March departed as a gentle lamb, giving us a few warm days before those April Showers visit. It has been glorious--sparkling and bright! We mowed the lawn, pulled some weeds, your basic tidying up.
And now we are back in our studios.
Mr. AL has just started carving a beautiful piece. It is one of his best yet, and I am so excited to watch it develop. And we know what a new carving means, don't we? (Drumroll).......The ever-popular Friday Progress Reports on our Instagram page have begun! I posted the first reel this past Friday.
At the easel, I am wrapping up some paintings and about to begin some new ones. I'm unsure about the quail, but I am experimenting and playing with it. Sometimes, the paintings that are "fails" are the ones from which you learn the most. One should never be afraid of fails.
The Winter Wolf is also not finished. This painting was inspired by a video of a lone wolf stepping cautiously on a frozen beaver pond. I like the stark silhouette against the winter purples and blues.
Since you are on our website reading our blog...why not take a look at our updates on the HOME page under the "WHAT IS ALCHEMY?" section. Surprise! New links to our respective portfolios. Mr. AL has posted the carvings he has done, and I have posted a selection of my paintings, all available as originals!
Speaking of Mr.A...Here he is...
Listening closely, you can hear cheerful singing: "It's beginning to look a lot like Springtime... everywhere you go..." as workers begin to wake Huldufólk Haven from its slumber.
In a ten-yay and two-abstaining Council vote, members elected to ask for the assistance of the two hu(person) benefactors to remove the winter season protective enclosures of their homes and businesses.
No sooner was the decision delivered and acted upon, but Gregear Yeagerson had his pump house hard at work, generating the power to begin the waterfall's functioning. His brother, Philandear, has a few more connections to secure before his pump shares the responsibilities.
It's early in the season, and the pond has yet to be cleaned, but the tulips are already beginning to color the landscape. Other greenery is also starting to cast its verdant hue!
Other preparations for the invisible tourist season are coming along, but they are still wondering how to combat the unwanted incursion of the burrowing insectivores (moles). As fellow inhabitants, the Huldufólkians don't wish to insult them; their less-than-lovely mounds of dirt and rocks are a definite eyesore in the community!
Meanwhile, back in the shop, an Eagle, or Aquila, as Latin defines it, is attempting
to take flight in a new woodcarving on a live-edge silver maple slab.
As an experiment, I am approaching this carving a
little differently.
First, I finished outlining the text, Aquila, with a depth of about three-quarters of an inch lower than the level of the type (grey area). Next, I roughed in the majestic bird's foreground wing feathers, as shown in blue.
Rather than bringing the line down into the wood so far for the background wing, as I usually do, I am carving a flat platform about a half-inch lower than the surface to transfer those lines directly for a second time.
The pink area will become a secondary flat platform.
We hope you are enjoying springtime as much as we are. If it is still a bit wintery where you are, we hope the promise of May fills you with anticipation.
Until then, Al/Chemy