Orn-oddment

Feeling considerably merrier today-- & my to-do list is looking just a skinch less panic-worthy-- so I decided I had time to whip up a jolly little critter for the tree, & for all of you lovely people! I hope your holidays are full of warmth, revelry & good humor.
:-)



Acrylic on paper recycled from discarded manila folder, about 2"x2.5"

Fresh Squeezed

I've never been a good salesperson. I remember working in a dress shop for about two weeks as a teenager & cringing through every second of it. Luckily a job opened up in the public library & I was off like a shot! I'm sure my departure was as much of a relief for the shop owner as it was for me. Though maybe if I'd stayed, my dismal sales skills would have improved eventually...

But they didn't. And I'm even worse when it comes to selling my own art. Mind you, I definitely love it when people buy my work! I just hate the selling part.

So it has taken me years to gird my loins to set up an Etsy shop, but I've finally done it! The shop is called Curious Art Lab. I'll be listing pieces somewhat randomly & gradually so if there are Oddments you'd like to see there please let me know.

Okay, sales pitch over, whew!

Acrylic on text from New American Business Cyclopedia, 1924., ~3"x3"

Mini Monster Mash

I'm feeling a bit dizzy at the moment, with five different projects underway (in addition to Flash classes & deadlines) & none of them quite scanner-ready.

So I decided to post this little doodle, completed while watching online Flash tutorials, in between taking notes on the stuff I needed to know. (Yes, I do take notes with a crow-quill sometimes! Call me antediluvian,* but it helps keep my calligraphic hand in fighting trim.)

I thought it looked a little like a particularly odd Halloween party.

I draw this sort of nonsense often-- it helps calm me down when my brain is boiling. You should see my college calculus notebooks. By the way, I firmly believe that doodling helps me concentrate. I caught no end of grief for it in school (even though I made good grades) but a couple of years ago I saw this study & felt vindicated. :-D

Hunt's flexible crow-quill pen & ink on legal pad, ~3"x4"

*This is actually a teaser for one of the pieces I'm working on!

Light-Headed Contraption

I loved IF's prompt this week-- I only wish I had more time to make more elaborate contraptions! But I'm crazy busy all week, so just time for a quickie today. 

Acrylic on found red light bulb, antique shears & miniature pliers, held together (badly) with copper & brass wire. About 5½" tall.

Her Odd  Materials No. 12

Home for Halloween

I thought I'd try my hand at animating Home Sweet Home. This is pretty rough. Flash is definitely an "Odd Material" as far as I'm concerned. I know it's second nature for some people, but I find it both frustrating & fascinating. For one thing, I still don't quite understand why some videos export & post without issues, & others simply refuse to cooperate.

Do you hear "Happy Halloween" in the audio, or am I hallucinating from excessive computer hours? It was a free download by alextundra, btw, from freesound.org.

Flash, Photoshop, acrylic over text from an old dictionary. I wonder if my mixed media conglomerations will some day reach critical mass & explode. They have already had questionable effects on my computer, & possibly my brain.

edit: At Ted's request I'm including a looped version, for those who are gluttons for punishment!

Kinesthesia

Gone are the days when the average gnome was content to spend his golden years happily puttering about the garden. Today's modern senior gnome stays buff in the gym, diligently swelling his biceps instead of his belly.

Curiotype K, Photoshop with text from Websters New Collegiate Dictionary 1949

p.s. I know this is a little late for "Swell" but better late than never, I hope.

Irruption!

Invasion of the Oddments!! When the population of a single species in a given area suddenly swells, it can pose problems for other less populous species. For instance, in my house we are now experiencing an irruption of fruit flies (due, no doubt, to the also-increasing numbers of peaches, figs & tomatoes populating the kitchen counter). These obnoxious beasties definitely have the local humans way outnumbered, & despite a distinct disadvantage in size (& one would hope, intelligence), the little guys are clearly winning. *Sigh*

This is Curiotype Number Nine. (Cue white album.) Photoshop with text from Webster's Dictionary, 1945.

Return of the Oddments: Helicoid!

My computer seems to be working fine now-- I've been scrambling to make up for lost work time. At last I'm back to my master plan for world oddment-ification! Another in the Curiotype series.

Photoshop, with text from Gray's Introduction to Structural & Systemic Botany, 1876

Perennial Curiosity

I loved the quotation in this week's IF prompt:

“A good scientist is a person in whom the childhood quality of perennial curiosity lingers on. Once he gets an answer, he has other questions.” ~ Frederick Seitz

I think artists tend to be the same way, don't you?

This curious specimen grew out of the painting I'm working on (with a few changes).

Photoshop, text & acrylic textures. Please click to see details.

21-Gun Salute

In a gesture of pride for its number, 21, this oddment is showing off its appropriately numerous biceps (count them if you don't believe me).