Rhinestone Cow

RC is FAMOUS!

2006-06-14T09:51:00.000-07:00

RC was on the cover of today's Boston Metro! You can find the original article here.

My Sponsor

2006-05-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have a sponsor! Or well, technically, RC has the sponsor. But i'm sure it'll be okay with RC if we share. The company is Harborside Healthcare. Thank you to Harborside Healthcare for making Rhinestone Cowboy a reality!!! Here's the link:

http://www.harborsidehealthcare.com/

Everyone should hit their site. They're making a poster with RC on it! She's so famous

http://www.harborsidehealthcare.com/eia.php

As always, there's even a cute story for you. Rhinestone Cowboy was picked out of the crowd by a 12-year-old girl -slash- CowParade figurine connoisseur, who worked her 12-year-old's charms on her mom, who just so happens to be the VP of Marketing and Sales for Harborside. Gotta love a pre-teen with connections. Anyway, the girl (Yelrem) is convinced that RC's going to be given the highest Cow Parade honor: figurine-dom. I hope she's right! I'm inclined to agree with her--she's got great taste. RC and i can tell.

So thank you to Harborside Healthcare! If i'd know it was you, i could have put "HH" on the thank you leg. As is, you'll get your name on the plaque, though. that's not too shabby.

Rhinestone Cowboy will be on display in one week in front of Faneuil Hall. Go see her live and in person before September when they will take her away and sell her on the aution block!

PARTYTIME!

2006-05-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

RC lookin' fine! Here she is making her first public appearance at the CowParade Artists and Sponsors party.

Here she is towards evening, interacting with her adoring fans.

Inside, the whole place was decorated with little cow figurines representing cow from CowParades past. Especially memorable or excellent cows are honored by being immortalized in this way. Hopefully RC will make a big splash and they'll make a figurine of her!

Outside, there were tons of incredibly creative and well-made cows. Here is "Make way for Calflings" (awwww)...

Here is Vincent's Cow and See Through Cow (don't know what See Through Cow's real name is, i made that name up)

This is RC's boyfriend.

Here is a tiled cow. So pretty! Gibbs College made this cow (i think).

Here is RC and MoneyCow (made this name up too), after dark.

This was such a fun party!! I introduced myself to a bunch of people, most memorable of which were a pair of bankers who informed me that "all bankers of a certain age know each other". Um, sure. One worked for Sovreign and one for Bank of America. And a photographer for Dana-Farber took my picture with RC!

The food was amazing--the chef from Locke-Ober masterminded everything: lobster melt, chilean sea bass (ill-tempered of course), spare ribs with green stuff (my favorite), plus tons of delicious munchies like polenta with fruit jellies, steak tips, clams with bacon, beef and potato crunchy things, and a Mootini bar! And cheeses! And biscotti, but Top wouldn't eat it because he didn't think it was for us (so what if it's in that conference room?? I'm sure it's for us!). Plus he doesn't like biscotti...

Top said RC was in the winner's circle because she was right up next to the entrance of the building with the other outstanding cows (like Calflings and Trojan Cow). Lots of other cows were across the street in a little grassy park. RC must be a pretty special cow! To everyone who helped: you should be incredibly proud of yourselves. I am. I tell everyone how vital y'all were and how the RC wouldn't be here without all of you, and everyone is amazed with your generosity.

Drop her off!

2006-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

First we loaded RC into the UHaul. She's heavy, but we're champs and we managed. In the rain. Uphill.

Then we tied her to the rails in the truck. Top was a little nervous because the "rope" seemed a lot less ropey-strong once we got it tied around the priceless artwork (ie. Rhinestone Cowboy). He's smiling in the picture anyway, though--he's a good sport like that. I'm tired, as you can tell from the picture.

The CaveLairStudio just isn't the same without RC. At least we have evidence of her presence...

Once we arrived at the Convention Center (11am, on the dot!) we had help hauling RC out of the truck and into storage with all her buddy cows. A girl came up to us and said "Is that Rhinestone Cowboy??" RC, we're *famous*!! Turns out she's in charge and knows all the cows by name, but i don't care, it was good for me!
Here is RC, looking dazzling with all her bubble-wrapped comrades.

After that, it's all in the hands of the Cow Parade people. Some cows are honored by being shown at the CowParade party (May 18th, 2006) and i hopehopehope she's there!

PS. My sponsor contacted me! Harborside Healthcare, here in Boston. They want some pictures of RC for their website! How cool is that??

HEAR YE HEAR YE!

2006-05-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Rhinestone Cowboy is 100% rhinestoned! She's done, I say! Thank you SO MUCH to Tak and Xela for sticking it out to the bitter, 4am end this past Monday. Both of them went above and beyond the call of friendship and i'm so lucky and thankful to have buds like them! Aerdna, too; the three of them worked on RC this past weekend while i was in DC at my sister's bridal shower. Maybe that wasn't clear--i was in another city, and those three awesome girls went to the CaveLairStudio and worked on RC without me! they are AMAZING!!!

With that said, i Present to you---dadaDA!

Rhinestone Cowboy!!!

i'm showing this first--it's the "Thank You Leg" to honor all the people who put bloodsweattears into the cow. Or, at least, time and energy. that udder is pretty cool...

Doesn't your mind feel boggled?

Me and Tak, snugging the masterpiece. Howdy, Sheriff.

this is me, putting on the very last rhinestone. It is 4am and have a sequin glued to my hand.

How stoned is the cow?

2006-05-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

70%!!!!!!!!

i'll update the rhine-o-meter soon. but until then you can take my word for it ...or look at these pictures.

cowpowwow

flank so beautiful!

hteb sequencing (sequinning?)

....it's not what it looks like!

watch out for that snake!

it's 4am so it'll be short.
10 people, 5 hours, 3 tubes of caulk, 12 bags of rhinestones. caulk in aerdna's hair (classic). plus she came with a with helpful, efficiant, and really fun entourage--bonus points for A! Xela turned out to be the energizer bunny, sticking it out with me to the bitter 3:30am end. xela + me = 12 hours of good, clean, and caulky cowboy fun.

xela, nire, nybor, annaoj, hteb, darb, top, aerdna, akire. Y'all are amazing!

anitsirch helped tuesday and the SG came over Wednesday.

wow.

...and also, new money shot:

37%!

2006-05-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who helped tonight! RC is looking amazing!
Tak did an incredible job stoning the udder--she was very brave and self-sacrificing when it came to covering the teats (ew, it's even an icky word!). NObody else has yet to lay on the floor and get caulk in their hair all for the sake of the rhinestones.
Xela not only tackled the sequins, but shaded them from red to yellow like a pro. She even put sequins in the butt crack. And after all that, she said she'd come back!
Nosilla (haha! the best nickname yet!) took on the sequin challenge too, putting a serious dent in the front shoulder spot and finishing half a horse!
Top came and joined us after a yummy Thai takeout dinner (do i even remember how to use my stove anymore?). He's as commited to this as i am! I think secretly he likes gluing rhinestones. Once RC is gone, there might just be some separation anxiety.
And as promised, here are some pictures!

This is me, about to descend into the Frigid Basement Depths/CaveLairStudio.

New Toy

2006-04-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Top made an awesome new toy--The Rhinestone-O-Meter. Also known as the Stone-O-Meter and the COWculator. We draw on what we did that day and we can calculate how much of the cow is covered with rhinestones. It is so, so cool. And so inspirational--we can have daily goals! Today our goal was to hit 25%+ coverage and we did! 30%!

So many people were helping today. Top, Ecyor, Lliw, Ulul, and Aerdna all helped today. And we worked all. day. long. I got home from church at 11:30 and we started right then. Aerdna showed up about half an hour later and we all worked for 2.5 hours before we had takeout chinese for lunch. Yum. Then we worked more until Ecyor came back and brought the other two and we all worked intermittently until Grey's Anatomy (10pm). It was a feat of dedication, and i am so proud and thankful for my friends' help! Aerdna was even about to glue her head to RC just to help up the % coverage on the R-O-M, but we told her she did not have to make that sacrifice.

No pictures right now, just the new toy. Once you've marvled at its awesomeness then maybe i'll give you some pictures. ;)

one rhinestone picture

2006-04-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

Just one for now. More tonight!

2006-04-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from when RC wasn't all finished yet; they're not pictures of what was accomplished today. My pictures are a little behind.

Today, Top, Aerdna, and I glued on the first rhinestones and sequins! It was a big turning point for RC. I was a little nervous about the whole thing, and it's good that Top and A were there for me. It turns out: it is SO FUN! In an OCD sort of way. I don't know if Top liked it as much as the two girls, but he did get some Papa J's pizza out of the deal. He secretly has a very good eye for rhinestones! Her finished the whole Fourth Amigo today, everything but the shoes! A
s good at it too, she rhinestoned a cactus that is to die for. It's that cactus that's painted solid green in the pictures--it later got some blue shading added, and she did an amazing job with the teensy rhinestones following the shading.

In case you're wondering, we're using caulking for the glue instead of epoxy. Caulking is paste-y, dries clear, and it's an easy soap-and-water cleanup. Unlike epoxy, where gluing your fingers together means a trip to the ER. I did some preliminary testing to determine the best glue-substance, and this one passed all the basic tests. I hope i made the right choice!

