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.
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!
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!)
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!
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.
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!
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.
Reworking is what I do when stuck. I may try to touch up and foil and old drawing, add color to an old set of prints, or rearrange pieces to create something new. Today I found a frame to use as a form for a plaster base on a small new work, but instead found myself engrossed in a touch up and foil of the drawing that I removed from the frame. Here are the results of my efforts:
It is winter, I still take many photos on my walks, and it is time for the return of the foils! Foils are just about fun, and can be quite lovely. A simple photo with good contrast, with fewer and more subtle colors, generally results in a better foil that needs little tweaking. Here is a sample photo, with two foiled variations. I did a bit of lightening & darkening small areas of the original, but did not modify the result of the foil effect, just choosing different colors and direction for each.
This photo is an over painted white stripe of a school crosswalk, but I see a playful puppy running with balloons!
For the image below, for the “original” photo image at left, I did boost the leaf saturation slightly, and I added a narrow shadow to the right side of the leaf to help it stand out from the background. The right photo, which has the colored foil effect applied to the leaf only, also has a shadow on the right side, but has the saturation slightly lower and the darkest parts lightened a bit. I love the original photo, a wet leaf back on the roadway, but the foil has beautiful colors and just pops!
I am just messing about in the studio these days, in between bouts of life both good and bad. Today I worked on further detailing of my latest paperclay version of my Beckoning Angel. I started by making a simple paperclay cast of this low relief figure: read the previous post for more information about that process and further work. I have reinforce this figure, added a bit more relief detail, and adjusted something that I did not like. Now I have embellished the figure with a first blend of colors. This is a preliminary trial coloring, so expect changes!
I have also messed about with a large abstract sketch that has been “hanging about” my studio for quite some time, covering the electrical box in fact. Here are two digitally foiled variations of this reworked old mental map.
Update: I have reworked the features and hands on the Mediator Angel. Color next!
I am revisiting my paperclay angels with a twist; I used the silicone mold of The Meditation, Three Angels to create new individual figures. But this time I built up each figure individually and I have already modified the center figure considerably. I was never satisfied with the center “mediator” angel, so I needed to rework this one. The other two may be very similar to the originals, but will likely be slightly tweaked as I go along. Or I may create a scene with only two figures.
I took the center figure out, modified it, and it is nearly dry. Today I pushed the paperclay into the mold of the beckoning “death” figure. Each paper clay figures needs at least two days to dry slowly in the mold. Then I can carefully lift and turn over the heavy floppy mold, and peel the cast figures out to dry for another few days. Next I trim and modify it further.
I cast one figure at a time using this larger mold. Once I take my skeletal “death” figure out, I can fill the mold of the third “adamant” figure.
When each figure is dry, I will detail them. To detail paperclay figures, I trim, smooth, and fill as needed. I can also moisten and change the figures fairly easily, without losing the basic shape. I am thinking about a new background, and may reposition these three figures for the new version. Check back to see what happens with revisiting my paperclay angels.
Update: the second figure is out of the mold and drying now; see above. I may use the above two figures alone in a new work, setting to be determined! What are these two figures doing? Contact me if you have any suggestions!
Update #2: I am back from a trip, and back to work. I detail these new figures between stints on another project. Look at the new image added above to see the “mediator” figure with more depth and additions. I think she is almost finished! I started finish work on the front of the “death” angel today. Two days ago I added thickness to the back of this figure.
