Nature After Mr. Monk's Heart is a sculpture by Conni Schaftenaar which was uploaded on May 7th, 2019.
Nature After Mr. Monk's Heart
3D Yellow Iris sculpture created from hand wipes and watercolor, by Conni Schaftenaar
This was one of my two submissions this year to the... more
Title
Nature After Mr. Monk's Heart
Artist
Conni Schaftenaar
Medium
Sculpture - Watercolor On Hand Wipes
Description
3D Yellow Iris sculpture created from hand wipes and watercolor, by Conni Schaftenaar
This was one of my two submissions this year to the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts 2019. It was juried in and was on display at the Fed Gallery in Grand Rapids from late May to late June 2019.
This is the first time I've done anything like this, but I had such fun doing my other submission, which involved 3D flowers and butterflies mounted on a painting, that when this idea came to me, I pursued it. I experimented with rice papers, tissue paper, and a couple of other things. I was talking to my friend about the relative appearances of each when we were traveling in St. Paul, MN. We were in a restaurant in our hotel and our server heard some of what I said and commented, "try facial wipes".
I actually had some hand wipes that had dried out, so when I got home from the trip, I tested them, and liked the effect. The leaves gave me fits - so tall that it was hard to get them stiff enough to stand upright. I solved that problem by buying a notebook with clear plastic covers and cutting out a leaf shape from the clear plastic and putting my green-watercolored hand wipes over the shape and gluing them together. Finally, it worked, only 2 days before the submission deadline! Caused me some sleepless nights!
The title came to me because I love the TV show "Monk", with the finicky detective who hates to come in contact with "nature" and is always demanding "wipe! wipe!, wipe!" from his hapless assistant after touching anything he deems icky, like anything from nature. So how better to provide Mr. Monk with a touch of nature that doesn't threaten his equilibrium than by making it out of hand wipes?
February 2021 Update: This Iris sculpture now in her new home with my fellow FAA artist Laurel Adams! She is a total nut about irises, and I felt she would provide my beautiful yellow lady with a happy home! Laurel's quote after receiving it: "This is the shining iris star completer piece to my iris room!!!"
Honorable Mention Tie in the What's the Buzzzz - Surface Choices contest, March 2021
Featured in:
Images That Excite You, May 2019
Mixed Media Art, May 2019
Beauty in Art - No Photography, May 2019
Vertical Images, February 2021
Amazing Irises, February 2021
Special Feature Sculpture, The ARTIST BUZzz, September 2022
The ARTIST BUZzz, February 2024
Special Artist of Distinction in The ARTIST BUZzz, February 2024
Uploaded
May 7th, 2019
More from Conni Schaftenaar
Comments (57)
Conni Schaftenaar
thanks so much, Beverley, I had such fun making this and amazed myself at how well it turned out!
Beverley Ismail
Fascinating concept and how the end result materialised. Love the fact that you enjoy experimentation. It’s really beautiful what you have made. It’s amazing what we can make and design out of materials we have in the home….congratulations upon your GA feature within the Artist BUZz
Laurel Adams
CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU are awarded: SPECIAL 🎨🐝🏆GA FEATURE ARTIST of DISTINCTION 🥁👏🏻. Please feel free to post your Special Feature, selected for its “Floral Breath of Spring” in the ARTIST BUZzz GROUP Features and SPECIAL FEATUREs 2024 Archive Thread! BRAVO!
Laurel Adams
Conni, CONGRATULATIONS!! Your lovely image has been featured in The ARTIST BUZzz GROUP!! You are cordially invited to POST your Homepage Feature’s EMBED link to the 2024 Features Archive Thread in the Discussion thread. Thank you for your glimpse of BEAUTY. Conni, this stunning iris graces the cherry Queen Anne leg occasional table in our dining room…I pinch myself everytime I dust her regal glass dome. THANK YOU, thank you.
Conni Schaftenaar replied:
Thanks for the feature, Laurel, and I'm always pleased to know that she has a lovely and loving home with you!
Conni Schaftenaar
thanks, Marsha, crazy, huh? this turned out better than I ever had hoped, and it was fun to do!
Only A Fine Day
Conni, interesting use of recyclable material. I love the iris, especially the little bud, and the experimental "nature" of your piece. Bright color. Nicely done
Laurel Adams
CONGRATULATIONS! CONNI SCHAFTENAAR You are awarded a SPECIAL 🐝🎨GA FEATURE ARTIST of DISTINCTION for the MONTH of SEPTEMBER 2022 🥁👏🏻for the category: SCULPTURE! …YAY! please post in the Group Feature Archive.
Laurel Adams
Dear Conni, you so understand the heart of this contest because your very aesthetic IS at its heART..OF MEDIA PLAY…of S..T..R..E..T..C..H..I..N..G…ME/us all!… BEST TO YOU! You already know the Joy of this exercise…YOU have already WON!
Conni Schaftenaar
Thanks, Laurel, I can't tell you how glad I am that you LOVE this iris lady as much as I do and that you have given her a wonderful home!
Laurel Adams
Awesome, Conni!…I am loving your mixture of “comfortable watercolour media” and the uncharted inspiration derived from an unproven, exploration effort of your original, traditional 2D watercolour background which you extend to UNcomfortable processes of painting, cutting, pulling and thereafter laminating and eventually forming 3D individual artpieces…in this case, with watercoloured hand wipes, plastic for petals and leafing, and watercoloured rice paper rhizomes of all things!!…how do I know these things? This beauty sits, domed, in my dining room (with ambient 68 degreed comfort) on a Queen Anne legged cherry occasional table, seasonally facing either her gilt framed iris family of my watercolour paintings or my acrylic painting, “Seasons in Laurelland”. ELEGANT, EXQUISITE! and containing the common thread visible in all of your work…Genius!
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