↓
 
P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

Creating my artwork, work in progress & new work.

Category Archives: My Art

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Clearing out the Studio: Clearing, Finishing, and Fumbling

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on March 29, 2024 by SMarch 29, 2024

Sometimes it is necessary to clear & clean, especially in the Spring. In the studio that can translate to clearing, finishing, and fumbling while cleaning. I sort through saved “stuff” and try to organize or discard. But everything is art material to a me as a mixed media artist, so this is a major challenge!

And I come across unfinished projects and parts that were never incorporated into a finished artwork. This may be a resin cast figure, an assembly never fully attached, or a set of prints intended as backgrounds for a finished work. The fumbling happens as I move, sort, tidy, and then have to search for that very item that I had in my hands just moments ago!

Please enjoy a view of these two recent efforts from my efforts at clearing, finishing, and fumbling.

I completed both of the above assemblage pieces in the past month. Both feature casts of my “golden boy”: an original carving made many years ago now. It took me some years to decide to cast this little partial figure. I carved golden boy from a large bar of Mexican laundry soap. These are the last two of three cast so far.

I am pleased enough with these two pieces, but not so delighted with my lack of progress clearing out the studio!

Share
Posted in My Art

Some Sales

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on February 24, 2024 by SFebruary 28, 2024

All sales are pleasing, but some more than others. Yesterday an excited enthusiastic buyer made me so happy! A buyer who loves one of my favorite pieces reinforces my own love of making art, and tells me that I am communicating with my work. This is delightful, but I also feel some regret.

This sale evoked mixed emotions: pleasure and regret. Already I miss my small drawer work: Jump Rope with the Moon. It is a favorite, very dear to me, and now I can only visit it occasionally! Ah well, I do know that it is truly appreciated. That is a joy.

Here is the piece in question.

Photo of a small drawer, upright, containing two low relief figures engaged with each other in play. They hold a short rope for the blue moon...

While some sales are just a little painful, other sales are more mundane: sales of prints and photos are very pleasing, and without the regret. And sales of other original works are very satisfying, without evoking mixed feelings. My recent open studio weekend generated several modest sales, and I gloating just a little bit!

I do not really miss every work sold, rather I am simply happy to sell perfectly satisfactory works that were labors of love. But there are a few pieces I continue to hold close to my heart, even when I decide I must sell them. Jump Rope with the Moon is definitely one of these pieces.

And after the weekend:

Ivory monoprint on black

It seems I have made another significant sale following the open studio! I had a follow up visit that may have resulted in a nice sale.

I made a set of three large abstract monoprints some years ago, when a member of Corvidae Press. I was very pleased with these prints, and framed them carefully. All three are often on display in my home or in my studio. These three prints were made on the same day, using ivory ink on a rich black paper. I used some of the same masks & stencils in different arrangements to create three prints with very different feels.

I worked into two of them with some colored pencils, the third is a bold ivory on black. These have been shown and admired, but never sold. However one of them was chosen by friend’s granddaughter as one she would like, and it is to be a birthday present from her grandparents, now confirmed. It does feel easier to let go of this piece, as it is one I have enjoyed for several years.

Share
Posted in My Art

In the Aftermath

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on February 21, 2024 by SFebruary 21, 2024

In the aftermath of my enjoyable and energizing Open Studio weekend, I won’t do the math! I did make quite a few sales: all small works or photo books; no larger sales. It is very encouraging when people want my work enough to take it home with them. We all love to have our work appreciated, even loved! And the engagement with visitors was really rewarding. But it is so good that I am NOT making art for the money; in the aftermath let there be no math…

Of course I have counted the money! And it does pay for the party and for some art materials. So that is excellent. However in no way would my sales over the years begin to cover my full materials costs, let alone pay anything for my working time

Five copies of The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend Volume I sold slightly above cost, but that was only because the printing errors resulted in getting a free set on my last order from VistaPrint. And both sets came with the same annoying printing error for the cover, although all the photo pages are fine.

Here my studio is ready for visitors, with artworks dragged out of storage, and propped up everywhere:

And the good news is that in the aftermath the studio is still much cleaner than usual!

