The Gallery Show with Circus Peanuts

   At some point, probably David's senior year, it was decided that he would have a student show in the gallery on campus. He started planning his display and refreshments. I seem to remember him thinking not many people would show up. He had this wacky idea to serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and circus peanuts. He worked for hours, hanging a fishing line grid from the ceiling so the heads were hanging free. This was before the boxes and the collage. The room was a maze of hanging faces, some with bug parts in them and those were the "creepy" ones. 

    Opening night will forever be one of my favorite memories. This was before Dallas. It truly was the FIRST time these had been seen. I sat at the back of the gallery, across from the entrance so I could see people's faces. They literally lit up when they walked in. I was the proudest in that moment that I had ever been.  

     At that time, the heads were sold with the idea that they could hang from your rear view from fishing line. Lots of them sold that week. It was fun to go in and see the sign up sheet where people committed to buying (there were a few bidding wars). My dad had come to visit from Tennessee and he got to see the show too. It was exciting for all of us to walk in there throughout the week and see people enjoying themselves. And it was a nice little chunk of money, but more than that it was the first step on a path. We're much farther down the path now. But it all started in a cozy house in a lovely little town.  

    Our time there ended after a December 2004 graduation and a Spring 2005 move back to TN. The move involved a vehicle break down, an 18 hour day of sitting in a repair shop with 3 cats (our dog died right before this move) and cramming 4 of us in a UHaul made for 3 passengers while towing our car on a trailer. We sold our house the day before to a man who bought it for his college student son. His last words to us were, "I'm sorry my son will probably destroy your house". So yeah. There have been some bumps along the way and looking back makes me feel tired. But we both feel that we wouldn't be where we are now if we hadn't taken this road. 

Thanks for reading-- 

Elisabeth  

The end of a long difficult journey- graduating Magna Cum Laude

Please stop by next week as I actually discuss ARTWORK and break down a piece into parts and the process for that specific piece.

Storytime: College, Animation and the First Polymer Man- Part 3

   We settled in to our new home and town. We found the library (very important when you have small kids and you're homeschooling). It was in the basement of their "city hall". Four years later, when we said goodbye to the librarians who had become friends, they reminded us of our first meeting and how much we had missed back home. Make friends with librarians!    

   That first summer was hot, much like our summers in Tennessee. We swam in the lakes (town lake and Lake Erie) and at the swimming pool.  We went to the "beach" and marveled at how a lake can have waves. We drove to Canada to visit a friend and everything was new and exciting. And then...September 11, 2001. Family started calling because they saw on the news that a plane crashed in PA. It was about an hour from us, but like everyone else probably felt- it was all so close. 

    In September, we started looking forward to Fall. October 5th, it started snowing and eventually stopped....in April. In Tennessee, snow means a day (or a week!) off. Up there, especially with lake effect snow, snow means nothing. We didn't see the road for 6 months and life just went on. There was one really dramatic day where it was 70 degrees at 2pm and by 4pm, there was a blizzard and even college classes were cancelled. I went to pick David up and found him walking home, in ankle deep snow, carrying all his books and art supplies.  

     Life was hard for those 4 years. We loved the town and the people. But David was working 3 days a week for 12 hours a day, and going to school 3 days a week. Some of those school days were 9am to 9pm. We had Sundays together and that was it. It's all a blur now, but during this time came the first polymer man. He was a figure for stop motion animation class and he was built on a wire armature. He also wore a tutu and we watched him become an animated movie for school assignments. We all got attached to that little guy and when the day came for him to be disassembled...We all grieved :)

    At some point, David was playing around with the clay and suddenly, before us was a clown head. And then another head emerged. Huh. They were so cool. Seemed like he was onto something and REALLY enjoyed making them. They seemed like they were evolving. The path was shifting and soon, the turning point would come and we didn't even know it. 

Next up- The heads make their public debut. 

Thanks for reading-

~~Elisabeth

Using Dead Things

Yes, they're real squirrel paws. Most people are fascinated by the pieces with animal parts. A few are grossed out, but you'd be surprised by how many people know someone else who collects animal bones. David gets many questions about this part. Every once in a while, the question is, "Why?". 

   In his words, he is taking something that has been discarded, by people or by nature, and giving it a new life. It is forever commemorated in art. The whole process is done in the most respectful way and no animal has ever been harmed or killed for his art. Each animal is picked up as roadkill or given to him by someone who picked it up. They have to "look like they just fell asleep".  

    Some wonder about the legality. We live in Tennessee and our roadkill laws would even allow us to eat what we pick up (this does not happen, I promise you). Birds are protected federally and are never used.  

