Folk Art Workshop

My friend Flip attended "Heart and Soul: Quebec Folk Art" last week at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec and decided to hold a folk art workshop of her own. She asked us to bring a few odds and ends, paint, gesso, and anything else we thought might work on a naive sculpture. If we needed some wooden parts for bodies, ears, legs, etc., her husband Robin, a fabulous woodworker would not only supply his extra off-cuts to us, he'd also help us assemble our sculpture.

I found the leftovers of a circle and decided it would be a perfect body for a cat. I also found a large, flat circle and Robin attached it with a 3/4" dowel to the body. He also added a dowel for the tail. We also found 2 triangular pieces of wood for ears. He did a rough sanding, drilled in screws for the eyes (old, china door pulls I had brought along) and inserted the nose piece, which was an electric wall switch I found in my hardware drawer.

Then I needed to seal up the wood with a few coats of gesso.

Meanwhile...Holly sanded and painted a large piece of cedar she rescued from the back woods. It is to become a garden gnome. Barb worked on a pair of horses that sat on four wooden wheels (that actually turned!) and Flip worked on a big orange cat (that she later decided to re-paint black).

I decorated my cat with a coat of blue house paint and black spots. I also added a bit of pink for his ears and mouth.

Robin helped me find the perfect thing for his whiskers -- some wound up wire inserted on either side of his face. Now all he needs is a name. Any suggestions?