Phew... no more 3-D!!!

I haven't been in the studio much these last two weeks. Travel to Tieton and camping have claimed my time. Although mucking around in plaster and water was fun I was/am soooo ready to get back to painting. 

I like these two, I just like them. When I drew them it was that kind of magic where you watch the charcoal pencil make the marks and just feel happy. 

I didn't fix the oddness of arm attachment above or the strangeness of the neck connecting to body below because I just didn't! 

I am so glad to be working in 2 dimensions!!!

"Do you think about Pompeii?"

I do think about Pompeii now and then. I thought about it a lot when I was making these 6 figures out of plaster cast material that Ginger brought home from the hospital. I think about those casts that captured people at the exact moment of death. I was reading about this and the newest research shows that they died instantly from heat (about 400 degrees)

Now, I'm sure dear reader that you didn't want to know all these facts, but since I only makes something with 3 dimensions once a year... well it had to have some story attached to it.

This is my piece for the MECCA object afterlife challenge. The folks at MECCA give you a piece of "junk" and you have to make something out it. My "junk" was a big spool. I used the cardboard cylinder and one of the ends to make the base.
 

It's good to stretch oneself. I HATED trying to get the whole thing to stand up, but I loved making the lumpy figures. Is it good? Did it meet the challenge? I have no idea and I don't think it matters. I have to admit it was fun, messy, good fun...

How it starts...

The very first level of a painting. After gesso and acrylic ground there is a charcol drawing, some gray ink and some yellowy housepaint. That is all. It's hard to let go at this stage. I like my drawing. Will I mess it up by working on it and turning it into a painting with layers and layers of paint? Perhaps the answer is to make more drawings, then I don't have to change them. He will change. The challenge is to keep it loose and true to my instinct. 

sigh...

Friday...

Friday doesn't mean much to me anymore. If anything it just means it will probably be Monday until I get to go back into the studio. 

Today around 1pm I got so lonely again. I know this is about my missing Simon. I put things away, left and drove to the U/O art museum. 

There is a great show there right now of all kinds of art including Pacific Northwest artists. And my friend C. had a piece in it! 

Then I moved on to the U/O bookstore, downstairs where the best art store staff in the world can be found. I bought some more of these little panels, this time 6"X6". 

I have found I like doing a series of the same drawing...

Have a great weekend friends!

Keep going...

The last couple days I have been so sad. I miss Mr. Simon and his fuzzy self. 

These are some very small (5"x5") paintings I have been working on. The little panels come in a package of 4 and lend themselves to the exploration of one figure in different circumstances. I like his ragged tee shirt and the barn like shape.

and he is elegant and thoughtful and maybe from a place other than Earth? or Oregon?

Having a show with all my work in it rattled me some. The worst of it is when I start to think about making stuff in terms of what other people would like, what would sell, what would get me into this residency and that show. 

As my early religious upbringing would say: "that's not right thinking" and for once (or twice even) they are right. 

The reality is that people like you or they don't, and the reason they like you...well it's always a surprise. 

So, be yourself.

oh the bags... the empty flour bags, clean from the dumpster. three layers of brown paper, large, room to scrawl and move and explore. they go with my plaster figures, not sure exactly how. I think it might have something to do with a clothesline, the kind that looks like a spiderweb and goes around in a circle. Anyone want to lend me one?

Making Art... a very good video

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I posted this on Facebook, but wanted it here also... she explains her process so well and with so much happiness. Thank you to whoever made this...