Oh, I feel like I've been gone forever! Thank you, persistent reader, for checking back in.

I've been at home, and well in health and spirits--but have been swallowed up in the process of making a brief video, introducing myself and my work, for a project to be announced later this week. I've never made a video before, so I've been playing around with the new media--my approach to it is a little like a four year-old poking a jellyfish with a stick. In the process, I've also been sorting through some footage; most of it is me doing some plein-air work, and rather uneventful...and did I mention the video I'm to eventually to make is rather serious and professional?

This combination of things has resulted in my being FORCED to make a practice video. You know, to lighten the mood. And make five minutes of plein-air painting seem really action-packed. And to somehow involve the Aquabats.

There's...pretty much no way you'll be as amused by this as I am.

(But to be fair, I'm really amused by it, so you never really stood a chance.)

More publicity (for the paintings, which is gratifying), this time in Albuquerque Arts Magazine: "Body Images: Albuquerque artists explore the human form and its relationships."  (Melody Mock, writer.)

Here's an excerpt that pertains specifically to my work, which closes the article:

Cedra Wood uses a tiny paintbrush to create her small paintings, intricate in composition and content. Not only does she tell stories through her paintings; she also paints the psychological distance between people.

 "Where there is a human figure, there is a character; and where there is a character, there is a story. To paint a person is to create a hundred narratives, since every viewer brings their own associations and assumptions and sympathies to the image," she says. "A lot of my work is about the distance between people, and the way that we relate to each another, and to the environments in which we find ourselves – what better way to do that than to literally depict people?"

Having fun tonight, brainstorming whether, and how much, to decorate my violin, once it reaches the finishing stages...

I printed out a low-res copy of the back of the Guarneri I'm using as a guide, and then used ink and acrylic paint to see how I feel about painting that will cover the majority of the surface.

I'm torn! The patterning is fun and distinctive, but it seems a shame to cover so much of that lovely wood. I'll play with a few more drafts and see what I can do to strike a balance.

I love getting to this part in a painting. It's the point at which I can look at it calmly and feel with confidence that it actually will be finished someday. And--even better--probably someday very soon!

Mardi was obliging enough to pose for this next photo, to give you a sense of scale.

(No need to bombard her with fan letters--I have already thanked her for you.)

Lindy served a similar role this afternoon, as I cut out a sheet of waste paper in the projected size of my next large painting, to give me a sense of how big it will be in the physical world (it's 94" x 19", for those of you keeping score).

This paper mock-up is useful not only as a tool to help me imagine the piece's potential aesthetic impact...but also to verify that it will fit in my car for transport in the future. Learned that one the hard way.

Here's another of the viola spotlights--this one in Albuquerque Magazine.

(You can click on it to view a version large enough to read, if you're so inclined.)

Time for another violin update, yes-siree!

When last I posted, I was working on the arch of the top, but have put that aside momentarily while I work on some other elements.

These are the matched pieces of maple ready to be joined to form the back of the instrument:

I planed the edges to make sure they'd fit together snugly, held them over a hot plate for a few minutes to make them as receptive as possible to the hide glue, then glued and clamped them (with a bit of help, of course).

Leaving that to dry and set, I turned again to the ribs. Peter helped me dig up a temporary back plate to attach to them, which will stabilize and support them during the next step. I first traced around the ribs to make sure the plate would be big enough...

...and then glued them together--with very small drops of glue (I'll have to break the seal later, so the smaller the adhered area, the better):

Once that had set, we were able to pop the second half of the form out, leaving just the ribcage attached to the temporary back. Then I started to glue in the linings (a process I was familiar with from having glued one set onto the other side previously). The clothes pins hold the linings tightly against the ribs so that they form a solid bond all the way around the curves.

I attached them all, then set that component aside to dry, too.

I then moved on to some preliminary work on the scroll. Exciting! Here's the block of headstock I'm starting with, all squared up after a few passes through the joiner, and sitting on top of a sheet of provided measurements.

Using a tried-and-true metal template of Peter's (which you can see a bit of in the upper left corner of the next photo), I traced out the shape of the scroll on both sides of the headstock--including pierced marks to indicate the curve of the barrels, and the places where the pegs will eventually go.

That's that!

More painting has been going on! In early March I'll start a seasonal wage-earning job that will eat up my free time a bit, so I'm really trying to dedicate as many hours a day as I can to this piece, so that at least it will be finished this spring!

I continued with the cliff walls on the right side of the painting, adding some color to the landscape.

Then I did some work on the far right figure...

And today, I ping-ponged over to the left side to work on some rocks in the foreground.

Slowly but surely...