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P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

Creating my artwork, work in progress & new work.

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The Struggle to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on May 21, 2023 by SandraMay 21, 2023

My three panel dimensional artwork, The Struggle to Rise, is all but complete. Everything is attached and you can hange the panels on the wall or they can be displayed on a horizontal surface as shown.

This 3 part work has been a challenge to complete in many ways: it has been a struggle!

The first panel came together fairly quickly. The plan fell into place once I added draped paper mache “fabric” that became the rags. And my experimental paper clay base worked fine, and had the direction. It had become The Sudan. Mounting the figure and the small base to the panel was an experiment that worked just fine.

However the second & third panels were much more difficult to fully conceptualize… I think that is the word I need to use. I was in the dark. Where did these two figures fit in my troubled knowledge of the world and our times. I was struggling to understand their struggles!

Now I need to find a venue to display this work. It will be too frustrating to just hide it away in my studio after all this effort. I also want to show the previous three part piece I completed at the beginning of the year. These need to be on show, if only for a month or two.

Sales are not so much the issue for me, although I do love the validation and a bit of reimbursement for the more costly materials. Sincere compliments and actual dialog about the work is wonderful, and keeps me going. It is a delight when someone engages and is getting the message or reactions that I hope to provoke in viewers. However I will say that a purchase does a nice job of demonstrating appreciation in a pretty clear way!

Anyway I hope to display The Struggle to Rise and my group of three Walkers somewhere nearby within the year. That would be so nice!

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Posted in My Art, Sculpture

Third Panel, Oceans Rising for The Struggle to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on May 17, 2023 by SandraMay 17, 2023

The final panel of this three part work is startng to come together! My third panel, Oceans Rising for The Struggle to Rise triptych, now has a theme and a plan for how I will finish the base panel. My “beach babe” cyborg figure will soon have a home base.

I have chosen a different primary image to apply to the panel, but I will use the same concept and parts that I was already playing with: ocean shoreline, wire waves, pieces of glass, etc.

The new primary image is of sky, a house and phone lines reflected in a murky puddle. This image is soft and vague, so the figure will be the main focus of the work, and the interpretation of the imagery does not hit you all in a single glance. Instead the viewer needs to take a little time to explore and recognize all the parts in order to fully understand the story.

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Attaching Figures for The Struggles to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on May 13, 2023 by SandraMay 15, 2023

I am finally attaching figures for The Struggles to Rise today! Two of the base panels are ready, and two figures are attached. Panel One: In the Sudan is all but complete, in fact. I may do a bit of touch up before the final clear coat, and I do need to add hanging wire, but otherwise I am finished.

I am mounting these so that the panels can be displayed on a horizontal surface OR hung on wall. I think they should work in either orientation, although I feel they must hung fairly high, at least above head height for good display.

My figure is attached on Panel Two, but the epoxy is still curing. Also I have a couple of heavy rusted metal items I want to attach, and this will be a bit of challenge. I may drill and remove a bit of the panel in so these can be inset and more securely fixed in place. I think they are too heavy to just surface mount.

photo of panel one, a sculpture of a dark distressed figure in rags
second photo of panel one at another angle

Update: the mounting on my second panel is complete. I drilled holes behind the figure and the two heavier rusted metal objects so they are securely attached. I have been tweaking and fussing with the built up black & gold areas, and am fairly satisfied. I expect to check and perhaps double up the acrylic medium soaked wrap around the sides of both panels, but will try to resist any further modifications to the actual artwork. That can be difficult!

Panel number three may be a watery panel rather than an urban panel. TBD!

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Figure 3 for Struggles to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on May 6, 2023 by SandraMay 6, 2023

Now figure 3 for Struggles to Rise is well under way, and maybe almost complete, TBD. Currently I like leaving the wire visible more or less as is, and the head open/incomplete. But that could certainly change! It normally takes me some time to decide when a piece that I am working on is finished, or needs more work. Or even sometimes “less”, and I need to remove or disassemble a bit.

So it is important for me to stop and sit with the work as I proceed, to see how it works. And with a complex work progressing in parts, the individual piece may seem just right, but may not work when considered in place with the other parts. The emphasis has to be on the artwork as a whole!

Here are photos of Figure 3 yesterday (the first two photos) and three from today:

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Figure 2 for the Struggle to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on April 25, 2023 by SandraMay 6, 2023

I am finally making progress on figure 2 for the Struggle to Rise Triptych. A little more work is needed here, and I have a few ideas for the background. And I do have a possibility or two for my third figure, but one that I am far from sure about.

I must say that this artwork is proving difficult; I scare myself looking at it. The figures are very disturbing, and I feel that I need to tone done the impact as I work. I have to find a way to make it bearable. It must be a little bit beautiful as well as a bit troubling, I think!

Figure 2 for the Struggle to Rise with most flesh added

Here is the updated version of Figure 2 for the struggle to rise, along with a bit more work on Figure 1, now blindfolded:

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Returning to Struggles to Rise

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on April 17, 2023 by SandraApril 19, 2023

My planned triptych, Struggles to Rise, IS a real struggle. I am returning to Struggles to Rise after a hiatus, and even so I continue to procrastinate. I need to work on the first figure’s head, and get moving on the other two figures.

