After a very slow start, the SALA Festival has ended on a high note for me with an extraordinarily busy final week and a number of last minute sales. The beautiful, sunny weather we had last Sunday certainly encouraged people to get out and about and my tiny gallery space was full to bursting several times during the day.
It was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had as it was also my husband's birthday and our family celebrations extended from Friday to Sunday with wonderful food, music and company each day. I've never known a person who enjoys their birthday as much as my husband does (the night before is referred to as 'Birthday Eve' and the day after is 'Birthday Boxing Day'!) and I derive enormous pleasure from making his day (or in this case, his weekend) as special as possible. As a consequence, our house upstairs was filled with the delicious smells of baking, which wafted enticingly downstairs to the gallery visitors.....pity we weren't selling morning and afternoon tea, we would have made a fortune!
So, on to the next project. A couple of months ago the TV show 'Masterchef' ran a challenge where the contestants had to create dishes based on the 'Seven Deadly Sins'. I immediately began thinking of faerie creatures based on this same theme and have been planning and researching for my own version of the sins called "The Seven Deadly Fae". I just recently completed sculpting 'Gluttony' and have started work on the head of 'Pride'. They will all be sitting or standing on their own small, decorative pedestal and will each have a found object (made of silver or pewter) which is relevant to them. So far I've found a fork and spoon for 'Gluttony' (the spoon even has a 'G' on it!) a mirror for 'Pride', a knife for 'Wrath' and a pot for 'Greed'. At this stage I'm leaning towards the sins all being very pale and neutral with perhaps one introduced color.....but that could change as I move past the sculpting stage. Early on I was toying with the idea of also making the "Seven Heavenly Virtues", but truthfully they're not nearly as interesting (or as much fun) as the sins and the last thing I want to do is come off as 'preachy'......or worse, boring.
I'm very excited about this project and am planning to publish a small format book when they are all completed. I hope you enjoy the pics of the project so far.....will most more wip shots as I progress.
Till next time.