve.... or...All About Eve (hey, catchy title, eh?)

Okay, here's the "more" I said would be coming.... I worked just a little today on this... I gessoed the outside to smooth out some rough spots and then tried out a wooden bendable snake in the assemblage too... threaded thru a hole I cut in the side and then through the wire basket in the stomach area. I like how the snake head kind of moves around when it's touched...heh, heh.....it will freak out kids. *EG*

I want to maybe paint the entire thing with some green leafy color paint that will show between the pictures I want to collage on it.

I may have to test out the pictures I did on my inkjet printer because the color may run when I get it wet with paste stuff and coat it with other stuff..... guess we'll see as I test it tomorrow after work.

That's it for tonite...... Holding the families and friends of victims in a recent tragedy here in our town in my thoughts and prayers tonite.... Lord have mercy.

More of "Eve" to come in the days ahead....

Eve in Process

I'm not sure if that is what I'll call this when it's done "Eve"...but it is depicting Eve.

Anyway... this will show a work in progress... This is the before picture. What was a really nice female torso with a great stand, and flawless body...the covering had no stains or tears, (it would have been nice to display jewelry - but I already have one for that).. soooo, I ripped the outside coverings all off to get started.

Here is the torso with the hole I sawed into it. I found a wire basket thing I thought I'd use for the insert, and a wooden apple core, that I've stained over to make it look older.

Here it is inserted into the hole I made... It is flush with the torso on the top and the bottom, but because this female torso is quite curvy, it sticks out on the sides. I'm not sure if I want it to be like that, but I'll see how it looks once I get into it more. I like the idea of seeing thru the wire basket insert, and so I'll do something on the inside of the torso as well so it can be seen ...maybe pictures collaged of inside body guts?...hmmmm, maybe not.... we'll see.

Anyway.... time for my hair appointment... I hate it when I get into a project and then have to leave for a few hours.

More to come........

Torso & Spare Body Parts Day at Good Will

Okay.... so now WHAT am I gonna make with THESE? *L* Thanks to my friend, Deb, I was alerted to the spare body parts for sale at Good Will in Janesville... so I rushed over and purchased a few spare parts. Some have pretty cool stands on them too... so when I DO make something, they'll look cool displayed on those stands.... right now I am thinking of making collages, decoupaged on them, or cutting out a space and inserting something inside the hole I'll make? Who knows? My mind is whirling.... and my family thinks I've gone insane...haha!

Anyway, thanks Deb for the tip!! Anyone have any ideas, let me know too!

Three Generations

What fun we had today... I took my mom down to see the daughter's new apartment, and the new photo studio where she is the assistant manager. Kasey had a surprise for us, after the tour of the studio for my mom, we had our photos taken together...3 Generations! It was kind of fun having professional pictures done, lots of fancy gadgets and screens and things, all to make us look better than we really are...ha! Kasey's co-worker and the manager took our pictures... it was a lot of fun... a trendy photo studio with cool music playing while he snapped several dozen pictures. The funny thing was, when we were about done, and just kind of goofing around, he continued snapping and those turned out to be the ones we all liked the best. Here is one of them... Kasey burned me a CD of them on the spot... I am still resizing them, and cropping them. I have an idea of getting pictures of my mom's mom and her grandmother (my great grandmother) and then photoshopping them in on either side of us in a kind of transparent ghost image... then it would be FIVE generations in the pic. So far it's just an idea ... but when I have time I hope I can do it and make it look good.

After the photos, we all went to The CheeseCake Factory for lunch, then back to Kasey's apartment for a tour and then home... it was a fun day with my mom and my daughter! *S*

Anyway... almost time for Youth Group.... fun, fun, fun!

XOXOXOX

Roberta

P.S. Thank you Kasey!! I LOVE YOU!

Dove Release Photo

Whew.... been a busy time for me lately, and I hope to be able to post some new assemblages soon. I have 3 - 5 in the works, and hope to do some new ones that I have been gathering junk for lately too.

Here is a cool photo, although not really as clear as I'd have liked, it is cool because I was able to catch all three doves as they were released. We do a dove release each Pentecost (this year May 27th) at church... doves are symbolic of God, the Holy Spirit, and the 1st Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit was released big time on the disciples, which empowered them to share the "Good News" of Jesus Christ to others....so much so that thousands were baptised that same day as they heard and believed... because of that Pentecost is also referred to as the birth(day) of the Christian Church.

Anyway... off to work... and hopefully I'll have more art to post soon.