So the botanists among you will take issue with my juxtaposition of species and family nomenclature. Set aside the fact that these are not actually plants and not actually subject to universal rules, but anyway, Gelatinaceae is the family name. Then comes genus and species, and if I really get into it, I could name each creation with its own, dividing the collection into lots of categories.
Might, eventually. For now I just need to make a bunch more of them and figure out how to market them effectively. I'm giving out a lot of cards at the Market and have already gotten quite sick of the question: "Can you eat it?" There is always a downside to popularity, and to be seductive means to attract a lot of attention, not always the kind one hopes for.
I did correctly name the "orchid" I entered in the Arts Alliance 6x6 show, which sold to my friend Susan Sibilia-Young, catapulting me into the arena of professional Jell-Oh artist, though I actually did not get the $30 as it was a benefit for the gallery. The name was Gelatinaceae: Gelatinum something-or-other. I have failed to record it anywhere I can find, but the blog about it is here: http://divinetension.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-and-better-jell-o-art.html
The young woman who bought the first one at the Market will remain unidentified, though I hope she did wear it in her hair to the prom. Thanks to her, I have made several on hairbands now and have a good time wearing them on Saturdays and Tuesdays.
My interest in nomenclature was sparked in my early twenties when I landed a wonderful job at the Colorado College botany lab, where I assisted with classes, mounted specimens in the herbarium, and got to go on fabulous field trips all over the Rockies, collecting and identifying wildflowers. As it turns out we were surveying lands that would be developed as ski areas and towns such as Vail and in the Aspen area. The development was going to happen, and we were looking for endangered species. I recall us finding a few, but of course we were not able to prevent what is most likely disheartening development forty years later. I haven't been back to check, but I often fondle my memories from those long summer days in the soft mountain air, looking closely with my hand lens at the tiny details inside flowers, keying plants out to see if they were what we thought they were. It was a perfect life for a summer.
Naming plants has been an interest of mine ever since. I got fired from a nursery job in NYC for being more excited about looking plants up in the books than I was for cleaning spider mites off their leaves. Technically I believe the firing was for failing to keep the leaves from coming off a gigantic banana tree when I cleaned them, but no matter. The tree was probably worth at least hundreds of dollars, but I was so young then, didn't care much about that.
My first job in Eugene was working at Gray's Garden Center, which was still the feed store then, and my friend Chris and I were the only young women who worked there at the time, hired to sell tomato starts. The Gray brothers were still running the place, despite their style differences, and there are lots of funny stories from that time. The guys bought me an orchid when I got laid off finally, though I was unable to keep it alive, alas. I rescued several almost dead plants during that time and might still have one or two. I love rescuing plants and helping them recover through my style of benign neglect.
But as far as the Jell-Oh goes, it's still hot in my priorities and naming the individual pieces seems like a plan, though kind of a painstaking process. I do already miss the ones that have sold, and hope I remember to photograph every one of them. The blog will help with that.
The greater complexity and astonishing variation should keep me interested as I develop this art. I get a huge kick out of telling people that I am probably the only person in the world doing this. I know that won't last, but hey, how often in your life do you get to say that with any confidence? I didn't expect to.
A big thanks to artist Ruth Ann Howden for the idea to call it Jell-Oh! Perfect marketing.
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