10.20.2009

cards, dogs and smelling roses




Much of my studio time over the last couple of months has been creating 3-d work, but I've also tried to fit in time to paint on paper. I usually let the idea define the media I choose to work in. Over time I have found that there is a natural rhythm to my choice of media. If I've gone a while without working flat, I swing back that way. Sometimes deadlines and commissions make media choices for me, but I try to keep my schedule loose enough for flexibility. One way I satisfy my interest in drawing and painting is to create cards that I mail to friends. It gives me great joy to communicate with people this way- it's the hand in this age of multi-tasking and machines- the same thing as slowing down and smelling the roses for both the sender and receiver. A bonus is that these cards often duplicate what I gain from my daily journal practice- time to draw/paint/collage without filtering and editing. The images that come are often the seeds for later work. The first photo is a Thank You card I made for a friend. This led to 2 paintings of the same dog (Lucy Brinkley) for American Folk Art and Frame.

10.14.2009

Sometimes it doesn't come together- Part 2




Back in July I started work on a crown that gave me some trouble. I wrote about my struggles with this crown in a July 22 post. I have had the wire armature sitting on a table in the studio since then. Well, one day last month I walked in the studio and found myself picking up the armature. What made that day different from any other? I don't know, but once it had my attention I was off and running. It's the first crown that incorporates one of my paper mache animals.
The name of this piece is A Bird in the Head is Worth 2 in the Hand. I used book pages, gesso, gouache, graphite, cloth, shellac, and thread. It is on display at the Penland Gallery's current show The Barns :2009.

Sometimes it does come together.

10.01.2009

FYI


My friend Terry Taylor has a new book out this month- ECO BOOKS. Here's the low down-

ECO BOOKS:Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin
Terry Taylor

Here are projects for the “pages”: 40 innovative book-making ideas using recycled and green materials! More than just earth-friendly, they’re also beautiful, clever, and witty, stitched with traditional binding techniques. Egg cartons, wood, beer cans, and cassette tapes morph into covers, while brown bags, coffee filters, and discarded newspapers are transformed into pages. Create a boxed set of cereal box books, an exposed stitch sketchbook out of cardboard and remnants, and even a faux leather journal made from teabags.

In addition to how-to drawings, close-up detail photographs, and simple stitch diagrams, a gallery of eco-books from an international roster of artists provides inspiration.

140 pages

You can purchase it from Lark Books
http://www.larkbooks.com/catalog?isbn=9781600593949