Where would you go, and how would you travel?
Dances with Clouds … a battered airship carried by a hot air balloon, drifting high among the tatters and wisps of clouds. Sometimes you write a story and create artwork which illustrates the tale, enhancing the details.
And sometimes, as with “Dances with Clouds,” the artwork writes its own story without a word needed.
Sailing from one adventure and toward another, what story does it tell you?
Ever heard the saying “it’s not a level playing field?” I’m a football fan — don’t laugh, I swear it! And in recent years, the teams I’ve been following struggled. More than a little.
There’s not a lot of ways to put this nicely, but sometimes it just looks like we aren’t on the same page, or in the same book, or even in the same library. And boom goes the dynamite! What captures this season for me is how everyone is doing their job, doing what they should do and still … still … apparently not able to play the game as a team, as a unit. The quarterback throws on one plane, the wide receiver runs on another, linemen are upside down and sideways. Yep, looks familiar.
Why is it that some teams take a deep breath and think and act as a single entity, and others, full of heart and life and talent, can’t seem to find their way? Heck, if I knew that, I’d be coaching. For real.
I figure mixing M.C. Escher’s warped staircases and American football in a snow globe makes just about as much sense as our season.
All images and designs copyright (c) Camryn Forrest Designs, Denver, Colorado.
On the exterior of the tube, a knowing face smiles serenely, never betraying the secrets inside.
A dark heart emerges from the smoke and glitter, held firmly in the grasp of golden fingers. With heavy glittering dust in shades of charcoal and black, this globe becomes nearly opaque when shaken, and the hand and heart appear to rise slowly from the ashes as the smoky dust settles.
The sculpture moves between glimpses of hope, strength and darkness, as the solid hand and heart emerge triumphant from the swirling ashes.
One of a kind, shakeable waterball (snow globe) with metal hand and support, grasping a glass heart with flecks of gold and black foil detail inside glass. Exterior base is wood, with aged paint detailing and hammered antique brass filigree embelleshments on each of 8 corners.
The artist, who is prone to terrible puns which only she finds amusing, respectfully requests silent acknowledgement for NOT calling this snow globe “50 Shakes of Gray.”
Imagin
ing details in a past that never was, great airships travel the skies, seeking adventure and fortune. But what do they leave in their wake?
As the moon will attest, explorers may leave a few items behind, the flotsam and jetsam, the tossed cargo, the unnecessary items shed in the rush to embark. This waterball (snow globe) is a snapshot of a mysterious scavenger airship carrying cargo wrapped tightly with chains. Recycle, re-purpose, re-use the refuse.
The patched and battered zeppelin floats slowly, thoughtfully, perhaps hovering while deciding whether to scavenge lost parts and useable items from the surface below. When the glass globe is shaken, the liquid is filled with a cloud of dark, smoky gray metallic powder, reminiscent of the heavy air in an industrial city. It’s hardly fair to call it a snow globe, when the world is full of sparkling mystery and dark opportunity.
The waterball base is wrapped in space junk: gears and parts of machines, wheels and chains. Hand-engraved plate reads “Scavenger Hunt.”
A tiny Ferris wheel contraption with four antique brass roller skates instead of seating is enclosed in a glass globe with shimmering liquid, for those who like endlessly “skating the issue,” steampunk-style. It may have wheels, but this curious invention is going nowhere on purpose.
Now I know that “skirting the issue” reminds me of when someone wraps around a banquet table, ostensibly to cover up anything the guests don’t need to see, a place to tuck your problems, wires, empty dishes, etc. behind the curtain.
But what is “skating the issue?” I imagine it’s when the issue is like a spot of cracked, thin ice, and one skates around it, but tries ever so hard to avoid it. That of course, would involve ice skates, and these are old-fashioned four-wheeled roller skates, so the analogy doesn’t work at all. This waterglobe (or snow globe or waterball, if you must) does exactly what it is supposed to do.
Skirting, skating. You choose.
Cloud Nine
art, animation, & nonsense
Stuff and things.
TURN THE VOLUME UP
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one word at a time
Art inspired by physics.
Thousand Lives Modern Vintage Furniture and Decor
Unpacking what's so to see what's possible
Designer, and other useful things.
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Just another blog, a place to share my inspirations, my writing, etc...
Notes about writing and other creative endeavours
Writing Steampunk Fiction
documenting an obsession
Camryn Forrest Designs 