Spring has sprung in the Yard

Daffodil

The Pansy

Tulip tree next door

Tulip tree close up

Vinca Minor

It was good to get out in the yard and getting the soil under the finger nails. Does have a nice therapeutic effect on me. The gardens are filling in nicely and plants that I thought were lost just a few days ago were showing signs of new growth. Three banana plants came out of the basement today with one going in the front garden and the other two in a pot on the porch. If it gets to cold the one in the garden will probably die while the two on the porch can be brought in. I plan to plant at least seven more bananas in the back yard and will be documenting their growth over the next several months. Hope to post a photo of both front gardens soon.

Garden on,

Kris

Presidential $1 Coin

United State Mint Photos

I received an email the other day entitled THE NEW DOLLAR COIN. It was interesting looking back past today how quickly I was sucked into believing it to be the truth. In it, it stated that the coin did not have engraved on it the words In God We Trust and E Pluribus Unum. Today I received my first Dollar Coin from circulation and found there on the edge of the coin was the engraving. The whole problem stemmed from a mistake believed to have been done by quality control. The process for making the coin is in two stages, the stamping of the coin on to the blank and then to another machine for the engraving of the edge. I guess that after stamping out several billion coins in the same fashion they moved to the next coins set up and forgot to send them to the next step before sending in to circulation. There is believed to be at least 40,000 to 50,000 out in circulation all coming from one mint, Philadelphia.

They are at about $50.00 investment at this time and have been in circulation about 1 month. Think about that.

Kris

Arachnid

Arachnid #1

Arachnid #4

After receiving an email from an old friend in which he gives his take on the previous post that it had arachnid likeness. After thinking about that for a while it occurred to me that I could do a butterfly using one cat eye and one ear. This is the out come and yes in some sense it was a failure in its conception, yet it works on some level.

"Disturbingly feline & arachnid hybrid images (I know you probably didn't intend that). Reading into it, it seems to have included comforting images (a warm, cozy, furry, house cat-archetype) with an undertone of fearful imagery (the multiple, arachnid-style eyes watching the man)." Mike M.

Kris

Evolution of Eye #24

Eye #1

Eye #2

Eye #4

Eye #12

Eye #24

Eye #24 is the latest creation and is meant to be viewed @ 100% actual size. This can not be done on a computer screen but you get the idea. I hope to do a full size photo quality print of it sometime. That is Dakota Too as the model.

Kris

The Gathering

I find they look even better together.
Good mixture of verious stages.

During my recent experimentations with feathered shellac finish on my small carvings I have found that fine sandpaper can be your best friend. When creating a mirror finish on a surface, you must foremost fill the grain. This can not be performed with much grace. You need to build the finish, take it back down by sanding and this is where you need several grades (use light preasure and do not over sand). I like the 400 grit paper for removing rough surfaces and smoothing off any brush marks and also in final sanding after carving, filing and scraping is declared over. Next is the 600 grit paper which I tend to use to diminish the sanding marks left behind by the 400 grit paper, it might sound redundant but do not skip this step (you might find a different grit like 800 works better for you). My final grit is 1,500 grit paper where I am able to polish it to a mirrored finish (move fast and a slight harder preasure then with other papers). Remember that you are using shellac and you can always go back wards and still not have to start all over. My end objective is to magnify the grain and the beauty of Mother Nature’s art work.

The piece I am working on now I am thinking of calling Japanese Drum (Landscape). It has two surfaces that are flat and need lots of attention and patience.

Kris

A visit from Oklahoma

Something strange happened yesterday here in Kansas City. A red dirt covered everything during the storms yet there is no red dirt in Missouri. The day was a beautiful day to be outside, though most of mine was spent inside at work. It was warm, sunny and most welcomed after ice, snow and more snow. As the sun began to set the clouds began to form. It soon caused heavy rain that turned into a thick coating of pea size hail. Earlier down in Central Oklahoma from the land of the Red Dirt Rangers this red dirt was sucked up into the jet stream and carried Northeast at least 400 miles only to be pulled down by the storms here in Kansas City and crusted on to my van. It was nice to have Oklahoma come for a visit.