ok, so its almost 9, Im about to go catch a bus to my car. I am ALMOST finished cutting out glass. The only pieces left are the teeth. That's 63 pieces total, but they are small. Not sure if I like the ribbons I cut out, I may change the blue and purple ones to red, since the entire background is midnight blue, I just feel like they're getting lost.

Tomorrow I'm going to cut out the teeth and make any changes I feel are necessary. My boyfriend Nick is coming up to help. I have a job for him. He's going to help me take more paint off the old door. It's an easy but time-consuming task and I welcome any help that is offered.

On sunday I am going to sketch out the rest of the installation. I might also be able to corner my Mom into teaching me embroidery for that blurb about the Mari. We are one completely different schedules, so we dont get to spend much time together, this is a good excuse to get her to stop and breath for an evening.

Images

I DON'T OWN A WORKING CAMERA, AND I REALLY CANNOT RUN OUT AND BUY ONE BY 230 THIS AFTERNOON. DEAL.
Here is an update on my progress:
I am almost finished cutting out the glass pieces for the Mari window. That and evenutally soldering the pieces together are the two stages of this process that take the longest amount of time. My next step is to use the grinder to refine edges and make sure everything fits together as well as possible. I have also stripped half the paint off that old door, which the window will be installed into. I have also been organizing the performance for the opening, I have volunteers from Rutgers Pagans, Grove of the Other Gods, and our class to help out. However, I still need someone to play the Mari.

I will try to scan in some sketches from my book as soon as I can get to the studio and have access to a scanner. But I don't own a camera and I really can't afford a decent one at the moment. Working around it.

Master list of couplets for Y Fari Lwyd

Couplets for performance! If you come up w/ any, please post a comment w/ them. I will be continually adding to this post.

Y Fari Lwyd:
Come on people let me through
So I can get some drinks from you!

Yes I am dead but I am so pretty
but for you ugliness you have my dear, pity!

The art in this room, while being so formal,
when we are compared it makes me look normal.

Audience:
We will not let the Mari in,
This is a test you will not win

Oh Mari you are such an ass,
As Gandalf said, You shall not pass!

Y Fari Lwyd, we will not be had,
you are dead and rotting and smell REALLYA bad!

Come hither now, leave you may,
take your damned head and gallop away.

Your comments don't sting, they only work
because of some wiring and a jerk.

critique 2

I know this was supposed to be up last night, but I got home late and then watched the opening of the the Olympics the my family.

Some new things to think about, keep documenting my process as I have been and making it a part of the piece. I'll keep my sketchbook neat and put it on the table by the front door, I think that will cover it.
Looking up glass artists like Judith Schaechter. My pattern is already done, but i may be able to look up more techniques. I could use the help, some of the pieces of glass are too tiny and may just and up being a blob of solder.
Found out the closest stained glass supply shop is 5 minutes from my house, :P

I have a somewhat beaten-up table that belonged to my Great-Grandma that I'd like to use. It's from Italy, not Wales, but it's pretty plain and country enough to qualify, and it's not like I'm going to paint or deface it,it's just going to sit next tp the front door on the interior wall.

My friend Karl is going to document the Mari's performance. The photos he takes will be put up in the installation afterward as family photographs.

Ideas for house facade- please comment!

I used to be on the tech and scenery crew for the musicals at Red bank Catholic. I am thinking of doing the walls on either side of the door as double-sided scenery flats, able to be easily moved and installed. This would mean doing the doorframe sepatately, and it has to stand on its own and be very sturdy. Does anyone have any other suggestions about how I could make this work?

Critique 1

Idea for installation was well-recieved, got some good suggestions, including:
*Feaux facade, house interior on one side with wallpaper, exterior w/ siding or bricks on the other.
*A blurb somewhere on what the Mari is.
*Critique group thinks performance is a great idea, i wasn't sure at first.

Ideas I've had since critique:
*Blurb on the Mari should be an old-fashioned sampler (embroidered text) on the "Interior" wall.
*Have someone take photographs of the performance and hang them up on the interior wall as "family" photographs.
* Have small table on interior next to front door w/ blank book for reactions, maybe look like address book?
*Have small basket on table w/ buisiness cards, both normal and silkscreened glass ones.

Post for Installation group to read!

So, rather than a series of paintings about different rituals my Grove has done, I am focusing on one in particular with an installation. The Mari Lwyd, or Y Fari Lwyd in Welsh, since that's where its from, is a ghost horse that travels from house to house each Winter Solstace, singing along the way, to challenge the households to a test of wits. This is usually in the form of rhyming couplets, which get progressively more insulting as the night goes on. If the Mari wins the contest, he and his friends get to come in for a snack and a few drinks, then move on the next house. If the family wins, he just moves on, and things begin again. This tradition is not only pre-Christian, but also pre-Roman, and is believed to be the origin of Christmas Carolling.



I would like to tell the story of the Mari with an installation. I will be creating a feaux facade of a house in the middle of the gallery, with the illusion of the outside of a house on one side, and wallpaper on the other. The door will be the main focus of the piece. in the large window, I will do a stained glass picture of the Mari, so that it appears to be on the other side. I will be painting the door on both sides, with the Mari's traditional greeting and rhymes on one side, and the family's responses on the other. I would like this to be in the middle of the floor so that the viewer may walk around both sides. The door will also be functional. I would like to do a performance on the day of the opening, our own Mari Parade. I am going to need volunteers for that, as I would like to include my classmates, not just my Grove family, to be involved. Grove of the Other Gods has done this before, and it is a lot of fun. I will also need someone very tall and quick-witted to play the Mari. Preferrably someone with improv experience.

This be doable?