Finished New Work

Here it is, with a title change.
"We are all Slaves to the Biological Imperative"
The shellac is pigmented, making the trails.

Work in Progress

Here it is, a slushy day in Portland, so what is there to do? Well, create! Here's the latest work. I'm also going to be finishing Gaia's body, I have to get some more glass for her base.
Here's the latest project:
Encaustic, glass, copper, silver solder and soon, pigmented shellac.

Forum Review, Craig's List

Now this forum is not for the faint of heart! This forum is a mixture of information, art work, and troll activity.
I've seen what could have been some fascinating discussions derailed by troll activity. If a person is going to post there, here's some things that person should know:
1) Trolls happen, and they leave droppings all over the place. The best possible way to handle this is to not respond to any nastiness, no matter how vile!
That seques into the ratings system so here's piece of advice #2. The ratings are mostly used to express personal dislike of a poster. They are supposed to be about the post, but in reality, they are used like a blunt instrument.
The CL arts forum can be an addicting place, full of drama and art, villians and nice people. It's a global forum and as such, is full of all kinds of people.
I visit it alot, and I have met some wonderful people on there that I treasure as friends. So, if a person can ignore the nasties, enjoy the good, this can be an interesting place!
www.craigslist.com, the discussion forums.

More Forum Review

My next review is the R & F Handmade Paints forum, www.rfpaints.com.
Nice site! Full of information, and the only complaint I have is that I wish it had more traffic. Otherwise, this has info from the encaustic greats, like Joanne Mattera!!
I really recommend this particular forum. I figure that if more of us visit, then the more postings there will be. :)
I really like the R & F site and products to begin with, so it was a real plus to find the forum.

Reviewing Art Forums

I've decided, in light of a very recent experience on WetCanvas.com, to review a few forum sites.
Starting with WetCanvas.com.
WetCanvas has some great technical stuff, and they have some really talented artists, but the thing to remember in this forum, is they are conservative in both genres and in techniques.
There is beautiful work on there, and all of it is traditional.
Controversial work is not something to be posted in that particular forum.
If a person is looking for some great tips, they have them. If you are a traditional artist, this is the site for you.
They have a good critique area, with different levels of critique, you choose what you're looking for.
In my view, if an artist wants to post something that's controversial, then try http://www.deviantart.com
or
the http://www.brooklynartproject.com. I'll be reviewing those and more to come!
Happy holidays everyone!!

Holiday Madness

It's really obvious that this economy has really put the brakes on the holiday spending, which while I wish I was selling art, is no surprise.
Have a happy holiday season, World! It's time to make goodies, and spend time with the family. If a person can't afford gifts, the gift of time is a good one. Time with family, time with friends, time spent with an elderly shut it. These make PERFECT gifts.
Peace to all.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving World!
For those of you not from the US, Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. It's a holiday of family, food and excess. Oh, and football. I have no interest in football, but in my family I'm kinda the lone wolf, on that.
Thanksgiving for me, is about the family, and this Thanksgiving I have to work, so I won't be able to see my kids or my grandkids. I'm sad about that, but I have to pay the bills, sigh, no lottery winnings yet! ;)
I hope that everyone out there, in America or not, has a great day tomorrow.

Glue and Glass III

It's looking really good! I'm getting close to done. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to sell it or not. I have two more after this, and each one will be totally different from the other.
After I get done with the mannequin, I'll be doing the base, extending the sea theme of the legs to the volcanic ridges on the sea floor.

Glue and glass Part II

She's coming right along, here it is unlit.Here's lit up.
This project is looking better with each piece of glass that is attached. :)

The Process

I love to experiment, and this is the latest, finished. It's on the site, but here I can kinda get into it.
I've always been fascinated with the tenacity of life; how it takes hold and thrives in sometimes extremely hostile environments, like the microbes that live in volcanic vents, and the bacteria that live in the frozen Antarctic.
The green glass is surrounded by silver, and soldered onto the copper with a torch. The cilia of the microbes is embossed.
The thick mats of bacteria that occur in the optimal conditions, these are the streams of bronze and gold that move across the dark blue surface of the primal water.


