Friday, February 4, 2011

Trinket #35 - Freak Show Friday

Let's revisit my fantasy life for a moment, shall we? I would drop everything for the opportunity to run off and join the circus. The difference between me and most of those other nuts who would do the same is that my whole family would come along with me. Yep, we're a package act!

One of my favorite things to paint are vintage-style sideshow banners. The most fun is making up the freaks featured on them. I have yet to paint one of myself, but I can tell that it's not far off because I've already chosen my "talent". After much deliberation, I've decided to go with an illusion act since I'm not physically strange enough to pull off a "nature's oddity" attraction.

My favorite illusion act is the Electric Girl. She sometimes goes by different names, but the act is still pretty much the same. A girl sits in what appears to be a real electric chair and is unharmed as sparks fly. She can illuminate light bulbs with only a touch or send sparks off of her fingertips toward giant metal columns that flank the stage. While it looks treacherous, it is merely a fantastic show of nature's coolest tricks!

The Electric Girl takes center stage on this necklace, and her crew consist of a black grosgrain ribbon, copper wire (of course!), and a single faceted jet bead. I should get to work soon on the rest of the freak family...

3 comments:

  1. Your creativity is flourishing Beth.. I love it!

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  2. Very pretty! I guess circus is in your blood, Beth. I remember you said you had an uncle, I believe, who was a clown! Years ago my sister wanted to be a trapeze artist! To quote Charlton Heston's character in "The Greatest Show on Earth," "You've got sawdust in your blood."

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  3. You're right, Nyla, one uncle AND one aunt (brother and sister) who were professional clowns. I considered going that same route very seriously right before Gavin was born.

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