P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

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:

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.

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.

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!

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.

I have a 12″ wire armature for experimenting with the way of all flesh! The wire and some epoxy clay form the figures bones, and now to try methods for wrapping this figure in flesh. I want something satisfying (to me) and also translucent enough that I can see the “bones” showing through with the right lighting. My thought is to wrap this figure with stiffened fabric or paper, but this is all an experiment for me.

I started with stiffened synthetic gauze curtain fabric, dipped in a craft fabric stiffener. This fine polyester or nylon mesh has too much body, and did not conform well to my attempts to wrap it. I did not try applying smaller pieces, as it seems quite difficult to work with, and I want to try other materials. Here are photos of this first experiment with flesh:

Next I experimented with tissue paper, and used acrylic matte medium instead of fabric stiffener. The matte medium dries more quickly, and may be more flexible when dry. The tissue paper is extremely delicate when wet, so I doubled it over just to pick it up and wrap it around the figure. It also tends to wrinkle and cling before I have it in position, so I was unable to keep it at the initial double layer. That makes it more opaque than I would like. I really want more light through. I may need to use more wire to bulk out the figure and work with wider shorter strips of paper. Here are some photos of this effort:

The fabric I used first went the way of all flesh, and I may try removing the tissue paper also… TBD.