The Wandering Wasp

My Friend Marianne was gracious enough to ask me if I wanted a huge pile of art magazines before she recycled them. Of course I said yes. They are great for helping ideas flow, an example is this little tidbit from my other art friend Seth Apter.

 

As I was looking for something new and fun to do with this board I had AND I have this vintage set of  dictionaries my daughter gave me, this was the perfect project. I followed Seth's directions exactly. 

Then came the dilemma of what to do with the board. I had recently acquired this red frame at a moving sale of the reuse market which resells used donated goods to artists and schools.

The illustration I got off a Google search for a copyright free image of a wasp or bee and traced it onto a piece of transparency. The empty nests I found in my yard, while I was working on this piece while I was trimming my honeysuckle bush. I knew they would have to be added. And I made extra sure no one was home!

I like my pieces of art to have a story if possible. This is a true story.  I have not been bit by a stinging insect since I was a little kid,  but in the past few months I have gotten stung three times! all while mountain biking up at Bogus Basin Ski Resort. The first two stings were in my bra at the same time, not sure how the little buggers got in there. The third was on a second trip and on a different trail and this sting was under my arm and I was wearing short sleeves!

To finish it off, instead of framing it I glued it to a board I painted black and the edges of that board are painted the same red as the frame. I like to use double alliteration titles when possible, this piece is Called The Wandering Wasp. It is 11" x 17"

Mini-Masters

Georgia O'Keefe Inspired Large flower paintings

 The first of August I taught a week long art camp at the Garden City Public Library. It was just 1 hour a day. Ages 6-12, but I did have some well behaved 3 year olds!

More paintings

Other day's we did "ugly" clay faces based on Picasso's cubist period. Matisse inspired collages. "drawing with scissors" and monochromatic found object sculptures based on Louise Nevelson's art.

This boy had a tutor with him and she said she had made more progress with him in this session than she had all summer! 

Collages were on day 1 and I didn't think to take any pictures. Then I asked if it was ok if I took photos and they said yes. The two sculpture days I had a packed room and didn't have time to take photos.

Oil Pastel and Crayon Post-Expressionistic Landscapes inspired by Van Gogh

 I really appreciated how the staff at the library trusted me as a professional to do my job and let me create the curriculum and handle the classes as I saw fit. It was a fun week and I will be back Thanksgiving Break for another 3 day session.

Siren Song

Siren Song 15" x 15"
Mixed Media $125.

This was the first piece of the puzzle for this work of art. This was made a few months ago while taking an encaustic class with Karen Bubb. This is an encaustic collage on a canvas board.

These frames are the second piece of the puzzle.  An artist friend of mine was selling ALL of her art at a garage sale as she was going in a new direction with her art. I arrived at the end of the sale and she insisted I take a lot of stuff that didn't sell and re purpose it into my art. I felt bad about doing that until she said, "well if you don't it's going in the dumpster and going to take up a lot of room and be a lot more work for me"! Enough said I loaded up the car and then brought it in a little at a time so as not to frighten my husband. 


Centering the encaustic and adding coral and sea shells. 

Here I am spreading white glue all over the surface using an old credit card. I then glued pink glass that was given to me  that I assume was run through a rock tumbler. 

Then I used my small glass pieces from glass beach in Kauai, HI and used some Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to give it a shiny glaze and hold them in even better. The finishing touches were some beige, blue and white dots on the frame to tie it all together.  

My 350th post is an update on a post

 Investigative Art from April 14, 2010. To refresh your memory this was the piece of art:

It was created to honor the memory of the victims of a fire at the Pioneer Hotel in Tucson, AZ in 1970. The fire was attributed to a 16 year old boy. A panel of arson experts recently found no evidence that the fire had been set intentionally and the young boy who is now 59 years old has been set free. 

After 42 years in prison Louis Taylor is learning how to use a cell phone and says learning how to use a computer is out of the question. If he truly is innocent, I should add another tag to the sculpture to honor the 42 years of his life he gave up. According to trial witnesses, as flames raced toward the top floor, Taylor rushed in and helped save several elderly guests and children. 

This article was in the August 12, 2013 People Magazine

Cornelius Ponders His Ancestors

 This is one of those pieces that took over a year to make. Nothing was bought specifically for this piece. Most items were either found or given to me. The only things I purchased were the "desk" and the stand both at a thrift store. I had a concept and I had started gathering the pieces for it in a pile in a corner of my studio, I would take it out and put it on the table and move the parts around but it just wasn't coming together and then one day...It just came to me how to make it work. (originally it was on a big piece of wood)

I wanted to make a companion piece to my Ode to Charles Wilson Peale, AKA Cabinet of Curiosities.

 It all started with the dinosaur model that was given to me. I decided to name him Cornelius.  I picture him as a storybook character come to life at the Museum of Natural History across from Central Park in New York. He is trying to figure out how he fits into the history of the world.

The bones have been collected by me on various hiking and biking excursions. 

The crab and lobster parts were smuggled out of a restaurant in a napkin by my daughter, she was trying to hide them from her dad who I'm pretty sure told her not to take them.  The "desk" is a picture frame that contains a copy of a drawing of Darwin's head on a monkey's body and a real fossil in a stone. 

