Sunday, May 2, 2010

Atlantic Cod and Bolete Shrooms

I am on autopilot again. You know how you have bursts of creativity and the juices start flowing and you almost can't make stuff fast enough? And then, you fall back a bit and go into your "comfort zone"? This almost seems to be a pattern with me :-/. It peaks, then hits a little valley. I am in a little valley. Not that I don't love making fish and fruit and mushrooms (because I always do), but methinks I need a little vacation. Why does the Chicago trip have to be a YEAR away????? I am making these as I watch Anthony Bourdain in exotic, far-flung destinations, eating things like shark's heads, raw seal's eyes, and goat's stomach. Not that I want to eat any of that (with the exception of the shark's head), but it makes me want to get off this damned rock (as much as I love it)! Hell, I could use a slice of real Chicago pizza right about now!!


22 comments:

  1. Fabulous Fish! And I love bolete mushrooms...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your food look so realistic, it's wonderful.
    Geneviève

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your fish are wonderful, so realistic....even slimmy looking....Oh, but in a good way ofcourse...lol!
    Linda x

    ReplyDelete
  4. your fish still look alive :O

    ReplyDelete
  5. awesome! like a real fish!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your work is magnificent! Everything looks so real and the fish are just amazing, especially their little open mouths! :o))

    Michelle xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Increiblemente reales las dos cosas.
    Genial!!
    besitos ascension

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your fish and mushroom are so outstanding!! Wow!
    You express creativity so well. I find when I work for myself, it is so difficult to give myself time off, LOL, I think other bosses would treat us much better!! So wonderful about being in the Tom Bishop show.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Absolutely fantastic! They just look so realistic.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your fish are fabulous and so are your mushrooms! I think you and I are going through the same thing. Although I'm not stuck on an island, I'm stuck in the desert and we're both in kind of a valley. Here's to climbing out of our valleys.

    ReplyDelete
  11. OMG!!! Are you sure these aren't real fish? They are so realistic no one would ever guess they are miniatures. I love the mushrooms too.
    Don't get itchy to go on a trip and use up those milage points. I expect to see you in Chicago next year. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I know exactly how you feel about peaks and valleys. As I get older I've learned to judge my mood and try to alter my efforts - hardly ever works, though!! More coffee and some good music is my usual medicine.
    Moreshrooms!!! Yay!!! I love 'em!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey at least you can make whatever you darn wish - you can't imagine how sick I am of raccoons. I'm starting to see them in my sleep, lol.
    And Kiva, you really do make the best looking miniature fish and mushrooms I've ever seen!!! It's always a treat for us to get to see them.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cindy's correct, your fish do still look alive, Kiva! Do you ever make them alive for fish tanks, or ponds?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think it's the time of the year, I too have the travelling itch. Usually, I will pop over to Bangkok. I think, the situation over there is slightly calmer. I'll say hi to Bourdain for you if he is still there :).

    Carolyn's idea that you build a fish tank is a superb one. Put in all different kinds of fishes, alive or dead, with cheeky Octopusses trying to grab them. Your shocked oysters will have a field day!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Kiva your fish are outstanding. I have just posted photos of some I saw at the Sydney Miniatures Fair, you are both very talented artists.

    ReplyDelete
  17. They look like they have been tossed on land just a few moments ago... still trying to breath...they look awesome, so does the clams and the mushroom!!!! For me, this is like magic!!!!
    Synnøve :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Awwww shucks, you guys are too kind!!
    Jean, yes, methinks we crack the whip, big time, on our own arses ;-). I am sitting here right now and chastising myself for not having made a single thing today or tonight, and I feel guilty as hell. All I did tonight was play games online (billiards and Gore, a first person shooter game where you collect weapons and ammo and blow people away). I also cut down on my smoking, which may have something to do with my restlessness :-/.

    Carolyn and Susan, I have made little tanks, but not full-on aquariums. I think the last one I did, which was quite awhile ago, was filled with baby octopi. When I first started making stuff, mom made a few things as well. She made a fabulous coral reef full of sea creatures!! It was jaw dropping :-O. I wanted to keep it, but it sold, damnit. I've tried keeping REAL fish alive, but somehow, they always wind up dead. I cooked the last ones I had because the temperature was too high in the tank!!!

    Catherine, NO WAY!!! I am going to be there, trust me!! I've already cut back on my spending, and I'm socking away ;-).

    Oh Kristy, everyone adores your racoons!!! You will be making them until you want to scream, which I'm sure you have already done many times, lol!!! I dream of mom-made, moss filled baskets :-/.

    Again, thanks guys!! Synnove, I don't usually add this much varnish on my fish, so that may have added to the "freshness" of the fish ;-). I glossed those puppies up quite a bit!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I saw "shrooms" in the post title and scampered on over here, heh heh heh :)

    These two pieces really show your mastery of texture and surface sheen -- one so glossy, the other so matte! Beautiful, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey Kiva!

    I love the mushrooms! They really look like they were just picked from the ground and put in a basket! My boyfriend got this silly idea two weeks ago to go morel hunting in Tilden park here near Berkeley! I was like "yeah right!" there is no way I'm eating any type of mushroom unless its from the market!

    I haven't been in the cyber miniature world lately at all. I hate it, it feels like my daily chores just don't let me do what i most want in life which is miniatures. I think about miniatures ALL THE TIME! and never get to make any nowadays However I have good news...so much has happened...and I'd love to share it with you! My boyfriend and I have decided to move to Michigan!!!! I never would have thought that I'd be moving from my Berkeley all the way to Michigan, but its happening in two months. My boyfriend is going to get this PhD in Lansing, Michigan, which happens to be his hometown. I'll visit my family on and off during the year. Once were installed in Michigan, which should be at the end of June, I'll be devoting all my time to making miniatures! I hope I can brave those harsh winters I hear about! At least I'll be able to make miniature food during those winter months! And I'm planning on going to the Tom Bishop Miniature Show this year in Chicago!!!

    Hugs
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
  21. Unbelievable, just unbelievable. So realistic fish...

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love your cod! Your work is really great!

    ReplyDelete