The Best Tsunami Ever

I think that's what I'm naming my piece. I might think of something more serious that better fits the simplicity and elegance of the sculpture though. Today I took it outside and fussed with it a little, but it was really finished so I simply dusted it off and put it in a tub to take to the pr
e-show tomorrow night. We have dress and tech rehearsal so I'll use the opportunity to get my carload of stuff over to the gallery. Besides the sculpture I have a big tub full of fascinators, a box of props, a pile of hats and wearable Jell-O for my characters in the stage show, a table, tablecloths, and a bunch of things like tape, hammer and nails, and display pieces for my Jell-O to sit on. It's a big pile, so I wanted to get it all organized today.

This great hot weather was perfect for drying Jell-O outside (and laundry too) so I made three little roses on sticks just to round out my offerings in case people want to buy things but not wear them. I still love the shirts which is a good sign. Often I'm disappointed in them and sometimes they don't sell, but I think the laughing Einstein will be a winner. People might not recognize the image of the gravitational waves but they soon will. This interpretation is pretty far from the ones I found online, but all the nerds will get it. Most Jell-O artists have nerdy tendencies. Most Eugenians have nerdy tendencies for that matter.

A couple of people had technical questions about the dried gelatin this year (including someone eating lunch outside the Kiva today when I put up a poster) so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write about my piece instead of waiting for Sunday. Thinking to explore the liquid properties, I poured my gelatin out on big tub lids and let it flow around, tipping and shaking the lid to see what the molten goo would do. When it stopped moving I let it dry on top, then peeled it off, flipped it, and laid it over some glass jugs and jars I put on their sides atop the entertainment center. That let it sag and curve and I made about ten pieces of various watery colors like that. Some curled more than others, and some I curled on purpose. Then when I thought I had enough I simply stacked them up and made them look like waves lapping over each other kind of like the surf does when it runs up the last stretch of beach before it all sinks into the sand or back down into the sea. One trick I used was to get pieces of it wet, usually by brushing it with a bit of water, to bend it and shape it when it would crack if I tried to do it dry. This takes restraint, as it will certainly fall apart and melt and stick to everything, including your fingers, but I'm careful and usually get the results I want. I still enjoy it when it does something on its own without my help. Randomness in art is very appealing to me.

My wave isn't completely realistic, of course, but it all fit together quite naturally and I barely modified anything. I glued it together between the layers in a few spots but mostly just let it sit, feeling like it might not be a permanent piece so it didn't matter to me if it stayed together in any particular way. I'm really running out of space to store this stuff so I have to start recycling it into other pieces or letting it go to the compost pile. I'm a bit less attached to some of it as I age. Some of the earlier stuff looks quite crude in technique and hardly worth dusting off, and really, I say it should go into the Smithsonian but the chances of that are pretty darn slim and meanwhile I could use my project room for actual projects. As I learned from my one year of trying to be a famous Jell-O artist, it takes rather constant promotion to keep oneself up in the googleverse and trying to get into a museum would involve much more serious promotion than I am willing to do. Everything takes time, and I'd much rather spend more time out in nature than on the internet or writing letters and making phone calls.

We'll see how much of my collection I do let go, but you never know. People change. I don't really want to continue to accumulate worthless stuff, making a nasty chore for someone if I leave unexpectedly. My Mom set such a good example recently of selling her house and almost all of her stuff, and hers was actually worth something, so there was a reward in selling it. Mine will merely involve a large dumpster or several trips to the dump, plus a giant free pile. Maybe it would be fun to put some of the Jell-O outside in a rainstorm and watch it turn back into mush and get eaten by slugs. Might get the chance on Sunday.

Sunday my plan is to do as close to nothing as possible, though. I know I'll be exhausted. It's hard to explain how much work is involved in producing this event, which is literally the focus of three months of my life. From helping write and stage and practice the performance to putting up posters and sending out PSAs, we all participate and do as much as we have time for to make it happen. I'm skipping Opening Day of Saturday Market for it, kind of a blow to my income for the month but if the shirts sell that will help make up for that. I'll miss my Market people but there will be another Saturday right around the corner. This year we have some excellent musicians working with us, so the musicianship is a few steps up from amateur. It's not all the way to professional, with the exception of a very few, but they have pushed us into some pretty fine shapes. I think you'll really get a kick out of this show. We won't hurt anyone's feelings, it's all fun and games, and it's uplifting without any kind of moral message whatsoever. Just ridiculousness. Simple hilarity. Joyous cleverness. Harmony, beauty, and one bit of smelly history that will only amuse. You know you want to be there. There won't be a repeat performance...it's just once. Twenty-some minutes, and then it will be Jell-O Show history.

And this year we get a double hit of the Slug Queen, Markalo Parkalo, Your Queen and Mine. That will likely not happen again. There is one surprise I can not even give a hint about, plus I invited the Mayor. I'm guessing she'll come, though I told her if she got the chance to take a vacation instead, she should.

It's the day after tomorrow!! I'm all full of anxiety and excitement and trying to remind myself to savor it and enjoy the heck out of every moment. You should too. On April 3rd, it will all be memories. And leftovers.