upper and lower

another new one, finished last night. this is a very different color scheme for me. light and pastel-y!

this piece is in-keeping with another i did about a year ago, called "gossip", which is now sold. i really liked the look of the small frame within a frame layout.

these letters are plaster (or ceramic?) and have pins or nails embedded in them so that you can press them into a material to create a sign. when i got them they were in their original cardboard holders, which had gotten wet. so each letter was rusted into the cardboard, and had to be picked out with nimble fingers and tweezers. it was worth it, though. i love them.

off to the studio today, and again on saturday. i don't know what i will work on today. maybe more prints? i have found it almost impossible to work on boxes there. i need too much stuff, and i usually don't find the right combination until i try many many many objects. so painting or printmaking is usually a better fit for me there.

i still need to fit the back and add hanging hardware to this one. then it will be added to the website for sale.

whose?

this is my new piece. it's called "whose?" because on the old tobacco card it says "firm lips humorous eyes (whose?). on the back it tells you it's clark gable. i thought it was funny. i have had this card for a while and just now found a place for it.

people are confused about the descriptor "assemblage" at the shop. they keep asking me if that means "mixed media". i suppose i am making mixed media pieces when i do the boxes, but i would rather call them assemblages because they are created mostly with objects. it seems like a better word to me. mixed media implies that the work could be flat. and it's not.

i am entering this one in a show. it's being judged by a prominent gallery owner here in denver. i am hoping his eyes think my work is worthy. cross fingers. i hope the fact that it didn't photograph as great as i wanted doesn't ruin my chances. the copper looks white-ish in the photos, and it's not. weird.

not my day

this is what i found when i got to the shop today. another painting on the floor with broken glass. this is the second one in a week. they are doing construction next door, but say they have not been banging on the wall. hmmmmm.

i think i will spend today sticking sticky tac on the back of all of my work. grrrrrrrrr.

the bad news is that teresa lost a platter and one of my pictures hit one of her radios and dented it. tom is the lucky one. but he has no work on this wall, so he was out of the danger zone.

that's it for today. i need to concentrate on something happy...like artwork??

little boxes

a new painting that measures 12x30". it's acrylic on a deep wrapped canvas. i like the whimsical look and the bright cadmium red. not too serious.

i had two days in a row in the studio. i have been putting out the prints like crazy, and decided i needed a break. i divided up the canvas, and worked out the color scheme of the boxes. i kept trying to get an abstract painting. for a whole day i painted and painted, experimenting with layering and dripping. it just wasn't working out. on the second day i was walking to the bank and got the idea of the houses in each box. i wanted them to be simple (there's a lot!!)

so i just started putting them in each box (i needed to paint all of the drips out first, which really was a big pain in the butt). the end product came out pretty cool. it's a bit folksy but still modern. and i like the fact that everything is a little off and crooked. and it was fun!! isn't that the goal? to enjoy what one is doing? well, i sure am!!

btw, i tried to download the whole painting but because the blog edits the dimensions of the photo, the whole thing won't show. too long and thin for the space. sorry. i will try to get a full shot on the website if i can figure it out...check it out on sk3tchbook.com

(later) i did it!! i was able to finally put a full-sized image on the site! you have to click on the detail, and then it will come up on the next page. call me brilliant, huh?