BREAKTIME

I got ready last September 2012 for my first solo exhibit after 4 years of retirement due to the birth of my son. I had very few time for finishing my work, only 3 months for filling a whole gallery. I took the challenge and the new pieces started revealing themselves, one of them was called "Breaktime".

El pasado septiembre del 2012 me encontro alistandome para lo que seria mi primera exhibicion individual despues de 4 anios de retiro, el cual me tome despues del nacimiento de mi hijo. Tenia muy poco tiempo para terminar mi trabajo, solo 3 meses para llenar una galeria. Tome el desafio y las piezas nuevas comenzaron a develarse poco a poco, una de ellas se llamo "Breaktime" (descanso).

I did a written description of the piece in my notebook, it was very unusual because what I do is to sketch the idea, still, I went with the flow, and started wondering how I was going to bring to life the description (Translated from original Spanish):
"2. Break-time: It is a house with inclined roof, stairs in the background, a door. The house is distressed, there is a coat hanger, a pair of wings are hanging from it, a doll is sleeping on a stars cushion. I have to make a cardboard box, cover it with newspaper, make the stairs, paint the interior, make the coat hanger, the wings, make the cushion (out of zodiac's fabric?), make the doll. The doll is going to have clay head, neck, trunk and extremities made of fabric filled with sand, hands and feet of clay. Make "celestial" dress for doll."

Describi la pieza en mi libreta, fue muy inusual porque lo que hago es bocetos de la idea, aun asi me deje llevar y comence a pensar como iba a hacer para traer a la realidad dicha descripcion (Transcripcion original en espanol):
"2. Break-time: Es una casa con techo angulado, con unas escaleras en la parte de atras, una puerta. La casa esta matizada, hay un perchero, del perchero cuelgan unas alas, una muneca esta dormida sobre un cojin de estrellas. Tengo que hacer la caja de carton, cubrirla de periodico, hacer la escalera, pintar el interior, hacer el perchero, las alas, hacer el cojin (de tela del zodiaco?) hacer la muneca. La muneca va a tener cabeza de clay, cuello, tronco y extremidades de tela rellenos de arena, manos y pies de clay. Hacer vestido "celeste" para la muneca."    

                                                
I started working based on the written instructions, however the piece evolved and more steps were needed, such as burlap and plaster of Paris. After these steps the house weighted almost 7 pounds!

Comence a trabajar en mis instrucciones, sin embargo la pieza se desarrollo y tuve que agregar pasos extras, como yute y yeso de Paris. Despues de estos pasos la casa peso casi 3 kilos y medio!

 Sometimes I don't take photos of the dolls' processes, this one was one of them. I got so immersed in her making that I did not recorded how I made the skeleton, the body, the sculpting, the making of the dress, etc. This is the first pic I got right before adding some hair. Still we can see the wire wrist showing thought the not-yet sewn sleeve.

Algunas veces no tomo fotos del proceso de las munecas, ella fue uno de estos casos, me meti tanto en su confeccion que no registre la manera en la que hice su esqueleto, el cuerpo, como esculpi su cara, la hechura del vestido, etc. Esta fue la primera foto que le tome justo antes de ponerle cabello. Aun asi podemos ver la muneca de alambre asomandose por la manga que estaba aun sin coser.

I designed the doll in a way that she will look asleep, her neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and ankles were completely loose. Her clothing is made of vintage fabric, the cream colored dress is from my 75 year-old toddler dress that has given me countless little pieces for many dolls up until now.

Disene la muneca de tal manera que se viera dormida, su cuello, hombros, codos, munecas, caderas, rodillas y tobillos estan completamente sueltos. Su ropa esta hecha de tela antigua, el vestido color crema es un pedazo de mi vestido para nina que tiene 75 anios (la duena original del vestido tiene 77) y que me ha dado trozos para muchas munecas a la fecha.

The purpose of filling her with sand was to make her heavy and to give her body that feeling of an asleep person, also for making a link with the worldwide fairy tale theme of sand related to sleep and dream issues.

