Yellow and Red Plums

"Wild Yellow and Red Plum"
14x15"
mixed media collage on canvas

The support or surface of this piece is an old acrylic painting that I sanded in order to reveal some of the underneath layer. I am a fan of distressed and aged surfaces.  The sanding creates marks and areas that I can't achieve when I am painting. There is just something about these unexpected and worn surfaces that I like.
A revelation of the soul of the work.

I think I "chickened out" a bit on the direct drawing that I want to do by keeping it in that rather ambiguous lower right corner, deferring to some machine stitching lines that cut across the picture plane.  But I really liked the drawing of the red plums that was in Dad's original illustration...small yet important.

Jeff's Leaf

Jeff's Leaf
3x3" floating in a 6x6" box

Transfer of an original collage onto a used tea bag.
More color was added with watercolor paint, shellac and pen and ink.
French Knots to embellish.
I need to drink more tea;  I am almost out of tea bags to repurpose!

No Bones! Just Sticks and Stones

Sticks & Stones

Here are the two pieces together.
I think the contrast between the sticks that protrude and the dark stones that recede works.
The colors in the backgrounds are not identical.  I don't know if that is a big deal or not.
Each piece can works as an individual object.
But I did want to photograph them together and view them side by side.

A Bundle of Sticks

Sticks
Bundle of sticks on an 8x10" cradled board.

I have used sticks and stones in several artworks over the years, often with a reference to the childhood saying about sticks and stones being hurtful while words are not.  The work on this panel is placed overtop of book pages that allude to the word idea, although the words on the page are not hurtful...just words.
I don't often center imagery or objects right in the middle of the picture plane so this is a bit of a departure for me compositionally.  But I had an idea and ran with it, completing this piece in a rather short time about...2 1/2 hours or so.
I credit some of that short time to becoming more proficient with the plaster and shellacking process I am doing.  I have a better idea of what will happen in each layer and the way I want to order the layers. So all in all I had a good time on this snowy Sunday where I was kind of house bound.  Not complaining...I like the snow and the time to spend in the studio.

This piece is priced at $85 and includes free shipping in the US. To purchase or for shipping outside of the US, email me.

All Over the Place!

Chrysali
on view at Butler Area Artists Exhibit Feb. 22-Mar. 29, 2015
Butler Institute of Art in Youngstown OH

When I started this blog I thought it would be a journal of the new small works I wanted to concentrate on.
But I am finding that my writing, journalling and documenting is like my artwork.  I get distracted by other things...new materials to try out, shows I want to enter, exhibit opportunities I am invited to participate in.
The term "mixed media" extends to all aspects of my life.

Chrysali is a continuation of my work with tea bags.
(Tea bags are small, right, so in that regard I am working small.)
I made a number of pods or cocoons from the tea bags and they developed into this work.  To be honest, the frame structure, wrapped branches and wax were from an older attempt at an artwork that never really went anywhere.  I laid the cocoons on the branches and they seemed to complete each other.  I like the fact that this use of materials and arrangement reflect what goes on in nature but is not totally literal.  Having made a number of cocoons before these 3 found their "home" I am now in search of a home for the rest of the cocoons.  What I am struggling with is how to achieve the same reference to nature and maintain that not quite literal quality.

All in all I guess I had better change the description of my blog to reflect that I am really recording that I am
"all over the place" with my work!
Stay tuned for "All Over the Place" part two.