Tuesday was hotter than Monday, too hot to work. We had plans to complete some of the Salomé props, and managed to complete Andreas the bird, and most of a plaster daisy. Here are the state of the masks after Monday:
Andreas has a core of sponge, wrapped with wire, then felted. Adding felt from scratch would be very expensive and inefficient. I wondered if a 'stuffed skin' method like a teddy bear would have produced better results, it may have, though of course the skills needed are different. After that start, we added a Fimo beak, stabbed into the foam core wire, then some feathers; these look really realistic but are in fact plastic. The eyes, like the feathers needed a sort of tunnel cut into the felt and sponge, then these were glued in.
Generally it was too hot to work on Tuesday. The messy work of carving or working on the masks is best done outside or in the baking garage, but even so, I had no energy and can quite understand the appeal of a siesta. My room last night started at 26.9 degrees at 11pm and was 26.1 at 8am.
Here, incidentally, is Rilke's heart, another of the five props we're making for this:
Today, I've delivered my paintings to Bickerton for it's annual Village Hall exhibition. I may also have some sound effect work, and have a piano lesson tomorrow. Mike has sent out a great press release for the Salomé show, and I need to send out a first email about the event to the few people on the mailing list. Lots to do... and much more I want to...
