'Miss

Introducing 'Miss Ohio'. I have been working on this piece off and on for 6 months. I never, never spend that much time on a piece. This piece was so difficult for so many reasons. First, creating these layers on the skirt as part of the armature is really difficult. My hands were torn up after trying to get into those tiny little spaces with wire mesh. Then when I was concreting it, I had to create new ways to apply the concrete as my tradtional method would not reach the inner sections under each tier. As I worked in applying the tile, I had to inch into each section to adhere the mirrors. Finally, grouting into those crevices took 2 patient sessions. I am so happy to be finished with her, I can't tell you! I am thrilled with the result and hope she will find a happy home!

Miss Iris

'Miss Iris' - named for the color of tile used in the bodice.  I found this tile at the fabulous Lowes.  They are liners and the color is an absolute match for the blue and white china I use in my pieces.  I was surprised to see that the color is Iris, would have given it more of a blue name.  'Miss Iris' is part of a not what I would really call a series, but a trial using smaller busts.  She is only 15 inches tall.  She is headed, along with 'Miss New Mexico', to the E.S. Lawrence Gallery in Aspen.  Ken and Kathy Johnson will be hosting a group of PR agents on Friday night- hope my girls make a splash!

'Fairest of them All'...

'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Fairest of them All?' I know that the men who were renovating our house thought I was crazy. For any number of reasons, but particularly for me asking them (demanding really) not to throw away the broken closet door mirrors. Turns out that I now have enough mirror to make a small army of mosaic sculptures. I chose black beads and black mirror trim for the details of the dress as the Queen in Snow White was so dastardly and mean. Or simply because black is truly elegant. You decide.

The fun part...

Sometimes the work behind the scenes isn't so pretty. I love to publish posts that show a finished piece, all polished and ready for the gallery. But there is a lot, lot of work that goes before the piece is ready. I am getting ready for two shows currently, one in Bermuda and one in Aspen. I am experimenting with a smaller bust and learning my way around working on a smaller form for Aspen. It really effects what kind of tile you can use and how the I can 'handle' the piece as I work it. For Bermuda, I am prepping all my pieces, since assembly here is unreasonable with shipping. I pre-cut all the tile, I have concreted the styrofoam busts and am gathering all my materials and instruments to take with me. In these photos, you can see how I lay out the plates, beads, tiles to get a sense of how they will look together and what kind of dress design I will attempt. Sometimes I will also sketch out my ideas, I will do this for Bermuda since there will be so many pieces to complete and so many materials to bring. I don't want to forget anything! This is also my favorite part of each piece- the designing. I love laying the materials out and looking at different combinations. Sometimes how I start out to complete a piece isn't how it finishes up. The process can be a little more experimental and organic at that point. For instance, I layed out tile last week that included using a black bead interspersed through out the skirt on the dress- then forgot to include them! Organic or blonde- you decide!

KTVT Channel 11 News Clip

During the Main Street Ft. Worth Arts Festival, KTVT Channel 11 was broadcasting live. While I was hanging out in my booth, I could see them running around with cameras, crew and on camera announcers. I got to chatting with one of the camera men and the weather man. They decided to broadcast right next to my booth and then featured my pieces on air. Marketing and exposure that is priceless. From that point on, even on the same day, I had people stopping by my booth and commenting that they had seen it on TV. Finally arranged to get this clip added to my web site, easier said than done. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.shellyhamill.com/pages/inTheNews.htm

Casart Coverings

Casart Coverings is a wonderful company based out of Denver. They do these fabulous wall designs and Lindsey Wood manages a decorating blog for Casart. Lindsey kindly included my artwork, 'Roxy' in her most recent decorating blog. I think this 'room' would be wonderful and I hope someone takes it to fruition! Thanks Lindsey!!
Click on this link to see the full article: http://www.casartcoverings.com/casartblog/archives/3242

HOWL at Visions West Gallery, Denver

This is a great shot of Visions West Gallery during the HOWL show in partnership with the National Resources Defense Council. My wolf portrait is hanging on the left wall, in the black frame, over the bench. Don't you think it is beautiful!?! Love, love this sculpture of a wolf at the front of the shot. More pictures are available on the Visions West FB Page, looks like a great turn out, sorry I had to miss it.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Denver-CO/Visions-West-Gallery/92322654709?v=wall