Gargoyles Watching & Weeping


Another month has come and gone (almost) and April's Theme Challenge is Repurposing. Chosen by Lesley Watt of the Art Elements Team, this subject is really 'a propos' in today's eco-conscious society. Many people aren't yet on the bandwagon, but hopefully they'll realize the ultra-importance of recycling and repurposing for the generations to come.

Update May 1, 2019~ My Gargoyles are apparently Grotesques, but in this post, I'll continue to name them as gargoyles although now I know the difference. See image at bottom of page .. 

So ... I knew the minute I saw Lesley's subject what I was going to do. I went down to the local thrift store, bought some belts and scored ... although they're under $3.00, that day happened to be a 'green' day so I got one at 50% off!!

And then Notre Dame de Paris burned!! I happened to switch on the news on April 15, & the breaking news was this. The roof was on fire and had just started about 10 minutes before. I saw the Spire fall and couldn't believe this was happening. This beautiful, awesome 850-year-old structure burning as the World watched helplessly ... . I felt my heart wrench & my soul burn as well. Paris is my adopted city of residence. Well, I live in the close suburbs, but after all these years I've become more familiar with Paris than Los Angeles. After being in a funk for a few days and while I finished up some commissions, I changed my mind about the subject of my project.

I've always been fascinated with Gargoyles. Notre Dame, Paris and France in general have an abundance of these sweet little sculptures on many older churches, monuments and buildings. In fact, at the foot of Sacre Coeur on one of the main streets there used to be an entire souvenir store with plaster replicas of different Gargoyles from said monuments. Unfortunately, this store was replaced with some food joint in the early 2000s, but I still have a couple of the statues hung on my walls at home.

I spent a few days wondering if I'd be able to properly repurpose something and then Mom brought out an old guide to the Cathedral that she had bought in 1992 at Notre Dame. That was her first and last visit to France. She'd come for my wedding, was the only member from my family and gave me away so to speak.

I digress ... anyway, in that pamphlet there were some postcards that we'd sent her over the years from France and various European cities. Lo and behold, there was a blank one with some Gargoyles  on one of the roofs of Notre Dame. Eureka! I had my muse! I wanted to make a sort of Shrine/Altar in remembrance of this tragic event. And set out to make it happen with a few ideas and a piecemeal go-with-the-flow style that is so me.

I must confess that this project is not 100% finished and when I tried to get some decent photos, it was already evening and I had to turn the lamps on. After transferring to my computer, I saw that the images were not the best they could be. I remembered to take some in-progress pix, but now I see that most are blurry. Sorry about that!
Blurry!! Have you noticed the tear falling on the Gargoyle on the left?
Since I've never succeeded in transferring images to Copper, I painstakingly used the old school method of outlining
with a Sharpie and then using Deco Color Pens to draw in and create the resist for my Etching.
This is half cleaned with a brass brush. However, it polished up nicely as you may be able to see (or not) below.

My muse .. I did distort this image a little in Gimp, a free image-editing app that I've come to know and love.
I needed it to fit correctly and have them looking out upon the spire.
Then I gathered a couple of images from various French news sources online and I had the basic ingredients. My idea was to construct a sort of layered shadow box image. Originally, I wanted it all to be etched, but the spectacular spire on fire would be lost in 'translation', so I decided to decoupage a photo of the burning spire onto a piece of 18 gauge brass and then added a few coats of sealer.
This is thick, heavy Brass and I needed to use the saw. It took some 10 minutes (really!) for me to get through it
and I somehow managed to not break the saw blade

Here's the original image of the Spire burning along with the scaffolding. I edited it in Gimp as you'll see
Next, I used the Gargoyles from another image as the 2nd stage. I mounted it on a couple of yogurt lids, therefore I really did repurpose something!! 

This image is edited also and already mounted on some little 'pegs' that I made out of gold polymer clay.
Do you see the fire? Apparently it's a piece of wood that they use to hang different posters throughout the year.

Yes, I prefer plain old style yogurt. Less carbs than any flavored kind and I just add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.
I hate the thick Greek stuff. Go ahead, call me weird.

Below is the original image before any editing. This is a spectacular photo in itself, with the contrast of the darker stone and the fire reflecting off of the gargoyles. But my subject is really the Gargoyles so that's the section that I used.

