Day Ten is My Day

I don't know where to begin to tell you about my ornaments this year for the 12 Days of Christmas Exchange. here they are all wrapped up...

 

my gift wrap is super simple. and that's because i detest wrapping presents. i just hate it. it's right up there with folding laundry. that sounds terrible, i know.

don't get me wrong, i love a beautifully wrapped gift. but i hate wrapping a gift, especially a gift i have made myself. once i've made the gift i want to be done with it already.

i remember being a little girl sitting in the floor of my grandparent's house wrapping Christmas presents. i was terrible at it. i mean just awful. i'm sure i was raising a ruckus as i tried to do it properly (i still do). my grandfather sat in the floor with me and showed me how to properly fold the ends. at the time i remember finding it interesting and a bit flattering that my grandfather, who was probably wearing coveralls at the time, got down in the floor with me to show me how to Wrap a Gift.

that's the only nice thing i can say about wrapping gifts. it reminds me of my grandfather. outside of that, i still don't have the patience for it. :0)

but i do like doodling on the boxes to be mailed...

 

i started out with this sort of creepy snowgirl. but she took too long. so i edited her to a more cheery snowgirl...

 

she's throwing love on the girls in the exchange.

But what about the actual ornaments. Where to begin? I'll start with enamel.

I was taking a six-week enameling class when it came time to hurry up and get down to making something. So it seemed fitting to make something with enamel.

Now maybe someone else wouldn't dive into making something with a medium about which they are just learning. But that doesn't really ever occur to me. I like to play. I like to experiment. I like to push things up against the edge of being uncomfortable in order to move forward. Sometimes the results are risky but it is a good way to learn, for me. I don't recommend this for everyone but it is what I like.

Originally, I had many different ideas. I really wanted to make hands etched in brass with an enameled heart riveted in the palm of the hand.

 

I traced my son's hand for this one.

But holy cow! Cutting out little hands with a jeweler's saw and filing little hands and etching little hands is a heck of a lot of work! And I would still have to cut out, file, and enamel the front and back of all the hearts. We are a group of 13 girls in this exchange. That was just too much for me to do in a studio outside my house (I don't have my own kiln so I had to work where I was taking the class).

Then I was going to make tall thin enameled houses with a heart cut into the center of each one. I actually got all the houses cut and filed and began polishing them to receive the enamel. I enameled one and didn't like it very much. And every week we were learning new techniques and I would take off in a different direction leaving the house idea in the dust.

Then all the cutting and filing of the metal completely trashed my wrist. I couldn't do anything. And that week was when I really needed to be turning out the ornaments. The deadline was approaching. I started to panic a little bit.

It was during this time that the ornaments finally started coming around to what they ended up being. If you follow my blog you may have noticed that I've had a thing with rabbits this year. They started appearing with the mixed media piece I did titled, Be Who You Are (which now lives with my fabulous friend, Tamara).

 

I don't know where they came from at first (well i KNEW but i didn't Know), but they kept coming...

In different forms...

 

and different stories but with a purpose.

they were a metaphor.

a stand-in for someone/something else.

and so, all of a sudden, my ornaments turned into enameled rabbits...

 

and once they started coming, there was no turning back.

 

and they were a melancholy group, these rabbits.

 

all white with red eyes or blue eyes.

 except one turned blue when i used regular white enamel instead of titanium white. nice. i kept him for myself.

 

 

they made me laugh out loud. they made me swear like a sailor a few times (don't get me started about how a couple of their faces melted off in the kiln).

they were cut from sheet copper, and drilled, and sawed with a jeweler's saw, and filed, and polished, and annealed, and pickled, and enameled fronts and backs, each in the kiln two and three times, then wired and given a special bit of yarn (special to the bunny and to me and especially special to my kitten, margo polo who helped a LOT with the yarn) with a bell. they needed a bell because bunnies get lost and they need a bell so they can be found because they hate it when they look up and discover they have lost their way. no one likes that.

backside of bunnies

and when i looked at a table full of their quirky grumpy faces, i burst out laughing. where did they come from? would they be loved by other people without my odd aesthetic? i won't get into the psychoanalysis of "what the rabbits mean". seriously, who needs to know all that, right? i need for things to be a symbol for something else. i need for things to make sense but still be hidden. that's how i am and how i work. it is important to me.

