Yes--I said FIERCE!

Kimmie here:





Feltzilla is looking much more ferocious these days!









Way sharper armor plates, angry brows, and yes flames, if you can dig it! I think they look pretty good, and not too much like he's puking at all. Next up some trimming and tidying up, a couple of pupils in those eyes and we are in business. I'm so tempted to try and make the eyes bloodshot. He's a little bigger than he was in the last post, but probably not big enough to make that actually viable. Oh well. I'm just so much happier with this result, can't wait to get him done and show off the finished piece! Maybe tomorrow.



I have lots to do right now. I didn't finish the 'update' post, so, long story short: we moved to Mammoth Lakes, CA for the ski season, and two days later Morgan got an offer of a full-time job in Hawaii. Guess where I live now! There I was, a badass snowbunny tearing up the slopes, and suddenly it's time to practice my paddling again. I hope I can remember how to surf! We have been on Kauai for almost six weeks, we're in a temporary apartment right now and without a car. Here's my mode of transportation:

I take my cart to the grocery, to the beach, even to Costco! We upgraded it with baby buggy wheels--does anyone else remember those Bill Cosby albums?--and it rolls like a charm. Morgan also made a really great surfboard trailer out of some bamboo and a golf bag cart. Don't have those photos uploaded yet, but will share next time.

Although I didn't bring my torch, I did bring my beads, so I signed up for the Softflex Glass Art and Bead Festival. It's March 4-6 in Honolulu, so if you are in town or want an excuse to visit the islands, check it out.

I'm looking forward to the show, but scrambling a bit for inventory and display. My table is bound to be pretty creative, to say the least. I'll post photos, for sure.

Work In Progress: or, Yes, I am Still Working on Feltzilla...

Kimmie here:

While we were in Montana, I got a face put on Feltzilla. This, I thought, was the final step, and I would call him finished:
Sorry about the blurry picture, but I didn't have a camera with a macro function there. The blurry photo is pretty accurate, though, in describing how the piece looked to me. I wanted it to be harder, sharper, meaner looking!

There were a couple of difficulties with this. I had trouble finding the finer felting needles I needed, and after we got back to Mammoth Lakes, I started working full time on the mountain. I was tired enough at the end of the day that FZ was not high on my list of things to do when I got home. Then, Morgan accepted a job in Hawaii...HAWAII??? So after one month of glorious snow, we moved here to Lihue on the island of Kauai. I brought FZ of course, and a few weeks ago I found a website that offered not only size 40 needles, but superfine 42's as well! WooHoo!

The finer needles are working wonderfully, but my obsession with firm fine felt is one that requires patience. Needlefelting is incredibly time-consuming: I spent an entire day on FZ, removing his face and adding felt so that I could pack it in and give him a solid, not-overly-fuzzy surface.
I tightened up his arms and legs, got rid of that paunch and lengthened his neck. He now has some very handsome plates on his back and stands a little taller. He is not so easy to pull in and out of his building though, so I have to make a decision about how removable I want him to be. I may have to compromise on those plates in order to keep the versatility. With the longer neck, I also plan to have flames coming out of his mouth.


The process of needlefelting is an interesting one, in that to add firmness, I am trying to add material while condensing the bulk. It's easy to try to add too much, and tricky on this scale to pack it in. But I think the results will be worth it. I learn a lot with each project, and this one is no exception. I am hoping to have a mold made of the ring so that I can make a multitude of FZs and offer them as special orders!

I have no pressing duties today, so am going to grab my needles and get sticking! ...I have new ideas and projects I want to work on, but am determined to Finish FZ First!

Major update!

Kimmie here:

Wow, these past three months have been epic. I'm going to update as much as I can right now, looks like the laptop is running out of juice.

At the beginning of November, Morgan and I schlepped our stuff to Mammoth Lakes, ready for a season of snow. We headed up to Montana to visit my parents a couple of days later, intending to stay for my birthday on the 11th and then come back so I could start my job as a lift operator. It was pretty warm when we got there, but snowed the next day, just a little:

Nice! It wasn't snowing in Mammoth, however, and my job training date was moved back a couple of weeks. We decided to stay for Thanksgiving! It continued to snow:

nice finger in front of the camera there, Kim!

We spent three wonderful weeks dyeing yarn, knitting (Morgan learned to knit!), slalom snowboarding behind the ATV and trying to ride our bikes in the snow. And boy did we eat well!

OK, the computer is about to give up the ghost. Next: onward to Mammoth, and the snowiest December on record!