Artfest, Day 2-Strange Angels

Yes, it's late, but it's still Tuesday! Keeping my promise!

It's been four freakin' years and three retreats (wow, that many already?) since I took a Michael deMeng class. This one was "Strange Angels." Your choice as to whether it's a fallen one.

I already knew what I wanted to do: make a 3D version of a joke my former boss and I shared. At my day job, I interview people for a colon cancer research project. During my second call ever to a study participant, someone actually answered the phone, the widow of the person I was trying to reach. I was doubly taken aback, and stammered, "I'm so sorry," and the widow replied tearfully, "I'm sorry, too" -- and hung up.

My boss chuckled at my shock and promptly named me the Angel of Death.

So I got to work on my alter ego in Thursday's class.

First rule of a deMeng class: bring only those things you're willing to strap down, dismantle, or disembowel.

Next: figure out how you're going to attach things. Drilling and wiring, or joining them with caulk, will keep two separate items together a lot better than using some sort of glue alone.

Bonus points for getting the instructor to make sparks fly!

Oh, but the most fun part is the paint. Oh, the paint washes!

How cool is this? I wish I'd thought of detaching the legs of my angel. (Wait, that sounded really sick.)

They make everything pretty and ghoulish and delightfully grungy, they do.

And I got ghoulish, all right. Bound to happen when I wrap a colon around an angel of death...

... as she clasps a ghostly hand.

For delicate connections like the hands, I learned to add an "armature" -- here, it's a wire running between the two hands to add support like a skeleton supports a human body.

Another thing I learned: blacking out a doll's eyes almost makes you forget it used to be a Barbie.

It's more of a study than a finished piece -- I'd like to add and change a few things. But wow, the next version could be really cool!

Tomorrow: "Iron Chef" Artist throwdown! Watch the instructors turn out finished art in 45 frantic minutes of painting, gluing, and heat-gunning!