I'm still in the process of testing varnishes. I already discovered one that melts the rhinestones and one that doesn't dry hard. I just keep telling myself it's like Thomas Edison with the lightbulb. Before he found the perfect combination of things to allow that little filament to burn and produce light, he tried 1001 other things that didn't work. He'd tell people that he didn't fail, no, he just found 1001 ways not to make a lightbulb. It's very inspirational. And don't worry, the story of Thomas Edison has a happy ending. If you don't believe me, go flip that little switch next to your door.

More pictures are on the way. I can't wait to show off the incredible job everybody did tonight!!!

Painting is complete!

2006-04-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

WOO! RC looks really good. i sort of wish that i wasn't gluing on rhinetones... just kidding! No pictures yet, forgot my camera. Just take my word for it that she's awesome.

Painting the udder was a little weird, thought, i must admit.

Tomorrow the great rhinestone gluing begins. Aerdna has offered to help glue in exchange for a free dinner. What a true friend ;)

The Sorting of the Rhinestones

2006-04-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

Ritzy Rhinestones come in 1/2lbs bags with the colors all mixed up together. There are 9 colors, and NhoJ decided they all coordinate with real life stones. RC is going to be a 10 million dollar cow.

red (ruby)
yellow (citrine)
green (emerald)
light blue (topaz)
dark blue (sapphire)
purple (amethyst)
dark pink (garnet)
light pink (JLo's ring)
clear (diamond!)

Unfortunately for Top and NhoJ, who offered to help, all the rhinestones needed to be separated
by color. So here we go:

NhoJ brought over a sieve and we used that to separate out the teeny rhinestones--those will be used on RC's eyes and other very detailed parts, but they're just too small to be fiddling with sorting. It was really a stroke of genius on his part...

Those little rhinestones sure are are itsy-bitsy. This means i have to buy more Ritzys though. The 1/2lbs estimate (number of rhinestones per bag) that i got from the company probably included all these minis...

You'll also be delighted (i'm sure) to hear that i've begun painting! The real work! She's rough around the edges still, but you can start to see how she'll look. Even better though, every inch of cow will be covered with rhinestones! Sparkley!

The money shot.

The Fourth Amigo!

2006-04-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of quick pictures of the stuff i added last night. Note the scary rattlesnake from two days ago.

Pictures

2006-04-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the two promised cowboy pictures! Tonight i'm going to draw the fourth Amigo and start adding details, like sheriff's badges, stars, cacti, and i already added a very scary rattlesnake. Stay tuned to this webstation: more pictures pending!

I also had to include this fabulous belt my soon-to-be mother-in-law sent to me from her trip to Te-haus (aka Texas). It's so Rhinestone Cowboy! I wear it for inspiration.

The Three Amigos

2006-04-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

Work has officially begun! I drew three bad boys on bucking broncos. The fourth Amigo is still under construction. I couldn't think of a good fourth, so i tried to draw a cowboy face (a cool one, not a boring one) but it doesn't really mesh with the rest of the theme. So i think he's out, and fourth Amigo is in, once i think of him.
Here are two of the three:

ummm. nope, blogger doesn't want to post these. you'll have to wait until tomorrow. . . i really did draw the cowboys, i swear!. . .

Many, Many Thanks

2006-04-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Don't be fooled--this isn't RC, it's an imposter. RC's not that flexible.

I have a lot of people to thank for helping RC find her way into the CaveLair. Since i was in California the exact day that RC had to be picked up, without my friends this would have been a nonstarter, as they say. I'm giving them nicknames to protect their identities.

Kcut, Bor, and HaisoJ for doing the heavy lifting and carting RC home.

NhoJ for being the key-deliverer and middleman.

and DoG for making it all possible in the first place. :cP

You know who you are--THANK YOU!

Arrival!

2006-04-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Here she is in her new home. The Cow CaveLairStudio.

With the lights off, she's a little intimidating, i must admit. You come around the corner into the "studio" space and BAM! Ghost Cow waits for you...

Lotta white space...
The stuff she's primed with makes her sides feel rough and kind of dusty.

I set some rhinestones on her back just to see what they look like... i think she's going to be incredible! When you come to visit her, touch her (she's down with it)! She's going to feel amazing.

Tomorrow will be the first day of real activity. She's going to go in three stages. 1) the painting and planning stage, where i lay out the basic pattern and decide which rhinestone shapes go where. 2) the glue stage, where i glue my fingers together with Epoxy and have to go to the ER to have them separated. 3) The celebrating stage, where we have a party to celebrate that my fingers aren't glued together anymore! Haha! ...just kidding. We figured out that if it takes 5 second to glue on one rhinestone, RC is going to require no less than 48 (wo)manhours... Lucky for me my friends are eaisly bribed with pizza.

