Hands & Pants collab : Many ideas, one outcome

My friend John Casey has been doing a specific collaboration with artists from all over for years that he calls "Hands & Pants" because that's what you get when you participate: a hand and a pair of pants. The rest is up to you. I had the opportunity to do this last April when I received a 8.5" x 11" pen and ink drawing of a hand and pants. With the composition and size, I was sketching, sketching SO many ideas. I went to the several boxes filled with collage pieces and thought, "Oh this would be fun" since I hadn't done a collage piece in a while. Well, the piece I chose, the flower headdress, extended far beyond the paper's edge. After hemming and hawing for a while, dabbling with a few other ideas, I made the (in the back of my mind, a possibly regrettable) decision to cut the being out and adhere it to a watercolor piece that I had been working on around the same time. I think it turned out nicely.

Thank you to John for the experience. The next Hands & Pants show will be in the Fall 2019 at Faultline Studios.

Mardi Gras Mask-Making: Dark Water Sorceress

In October of last year, a friend of mine asked if I had ever been in New Orleans for Mardi Gras and when I revealed that I had never even been to Louisiana, it was decided that we were going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. With a group of people that I had never met before. And we all were to dress in a theme.

Challenge accepted.

After ideas were tossed around, we settled on a water/underwater theme. (It was so much fun and I highly recommend doing it) I didn't want to be a mermaid because that's just too obvious and since I hadn't created a mask in over a yea, I would make the mask the focus - have it do the work of the costume without digging myself in too much of a time/money suck. I created a dark water sorceress' mask from a blank and glued sea snail, oyster, and muscle shells as well as feathers and a few crab carapaces and appendages.* Oh, and "some" glitter. Never forget the sparkles, my friends.
 *all shells were organically harvested from various beaches after each creature's demise;)

Nearly completed mask

Thoth's Cookin' parade day w/ Mr. Mermaid Lounge Singer.

 

Ready to snatch dem beads with these fun ladies

Honeycomb Heart

Mixed media watercolor, ink, and colored pencil on bristol paper.

Mask Making Continued

Red - Caguão: compsite from beginning to finish

Yellow - Ishupopo: composite dry sculpting finish

Green - Ooshoofeté: painting finish

Music obsession "Clearing the Path to Ascend" album by YOB
Color: slated mint
Word o' the week: Crespuscule

posted from Bloggeroid

A Valentine for my Valentine

Last year I made pretty elaborate valentine and decide never to do another again. Well, that was a lie that made itself true less than a week and a half ago when I drew some fiery heart designs and thought how great they would make for a valentine. This was much more complicated than I initially realized, but I'll be damned if I don't finish what I start. This is constructed from 90# and 120# watercolor paper. Watercolor, colored pencil, and some gouache. And about 10 hours of work.

But this was all for love. Unless the focus of your affections doesn't much care for these sorts of things. Then don't fucking bother.

Song of the moment: "Ready to Bleed, by Prayers
Color obession: Dove gray
Smart words: predilection

An (unfortunate?) Aspect of an Artist's Temperament

Wow. So, the last time I posted was back in February and one could assume that I had died or absconded to some strange corner of the world with no network connection, but I've been actually been buried in the mist of living life. And as always, it seems to get more hectic the moment I think I have a good handle on thangs.

I have fallen into an artist-specific trait of "Just Drawing/Painting/Sculpting" (basically working)and generally not following through with the well-intentioned updating of the website/blog/facebook or any socializing, although I have been better on the FB posts as it's usually pretty instantaneous and requires no real writing effort. And for reals, I know to be "viable" I have to update on a regular basis. But, really, all I think most of the time is "fuuuuuck that shit. I got some art to do." This is also present in Justin Sweet's recently updated site, which has new work and is, as always, so friggin' cool it's not surprising that he's a huge influence for me.

Anyways, here's some photos that I have posted via Facebook but will be a good li'l artist and post here as well.

ze tiga-a sketch that started somewhere else

"Be a Good Girl"

"Smoke Hyena of the Future Plains"

"Laundry Clairvoyant" in progress

"Tiny Senorita"

"Smoke Hyena of the Future Plains" is a mixed media acrylic and pencil painting. "Tiny Senorita" is gouache and water color on a 2"x3" trading card. "Laundry Clairvoyant," essentially one piece of collage, laundry drying on lines in the sun, on lace affixed surface, is an in progress work.

I will endeavor to be better about posting, although I will most likely fail.

Color: plum
Sound obesssion: Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album
Word of the moment: Hootenanny

Not Just Any Heart Valentine

February never fails to remind us, all of us, of Valentine's Day, with its saccharined heart. I always have loved and hated the symbol since it has dictated how a complex and varied feeling (Love) should be and only be about the overly sweet and ultimately sickening nature of love or strong affection. And the symbol (or Love) has never been that way for me.

This is my valentine for my Valentine, based on the concept of the stereotypical heart shape, which is two hearts fused together:

Front of Valentine minus front lacing

Interior of Valentine with bike in the background

Completely handmade Valentine.  If that doesn't say "I love you" then I don't know what does.  Also, the holes in running down the middle of both hearts are for a deep purple ribbon to tie them together.  I took these photos after I gave it and it was quite the pain in the butt to lace it up the first time, and I didn't feel like doing it again.  My hands are tired, my friends.