La rellene con arena para hacerla pesada y darle esa cualidad de soltura que tiene la gente dormida, tambien para crear un vinculo con el tema de los cuentos que relacionan la arena con el sueno, estas historias las encontramos a nivel mundial.

As final touch I added a blue ribbon around her waist and another holding her hair. It was funny to see that if I posed her she seemed to be really sleeping, and her body would "fall" and accommodate itself, unable to awake. When she was at the gallery, she was presented to the visitors, who could hold her on their hands, the 3 predominant opinions of the people about this girl were:

1. She is asleep.

2. She is dead.

3. She is drunk.

Le puse liston azul alrededor de su cintura y en su cabello. Era chistoso ver que no importaba de que manera la pusiera, siempre parecia seguir durmiendo y hasta se "acomodaba", incapaz de despertarse. Cuando estaba en la galeria la gente tuvo oportunidad de tenerla en las manos por breves momentos, las 3 opiniones mas frecuentes de la gente sobre la muneca eran:

1. Esta dormida.

2. Esta muerta.

3. Esta borracha.

Her head, hands, and feet were sculpted in LaDoll Clay, her hair is wool.

Su cabeza, manos y pies fueron esculpidos en LaDoll clay, su cabello es lana cruda.

The finished piece looked like this, the house turned out to be green with red roof, the cushion became a blanket, this one made of printed fabric, the motives were a big moon and the zodiac.

La pieza terminada se veia asi, la casa termino siendo verde con techo rojo, el cojin se transformo en una cobija, hecha de tela con dibujos de la luna y el zodiaco.

She fell asleep at the bottom of the stairs, as described.

Se quedo dormida en la base de las escaleras, como lo describi.

The coat hanger was made from drift wood that super storm Sandy left in the shores of the Connecticut River last year. The wings are machine quilted and painted with acrylics.

El perchero esta hecho de un pedazo de madera que el huracan Sandy dejo a su paso cuando nos visito el anio pasado. Lo encontre a las orillas del rio Connecticut. Las alitas son acolchadas y pintadas con acrilicos.

She represents us, we go out every morning and start our day, hour after hour we may encounter different people, we know some, others are strangers, but in any case we always make our best, trying to help out if needed, we may give a compliment to somebody, or words of relief, a good joke, or the right to pass to a pedestrian, a nice talk to the cashier at the shop, we make good deeds, and every time we do we get angel wings, at least is what I like to imagine, that we become angels when we do something good -big or small- for somebody.  When our day is over we go back home, tired and hungry, we take off our angel wings and fall asleep in the first place we find, because we are still humans and need a rest.

Ella nos representa a nosotros, cada dia empezamos nuestra rutina y encontramos gente conocida y extranos por igual, en cualquier caso siempre tratamos de ser amables, tratamos de ayudar si es necesario, damos consejo, o un cumplido, o consuelo, una broma, el derecho al paso a un peaton, amabilidad al cajero de la tienda, etc. Vamos por nuestro camino haciendo buenas obras, cada vez que hacemos esto nos salen alas de angel, al menos es lo que me gusta imaginar, que nos convertimos en angeles cuando hacemos algo bueno -grande o pequeno- por alquien mas. Cuando el dia se termina regresamos a casa, cansados y con hambre, nos quitamos nuestras alas y caemos dormidos en el primer lugar que encontramos, porque aun somos humanos y necesitamos un descanso.

Bernice and the starfish house / Bernice y la casa de las estrellas de mar

Starry Night

I painted the above oil picture in 2007, the name was "Starry Night", it depicted Bernice, an 8 year-old starfish hunter. She seems to be floating in the night sky, which is also the sea. I think is sea and sky at the same time. The stars have a double meaning, they can be starfish, and sky stars as well.

