It’s Complicated — Heart – Stacked Snow Globe

July 3, 2013 by camryn forrest

Now and then we get take a fresh look at how to make snow globes —

Last year it was the elaborate snow globe for the Sacramento Steampunk Society; this go around, it’s a double-decker snow globe with an open base, entitled “It’s Complicated.”

The tricky part of a double, open snow globe base isn’t making it, it is designing the open part so it can be touched. Because we have to believe that all snow globe are made to be picked up, touched and shaken. Unlike the interiors in snow globes, which are cradled by the surrounding liquid, that the open part of a double-decker snow globe will be touchable. Sure, folks are fairly careful with “art” but it’s out there in the elements and needs to be secure enough to withstand a poke, a prod, and a wiggle when the entire piece is upended and shaken.

“It’s Complicated” includes a black and silver glass heart with a few mechanical parts above, bathed in silver and black metallic glitter, with a push-me, pull-me sculpture on chain and springs below. Sometimes the love we show is “oh so pretty!” and the complicated feelings are below the surface. But in this case, you can see it all laid bare.

“It’s Complicated” will be shown at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, July 5-6-7 in Denver, Colorado. Stop by our booth and give it a shake.

Work in Progress (Heart) snow globe

April 29, 2013 by camryn forrest

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

– The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupéry

“The Heart wants what it wants – or else it does not care.”

– Emily Dickinson

The workings of the heart remain a mystery. It dips and swims with swirling emotion, it aches for what it cannot have, and grieves for what is lost. The heart dreams of better days. The heart is selfish, and can be self-less. We want for ourselves, and wish even more for those we love.

Unseen by all but those who know us best, the heart carries scars and patches from battles, the repairs, the mending, the work-arounds. It is resilient.

The mythical source of love, emotion, kindness and desire, the heart is always a work in progress.

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The Promise: glittering gold waterglobe

April 9, 2013 by camryn forrest

Sometimes I find odd little items and put them in snow globes to make a tiny scene, and sometimes I want to sculpt something specific I’ve imagined. I was working on shaping a small hand, reaching upward, and could not get the index and middle finger to stay the way I wanted. Finally, exasperated, I put the clay piece down.

Allright. I didn’t “put it down” — I sort of tossed it toward the foil covered table where I was working.

And in one of those moments of serendipity, the fingers crossed themselves. Crossed fingers were unexpected, and not the emotion I was going for, but there they were, waiting in suspense. Do you remember when you kept a secret by saying, “Cross my heart and hope to die?” Or, when you crossed your fingers behind your back and it meant you weren’t really telling the truth, or the whole truth? Or perhaps, you waited for news and closed your eyes and crossed your fingers, wishing it would be good. Please, please, please!

I love when my artwork is a mystery to me. It’s not calculated; it leads its own life of ambiguity. The hand said nothing. Is this a promise to be kept, or a promise made with questionable intentions?

A few weeks prior, I had found a tiny pair of hammered metal earrings in the shape of hearts. I pulled one apart and placed it in the gentle, eager hand, and folded the ring finger to hold it in place. Now the meaning was clearer: Cross my heart. The Promise.

Promise - custom snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs 2013

The Promise. One of a Kind snow globe with sculpted hand, re-purposed antique jewelry and shimmering gold dust in liquid.

The Blue Heart (or “Let It Be”) Snow Globe

April 2, 2013 by camryn forrest

I’m fascinated with iconic images which hold tight in my imagination. With tiny solid objects that evoke mysterious emotions. This snowless water globe was one of those that I found appealing because of its ambivalence, its ability to be interpreted in so many ways.

Two reaching copper hands, one blue heart hovering mid-air. It was simple, but powerful in a way I could not name.

Were the hands reaching out to catch a falling heart? Was the elusive heart flying out of reach? Is the heart coming or going? Are the hands ready to comfort, or acknowledging the heart’s new freedom? It called to me, “redemption, hope, caring, freedom, strength.” But I wasn’t certain what this globe was saying.

So I called on an army of experts, (my dear friends) and showed them the initial sculpture and wondered which of the many themes captured the dilemma of this fragile blue glass heart. I got quite a few opinions (“Call it Grace, or Love, or Trust,” … and one statement, loud and clear.

“The snow globe should be called “Let It Be” and it is mine,” I heard firmly. Of course, I couldn’t argue against the voice of such conviction.

So “Let It Be” became the name of this handmade snow globe (with shimmering silver dust instead of snow, because you know: I never use snow.) And so it is. Let It Be.

Here to Stay – waterglobe

February 5, 2013 by camryn forrest

Remember the old saying?

If you love something
set it free.

If it comes back,
it’s yours.

If it does not come back,

it was never meant to be.

– Unknown.

May St. Valentine’s Day be kind to you and yours.

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Inspired by Nikola Tesla – Fate Magazine 1949

January 25, 2013 by camryn forrest

In the fall of 2012, I was fortunate to find a copy of a 1949 issue of Fate magazine, which began publishing in 1948 as a magazine chronicling the paranormal as well as scientific discoveries.

While the 1949 issue is no longer in print (and I was lucky to find a copy), Fate magazine still exists and is published as an online publication which can be found here: http://www.fatemag.com/

For those of us fascinated by Nikola Tesla, this particular issue included an article which begins like this: “Contemporary with Edison was another inventor, not so well known, but of the two, the more spectacular. This was Nikola Tesla … ”

As Tesla died in 1943, it intrigued me that he was not well-known at the time of his death, despite his contributions to technology (more than 300 patents, some suspected to be still languishing untested in patent archives). My original copy of Fate magazine was given as a gift (to the person who first introduced Tesla to me), but as many people asked to read it, I scanned the article before gifting. I hope you enjoy it.

And for anyone who expected this blog post to be about my curious snow globes, as is typical, scroll to the very bottom of the page for a small gallery of sculptures inspired by Tesla’s inventions. And to the most recent email inquiry: No, these are NOT working miniature Tesla coils. Nice try. I don’t know what Nikola would think of building an electromagnetic coil inside a 4-inch tall liquid-filled glass orb, but I am pretty sure it’s beyond my technical abilities.

While Tesla has been credited with the invention of a machine that harnessed a mechanism for generating tremendous electrical force, known either as the peace ray or the death ray, depending on your point of view, he also designed and demonstrated a number of inventions typically called “Tesla Coils.” Tesla coils were used to conduct innovative experiments in electrical lighting, high frequency alternating current and transmission of energy without wires. The design of these coils has inspired several of my one-of-a-kind snow globes, which — when shaken — vaguely suggest the power of electrical force through reflective glitter and metal pieces shimmering in liquid.

Tesla’s Workshop, one of a kind snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

It’s a Tesla Thing, one of a kind snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Mends a Broken Heart, snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Copper Coil sculpture snow globe, Camryn Forrest Designs, 2012

Tesla Chained snow globe sculpture, Camryn Forrest Designs 2012

Camryn Forrest Designs

Waterglobes and Curious Inventions

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