Share
Posted in My Art

Open Studio Soon

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on February 3, 2024 by SFebruary 21, 2024

I have impulsively scheduled an artist Open Studio soon: on the weekend of February 17th! It will be a casual meet the artist, see the art, and that’s all folks!


ARTIST OPEN STUDIO at PT Studio 314

Saturday and Sunday February 17 & 18

314 33rd St

between 10 am & 2 pm

Meet the Artist and Enjoy the Art in her Studio / Gallery

I may try for a bit of an after event party on the Sunday, with some food & drink, but I am not sure yet. I might need a bit of help with that idea!

A new friend, Carolyn Lewis, does interviews with artists for the Port Townsend Leader, and she visited my studio recently for an interview. If all goes well this will be published in the paper on February 14th, and my Open Studio will take place the following weekend. Fingers crossed though, as Valentine’s Day fillers may fill the paper and crowd out the interview. That would be very disappointing!

But I had to make a commitment, so I posted the event to the community calendar, and will announce it on Facebook, etc. in the next day or two. So like it or not, I will hold an open studio soon!

Share
Posted in My Art

The Consolation of Play

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on January 26, 2024 by SJanuary 26, 2024

After art & other life disappointments, or after a time away from my studio, I may need the consolation of play! I often need help to get back to the serious work of making art. And yes, I am often pretty darn serious… and I definitely put in a lot of work on most of my favorite pieces. I have learned that I really need to help myself; although help does occasionally come from friends or family.

I console myself by letting myself play in my studio, or in my yard, with absolutely no expectation of creating “art”. Instead I relax and just have fun, and often the results are fun too, and I make something that I can enjoy for a few months or a few years. Yard art and eye candy happen, or maybe parts that will be incorporated in a multimedia finished artwork. Once in a while magic happens, and something more important and finished will emerge from this playful approach to making things.

Here are some results of the consolation of play.

Share
Posted in My Art

Ice and Snow

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on January 20, 2024 by SJanuary 20, 2024

The past week or so in my area has been cold and somewhat wet; so this came with ice and snow. It turns out that 13F is really really cold for this town surrounded by water, protected by warm ocean currents, and shielded by mountains. Most winters we do experience a few consecutive days below freezing, but rarely below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and rarely with snow so cold and dry, remaining on the ground for days just evaporating so slowly. It has been quite lovely, but also hard on those unprepared or experiencing power outages!

Enjoy the ice and snow here: so many delightful icy puddles posed for my camera!

Share
Posted in My Art

Resin Suncatcher

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on January 16, 2024 by SJanuary 17, 2024

In need of an overdue Christmas present, I decided to make a resin suncatcher. It was time for another adventure in resin, so I made a mountain! Well I drew a mountain peak or two on rice paper using colored markers, then embedded it in epoxy resin using a mold that I am fond of. My drawing is enhanced with some subtle additional pigment, including a touch of metallic gold. I added two lightly embellished pieces of glass that give the piece an extra bit of dimension. It is about 7″ in diameter, with additional irregular protrusions of resin which I am very fond of!

It is now ready to hang, and packed in bubble wrap for shipping, but since I forgot to photograph the reverse side, I may unwrap my resin suncatcher tomorrow to take care of that! (Update: I did that!)

Photo of resin suncatcher
resin suncatcher balanced on glass in window

I have made two other resin pieces using this mold, but they contain embedded slightly translucent pebbles, and are designed to sit on a base rather than hang. One also contains tiny Leds. I will use this mold again!

Share
Posted in My Art

Take a Class and Move On

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on December 31, 2023 by SDecember 31, 2023

Online classes can be useful: very useful! After the disappointment of failing entry to a juried show, it was time to take a class and move on! I am temporarily stalled on one new project, so I decided it was time to move on to the next one. So I found and I took a short Domestika class in creating cardboard sculptures.

I struggled to watch even these short and useful videos, and I jumped in to start my project right away. Often working ahead of the lesson, I made plenty of mistakes, but it was fun, and I have a fine Egyptian head to show for my efforts. Cardboard is cheap, but it took a lot of hot glue, and quite a bit of paint!

I do plan to follow up with a second project. If I can be more consistent with the cardboard, and neater with the hot glue, I may varnish it and skip the paint. And after that, who knows! I may take a class and move on again!

