Tuesday, September 22, 2009

DragonCon Art Show Report

It's been a couple of weeks since DragonCon, but I've finally started to get settled again (though still working on a breakneck deadline for a project). Here's how the DragonCon art show went in a nutshell.

This year, the art show was held in the other Grand Hall in the Hyatt. In the hall where it has been in past years, they had the Pop and Comic Art gallery, and both were connected, so it was essentially one giant room. The print shop was also in a much bigger area, so people didn't have to bottleneck past the prints as they went through the exit as happened in past years.



This year for the annual art charity auction, the subject was "When Pigs Fly." The charity this year was the Georgia Alzheimer's Association, and we were directed to a specific kind of porcelain pig to decorate for the auction. I made my "I Wanna be a Gryphon Piggy," as seen above, with leather wings, beak, and tail and painted it with acrylics. The tail is 'tied' on with a ribbon, and the beak is 'tied' on with waxed leather cord. I reality, both are securely attached to the porcelain with Incredible Goop, which is about as close to an atomic bond as you can get with glue. It was also awarded 2nd place in the charity pig competition!



This year, sales were very strange. I fully expected to get only a few minimum bids on my smallest pieces, but to my surprise the majority of my sales were at the quick sale price. My 11X14 scratchboard piece, "Breathe," was the first to sell at quick sale. I also sold a mask (the Wind Spirit Mask as seen below), which I was quite happy about. I wasn't sure if any masks would sell, but if it can be used by someone and worn, then I'm happy.



Here are two more masks I finished since my last update:


This is the "Dusklight Raven Mask," sculpted from leather with real feathers.


This is a commissioned mask for a friend of mine in New Hampshire. She has a gorgeous skirt and shirt combination and wanted a mask to complete her costume as a sea fae. So she asked me to make her a mask based on that, which would also match the skirt. This is my first leather mask where I used fabric and real freshwater pearls. I think my favorite part of this mask are the adorable little barnacles on the bottom! They were so easy to make from leather, and I think they really give it a more oceanic feel.