Celeste
Celeste was one of those birds who let me know that she required something a little extra. It took several tries to get the newsboy cap just the right size and shape. And, she made it clear that it had to have a bow. But even with her stylish hat, she still complained that she wanted more. “How can I have a hat and not have a matching scarf too?”, she demanded. I have to admit she was right. She needed both.
Like all of my sculptures, Celeste is made with re-homed, recycled and new materials. Sadly, I have to admit that I haven’t always kept track of where, and from whom, all of those materials came from. But, when it comes to Celeste, several of the materials have a particularly special spot in my heart.
A dear friend of mine had always wanted to participate in Civil War reenactments. She is a lover of history, a great teacher and a retired Marine Corps officer. The historical reenactment group in her area focusses on the Revolutionary War. With a quick change of sewing patterns and some period-appropriate linen cloth, she was off and sewing her “period garb.” Through the magic of USPS, what remained of the linen arrived at my door and became Celeste’s hat and scarf.
Celeste also features some beads that I was given by the daughter of another artist. Her mother made beautiful jewelry. When she passed away, her daughter wanted her remaining materials to go to another artist to make beautiful things with. I was very much humbled and honored that she chose to entrust such precious materials with me. Celeste was the first of what will likely be many of my sculptures to feature those beads.
Celeste’s embroidered beak was done with a bit of a twist. Her beak has a bit more subtle color-scheme but the embroidery stitches were done in a bit of a spiral pattern.
While her beak might be a bit subtle, the bright and lively covering is far from subtle. I’m often asked if I use variegated yarn. The answer is always, “absolutely, I use it all the time.” Which I quickly follow up with an explanation. If the yarn has say 5 different dominant colors – I use them like I would 5 different yarns.. Celeste was predominantly made from 2 different mass market “cakes” of yarn. But, I used each color as if it was purchased separately rather than letting the yarn dictate where the colors would change. So, instead of 2 yarns, I was in effect working with around 13 between the primary colors and the transition colors. If you look closely, you can tell which was which – the one cake included a bit of metallic thread and the other had a bit of white with each of the colors. There’s a few other yarns as well, but the majority of Celeste’s crochet covering came from those 2 cakes.
I used a totally different yarn to create the gray “fur” elements on Celeste, Yes, indeed it’s a wonderfully fuzzy yarn that has been crocheted and stitched into place.
Celeste was one of those birds who told me what she wanted to be called. She said her hat made her feel a bit French and she envisioned herself walking along the streets of Paris where everyone could admire her. She is definitely one of my divas, but I thought the name perfectly suited her and agreed that she would indeed be my Celeste.