However there are several decisions to make and I am not quite ready to commit. I have the notion that these figures are emerging from something, probably the earth, but I don’t know what that should look like. So I am experimenting with some draping to see if this will be part of the final work.

I need a real sense of struggle, but this has been missing so far. I don’t want to convey the idea of someone lying in bed!

The very last photo has more of the impact that I want, and this may be the finished version.

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Final Seating Fully Finished

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on April 13, 2023 by SandraApril 15, 2023

My little statuette was recently seated, and now Final Seating is fully finished: mounted and ready to show. This 12″ tall figure started life as my first to scale wire armature, and is now a fragile translucent skeletal figure that I am really quite fond of!

And it is available for purchase directly from me or at Saatchi Online.

After some time in my studio I seated this figure on a broken wine glass “chair”. He really seems comfortable, and I decided that I like the result. It took a few more days to add a chain and decide on the base, but now it is clearly a finished work. I attached the pieces in two parts for durability: this delicate figure is secured to the seat, but is separate from the heavy base. The glass lens is firmly attached to the metal with an appropriate 2-part epoxy glue. And there are no sharp edges now.

This way the work can be properly handled as two pieces, and packed appropriately for shipping as needed.

Final Seating figure mounted, and placed on an extra perch for the photo shoot.
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Final Seating

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on April 4, 2023 by SandraApril 8, 2023

Perhaps I have found a bit more of the final artwork for this skeletal and weary 12″ figure! And I think the artwork may be titled “Final Seating”.

I plan to assemble this in two parts; as shown the lower base will be too heavy to be moved or shipped connected to the more delicate top pieces.

Do you think I should try a few more options before deciding if I have the final seating? Maybe I will explore a couple of possibilities before attaching parts further. But I have no question that this tenuous figure needs to be seated and chained to this broken glass seat.

I like the colors, the light reflections and the translucency of all the parts.

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Posted in My Art

More with the Twelve Inch Figure

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on April 1, 2023 by SandraApril 1, 2023

I need to move on to the big 18″ figure project, but … there have been diversions. And a lot of play and experimentation doing more with the twelve inch figure.

I don’t know where this small figure will land, but I do enjoy it. And I expect it will find a home in a finished artwork at some point!

ReArmed1Faced

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Testing the Waters with a Photo Book

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on March 30, 2023 by SandraApril 6, 2023

I spent an uncounted number of hours assembling/designing a first volume of The Surprisingly Artistic Photos of Port Townsend. I am just testing the waters with a photo book for the first time, and anytime I print I agonize!

After completing a first time book for my own enjoyment, I have recreated this book, with the same set of Pothole photos, on print on demand self-publishing site (I used Blurb). Now the book is available for purchase!

Image of book as for sale on Blurb
The Blurb softcover book is very disappointing; I will NOT be selling it as is!

Prior to this I have made 3 or 4 modest hand printed and bound art books, and also printed some art images with accordion book kits. The kits are fun, but small format and are just not quite proper books! Creating photo books of my art has seemed like a good idea for a long time, but I have not ventured to use any online commercial printing services.

Now I have in my hands on the first one: I have an 8″x11″ “hard cover” photo book. Here is The Surprisingly Artistic Photos of Port Townsend Volume I. I designed and printed my book using using Vista Print services, and it was shipped to me in ten days. It is a slim 24 page book with a carefully chosen selection of my Pothole photos, nicely printed on lightweight satin photo paper (an upgrade option). There are two additional photos on the front & back covers.

Just one copy of this book costs $40 plus $8.95 shipping. An order of 10 would make the price $34 each, plus shipping. I don’t think I can make any money with this pricing! But maybe these would be good for some Christmas presents?

Was it worth testing the waters with a photo book?

Well I really do like the Vista print hardcover book, and it printed as displayed. The design software was easy to use. But VISTA print does not offer the option to sell through them, and the book was more expensive on their site.

However I do not feel the same way about the Blurb softcover book which arrived today. I could do much better myself. It looks more like a business or student report than a book. It is glued then taped on the outside for a binding, with no blank pages front & back. The paper quality is barely adequate. So at a minimum I would need to pay extra for better paper, and a hardcover. In addition, the photo alignment is more difficult to understand in the Blurb software, and I had not noticed that not all the images were properly centered within standard borders. So it is off the market and back to the drawing board! Maybe with care and choosing more expensive options for paper and the hardcover, I could bring the Blurb book up to standard… TBD.

photo of photo book for testing the waters with a photo book
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Photo Books For Sale

Volumes I & II now available
I sell directly, and at Saatchi online. Prints are available at Saatchi, and the sales links listed below. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or about a purchase.
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  • Photo Books Volumes I & II of The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend

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Recent Posts …

  • The Struggle to Rise
  • Third Panel, Oceans Rising for The Struggle to Rise
  • Attaching Figures for The Struggles to Rise
  • Figure 3 for Struggles to Rise
  • Figure 2 for the Struggle to Rise

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