P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

My most ambitious sculpture to date is finished, now that Not Out of the Woods Yet is Signed and Sealed!

All that is really left to do is a good photo shoot of the final finished work. I think I can do better than this, but I need a better backdrop, careful lighting, and just a lot more attention to the angles! Here are a few results from a new photo shoot:

This brand new artwork is not for sale yet: I need a little time to myself with the finished piece. I always need that if the work is authentically new to me. At the moment this is single three part artwork (with label), but each section can stand alone. So when it is time for me to sell this, I may be willing to sell this as three separate mixed media sculptures.

The base of this is sturdy wood, and the dimensions as a single three part artwork are 25″ wide by 20″ deep by 25″ tall.

I still play with a few things that are removable and can be changed around: one figure caries a padlock and key on a chain, another padlock hangs from a tree. I have found a finer more delicate chain than the gold one in the photo above! Another figure caries its very own “pothole”. Currently the grey figure wears a key on fine chain and carries a feather. But these items are not permanent parts of this installation, at least for now.

Background and About Not Out of the Woods Yet

I walk daily, and think it saves my soul and my body. I see interest and beauty all around, and take many photos. During the shutdowns and cautious times of the COVID pandemic I started to enjoy the poorly maintained roads in my small town. These inspired a photo series: The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend.

In this piece three thin hollow chested figures walk the streets, wading across the Potholes of Port Townsend, or perhaps the potholes of Anytown. Here pennies grow on trees, to fill these potholes, but the figures have other more serious concerns as they stride forward. They walk to face all the challenges of life, and they are Not Out of the Woods Yet.

I have chosen sculpture, and these mediums, because I want my work to be, and to feel, strong. This work requires a three dimensional presence.

Please consider this as a sneak preview: this piece is new, and not yet for sale. I need to keep it close for a while, until I have fully considered its impact. But if you are interested in purchasing it, please let me do know. It will probably be for sale within the year.

I am already thinking on to the next one … I have something in mind that I hope to bring to fruition. And it may be another, rather different, triptych. And another major challenge!

My current slowly progressing art project, Not Out of the Woods Yet is back on the worktable. It is indeed still not out of the woods yet, but is getting closer! I decided that two backdrops are required. These will fit onto the long sides of two sections, and will mirror the base shape and imagery.

Because I am me, I needed to work out the material (thin plywood), and tweak the imagery to soften & fade it out a bit. In between acquiring and wrapping Christmas presents, I get only a bit of artwork done most days. Today I cut out the plywood shapes, despite wet sawhorses, cramped working space, and cold sleety weather!

I need to reprint & cut the imagery, and then choose different images from The Surprisingly Artistic Potholes of Port Townsend. These will go on the backs of my backdrops, since these could be visible when the work is on display. Hear is the sneak peek at the progress to date!

Sometimes broken is better, or at least fine! This piece began as a template for a low relief sculpture, but then became a piece of itself. But then broke, was badly repaired, didn’t matter, but too amusing to discard. Now it has been retrieved from the yard, embedded in fresh resin with some bits and bobs, and mounted for a return to the yard!

This figure of a draped and barefoot worker is a familiar one in recent art pieces; he appears in a number of different guises and media. Here he is rendered in rich metallic copper paint on clear acrylic that is slightly muddied with blue. The image above right is, of course, the digitally foiled version of this piece. Here he is now mounted in the front yard for all to see.

Call it digital magic, digital pixel dust, or just digital messing about! Whatever you decide to call it, this is sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, and a terrible time sink! It is the work of a moment, and great fun, to click – click – click the phone camera on my daily walks!

But there is a bit more to my digital messing about: I load dozens of photos onto my desktop hard drive, categorize them, delete some (but not nearly enough!) and start editing. I have frequently spent hours trying to bring a bit of magic to an inadequate but somehow interesting photo, only to give up in despair. At other times the magic is already there, or is just a crop and tweak away!

My digital manipulations may be simple tweaks, that may include: boosting or lowering the saturation, modifying the hue or contrast, or a bit of cropping or straightening. At other times I go wild with digital effects applied to the whole or just part of an image. While I may be able to apply a digital transformation with one click, this is rarely the end of the process! Generally I continue to modify the results, and may get lost for hours. Sometimes to conclude that the original unmodified image is really the best, or to decide to discard the original along with the edits!