And my almost final project, albeit fuzzy and generally a bad photo. I don't yet know how I'll finish my little personal shrine/altar, but I will do it soon and post a proper image.
Blurry!! Unfinished!! But mounted on Repurposed polymer clay 'pegs'.

UPDATE: Gargoyles are Grotesques designed as waterspouts, to deflect water away from stone buildings (First 2 pix)
Grotesques are sculptures with artistic or ornamental purposes, not meant as waterspouts.
This Reveal is a Blog Hop, so join me in discovering what all these talented artists have Repurposed into fabulous works of art.
Al

Guests
Tammy   Alysen (you're here)   Evie & Beth   Karin   Hope   Divya   Anita   Sarajo   Kathy   Rebecca

AE Team   Niky   Laney   Cathy    Caroline   Jen   Jenny    Sue   Claire   Lesley

Comments

  1. Watching Notre Dame burn was truly heart breaking I watched the tragedy unfurl with a very heavy heart, as did most of the modern world I think. I LOVE Gargoyles and Grotesques, we have a lot of the latter here in Herefordshire - if ever you want to visit.... - one of the churches in Herefordshire (Abbey Dore I believe) has the rudest documented grotesques in the UK, or so I remember once reading! I love your tribute piece to the loss of the great cathedral and admire your copper etching skills!

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    1. Laney, I'll definitely have to visit that area one day .. in fact, that would be a great trek, documenting Grotesques and Gargoyles throughout Europe & UK! I have a whole folder titled 'To See, To Do' and I'm starting whenever I'm done MomCaring :) I just googled it and put it in my folder.

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  2. Alysen this is such a poignant way to mark the terrible event at Notre Dame and what you've done is lovely. Let's hope that they are able to reuse as much as possible of the infrastructure during the rebuilding. Thank you for joining us in this challenge.

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    1. Thx Lesley. One of the first things I'll do when I go home is take the train to Paris and check out the cathedral. I hope by then I'll be able to access the grounds.

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  3. Oh Alysen, I love your tribute to Notre Dame! Great job!

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    1. Thank You Sue, now to finish it up in the proper style :)

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  4. What a beautiful tribute. I've never been fortunate enough to visit Paris, but it's my dream to do so. Hearing about Notre Dame on the news had me in tears. I'll NEVER get to see it in its original condition now. That breaks my heart. Your piece is/will be an amazing remembrance of it. I can't wait to see your final results when you get the time to finish and the light to capture it.

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    1. Hope, I'll definitely post my final result here and on social media. Oh, no time like the present to travel, if no ties are binding! Deals are to be had online.

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  5. I hope that you get to take another (sharp) picture and show off your beautiful creation to us. The Gargoyles shedding tears makes it truly a poignant tribute

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    1. Oh definitely, Divya. I wonder if anyone would have noticed the 'tear' if I hadn't pointed it out?

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  6. What a special tribute you have created to your special city! I know you will make time to complete it.

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    1. Thank You! I love the idea of altars and will have to delve into that subject more ...

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  7. That was a sad, sad moment! However it inspired you to create a beautiful tribute and I can't wait to see how you finish your altar.

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    1. I can't wait either Karin! But it may be a few weeks, I've got to get a new collection going ...

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  8. It's lovely and a wonderful tribute. I hope you share it with us when it's finished. Thank you so much for participating in another challenge.

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    1. I will definitely share. Which reminds me, I better go to the AE blog and see what May's theme is.

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  9. Such a beautiful tribute to a horrible event. I love that you used the images from the old postcard and altered them to appear staring at the spire. I love it already but please share it when you have finished.

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    1. Thank you Cathy! I will definitely be sharing my final altar.

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  10. What a lovely tribute to Notre Dame, Alysen! Since gargoyles are fascinating elements of historical structures, their shedding tears to bid adieu makes your project showcase a sense of tremendous loss. I'd love to see it finished.

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    1. Anita, your mention of Adieu gave me goosebumps! My original idea was to use a rhinestone or similar as the tear so I'll have to add that too. I will be posting my finished piece ... once I decide how to finish it :)

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  11. A beautiful tribute to the destroyed piece of world, not just French, history! The grieving Gargoyles with the fire in the background look brought me goosebumps!

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  12. Thank You Rozantia for the heartfelt comment! xoxo Alysen

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  13. Beautifully done. You put so much thought and detail in this piece to great result.

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  14. Lovely tribute to Notre Dame. Such a loss!

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