Pinte este oleo en 2007, el nombre es "Noche estrellada", en el vemos a Bernice, una cazadora de estrellas de mar de tan solo 8 anios. Parece que flota en el cielo nocturno, el cual es al mismo tiempo el mar. Para mi es el cielo y el mar al mismo tiempo. Las estrellas tambien tienen doble significado, pueden ser los animales marinos y al mismo tiempo estrellas del cielo.

Bernice's true story is not that romantic, she is a real girl whom I found while looking at an old National Geographic magazine from the 80's. She is Swedish, but was born in Brazil, and had adapted to the harsh tropical Amazonian conditions, her fair skin has turned tan, and her already bright blond hair, and blue eyes seem much more clear and brilliant. Her family lives in the banks of the river, they make a living finding gold in the mosquito infested currents. Bernice had suffered half a dozen of malaria strikes in only a year. She was looking to me through the photo, and I noticed the strength of her face, specially her eyes, she was though as the jungle, and I really hope she survived, and became a top model who now travels around the world. She must be in her middle thirties by now.

La verdadera historia de Bernice no es tan romantica, ella es una nina real que encontre en las paginas de una revista National Greographic de los 80's. Es de ascendencia sueca, pero nacida en Brasil, se ha tenido que adaptar a las duras condiciones del Amazonas, su piel se volvio bronceada, su cabello y ojos ya de por si muy claros parecen brillar aun mas. Vive con su familia a la orilla del rio, para mantenerse buscan oro en las corrientes infestadas de mosquitos. Bernice ha sufrido media docena de ataques de malaria en solo un anio.
La nina me miraba desde la foto, en su cara habia fortaleza, era tan recia como la misma selva; realmente espero que haya sobrevivido y se haya convertido en una modelo internacional. Ahora mismo debe estar a la mitad de sus treintas.

Then, five years later I decided to make her a doll. I have been making enough clay dolls, and have a couple of secrets, and techniques about it. I was not going to copy the painting, just the essence of it. She was going to be able to hold different postures, among them stand, sit, and move her arms. The first step although, was to make her a house. This turned out to be a very strong paper-mache house that can support 33 pounds on its roof. My quality control manager did all kind of tests to ensure the structure was the best.

Cinco anios despues decidi hacer una muneca basada en ella. He estado haciendo munecas de arcilla lo suficiente para haberme hecho de dos que tres secretos y tecnicas del oficio. No iba a copiar la pintura, solo la esencia de la misma. Me imagine a Bernice capaz de ejecutar movimientos, de pararse, sentarse y mover sus brazos. Sin embargo el primer paso fue hacerle una casa. Esta resulto ser una estructura de papel-mache  muy fuerte, capaz de soportar 15 kg de peso en el techo. Mi jefe de control de calidad hizo cualquier cantidad de pruebas para asegurarse de que la casa era de lo mejor.

For Bernice doll, I used rock clay and modeled her head-neck-chest over a galvanized steel wire skeleton, same for her arms and legs. The clay is so pliable that lets me make ears anatomically perfect. Her eyes are artificial pearls.

Para hacer la muneca utilice arcilla de roca y modele con ella la cabeza-cuello-pecho, lo mismo que los brazos y piernas. La estructura entera descansa en un esqueleto de alambre de acero galvanizado. La arcilla es tan suave que puedo hacer orejas anatomicamente perfectas. Sus ojos son perlas artificiales.

I designed the doll is such a was that she is looking up, at the sky and the flying starfish. Before I assemble the final piece I have to have all of the elements of the puzzle in their right place.

Disene la muneca para que estuviera mirando hacia arriba, al cielo y a las estrellas de mar que vuelan. Antes de que termine la pieza debo tener todos los elementos en su lugar correcto.

I knew Bernice had the perfect feet when she was able to stand and hold her position even when her arms were posed in different ways. She still had to get a proper finished body, adjustments here and there, sanding, and then, painting.
Supe que los pies de Bernice eran perfectos cuando vi que se podia parar sola, aun cuando le movi sus brazos en diferentes direcciones. Aun tenia que terminar su cuerpo, hacer ajustes aqui y alla, lijarla y despues, pintarla.