Color obsession: Gentian
Song obsession: "Apply Some Pressure" by Maxïmo Park  
Words that make ya sma'ta': Aggregate   

Mask concept drawings-Buffalo

This is a concept sketch from about 3/4 of the way done to finish I did this past Monday (MLK Day) while hanging out in a café near my house.  I've been doing drawings of buffaloes a lot as of late, and my thoughts always turn to the way early American and European "sportsmen" decimated the American Bison population to the point of near extinction.  And, to add insult to injury, mainly did so just for buffalo hide leaving the carcasses to rot in the prairies.  Now, buffalo only roam on protected areas, such as ranches and preserves, their numbers not even close to what they once were.  I know why this bothers me.  It's the narcissistic, tyrannical attitude that people, especially in first world countries, seem to have in them.  I don't know why though, if you have a brain and a heart and aren't a psychopath, you wouldn't care that this has a history and continues.  So many creatures that make our world a really cool place to live are being brought to extinction, or near it, for what?  Delicious soup, a nice rug, a trophy, more land to build more structures that will remain mostly empty.  So many reasons and all of them bullshit.  It saddens and shames me beyond belief sometimes.

This concept I've called "Goodbye Buffalo" but have also been toying with naming the actual mask, if I make it, "American Domestic Policy."  My concept was to have a tired buffalo, with his head cover in blood and the beard made out of used rifle casings.

These were done in watercolor pencil, ink and gouache.

Music obsession: "Dulcinea" by Isis
Color of the Moment: Burnt sienna
Words that make ya sma'ta': Verisimilitude

A Long Ramblin' Ride Down Memory Lane

It's strange starting again after having stalled for a while...for a long while(being unemployed for nearly a year can really deflate one's motivation). But, things are changing...the skies are clearing, the stars and planets are aligning beautifully and although I still need more sleep (because what tortured artist doesn't?), I am Doing - lots of Doing.  Also, creating a lot more art, sculpture in particular.  So, let's start with point...like, CV7(cervical vertebrae 7 for those uninitiated in human anatomy) or something and then round back to point A a little further down.  It'll make sense, I swear.
While attending art school, I had to take American Illustration history.  I remember a lot of names, but not so much of the work they produced mainly because I wasn't impressed or inspired, but Polish - born W.T. Benda was an illustrator turned mask-maker who was extremely skilled, known for his eastern influenced work, mostly comprised of very sultry, yet mildly menacing, looking ladies:

W.T. Benda

Cover of LIFE magazine-W.T. Benda

The Rotarian Cover Illustration-W.T. Benda

"Zebra Rider" W.T. Benda

Heck.  Yes.  Pretty sweet paintings.  That Native American there, man, he looks like he'd slice the shit outta you and not even blink.
Anyways, Benda moved on to crafting masks of awesomeness, making all the masks for the production of "The Mask of Fu Manchu" staring Boris Karloff (the film well-known now for being über racist), among others, all of them imaginative and lovely and done in papier goddamned mâché.
Which brings me to masks.  I want to make masks.  I know that sounds silly because who needs a mask, but if I could, I would wear a mask everyday.  And my research and knowledge of sculpture in general has brought me here, with this, a first in a series of masks.  "Transition" started out as something very different, something with ears and more cat-like appearance until I just got really fed up with how stupid I thought it looked. It's a partial mask, meaning it has no lower mandible (the jaw and chin area), and is probably not going to be wearable for the fact that it's my genesis piece and I did not consider the thickness of the whole thing (meaning it will be too heavy to wear on one's face), building it as a wall decoration/totem.  Oh well...live and learn.

"Transition" Sculpting Stage

"Transition" Paint Stage

This re-immersion into sculpting has had me reminiscing about how I got started in sculpture, why I abandoned it, but have now come back to understanding that, really, I am a sculptor/painter...I am more mixed media than I imagined.  And it all started with my Aunt Jan and Topanga Canyon.

Literally, Aunt Jan's house was the place you wanted to be growing up.  Located in Topanga Canyon, right next to, but completely removed from LA, the Valley and Santa Monica, the drive there was always arduous, but when we turned off PCH and into the oak filled canyon, I could barely wait to be there.  The house overlooked the canyon, surrounded by oak trees with wind chimes hidden everywhere, while truly spectacular music (my aunt and uncle both have superb taste in music) blared from somewhere inside the house.  In the garage was my aunt's studio and I probably get my organizational skills from this place.  The stereo had CDs stacked to its height, on both sides (and sometimes on top), metal shelves lined the walls on both sides of the garage, filled with drying, fired, to be fired, in progress and long forgotten pieces.  Long tables dominated the length of the garage, and the one nearest to the entrance of the house was where she would knead clay for her various students.  This place was a mad mess of experience and artistic freedom (including the cluttered table with holders filled with different tools, slip, and a wash bowl or two).  Oh, and far above the stereo lining the wall were gold records from when my uncle used to manage big name musicians.  I just thought they had nowhere else to put them and it was funny to have gold records in frames.  The whole extended family has at one point made a piece in that studio, and my cousins and sisters all had formative experience with hand-building and glazing (My ma still has our tragically cute/sad elephants, dinosaurs, and the like, in a display armour in the living room).

Those are some of the strongest, and many of the best memories I have of childhood.  And they are all around that garage with my Aunt, making mistakes and exercising my creativity.  Now, I understand my difficulties with pen/pencil/brush to a flat surface; I just want to sculpt it and the surface just stopped me from the complete spherical movement I was able to have with sculpted pieces.  Now that I understand this though, Ha!  Eureka, as they say (because I will not do the Oprah moment).  And when he is all done, I will get him properly shot for all to see on my website.

So until later...

Song of the Moment: "Stand Up" by Ludacris
Color Obsession: Prussian Blue
Word the makes yer sma'ta': "Alembic"