a few new game piece boxes

i spent the weekend making 3 new game piece boxes.  i also did some junk store hunting to see if i could find some more pieces.  no luck.  this may be it for the boxes.  i have used my 20 year reserves.

i will be bringing these down to a friend's gallery to sell.  she has the last word on what she would like to display in her space, so i'm crossing my fingers!

mountain house

it's been a heck of a month.  after my last post about my doggie, there was another surgery.  that makes three times that they have opened him up.  and all due to some pesky peach pits.  i truly think he is on the mend for good this time.  he is eating like a logroller (AKA labrador), and has the sparkle back in his eyes.  who would have thought that a month later we were still dealing with the after effects of a backyard snack??

the good news about nursing a dog back to health, is that it keeps an artist home.  and in my case, being home is a good formula for getting artwork done.  this weekend i finished my large painting, and also got some game piece boxes done.  i will post some pics of the boxes when they are 100% dry.  they need a day to set up completely before i can seal them and photograph them.  my plan is to take them to a friend's gallery to sell.  

in the meantime, here's a picture of the painting.  the right side is cut off a tiny bit, and you can't see the sides of the canvas, which i have left cadmium red medium.  that's also the color of the underpainting.  

i'm going to hang it for a few days to see what might drive me crazy.  anything look like it needs a change to you?

the art of it all

i am lucky enough to be a part of a group show, the art of it all, at shy rabbit contemporary arts in pagosa springs this november and december.  if you happen to be in pagosa springs, or on the way to durango, it's definitely worth the stop.  here is the show announcement.  for more info about the gallery, click here.  and as always, you can click on the pictures below for a larger image.

thanks, st. anthony & st. francis!

good news!  our boy came home yesterday!

yay!  looks like he is finally out of the woods!

i have been praying to st. anthony, but somehow my dorky mind got him all confused with st. francis.   i know, i know, i should know these things. after all, my aunt claire had a shrine to st. francis on her property.  a big concrete statue of him in the middle of a flower bed, surrounded with animals.  duh.  did i mention that my mother's name is frances??? well, i guess the brown robes got me confused.  or the fact that i was out of my mind with worry.  so thanks to both saints, for sorting out the confusion, and getting the right prayers to the right places.

in honor of vinny's homecoming, i decided to do a blog post about my favorite friends, the saints.  i have written about my fascination of the saints before. growing up in a catholic family made the saints easy to come by.  i had a great aunt who was an artist, and she made sculptures of them.  they floated around the houses of my relatives in baltimore, and i remember a brown-robed one in my own house.

my grandmother also had some saints, plastic in nature, perched on her high dresser.  i would go in her room, and peer at them, thinking that they were somehow powerful.  i don't think i ever asked her about them.  i just wondered.

it's all kind of strange, this saint attraction.  i am not incredibly religious.  i can't remember the last time i sat through a mass.  but there is still some sort of magic that the exude for me.  i am still curious about them 45 years later.

the saint theme repeats itself time after time in my work.  i sometimes wish i could understand what they are trying to say to me, but usually don't analyze too much.  i just let them out when they need to be released.  the virgin mary, in many forms, shows up frequently.  i was looking through my sketchbooks the other day, and found more than a few in each one.

last week junk-hunting,  i found the best saint collectible, ever.  it's a picture of saint lucy, whose name comes from the latin "lux", meaning "light".  she is the patron saint of the blind.  she is usually shown with a plate holding eyeballs.  there are several stories about lucy.  in the 15th century, texts start telling that she was tortured by eye-gouging, and that god restored her eyes.

here she is, plate full of eyeballs and all!  oh those saints, who couldn't love them?

saint anthony

i haven't been making art.  for the last 2 1/2 weeks i have been concentrating on my boy, vinny.  in a previous post, i mentioned he had eaten a bunch of peaches, and had to have surgery.

he's not doing well, and is now at the hospital under the care of 4 very knowledgeable veterinarians.  this is the photo john snapped last night when we visited him.  he's pretty skinny, and a bit weak, but he is still able to wag his tail and give kisses.

i have been praying to saint anthony to make him better.

any help would be highly appreciated.

we love our boy.

good morning!

this is what was outside when i woke up this morning.  guess it's time to take out the sweaters here in denver.  it's also a good time to huddle inside, make some chili, and create some art.  mother nature is doing her job of keeping me inside and focussed.  

what a week.

it's been a hell of a week here at the fweger household.  no artwork was being made, that's for sure.  we think we are finally out of the woods...cross fingers and toes.  long story short, our adorable and voracious labrador decided to have a peach picnic.  he ended up in the dog hospital, and after a week including surgery, X-rays, ultrasounds, a barium swallow, and many days on IV fluids, is finally ok.

needless to say, not one hour was spent in the studio.  i did manage to pack up work to send to one show, and apply to another.  but that was it.

yesterday and today i have finally been painting.  here is a sneak preview.  it has a long way to go. to compound that, the canvas is huge--36 inches square.  so far, it's the largest painting i have ever done.  i am a couple of hours in, and expect it to be a long time in coming to fruition.  

after the painting, i am going to concentrate on more prints.  i haven't decided whether to re-apply to the cherry creek arts festival, but i am going to spend the next two months getting ready, just in case.  i have some ideas that involve multiple prints, using thread as a drawing tool, and mounting work on cradled hardboard vs. matting and framing.  so we will see...

i really liked doing the CCAF, but it was pretty intense.  i'll see if i have the stamina this year!!  i honestly don't know how many of these artists spend so much time on the road.  it's hard enough shuffling the work and the tent and the other necessaries when you live 20 minutes away.  i can't even imagine driving 500 or more miles.  i had a tough enough time balancing kids, dogs, and one weekend. i have a truly new appreciation for the arts fair people.  they are some tough cookies.

ok, here you go: