Here Fishy, Fishy

With fishing season about to start in about two weeks, I figured I'd better get these little pin-up critters out of the way so they don't get caught.  I will be in a show this weekend at the Fort Whyte Centre and will be surrounded by all sorts of fauna.  Last year, I was located right by the fish tank and when passers-by weren't passing by, I got to have some really close looks at a lot of the species that inhabit the areas in our neck of the woods. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful and there will be lots of people to chat with and I won't have time (or the inclination) to talk to the fish in the tanks.  I don't think my species looks like any of the reel fish; I thought about making up a taxonomic rundown of the species, but got caught up in the very first category of Eukarya.  Seems my fish don't fit the definition having no cells of their own and even more specifically, no nuclei!  Guess they'll just have to exist in MY domain, lol.

The show, sponsored by the Manitoba Craft Museum and Library  is at the Fort Whyte  Alive Centre.  Here are the details: 

Events For May 1 and  2, 2010


Artisan Market    10 am to 4 pm

Bring your shopping bag and fill it with beautiful and functional creations from the hands and minds of some of Manitoba’s finest artists. This juried craft sale offers a beautiful array of jewellery, clothing, accessories, decorations, and more. Just in time for Mother’s Day, pick up that perfect gift for Mom and yourself. Presented by the Manitoba Crafts Museum & Library.


This wall fish is very close to my heart...I tried to 'humaneyes' it giving it some feminine characteristics.  I realized when I was making its lips how my daily make-up routine plays a part in my fish creations.  The pearlized lip rounds and the darker outline are a part of the regimen I use on my own face.  I never realized how its make-up mimics my own habits.  Except the botox look is easier to achieve on the polymer clay fish!  Ya just put a little stuff underneath and build up the lips until even Julia Roberts would be jealous!

It's a pretty good-size, measuring about 11 1/2 inches not including the wire-fin extensions, and depending on its species name (real or fictional) might just be a 'keeper'. 

This other side is a bit more color-intense but still has the 'rainbow trout' appeal. I made the entire Skinner Blend first and used one part for the first side, (actually this one) and spliced another bit of it to create the second side, with a bit more pearl added to it to make the coloring less intense. 

It can hang against a window, so it is visible from both sides.  The non-sliding window to our patio is just crying for a little decoration (other than the dog's nose-prints) and if this doesn't sell this weekend, I know exactly where it is going to end up!

  

Lovely weather for fish

I am not one to complain too much here, but I have to vent about two things, both of which are beyond my control...one of them is computer problems and the other is weather.

Our computer crashed a while ago, and we are doing our best to get back our email contacts list. I had saved so many important documents regarding orders and so on in that file, that I am super-ticked that I have to go and find phone numbers and do so much stuff in a round about way. Just one more reason to get an external hard drive so that doesn't ever happen again. Believe me, it is a major pain.

And oh yes, the weather. For late summer it hasn't been too bad around here, except for unexpected deluges and wind surges that blow your borrowed craft tent to the ground at a sales event. Picture the scenario: It is early morning with typical rodeo background music...roosters, goats, horses, all creating a very 'country' mood for what looks like a pleasant start to a fun weekend. The tent is in a prime accessible location with the rodeo activities just a hundred yards behind. There are gentle ponies giving rides to little children and Molly (our bichon) is taking in all this with great interest. After two hours of set up we finally have all the items displayed on our three tables and have hung the hanging fish, roosters, boots, and all the other bell pulls strategically from the tent frame. On one table, I have placed about fifteen handmade books, many that I especially crafted for this event. The people are very interested in all the creations, and I have set up a little "observation" area, where people can see me demonstrate how I do some of the work.

It is lunch time and friend husband goes to the concession to get some nourishment. Within five minutes, a squall blows down all my T-posts (with neckwear) and all the books are getting pelted with rain. I quickly cover them with large plastic sheets (JUST INCASE!!) and wait out the downpour. The table cloth is soaked, so we move that table inside and do damage control on the cloth. When hubby gets back, we savour our lunch, look at the sky and decide that the major weather has passed.

The sun is shining, I watched one rodeo event and I've chatted with customers who were very interested in the construciton of my items, and all is well. Unfortunately, some of the rain that fell about two hours earlier has collected in the "canopy" of the tent, unbeknownst to us. We thought we had removed it all. Another storm appears to be brewing, so we begin covering the items again, but alas, we are too late. A sudden gust of wind sends all the accumulated water from the tent top onto my table where the books are, and they are soaked. I am in tears. The wind is really blowing and it begins to rain really hard, the tent pegs are coming loose and the tent is collapsing all around.

We frantically gather our stuff and throw it into the car. We disassemble the tent. We are soaked to the bone. And cold. And miserable.

We decided to call it quits, as the forecast was for more of the same weather for the rest of the weekend. Fortunately, we sold enough items to cover the cost of the weekend's booth fees etc., but lost out on the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the rodeo. And yes, several of the books pages were warped beyond repair when the tent roof water dumped on them. I will be able to salvage the covers and re-bind them, but all the time it takes to make them cannot be regained. It is a good thing that polymer clay is not affected by water, so the other items like jewellery, buttons and wall hangings came out unscathed.

I have accepted all this and gotten over it. What I can't get over is the man who was walking by and laughing at our misfortune. Some people, huh?

Some Day Her Prince Will Come

Last year when substituting in a Grade One Class, the assignment was for the children to make fish. I had made this little polymer clay Princess Fish beforehand. I used this and several others as illustrations, to teach them "morphology" and stuff. The fish they made were awesome...I wished I had taken photographs. They were anxious to take their creations home, and when I arrived with my camera on the following day, alas, there were none.

This little princess has only one photogenic side. She's meant to be hung on a wall or "stood up" on a stand...although as a young princess, she does not like to be stood up. She sports a bronze dimensional crown, that, perhaps she should ditch. After all, she wants to be known for her own personal charms, not for her rank in society!