The Thing With Feathers

A couple of years ago I made a piece of art for an art auction at a women's conference I attended. It benefited the work the hosting church did with local battered women's shelters. The previous years' conference fundraisers had involved posh thrift sales and although this was much less labor intensive on the organizers it was also much less inclusive across a wide range of the participants. Especially an economic range. I would not be bidding on art.

But I could make it.  

Mixed Media art piece by Melissa Tillman entitled ...The Thing With Feathers 

Sadly I only have the one pic of the front as I was unable to get others of it on display. The winged cameo and feathers were due to the conference theme "Fly." And although it seems like the title could be inspired by a Friends episode, something like "The One With the Feathers" or "The One With the Art," the title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem. I thought the piece achieved  a sense of hope but felt that would make a pretentious title. So I called it ...The Thing With Feathers as a nod to its subject, a wish for its beneficiaries, and an acknowledgement of the mixed media what-is-it-ness of it.

Hope      Emily Dickinson  Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

I did my first ever work with poly clay on this project, making a negative from a Christmas ornament and then casting new positives of the cameo.

I had also come across a Craftster tutorial at an opportune time and used it to make fabric feathers.







I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. 
Ephesians 1:18-19a

There are more WHAT than CD players?

New technology made to look like older technology gives me a giggle. I tried to buy a phone cover today that looked like a cassette tape. It was messed up and didn't fit. Bummer. There was also one that looked like an Instamatic camera. My saga of looking for a phone cover is perhaps a story for another day, but the bigger saga has been me looking for a CD player. Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. A CD player? A friend just posted a pic on faceyspace of the pile of CDs they’re getting rid of because they’ve gone all digital. I guess file this under #theaterkidproblems  #itunesmakesmenuts.

At least forty percent of our music collection is show soundtracks. Random show tunes can be fun, Pandora, shuffle, if you’re really lucky a friend with a karaoke set up or a piano and lots of scores. Super cast parties. My family plays a little game called Broadway Name That Tune with my parents’ satellite radio. But a lot of the time when I listen to a soundtrack I want to listen to the soundtrack, say Tarzan which is next for us, not most of the soundtrack…..except for the random song that iTunes decided was a separate album by Chester Gregory II, the actor who played Terk. Also there are those mythical “artists” known as Original Cast or Company. Choosing one of those is little better than shuffle, a bizzarro mish-mash of several different shows. Playing a disc involved firing up the laptop or Blu-ray player before I could listen and I found myself mostly listening in the car. I even kept carrying one disk back and forth from the car to the house to practice for recent auditions only to never listen to it inside. So I had a little birthday money and decided, “I’m getting a CD player, darn it.”

This idea occurred to me while tagging along with my parents who were looking for new appliances. They were looking at refrigerators. I would wander over to electronics. I saw one I liked and kept on the lookout for one in my price range as they continued their shopping at several stores. I wanted a small shelf system that we could also play the phones through if we wanted. It didn’t even have to dock because we’ll eventually want to upgrade the phones. I did finally buy one, happy birthday to me, but I told you all that to tell you this: I kid you not, I found a larger selection of turntables. Yes, turntables. As in for records. That’s messed up, y’all.

Quote...

Wisdom begins in wonder. - Socrates

That's So Crates Johnson if you are a fan of Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure.

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I like to make things. I hope I like making a blog. Otherwise this will be a real short experience.