The black object in the foreground is a fossil. The human brain was made from clay by the same daughter for a project she was working on. I happened to have the box in which it fit perfectly. The brain was not originally part of the piece but I kind of like it in there to put a human touch on things and mix it up a little.

Treasure Valley Artist Alliance "Souvenir"

Announcing

Souvenir

August 16, 2013 through September 20, 2013

The Creative Access Art Center (CAAC) is a new venue for our TVAA exhibition.  This is the same place that we have our bi-monthly meetings.  While Boise State Public Radio (BSPR) is being remodeled we are pleased to be able to take this opportunity to work with CAAC and to take advantage of their location in downtown Boise.  Because of their great location we will have a second opening (which we're calling a Mingle) on the First Thursday in September.

August 16, 2013 - Opening Reception at CAAC, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm.  No host bar with wine and beer will be provided by Boise River Catering.  We will also have some tasty finger foods provided by artist Felicia Weston.

September 5, 2013 - First Thursday Mingle at CAAC, from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. No host bar with wine and beer provided by Boise River Catering.  Felicia will be cooking up something delicious for us once again.

Prospectus
An exhibition showcasing small works with a travel theme: Mementos of escape from our normal routine, small enough to fit in your carry-on luggage. Memories of favorite trips, childhood vacations, the monument inside the snow-globe, the miniature Eiffel Tower, the postcards, and the stamps from other countries...What did you do on your summer vacation? 

This was the perfect show for me to enter as this fits most of the work I do!
These are the two of mine that got accepted.

Road Trip
8 1/2" x 5 1/2" 
$35

This small piece contains a replica of the 1976 corvette that I used to have when I was single. It brings back good memories but once I had kids it was no longer practical.

Mola #1
$35

This 8" x 8" mixed media piece highlights some of the treasures found south of the border.

Can't wait to see what everyone else has done! Hope to see many of you at the opening! 

Art Journaling while camping

We have been spending a lot more time in our trailer lately. Between travel days and bike or hike days I do manage to take some time for art days.  It helps me think and centers me. I like to use the bits of ephemera I pick up along our travels and put them into collages. Kind of a diary.

This is my current journal. I started my first one in 1995.

I also like to draw what I see using a permanent pen....

and then filling in with watercolors. 

"Jawbone" is back traveling with us and likes to put on my glasses when I'm not looking.

And of course the "The Decider" is back - here he is pictured exhausted and ready for bed.

Secretary Blues

So the other day I had a friend come over and she wanted to see my studio and all my collections etc. She was very interested in all of it and we talked for several hours. It was this exchange that sparked my next project. She noticed my blue and white collection and said she had a blue and white dish set. 

I also showed her some of my encaustics and how I like to incorporate them into my collage/assemblages and this was how my piece started to come together. Top and centered is a wood encaustic piece I made with lace and blue encaustic wax. Also pictured above are things I pulled from the "Blue and White" shelf. I added some vintage blue children's blocks and a wooden case from Dinosaur magnets that I bought at a thrift store. The small figures I collected over the years. 

The old bottle of ink was from my mom as well as the fountain pen. I then found a page of short hand script, from this I got the idea that this piece would be about my mom and her days as a Secretary in New York City in the 50's. The two pitchers didn't seem to fit the theme, so I took a cup and saucer from another set- this seemed to go better.  The elephants were also out.

On top of the encaustic collage I nailed this blue glass heart, to represent my love for my mother.

I lined the inside of the box with the shorthand paper and blue gingham washi paper tape.

The final touch was a strand of pearls to tie it all together. I called my mom today and quizzed her on her early jobs. She was fuzzy on the details but did remember that her first job was as a secretary at the FBI in NYC. Her job was to go take notes from the FBI agent and then go back and write them up. 

Her second job as a secretary was at an advertising agency in NYC and the two major clients she remembers were Chivas Regal and The Rose Bowl Parade. She said she remembers them getting to sample the liquor at work.

This is so far removed from the mom I know, it is fun to picture her before raising a family of 5 and seeing her going to work on the bus and shopping on 5th avenue during her lunch hour or walking through Central Park.

E is for Eggplant

"E" is for Eggplant  2 1/2" x 4" x 3 1/4" $35

 This piece started out with the definition of eggplant from a 4 volume dictionary from 1899 that my daughter gave me. She bought it from Goodwill for $24.99, said it was worth $100 but couldn't find a buyer, so I decided to use it for my art.

Since I decided to cut up the dictionary I took the scissors to another vintage item, circa 1958.

I used Plymer medium to glue the painting to the sides of the box. 

 

I measured and cut colored tissue paper for the front of the box. 

I used A Bar at the Flies-Bergere, by Edouard Manet mainly for the colors that went well with the piece- greens and purples. 

Side view

Top view

Bottom view

Final touches were adding a translucent purple acrylic stain. Glueing the miniature eggplant and large letter E and adding the green dots to the E. I think I had eggplant on the brain as I recently made an eggplant lasagna for a vegan friend of mine and her husband who's vacation condo we were invited to stay. She and I both love eggplant.