We live on an acre of land backed up to a river and the land is overgrown behind our house. So there's a perfect place for decomposition to take place. Down in the woods, there are some wire frames that keep other predators away. Anthills are often used to speed up the process. I play no role in this process, but I find it fascinating and appreciate the respect that David shows for all creatures, living and dead. We live in a house of rescue animals so there's plenty of respect around here :)

   Lots of times, the bones are gifts or trades. Just recently, a friend showed up at a festival with some goodies.  I want to repeat again- animals are never killed for these pieces. David would never encourage anyone to kill anything, even an insect, just for bones or parts. We were once on a Cub Scout trip and one of the boys said, "Mr. Pound- I killed this bug for you!" David quickly made it clear that that is not how we treat living things. 

   Once you get past the squeamish factor and know that this is something that has died and is returning to nature, it can truly be fascinating and a tribute to nature. 

These creatures will live on forever in a brand new form.

Thanks for reading!

 ~~Elisabeth

Process- Boxed and Named

   If you read the last 2 posts, then you've followed the process from a block of clay through the boxes being made and lined. So then we end up with this:

Each one seems to be waiting for a friend

Doesn't Nixon just grab your eye? (Bottom row, second from right, for you youngsters)

Sad little guys, especially the one looking at the camera

Each head is matched up individually to a box. According to David, "Sometimes it's because of color contrast. Or contrast with the background subject matter. Sometimes it's an inside joke. It's a variety of reasons". 

   Then there's drilling and hot glue and a big pile of polymer dust. And finally, each piece has a home. They're titled on the back and if they're going to a festival, added to a price list. 

 Each festival is months of preparation. We have one in Nashville this coming weekend and there will be about 100 new pieces going on the shelves. (Stop by if you're in the area-Tomato Art Fest in East Nashville. Saturday, 9-6, booth 427)

    I'll be blogging all about the festival for the first time ever. Check back next week! 

~~Thanks for reading, 

Elisabeth

Process- Boxes

   When David was still working a full-time job AND getting ready for festivals, there always came a time we called "Box Time". This was a dreaded time of year about a month before our biggest festival. There would be paper EVERYWHERE. Not to mention rubber bands, Mod Podge and often, a very tired artist who would sometimes lie on the kitchen counter out of exhaustion and frustration. Box time has gotten more streamlined, but the basic process remains the same. It starts with this:

Actually, it starts before this with collecting the wood (some is from barns, some from flooring jobs he did, some is given to him). Then the day or more spent outside with a table saw, a planer, a sander...this is my least favorite part ever since The Table Saw Incident that resulted in a trip to the ER, emergency surgery, weeks of recovery and a near loss of a finger. Yes, there are photos, but I won't subject you to that. I think they're on the Twentyheads Instagram so....

    Anyway, the wood is cut and sanded and glued together, held with rubber bands until they look like the last photo. 

Images come from old magazines, like National Geographic or any other magazine that is image heavy. Or maybe comic books from McKay, or from friends or just from the comic book store. Some are from old library books. Our library has a huge book sale twice a year and David comes home with boxes. 

Images are chosen and trimmed. We've set up a new work space recently so this part is all contained. It used to be done in the living room and let me just say....paper. Lots of paper. Everywhere. 

The paper is loosely laid in the boxes in batches. Most things are done for the boxes in batches for efficiency, unless there is a specific image needed for a certain box, like for a commission, etc. Then the gluing process starts. This is actually the only part of the process I have ever helped with, other than back in the beginning when the boxes were painted. There is thought and creativity given to every step of the pieces, which is truly incredible to a non-artist type like myself. But I can glue, so I have done that a few times.

So, there are boxes full of boxes. Waiting for their assigned heads and titles. That's a whole other long post. We aren't quite there yet in the process. We have a festival coming up (Hello, Tomato Fest!) so when the boxing up begins, I'll make a post showing the final step.

Thanks for reading~~

Elisabeth

Process: Clay

The first question David is asked at festivals is usually, "What are they made of?" The basic answer is "Polymer clay and found objects". Here's the detailed answer.

Freshly restocked Sculpey 

Polymer clay. It's a soft colorful clay that you bake at a low temp in your oven. After baking, the clay is basically a hard plastic-like substance. All the color you see in the heads is just the clay, not paint (many people find this very surprising). This clay comes in the most gorgeous colors and it's obvious that a fresh reload on clay is a very inspirational event. This restock happens probably twice a year and is a fun day for the craft store cashiers :) We once stopped on the way home from a festival in Dallas and went into a Michael's to stock up. Fyi, you can find polymer clay at any craft store or even at Walmart. If you let your kids play with it (or you play with it) just have baby wipes nearby for cleanup. Kids love it, it's fun and they can be really creative with it!

  If you've looked at David's website, Facebook or Instagram very much, you've probably noticed there's more going on than clay. The found object part can be anything from a watch part to a dog tooth (more on that in another post),  jewelry, discarded wire...anything that is "found" is potentially part of a head. 

Small sampling of found objects

There is an amazing process that takes place that deserves its own post. All these materials come together to create what you see. Each head is anywhere from 3 hours to a few days, including the time for the box (again, that's another post). Now that David is working full-time at home, this is generally what his work space looks like:

Coming next- The time we call "Box Time"

Thanks for reading~~

Elisabeth