Art

chicken leg

a couple of weeks ago i was strolling through my friends backyard and saw this funky stick. it looked just like a chicken leg, and it had to be mine. i took it home and set it on my kitchen counter for a while, so beautiful this stick. i needed to work on a still life for my watercolor class i'm teaching at the joslyn and the chicken leg needed to be in my painting. also included is my vajra, a powerful buddhist symbol that i picked up in bangkok.

poppy

a very simplified amy version of a poppy flower. they were all over anderson ranch while i was there. i love the orange, and it's quite difficult to duplicate with watercolor.

irving norman

so, i was flipping through the new art in america magazine last night and had quite the surprise when i viewed this image. i gasped 'oh it's irving norman!! i've been looking for you!!'. many years ago i saw one of normans show at the de young museum with my brother, brian. it's actually a very fond memory, because we bonded through art that day (i think). but, since that exhibit, off and on, i have been on the hunt for an irving norman book. if you want to see some intense intricate art, check this talented man out! love you, mr. norman!

smelt roe

i think this one is finally finished. i had fun with this painting, no pressure no expectations. there's hand stitched mylar prints, ribbon, and stenciling; all acrylic on canvas. smelt roe because of the little reddish/orange circles along the edges of the shapes. dig it!

garuda

alas! we are finished with the garuda, and how handsome he is. my registration got a little fuzzy towards the end, but the image is defined well enough. well, what do you think?

figure it out...

moving on to a new piece... i've got a show coming up in january and am trying to figure out what i could conjure up for it. starting to play with materials and patterns to see how things settle visually.

add the red

this is my garuda i've been working on for a while. i've got one more color left and then he's done. i like how it looks, once the ink dries a little more i can get a move on.

angles

this is a design i was working on for a fabric piece. i started it before i left for my trip to colorado, so i'm hoping that i can remeber where i was going with it!

meadow window

this was my second print at anderson ranch. this one was way more spontaneous for me, no preconceived drawing or imagery. at this point i felt i had mastered the stencil making process and went to town with all my colors and shapes. this was a two block process and that was the only part that made me stop and think every time i added more. i had a blast with this one. this is a very small edition of 4 and one of them is for my mom, if she wants it.

celtic twist

this was my first print at anderson ranch. it started from one of my many celtic cross drawings, but once i drew it onto the wood i saw it as a completely different shape. this pup took me two and half days to figure out. i was not only trying to decipher the image but also figuring out the methods required for the workshop. this is my first attempt at a "rainbow roll" (gray and yellow area), and i think i did okay. karen had suggested i try it and i'm so glad i did, that area really makes the design fall back into space. not bad, eh? 

all that madness from one little piece of wood. the image size is 15"x 11".

i heart anderson ranch art center

i just had the greatest week at anderson. it went way too fast though. i want to go back and do more. you know it's beautiful, you can't deny. the printshop would kick your butt. a great space with all the tools and room to work. karen kunc was running the show, and no one could even compare. if you ever have the chance to do a workshop with karen you better do it. and if you can get to anderson, go and be productive like you were born to do...

i'm steppin' out

i'm off to anderson art ranch tomorrow early morn. my first adventure to anderson, i'll be participating in a woodblock printing workshop with karen kunc. gone for a week, i hope to make some beautiful prints and learn some new tricks. looking forward to the mountains and the smell of ink in the air.

engraving

my first engraving. i had been curious about engraving tools for a decade now, and finally fessed up and bought some. what really pushed me to finally try engraving was the books i bought from crown point press i had mentioned a few posts back. i decided to draw a mosquito because they're everywhere right now, completely inescapable. they're pretty disgusting too... this is my first proof. i ended up reworking the plate, cleaning up some of the lines and adding more texture and darkness. the second proof looks a lot better, but is still at the studio.

quit buggin' me!

the bugs are so bad this summer. with all the rain they're bigger and stronger than ever! this one's got the double stinger, he's not messin' around.

add some blue...

step three of my reduction print. the garuda is really starting to look wonderful! just two more colors, i think.