Not In This World To Be Liked: a Project Based on a Geoffrey Gorman Online Workshop Finding the Soul of Forgotten Materials

In October, 2020, I signed up for an online workshop with artist Geoffrey Gorman called Finding the Soul of Forgotten Materials.  The class was held on Zoom and was sponsored by Peters Valley School of Crafts.

Geoffrey Gorman

Here is the workshop description: "Experiment with innovative and intuitive ways of creating a variety of structures and forms using organic, found, and recycled materials. You are invited to think about shapes and forms that hold particular interest and bring these ideas to the workshop. Using unusual techniques to overcome construction challenges, everyone will explore a variety of forms created from your own favorite cast off materials. This class is perfect for beginners seeking an introduction to creating curious objects as well as intermediate and advanced participants wishing to reach the next level and break out of their comfort zone. You need to be familiar with using hand and power tools such as drills, band saws, and sanders."

The basic building blocks of the project is taxidermy foam. I got mine from Dick Blick. 

The foam is carved into the shape of the animal that is being built. Here is where I discovered carving foam to actually look like something is going to take some practice. After the carving, the foam is covered with fabric.

Next I collected the supplies for the construction including the box the would be the base.

Everything comes up smelling roses.

And, thus we have...Not In This World To Be Liked. My thanks to Geoffrey Gorman for teaching this form and the inspiration to create this piece. 

A Door To the Cluttered House of Memory: Seth Apter ConcerTINa Workshop

 Seth Apter provided an online workshop during the Covid-19 that he called ConcerTINa based on a tin with a book inside. Here is my effort, called A Door To the Cluttered House of Memory, completed in October of 2020.

I started this project by selecting my "tin": a Homart Fuse Box. In order for the pages to fit, I needed to remove the guts which will not be used in this project but created a pile of cool parts for the future. 

Seth taught how to prepare the surface of the paper so that it will be ready for book making.

I sliced up the pages as needed to create a long book that could reach the floor once the fuse box would be hung on the wall. 

Seth also taught how to use his embossing powders on metal.

For the rest of the project, I constructed the container, collaged the pages and secured every thing together. Please note: each individual pages is shown at the end of this post. 

Thus we have...A Door To the Cluttered House of Memory. 

The title for this project comes from a line (A Door Knocker To the Cluttered House of Memory) in the poem Limen by Natasha Trethewey.

Here are the pages of the book I created for this project. The book is a two-sided accordion fold attached to the tin.