Bird Brain

 Two of my favorite things to do are daydream and doodle. Every homework, or spare sheet of paper in my back pack seems to have a little drawing on it, I don't know why I always feel the urge to sketch whatever I see but I am thankful for it because it makes life much more interesting. Recently I have been drawing a lot of hawks, eagles and falcons. When I do archery in the woods near my house (I only shoot at a milk carton, not animals!) I always see these wonderful creatures swooping down into the lake trying to catch fish, it is a spectacular sight. After a short period of some unsucessful sculpts I've put my hand and doodles to the test. Here is the work in progress! Enjoy!
        Hugs - Heidi

Doesn't look much like a bird yet!

A couple feathers and a smile

It takes so long making each individual feather

 

Almost done! After I put on the finishing touches

its into the kiln for this feathered friend! I wonder

which colors I should paint him?

Clowning Around

   Tomorrow is a big day for this little bear. I have spent hours working on the costume I want her to wear to the art show. I am super excited to have my first fuzzy bear on display and I want her to look her best! I didn't expect the costume to turn out this way at all, I am actually not very fond of clowns.. but I think it suits her well. Hope you enjoy!
 Hugs! - Heidi

Bears on the beach

  At last spring break is here!!! I have been very busy working on my new bear but I still saved some time to kick back and relax by the ocean. The last week of school was exceptionally difficult for me, the life sized wolf sculpture I was working on came crashing to the ground (I'm not sure if it was because i built it unstable or someone accidently knocked into it.. I wasn't in the room at the time) the last day of school I began rebuilding my sculpture all over again. And then to complicate things even more my flute broke a week before states. I'm grateful for the rest, I have been able to get things sorted out now. Today I took some quick pictures of my new bear Coco, theres still some things I need to finish on her though like a tail, tushtag, and I want to decorate her differently for the AP art show in April (for some reason I don't think pipecleaner bunny ears would impress the judges ha ha ).  Hope you enjoy the bear and the beach pictures!
       Happy spring! -Heidi

I named her after the beach 

I went to this week "Coco Beach"

                            My little phone camera did not seem to like

                                       the pink and purple colors.

Coco Beach

The backyard

A bear for the show

 In April there is another AP art show, which means I have little time to get everything done! I haven't been working on my bears to much lately because all my time and ideas have been so focused on the sculpture I am working on in class. I'm not quite sure how it happened but the wolf sculpture ending up being life sized, I can't even pick it up so my teacher has let me use a table with wheels on it. I'm really hoping I will have time to let it dry into the greenware stage, paint it, and add all the little details before the big day. Since this might be my last art show this year I have been wanting to get at least one bear in (the mink cub is almost finished but I decided I would rather put in one of my regular synthetic bears because I want to show what my normal work looks like.) Here are some pictures in progress of the bear I am making for the show. Maybe once things start slowing down I will get the chance to take some pictures of the wolf sculpture too. Hope all is well!
                  Hugs! - Heidi

I changed the body pattern a little bit so that this bear

 would have a bigger tummy, he isn't stuffed yet so

it is hard to see the difference.

I also added more of a hump on the back like

the traditional teddy bears

Little toes and claws :)

Going to states!

   Here are the pictures from the art show as promised, everything there was so beautiful.. I really wish that I had time to take pictures of all the work but there was just so much. The art on display was from AP studio classes across the district; they will be up for viewing through the rest of this month to the public. When I first went into the building I didn't see my sculptures anywhere, I thought that perhaps my teacher had forgotten them. But when I went into the other room I was amazed to see my bear mask standing up on a beautiful podium all by itself with lights shining down on it and next to it were my two other sculptures. I couldn't be more surprised and happy. Also, my flute choir I played in today had great success... we earned a superior rating from the judges and are going to state. My group and I put so much hard work into our piece it was really exciting to see how our playing progressed and how the music came to life, we are all on cloud nine right now. After my flute choir performed I went to play my solo, it was not perfect I made some little mistakes, but I am very proud to have finished one of the most difficult flute pieces there is to play. It was one of the funnest things I have ever done and if I had to do it all over again I would.       Best wishes as always!!  - Heidi

My three sculptures

 

Here's a painting another student did, the detail is just incredible..

I love it.

A sculpture another student did, this one was my favorite.

These sculptures were done by another girl in my AP art class

A statue that was in front of the lake

A mask sculpture that another student made

A student from another school drew this, the background

took my breath away, she must have spent hours on it.

I loved the colors this student used

This piece was titled "screwed up teenagers" .. my parents

found it funny at least lol

Here is a sketch I just started working on , our next

project in art is to create a clay figure involving figures

of speech. More details in the next post :)

Waiting for my solo with my accompanist. She is the

best piano player out there! So amazing that she was able to

follow me and catch me even in the places I faltered.

Concerts and an art show

     It has been a little while since I have gotten the chance to sit down and write, I have been busy preparing for an art show this weekend where three of my works will be displayed. I am so excited and honored to have my art shown to the public and I cannot wait to see all the cool things other people have made, I will be sure to take lots of pictures for the blog! Saturday afternoon I am also performing a flute solo (the song is called Fantaisie Pastorale Hongroise by Doppler) and then I am playing in a flute choir with other kids who are in my band class at school.  Even more exciting, Sunday evening the orchestra I am in is doing a combined concert with the Orlando Philharmonic; It has really been an inspirational couple of weeks for me being able to practice along side with professional musicians. Although it has been stressful at times and so much work I think it has all been worth it. Besides all of this chaos going on track season has also started (which means 9 mile trails everyday and sprints), and I have joined a Wednesday night pottery class where I am learning how to work the wheel. Hopefully I can get through the next few days and I can get some good photos to update the blog.      Best wishes! - Heidi

What a recycled bear looks like

  By recycled I don't just mean that the coat was old and reused to make a bear, I also mean that this guy ended up in the trash can. Making this real fur bear has definetly been a challange, and a learning experience for me. The fur itself and the leather backing has not really posed a problem, although I did have to take extra time to line it, circle the weak areas with black marker, and open the window up with a fan blowing just so that I don't inhale to many furs; the real issue has been with my careless errors. I'm not really sure why but I have been making a lot of beginner mistakes lately (granted this is only my 9th bear, and my first mink one at that) I have been doing silly things like sewing up the entire body of the bear and not leaving an opening to stuff. Poking to many holes in the leather is not good... so I have had to restart a couple times. It was definetly time to take a break from my little disaster and give my mom a lesson in bear making! It was fun to have some mother daughter bonding time, and in the process of creating her bear with her I gained the inspiration to continue to finish what I had started on my own. It has been so helpful for me to just step back for once and learn the basics, I never made a bear with someone elses pattern, and even though I figured out all the stitches on my own I am finally learning their names. Although this bear will be far from perfect I am going to stick with it and finish it. Enjoy!
 -Heidi

Let the transformation begin ;)

I added a thin layer of suede and a bit of leather cording (the ends cut at angles)

to make an eyelid. I then shaded them both to blend them together.

                               

                                                          Baby bear and Momma bear

He has a very happy expression I think.

The body (number 2 ) cut and pinned

Hungry for stuffing

I added a bow although I'm not sure I like it... the fabric of the

bow was made out of the linning of the coat. What do you think?