But, they can also just be rabbits. at Christmas. who look like they look but maybe feel something else. on the inside. like Merry. or Happy. or full of Joy. or slightly itchy all over. make up your own story. that's what it is all about. 

Happy Christmas Little Rabbits!

Comments

[mary jane dodd]

very fabulous! i am thrilled and exhausted for you reading this post! incredibly time consuming, but what treasures... i had to laugh... because all i have to do is see an article in a book and i am out the door at the hardware store getting what i need to try it... oh, should i have finished the article on the technique? not me! glad your bunnies have a secret meaning, though they make me think of being you and loving beatrix potter - and now looking forward to burton's take on 'alice' ... oh and i love the doodling on the boxes! soo cute...

[Renate]

I just love these little snow bunnies!! Gorgeous and soooooo cute!!

[Deryn Mentock]

Well, well, well, Miss Kelly. Here we are with our enchanting, little bunnies! What a nut you are! These rabbits are SO "Kelly" how could I think of anyone or anything else every time I see mine? He's a sweetie and, I think, not grumpy at all but just missing the other bunnies! I love him!

[Sallyt]

Kelly, heavenly days (think DAZE) LOL. That bunny was such a delicious surprise. I think I know now why I got the same kick out of him you did. Mary Jane's comment made me realize -- we must both have that "inner Alice"! (Mary Jane, I am also looking forward to that new Alice movie.) I'll be living happily ever after with my little bunny guy. I've fallen in love and would follow him down a hole anyday.

[Deryn Mentock]

Oh, by the way...I love that blue one!

[Crystal Neubauer]

Okay, White Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, I'm late..I'm late..which is funny because I am always late, so I picture him with a very large pocket watch somewhere and that worried look on his face when I opened the package just made me want to hug him! All I could think was he must have had a really rough flight and spent plenty of time in that package waiting around for his big unveiling and would he like his new home as much as where he came from? I'm afraid he's going to need to adjust a little to the freezing cold Illinois climate, but I promise I am so madly in love with him that he will be spoiled before you know it!!
Thank-you so much Kelly for the quirky ornament that is absolutely the most perfect all occasion bunny I have ever seen!
Crystal

[Julie]

These are the best ornaments ever! That is one lucky group you have there! xo

[Maija Lepore]

I love my freaking bunny and I giggled with delight when I opened my special Kelly creation!!!! Another treasure to keep out year round!!
Thank you my BFF forever!
oxox

[joanna pierotti]

oh Kelly, I finally have power again so I can get back into the fun of blogging about all our ornaments. I just adore my bunny. I just sat there in awe - amazed - and wondered when you learned how to enamel. You are incredible!!! He is so cute I just want to take a bite out of him. Thank you my friend and for all the work you put into these. I will cherish it forever!!!! Merry Merry! xoxo

[pilar]

I didn't even think of Alice when I saw my bunny. All I kept thinking was how he looked so smart and well read. Seriously, opening your gift was a true surprise and delight. I giggled and laughed when I saw his fair face. Of course, Iggy was just as happy seeing a bunny. Thank you, thank you, thank you....xoxoxoxoxo

[Mija]

What funny little bunnies! Their quirky expressions are a hoot. hee hee Adorable and silly, thanx for sharing friend! Looks like another fantabulous exchange. Kudos to all for the beautious creations! XOXO

[Danita]

Thank you so much Kelly!! Don't tell anybody but I think this one is my fav :P My husband calls me "Coneja" (Bunny) and this is very special for me. I too make many bunnies in my art :)

Danita

[Free Movies]

They sure are lovely! I know a whole lot about working with enamel, never tried it myself but read a whole bunch of books about it LOL- you bunnies are THE BEST! I only wish I could get one hehe :)