One of the things that I really like about this blogging, is the ability to go in depth with the viewer. To give a bit of a window into my process.

Ran out of glue!!!

Off to Home Depot! I 'm out of glue and that means that all progress on Gaia came to a screeching halt.
Damn!
Not that that's a bad thing, though. I'm having a really bad day on the pain front. We've got a double whammy of storm fronts, and that just kills me. The worst part is, it makes art hard to do. Sometimes, it just makes art too hard to do.
So running out of glue wasn't totally bad. I won't stop when I'm on a roll, and I suffer for it the next day.
That's the thing about art.
I just have to do it. Whether or not it sells; whether or not it's beloved by all who see it, or hated on the spot, I just have to do it!
Sometimes the images get me up out of a sound sleep. They want to be known, and there is no sleeping until I've at least gotten a rudimentary sketch on paper.
There is no choice, they buzz in my head and turn on my brain until I get up and put them from my head to the paper. Then some of the urgency wears off and I can go to sleep.
Sometimes I curse the images when they do that.

Glass and glue

My latest project:
I got a light up mannequin off of Craig's List a few weeks ago. I also got a lot of stained glass scrap for really cheap off of CL.
I'm covering the mannequin in a mosaic of glass.
It's the sea at her legs, up the earth, then through the sky, and up to space.
It's my depiction of the Goddess Gaia.
Here are some details. I'll post more as it progresses. :)

Upcoming event!

I have an upcoming event to talk about!
The Portland Waterfront is having their evening on the waterfront, here's an excerpt from the website at http://www.portlandwaterfront.com/

Evenings on the Waterfront

PortlandWaterfront.com/EveningsAuthors + Artists + Wine + Hors d'oeuvres

Ring in the Holidays on Monday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. with Portland Waterfront Living's Evenings on the Waterfront featuring internationally acclaimed performance poet, David Hill, and funnyman Greg Mandel ("The Edge" columnist for The Oregonian).

Here's some more, the best part as far as I'm concerned! *Grin*

Relax with a glass of wine and a tasty snack as local artists Ellie Winds, Sidonie Caron, Stuart Ellis, Colleen Williams and Phillips Menks discuss their works displayed throughout Freeman Motor Company's showroom filled with fine European motorcars.

See PortlandWaterfront.com/Evenings to RSVP and for event details, interactive map, valet parking, event flyer and program and sponsors. Did we mention the event is free?

Free food?!? And fabulous artwork to look at while eating it? How good can it get, I ask?

The opening was great, plenty of people, good music, good food and great wine! I can't imagine that this would be any different. If any readers can make it down, it's a pretty good time. :)

Playing Catch up

I've been unbelievable busy,
and that's a very good thing! I've been selling work, in this economy that makes me feel very privileged. There are better artists than myself who aren't making a penny at the moment.
I've had an incredible streak of sales! Yippee!

On to my work, now...
I've completed the piece that I started this blog with, and another piece, as well.
I'm really hooked on this technique.
Kudos to Linda Womak for giving me the basics to run with, vis a vis shellac and wax.
Thank you!
The name of this piece is "Dementia".

I love Craig's List!

I've got three light up female torso mannequins, and I have this project that I'm going to do with them, but the hold up was the glass. I'm going to cover my ladies with glass, and I didn't have the glass. Just today, I found a post on CL with the glass I needed for $1 per pound!! I loaded up!!
I'll have pics soon.
I have to cut the glass into small bits; the armature is rounded, so large pieces won't work. I'll be busy this evening!
What a score!! :)

Portland Art Open and Milepost 5

The Portland Art Open was great. I got to see a couple of artists that I know from the internet in person. They were both in the Art Open, at the Milepost 5 complex.
Jud Turner, and Linda Hoard. Both very talented artists and both positive people. It was a real treat to meet them face to face, and to see the work I've seen on a monitor in person. The monitor just doesn't do justice to either one of them!
The artists were in empty units in the Milepost 5, which is a new live/work condo unit for artists. I really liked the units that I saw, and there were artists on three floors. The third floor didn't have any artists, so I can't give a review on that floor, but the fourth floor was fabulous! I could definitely see myself and my work living there.