Here are photos of the almost final & final read to hang result:

I took photos of some of the steps along the way, per the course instructions. I did not track all the final detailing, or the work on the headdress which I built separately. The dimension of the final piece is approximately 20″ x 15″ x 10.5″. Currently the headdress, which is about 2″ deep, and the 8″ deep head are separate, but I may just attach them together.

Share
Posted in My Art

Sad to Say

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on December 18, 2023 by SDecember 19, 2023

I am sad to say that my two submissions to the CVG 2024 exhibit in Bremerton were not accepted, and I am very disappointed. I feel that my recent 3-D works hve taken my work to a new level. The submitted pieces were ambitious in subject matter and implementation, and I do still feel they are successful.

But maybe not: it is difficult to hold on to this conviction. Failure to get work in a juried art show will be discouraging, in spite of the fact that many other good artists have their work rejected. And despite knowing that there are many reasons why specific entries will not be accepted. Somehow knowing this, and considering the possible reasons, is just not particularly reassuring! It still shakes my faith a bit.

The problem is that I, like many artists, attempt to communicate with my work. So this rejection can feel like a failure. And no reason will ever be given.

And in many cases no notification is given to rejected artists. Artists submit images of their entries for the CVG show using the online Cafe Call for Entry system. This is the only way to submit entries, however the juror was not expected? or required? to use Cafe to make selections, or to update the status to indicate selection process is now complete.

Instead I searched for and found a list of invited artists’ names published on a separate exhibit web site. This was posted a few days prior to the separately published show schedule, which lists the deadline for selections.

After inquiring, I was told all artist entrants should have received an email notice, and sure enough there was an email in my spam folder, as it did not come from the Cafe system. So they did notify everyone.

This is a fairly important show for our region, although the actual exhibit space is not large. The show gallery chooses prestigious jurors, and coordinates decent cash awards, along with one art purchase award. I want to be part of this show, but I am sad to say this is not my year. And I suspect that I won’t want to enter next year!

Share
Posted in My Art

A Plaster Head

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on December 12, 2023 by SDecember 16, 2023

I made a small plaster head with embedded wire mesh, and it is now coming into its own. I started to enjoy it after I placed it on another art scrap, and arranged an extra bit of wire mesh with it to amuse myself.

Now I have these various parts mounted into more plaster in an old picture frame.I am embellishing the plaster base with low relief carving. I love whittling away at the still damp partially cured plaster using whatever tools are working best. It is all another experiment, but it may prove to be a finished piece with some merit, TBD!

The carved base is not pure white Plaster of Paris, but actually a patching product called Fix-All. It is off-white although not really the distinct tan that appears here. I rubbed some light yellow and pale green pigments on in a few small areas, and there is flesh tone pigment on the much whiter plaster face. I expect to add more colors as I go.

I am adding more wire to secure the head, and this will give it the effect of bindings or chains. A plaster head in my hands is not for sissies!

I posted the center photo of this piece with a request for comments, and I did get a couple of suggestions that I followed up on. You can see some changes to the left side of this work on the final photo above right. I reduced the potential for reflective glare next to the face, and extended the silvery grey to the background plaster. Now I think enough is enough… it is finished.

Share
Posted in My Art

Post navigation

← Older posts
Newer posts →

Pothole Photo Books

Contact me to buy Volumes I or II
I sell my art directly with affordable prices: galleries cannot do that. Art prints are available from me & at the links below. Please do contact me with questions!

Browse My Art

  • My Art Gallery
  • SandraStowell.com More!
  • The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend Photo series

Buy my Art

  • Art at Saatchi Online Select originals & prints.
  • Photo Books Volumes I & II of The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend

Contact me

  • Contact Me Email me!

Recent Posts …

  • The Art of Collage
  • Creation by the Evil One (AI)
  • Art in Remodeling
  • Three Small Prayer Pieces
  • A Small Prayer

Browse by Category

  • About my art
  • Craft Projects
  • Designed Products
  • Digital
  • Drawing
  • Ephemeral
  • Exhibitions
  • Experimental
  • Hidden images
  • My Art
  • Painting
  • Photography
  • Printmaking
  • Ramblings
  • Sculpture
  • Sketchbooks
  • About Making Art
  • Artist Statement
All images copyright Sandra Stowell unless otherwise attributed - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑
Share