"She Has An Eye For Detail": Mixed Media Work

Greetings from the studio!  I haven't been posting as much because I am busily finishing several pieces for an upcoming show with the 8ThatCreate group.  Please stop by our blog to check out a couple of other pieces I created for this show, which will open next month at the Art Center in Old Forge NY.
I will create another post about a collaborative piece, called "Little Black Dress":  a triptych with Jamie Fingal & Sue Bleiweiss.  That post will go live in two days, so stay tuned.

Many of you know how obsessed with shoes I am.  This is a genetic trait that I inherited from my mother.  That's my story and I'm stickin to it!  Therefore, it seems only fitting that I would incorporate a couple of shoe pieces into my body of work for this show.
The following pair of shoes were, indeed, harmed in the production of this work.  One is playful, one...not so much.  Believe it, or not, the idea for the first two pieces came from a decorative element in our Hyatt hotel room in Long Beach!  A side-note:  I rammed my face into this *@#! thing in the middle of the night as I was coming out of the bathroom.  The recently remodeled room added a small wall.  I forgot.

What can I tell you?!

This shoe was cross-cut with a band saw, courtesy of my husband.  Each half was mounted onto a 6x6 inch cradled panel.

The base and the shoe section were covered in clear gesso.

Working with small clippings of cloth, the surfaces were covered using gel medium.

The shoe was covered by two different patterns of white with black print.

The interiors of each will be filled with silk rose petals (photos to come).

The front of this shoe will be done with white on the base, and black print on the shoe.

Finished!

These pieces are named "American Beauty, Heel & Toe"

I will mount the heel piece directly above the toe piece.

Next, I will show the end-result of my shoe that was cut lengthwise.  I posted about this one earlier.

I stretched a piece of hand-dyed, batiked cotton broadcloth over the cradled panel and covered it with self-leveling gesso.  I marked into the surface as it was partially dry to create some striations.

The shoe was glued, then screwed onto, the surface.

After painting the surface of the shoe with metallic paint I wrote various things in black & red ink.

Then, using an awl, I punched holes through the leather and pushed the painted nails through them.

 Here is the inspiration for the look of the shoe:

Poor thing:  a close encounter with a porcupine.  Yowza.

Do your feet ever feel like this?  Enough said.

After stretching the cloth over the wood panel and stapling it in place, I spread self-leveling gel.

My tool of choice?  I hotel room key card.

When partially dry, I marked into the gel to create these striations.  I love the smooth, glossy finish

the self-leveling gel provides.

I filled the shoe with drywall paste, which turns pink when dry, to 

maintain the "fill" of the shoe after it is mounted onto the board.

I opted for glueing some loose thread into the center of the shoe.

This piece is entitled "A Small Price For Glamour".