Busy Day at the Zoo

I missed this yesterday, cause we went to the zoo. I went with my daughter-in-law and my two little grandsons. We went to go see the new baby elephant, Samudra.
I think I'll be going back soon by myself with my sketch book.
We had a great time, seeing things through the child's eyes is a much needed breeze stirring the creative juices!
They'll be going home this evening. I'll miss them, but I'll be happy to be able to finish that painting on my easel! :)

Long day!

It's nearly midnight, and has it been a long day!
My son and his family are here, I have new respect for my son and my daughter-in-law. They have two kids, both boys, one is 2 and the other is almost 4 months.
They keep their parents hopping!
With the family here, I'm not working on art, and the painting on my easel is calling me...
It wants to be finished, and I want to finish it!
This pic is of it; remember, it's not yet done.
I've got to add some more of the hot light from the sun to a few spots. The end result will be on my website. This is work in progress. :)
The medium is oil, with a cold wax medium; that's how I got the heavy texture in the sun.
The title of this is tentatively "The Triumph of Reason".

The Big Score!

I love Craig's List! I do, I do, I do!!
I was perusing the Free section, an addiction of mine, and what should I see? But a record store closing up shop, and welcoming folks to come and help themselves to display racks, lights, cases, and even electronics!
I got a new set of grid walls, for FREE, as well as a really cool cart that I can use to haul prints. I'm pretty excited about it. We got a closet organizer thing, all shiny chrome. Way cool!
Any opportunity to recycle and keep something that's perfectly good out of the landfill is all right with me.
Mi familia is due here anytime, and I'm looking forward to seeing them. :)

Work in Progress

I've been working on a series, "Aging in America" and this is part of that series.
This is an encaustic, the theme is about Alzheimer's and dementia.
The metal is from the floorboards of a late 1950's Cadillac Fleetwood hearse.
I was totally thrilled with the source, considering what the piece is about, it seemed to just fit.
I got the metal from another artist, a metal artist. Great stuff!!
This is the first layer of wax. I've got company coming, no art for the next couple of days...sigh...
But I'll be very happy to see my son and his family!! That makes everything alright. :)

Rainy Afternoon

It's rainy, and summer feels long gone, even though it was only yesterday.
At least the return of Fall brings us things like leaves and pumpkins, trick or treat, and turkey.
It also brings us to a winter season that I'm looking forward to this year. This will be my first settled year in Portland, and I'm looking forward to gallery openings. I don't usually get to many of these in the summer months, I'm usually too busy showing my work to get a chance to see what others out there are doing.
We have an active art scene, here in Portland, with lots of talent.
The Portland Art Open is next week, I know artists that are exhibiting there, and I'm really looking forward to meeting them in person. We all know each other from an internet forum.
I guess that's my theme for tonight.
The ways that we connect as human beings and as artists.
The internet has brought me connections that I otherwise would not have, I've met some really great people, and some real asses.
I've gotten shows that I otherwise would not have even known about because of the internet. I feel that it's expanded my horizons, and I don't miss life without it.
And that segues us into the darker side. Life, like art, has an unwritten rule. For every light, there is a dark.
The dark side of the internet, is the freedom that some feel to be vicious. To try to harm as many as possible, enabled by the anonymity of the internet. The many hours that could have gone to art, but went instead into hours of discontent and mountains of bullshit.
My fix? Art.
Plain, pure and simple. Art. I connect with the people I care about, I don't feed the trolls, and when it all gets just too dramatic for words, I shut this thing off.
:)