Tidying my studio is problematic, always and forever! I save & accumulate far too much “stuff” for re-use in my assemblage/collage works.

I replicate parts for my completed works by making archival prints and casts from molds of my originals. These labor intensive parts and pieces for artworks pile up. Pieces that I like, but that are not quite the right color here or the right size there, are set aside for future use. I love to re-interpret special pieces, incorporating some of the parts, and thereby creating sets or series of related works. And I fall in love with scraps: bits of string, hardened drips of resin, palette scrapings, cut pieces of old prints, shells, sea glass, pebbles, and more!

Tidying usually means making new work. I stop sorting, to complete a good “arrangement” as a permanent work. Or I find myself re-working an older piece when I remove it from a frame that I will repurpose for my new piece! All of this is much more fun than actually making sorting, discarding or putting things away to really clear my work surfaces!

There is no such thing as just putting everything away; I have long since run out of “away”! So instead, I just move things around and, I hope, make better art!

Tidying my studio is problematic, when everything I touch could lead me to make a new piece of art!

I am pleased with my Beetle People series progression: my second Beetle People habitat is almost complete. The second Beetle People habitat is Beetle Specimen Drawer II. I have it all put together, with several tiny finishing touches that I just added. I still need to add the final clear finishing coats.

Drawer number two may be more intricate than my first drawer. At least it has more details on the inside “walls”. I am, of course, very fond of it at the moment. Generally I become more critical of each artwork with a bit more time and distance from its initial production!

I tentatively plan to install hanging wire to the underside of both drawers. This will let me display them in vertical orientation on a wall. This should not prevent anyone from displaying them flat for an alternate view.

I plan to continue my Beetle People series progression, but I don’t have another drawer in mind at the moment. I expect the next beetle habitat to be smaller. Some beetles prefer to be partially hidden, tucked under protective cover of some sort. In the natural world beetles don’t like to be fully exposed to view. A few beetles currently live in boxes with closable lids, but these are not yet permanent living arrangements!

Update: what with insane happenings in WA D.C. and general pandemic issues, the art auction got very little attention. Contact me directly if you are interested in these or other artworks!

Buy art this week only at CVG’s Red Tag Sale: this year the art auction is online only, with curbside pickup for purchases at the Collective Vision Gallery in Bremerton.

I have three mixed media artworks available, and displayed in the auction catalog. You can register (free) and bid on these this week only.

My Golden Boy started life as another one of my yellow Lirio soap block carvings. So the casts, created from two different molds, will always be “Golden Boy” regardless of their actual color. I made the first mold as a partial mold of the front, resulting in relief casting that are flat on the back and can be mounted to flat surfaces.

The second mold is a full mold of the original soap carving, but my golden boy original is a wee bit flat in profile. The soap block shape constrains the piece. With some care, I managed to “glom on” a few very messy mucky additions using mushy soap chips, but that took a lot of patience! Hence this incomplete figure!

The soap mush addition process does not seem feasible for larger or finely detailed additions. Also it does not have the same smooth surface of the carved work. I have not tried carving multiple sections that could be attached with soap mush, but that might work.

I still hope to find the perfect medium for making my “originals” for casting. Of course that will never happen, but I do like to experiment. I enjoy carving, but my hands and wrists are compromised, so carving hard stone or wood is problematic. I struggle to get and keep good detail with oil based clay, and it can get distorted in the mold making process. Natural earthen clay might be more pleasing to work, but I don’t have clay, and have very little experience with it. I don’t have kiln, so the idea would be make my molds from air dry clay pieces. These would probably be scrap after removal from the mold.

One of the above arrangements is a finished piece; my relief golden boy at top right is permanently mounted. I shipped “Under the Thorn Tree” to its new owner yesterday!