Some say this is a mousey, but really Rattie is just cute, cute, cute!
Then again, on further examination, I think the nose is a bit short!
Working with translucent material …
Two Birds Revisited
I am still working on variations of this piece. I want a larger version with a bit more impact than the one I have already, which I love, but is quite subtle and is framed to 11″ x 14″.
TwoBirds in half nest Variation 5I am working now for a 16″ x 20″ frame, and I may have at least two slightly different versions that I will mount & keep. The work involves digital resizing, digital “painting” and other modifications, then printing, cutting out,, embossing, colored pencil work mounting, etc.
I am not satisfied; I will set these aside for future consideration 🙂
Amuser l’œil
New sketch: a marbled murrelet
Disappointing News
I am disappointed (*@#%!!) that none of my four entries to the current exhibit at Northwind Arts Center were accepted. I will probably never know why, and it is a pity that none appealed to the jurors, who run a very nice art gallery here in town: the Simon Mace Gallery. I am sorry/disappointed that they did not like my work.
I entered three new assembly/sculptural pieces. These, while not exactly momentous, please me. I though/still think they have merit. But maybe they are a little to “crafty”, and read more as assemblage than sculpture, although I make most of my “parts” myself. I don’t think the Simon Mace Gallery every shows assemblage work, nor do they tend toward small works in general.
My other piece was again “pieced”, with collage elements, although all original work, not found imagery. It is a small work, that is best enjoyed close up. But I love it, and am especially disappointed that it was rejected. Aaargh!
It is hard to dismiss the disappointment, but … thank goodness it is: 1) sunny today, 2) am just back from a wonderful 3 day camping trip, and 3) I just got a little present in mail. So I can just get over this silly disappointment and move on (I hope)!
Revisiting a theme, and making it new
These two birds first appeared, in a full round nest, drawn in graphite with embossing. Now they have a new & different environment.
This mixed media piece is about love, parenthood, partnership, safety, and home. It has many digital layers, and now physical layers also: the soft off-white paper is float mounted to the dark grey matboard, after being cut apart. The dark trees are drawn onto the background board.
I was struggling to make this drawing into a fully realized piece, and somehow it all came together today: so satisfying!
The scan was done after framing, and does not have the detail & relief of the original!
Preliminary planning …
Processing very difficult things- Safety vs. Fear vs. Excitement
- Attacks, personal danger, rape, assault
- Homeless
- Drug abuse
- Mixed community: poor, homeless, addicts, artists,
Not Boring! - Not Boring!
- Pioneer Square: pioneers on the frontier of homelessness
- Protest!
- Don’t attack me!
- Don’t hurt me!
- Don’t bore me!
- Shine a light in the darkness
- Good & bad drug addicts!
- Good & bad people
- Protest
- Symbols & Diagrams
- Chalkboard for words about the neighborhood, recent attacks, etc.
- American urban pioneers…
Moving on …
Now that I have three new sculptures finished, labeled, and set to be entered to an upcoming juried show, it is time to move on to the next thing. I am not sure exactly what this will be. I took a one day “break” from art, working in the yard, walking, cooking (and eating of course, with wine for dinner :-).
Then yesterday the “next thing” started, with a visit from good friends Maureen and daughter Noa Piper. Such excitement! Noa will be coordinating/curating/designing an art display & event at the TK for the Seattle Art Walk in July. And I/my work may be included… this would be excellent. But this is quite short notice, and with not much information to work with yet! 
It is possible that I will have some interesting new work to do for that event! In the meantime, a sketch of Ratty, who lives in & about my yard 🙁
Further Evidence …
Just in case anyone needs this, I seem to have further evidence that I am very competitive at times. I had not really planned to submit anything to the upcoming art show at Northwind Arts Center. It has the theme: Fins, Feather, Fur. This did not inspire me, or fit any of my more recent work.
But the theme did inspire someone else: Maureen! My art teacher/guru/facilitator rarely enters shows, but she was fired up to enter this one, and working hard. 
Next thing I know, I am desperately working too, on new clay, wax & driftwood sculptures. Good grief!
I have one piece, Wanting to be Needed (see previous post), completed, and another called Looking for a Place, well in hand! My power tools & construction skills are proving useful, and I am having fun.
After many more crazy fun hours of work, I have a plan for, and much of the work complete for the interior of this found box. The hardest part may be the display: I want the box open, but the lid up in the air, not just sitting next to it. I have three sticks of wood, representing tree trunks, that I should be able to mount the lid on more permanently.