Painted face / Cara pintada

I was pleased with her skin color, then went to get my seamstress uniform and start designing her clothes, they were just as the ones depicted in the painting, plus the starfish necklace, I made that one from rock clay.

Despues de haber quedado satisfecha con el color de su piel me di a la tarea de disenar su ropa, esta iba a ser tal y como la de la pintura, ademas que iba a tener su collar de estrella de mar. Hice aquel de arcilla de roca.

Bernice's blouse

I sew the clothes onto Bernice's body, by hand. That meant the clothes were done to be never removed.

Cosi la ropa a mano sobre el cuerpo de Bernice. Eso significa que su traje no podia ser quitado jamas.

Ladder stitch was used for sewing

I added a bit of lace / Le agregue liston al cuello

Back view

I wanted to use artificial hair, I already had a bunch of it, almost the color of the real Bernice, the hair was sitting in my box supplies for almost 3 years, waiting for the perfect owner to come.

Queria usar cabello artificial, ya lo tenia, casi del color exacto de la verdadera Bernice, este estuvo guardado en mi caja de materiales por casi 3 anios, esperando a la duena indicada.

She was the welcoming piece for my December 2012 solo exhibition at Expressiones Cultural Center in New London, Connecticut. The house was decorated with the accurate depiction of the 88 constelations. The piece can be hung up as a painting, or sit on a pedestal. 

Bernice stands and holds the starfish by ropes as she does in the paintings. Instead of facing us, she looks at her catch.
Bernice esta de pie y sujeta a sus estrellas de mar por medio de lazos tal y como en la pintura, pero en lugar de mirarnos a nosotros mira a su presa.

She does not need the clay-wire support, but I made it for printing the name of the piece, which is "If you love them, set them free".
No necesita la base de alambre y arcilla, pero se la hice para imprimir el nombre de la pieza, que es "Si los amas, dejalos ir".

Bernice's assemblage is a continuation of the oil painting's story. Here she is a successful starfish hunter, and she is faced with the dilemma of letting go her beloved starfish. Is she keeping them with her because she got attached to them? Is she letting them go because she really loves them? We go through life asking ourselves the same questions about material things, people, and places. Is it attachment, or love?

Esta pieza es una continuacion de la historia de la pintura de Bernice, aqui ella es una cazadora exitosa y se encuentra frente al dilema de dejar en libertad a sus estrellas de mar. Las va a mantener a su lado porque se ha apegado a ellas? Las va a dejar ir porque realmente las ama y aprecia su libertad? Nosotros vamos por la vida haciendonos las mismas preguntas sobre cosas materiales, gente y lugares, despues de todo, es apego o amor?

Here they are, the starfish, they represent what we "possess" in life, at some point we have to think if it is time to let them go, what if they want to visit their family? Will they come back? 

Aqui estan las estrellas de mar, representan lo que "poseemos" en la vida. En algun momento debemos pensar si es hora de dejarlas ir, que tal si quieren visitar a su famila? Van a regresar?

I changed the boat for this "deck" and buoys, Bernice is still a fisher girl, and these pieces remind us of her trade. I found the wood pieces ashore in the Connecticut River after super storm "Sandy" visited the region! 

Cambie el bote por este "muelle" y las boyas, Bernice es una pescadora y estas pieces nos recuerdan su oficio. Encontre los pedazos de madera en la orilla del rio Connecticut despues de que el huracan "Sandy" visitara la region!

Last pictures of Bernice before I told her bye, she went to live to the Regional Multicultural Magnet School, and it is going to be ready for auction for the benefit of the students. I will always have her with me somehow. Thanks for joining Bernice and I in our adventure. 

Ultimas fotos de Bernice antes de decirle adios, se fue a vivir a la Escuela Primaria Multicultural de New London y va a ser subastada a beneficio de los alumnos. Siempre estara conmigo de cierto modo. Gracias por acompanarnos a Bernice y a mi en nuestra aventura.