Cave-Lair-slash-New-Studio

2006-04-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have news! My lovely and wonderful cow has arrived in Mexico and is making her way to Boston! I do wonder, though; why did the cows go from POland to Mexico? ...Needed a little R&R before the big event, maybe? Anyway, in preparation, i thought i should spend some time checking out my New Studio! (see pictures)

Hmm... Lets see, what are all the things that make for an awesome studio...
Dimly lit? Check
Dank? Check
Really Creepy Noises? Check!

The point i am making is that right now, my New Studio resembles the Bat Cave in its pre-batman days. Before batman, the batcave was used for storing old tenants unwanted stuff, like broken shelves and piles of tires. But you know what? This is going to be like in that movie, where the country-mouse tartlet gets her grunge-bunge new apartment in a bad part of NYC, and then there is a time-lapse screen effect and all of a sudden everything is amazing and color coordinated. But in my movie, everything will be color coordinated brown and grey, to match the dirt floor. ;)

How big is the cow?

2006-04-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sooo big!

I can't wait until i have my very own cow.

These are pictures with the cow in the Prudential Center. I think it must be a Cow from CowParades Past, because i don't think the other artists are finished with their cows yet. It's name is Quilted Cow.

Some of the other artists have blogs too:

http://boston.cowparade.com/press/368

hmm. very professional.

Mine will be on there too, in a few days.
I forgot to mention--the CowParade proceeds go to the Jimmy Fund, right here in Boston! After the cow are created and then displayed in the city, they're sold at auction to the highest bidder. Just like real cows!

Rhinestone Cowboy will sell for the most, i just know it.

Par-tay!

2006-04-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Cow Parade is throwing an Artist Party! All the artists are coming with guests--turns out there are only 60 artists total in all of Boston!--and we'll get to meet the sponsors! Well, sponsor representatives. I wonder what the sponsor representatives will be like? I wonder what a party full of artists will be like??

When you look at the email list with all the artists' names, the first 10 are "artboy" or "artforthepeople". Then there are 10 more sprinkled throughout: "cre8art" and "LuvMeSumArt". And a few more "blabla@artrox.com" and "me@PaintIt.com" First of all, how do they do that?? i want my own dot-com, too! Second of all, am i in over my head? Am I not artsy fartsy enough for this??

What is this, a 4H project?

2006-03-31T17:46:00.000-08:00

I asked my boyfriend, Top (the best part of the muffin!), if i could house my fiberglass cow statue in his basement/my new studio. He says sure! and double checks with his landlords. They also say sure after some careful thought, but make a fuss about cleaning up when we're finished. That doesn't seem like such a tall order, after all; leave-no-trace and all that Outing Club jazz. Yay!

A day later, he gets a call. Guess who? Right. Landlords. No cow. The kicker is, they said that RC can't live down there because The City says she can't. Whaa?... There's a washing machine down there, and a moving-box mountain. Why can't there also be a cow statue?
What does The City have against Rhinestone Cowboy??

You know what it was?

It was that the landlords told The City that RC was a real live cow. A heifer. We're talking grass-eating, cow-pie-making, flesh-and-blood Holstein. In the basement! and they said YES! (at first). This is not a big basement, folks. And it does not have grass growing on the floor, or windows, or room for a cow to romp. . . . wow. . . No wonder they were so worried about the cleanup!

VS.

2006-03-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Ritzy Rhinestones are irresistable

The Birth of Rhinestone Cowboy

2006-03-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

There's this cool art/philanthropy thing called Cow Parade coming to Boston this year. And i'm going to have a cow! http://cowparade.com/

That is why i am having this blog. It's not because i'm nerdy.

My cow is going to be amazing. Her name is Rhinestone Cowboy. ...and now you're singing that song!... So far, all that exists of RC is glimmer of an idea and a 120lbs, lifesized, fiberglass cow on a barge somewhere in the Atlantic between Boston and POland. But i can show you the idea (see picture). Only she's going to be so much better than the picture because she'll be covered with--no surprise--sparkly rhinestones!

After she's created, she'll be on display somewhere in the city, and i'll tell you where to go and you can visit her every day. You're even allowed to touch her (if she's feeling fiesty)! But you're not allowed to take souvenir rhinestones home. I'm going make sure the rhinestones stay with RC by gluing them on with epoxy. Thats what they use to glue airplanes together. Makes you feel good, doesn't it? To know that airplanes are held together by glue? ...

I've been preparing for her arrival. I figured out the approximate surface area of a cow: 35,000in2. I only figured that out so i could know how many rhinestones to get. Not because i'm nerdy. I wanted enough rhinestones to practically cover the entire cow. So if they're 1in square-ish, i need... 35,000 rhinestones (w-oh)... but i ordered them! They're ready for RC when she gets here! I got classy ones too, "Ritzy Rhinestones". Oh yeah, and i got some creepy, beady-eye peepers lined up in a box. Those are here for her too. You know... remind her of the farm... back in POland...Come back for more.
~Me