Springtime Brings... Happy Harpies!

It's Springtime, yayyy! So I want you to stretch your arms way up in the air like a tree and then I want you to stretch your imagination and think.... Harpy! Why? Because our amazingly creative workshop instructor Clarissa Callesen will be teaching  Happy Harpies in just a few weeks at Art and Soul in Virginia Beach ...and there are still spots left in the class!!  Come play and make your very own Harpy — or maybe we should start calling them Bird Goddesses. Take a look at what her class is all about. Take it away Clarissa....

I seem to be kind of obsessed with the image of a woman’s face on a bird body or a Harpy.  But Mythologically speaking or in modern slang, the Harpy’s reputation is not a pretty one.

HARPY
–noun, plural -pies.
1. Classical Mythology. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body.
2. (lowercase) a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew.
3. (lowercase) a greedy, predatory person.

However in earlier Greek mythology, Harpies were described as beautiful, winged  maidens. So what happened? I have some feminist theories about what happen, but alas this blog is actually about art. I have been making lots of Harpies lately and it has been an image that has been in my sketch books for years.
 

No matter what materials you start with, these magical creatures always end up with very distinct personalities. One of the many reasons I love creating them! 

 Assemblage Harpy made with a porcelain doll head on a fake crow body, made this past Spring.  

This one's made from a vintage composite doll head with eyes that blink,
on a tacky Christmas bird decoration  

A slightly scarier Harpy made of a composite Virgin Mary head,
with wings made out of gut stretched over wire. 
  

  And my Geisha Harpy made from a doll head that I had from my childhood.

Wow! Thanks, Clarissa! Pretty cool stuff, huh? My mind has taken flight, thinking of all the wonderful objects I can repurpose into a fascinating bird assemblage! So be sure and check out Clarissa's Happy Harpies workshop, as well as the other amazing classes she'll be teaching at Virginia Beach Art & Soul... and then sign up to play! Hurry... the deadline for registration is April 22nd, and this event takes place April 24th-28th! Tweet! Tweet! 

Making Magic Out of Junk

Today we are pleased to be featuring a blog post from one of our extremely talented and popular instructors... Clarissa Callesen! As a self-professed "creator of strange and wonderful things" her journey oftentimes starts out with a less-than-appealing goodwill score. See how she transforms this tacky doll into a sublime masterpiece!

beautifully tacky doll before transformation

I joke that I had to become a Mixed Media Assemblage Artist so I could continue to justify collecting junk.  But the reality is that I am inspired by junk, both the sublime and the tacky.  The school book from 1950 that has the inscription of 5 different students all written in shaky childhood beauty has its appeal... but the once loved doll at the goodwill with her fake yellow hair and her atrocious outfit complete with hand painted snowman also has her charms.

There is catharsis and liberation in deconstruction. Aka it is a lot of fun to tear the hair off of a tacky doll.  Then the magic begins. The transformative powers of paint with a side of fire…

Here's a little video showing the paint and fire technique.

After tearing the doll apart and setting her on fire, then comes the fun of adding paint washes and  diluted walnut ink over the body and face.

Tacky doll being reborn, midway through the proces

My style of working is not heavy on the precise and the tidy. I really love the look of distressed and grungy.  I love the happy accidents they tend to give a piece of artwork more life.

After the paint washes then comes painting the face.  I can get lost in painting a face for hours. Most of my dolls tend towards “realistic” faces, but on this doll I took some inspiration from both Picasso and circus clowns.

close up of face painting

After putting on her face, then on to the clothing.  I do a lot of hand dying of lace and vintage fabric and then combine it with found object to create a complete look.

And here is the completed doll “Saint Serene”. She sure has come a long way from her humble beginnings!

I will be teaching several classes at Art and Soul in Virginia Beach and Art and Soul in Portland including many that incorporate these techniques. So come join me and turn tacky into truly transformed!

Thanks for stopping by… Clarissa