Michelle Schwartz

This summer I participated in the Underwear Affair in honor of my friend Kelley Penneycook. As a fund raising tool, I offered to sculpt custom Lucky Cats for anyone who donated. They were allowed to request any kind of cat they fancied. I raised $900, helping my team, Kelley’s Angels raise almost $32,000 for the North York General Hospital.

I sculpted the cats using Super Sculpey over aluminum foil and wire armatures, painted them with acrylics and sealed them with glossy varnish.

The Christopher Keller cat was made for my friend Mary, a big fan of the HBO show, OZ. Dream II was made for my friend Dana, a fan of the Sandman comics. Dream II replace Dream I, which was cruelly destroyed by Canada Post. The first Dream Kitty was happier, hanging out with his friend Matthew, the raven. Dream II is wearing his war helmet and is ready for battle. Finally, I made Frankenfurter and Eddie’s Teddy for my friend Laura.

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This year I will be participating in the Underwear Affair in honor of my friend Kelley Penneycook. As a fund raising tool, I offered to sculpt custom Lucky Cats for anyone who donated. They were allowed to request any kind of cat they fancied.

I sculpted the cats using Super Sculpey over aluminum foil and wire armatures, painted them with acrylics and sealed them with glossy varnish. I shot the photos with a Canon Rebel and a 50mm lens. The Cupcake Cat was made for my friend Corinne Cupcake. My partner, Stark, made the shrunken head. The Borg Cat, known alternately as Ernest Borg Nine and Borgulus, was made for my friend Tricia, as per her request for a “Star Trek: The Next Generation” cat.

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As part of my ongoing Shoot the Freak documentary project, I have begun painting the backgrounds for my planned cut out animation. I completed the main backdrop, which is the boardwalk at Coney Island. The Wonder Wheel, including the swinging cars, will be fully operational when animated. You can read more about the creation of this painting in the Production Diaries on my blog.

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Inspired by the work of my friend Corinne Cupcake, I have ventured into the world of Polymer Clay. My first effort was a sculpture of Kodos and Kang consuming Santa and his reindeer. I based my sculpture on a scene from one of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. I then used the sculpture as the basis for the year’s holiday card.

I sculpted Kodos and Kang using Super Sculpey over aluminum foil and wire armatures, painted them with acrylics and sealed them with glossy varnish. I shot the photo with a Canon Rebel and a 50mm lens.

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While a Freshman at New York University, I was given the opportunity to design and execute a mural for the 12th floor at Brittany Hall, a dormitory where I resided. I based my design on the logo for the movie 12 Monkeys. I sketched it out on graph paper than blew it up to stencil size. There was a stencil for the main section and then individual monkey stencils. I and another student painted the main section, then each of the other residents of the floor was allowed to use a monkey stencil to add to the chain of monkeys running down the hall along with their names. I recently found some very old digital photos of the project, of which I am still quite proud.

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