I never got to see this when it was on exhibit and just stumbled on it online.
shake shake shake I and II lenticular
Grateful for a shot to try something new.
I am almost ready for this fall's "known and underknown" exhibition at art Brookfield.
In downtown Houston, we have several buildings owned by Brookfield Asset Management. They are unique in that the lobbies of their properties are used to bring art to downtown Houston.
The curator, Sally Reynolds, visited my studio this past spring and selected a lenticular and a wire sculpture for a fall show in the lobby of Heritage Plaza, "known and underknown." I was particularly excited to have her visit my studio and doubly excited that she selected two pieces. I have wanted to try out a new pedestal idea, but simply have not had the room in my studio. I wanted to try putting the wire piece on a much larger pedestal, a pedestal that almost functions as part of the sculpture. Sally agreed to see what I would come up with for a new pedestal.
I started to scope out the junk/antique stores in Montrose. I wanted a club chair, with clean simple lines. Basically, a pedestal that looks like a chair. It had to be the right height, with a simple texture, and needed to be wide enough that a dog would need to pull up on it to see over and around, looking for his ball. This is what I found.
Trying it out for size in my garage studio.
First, I took a very strong needle and sewed down the back cushion, as if the dog's weight was holding it down, right where his paws would rest. The next step was creating the finish. It took over a gallon of paint to make it look like a pedestal/sculpture. Sally was concerned that people might try to sit on it. As a result, I attached the dog's wire ball to the seat and I also added a pillow in the corner.
Below is the original wooden pedestal. I still like the original pedestal for its simplicity, and hope to have the opportunity to exhibit the piece on it in the future, if I am lucky.
I recently sent Sally a photo of the piece. She seemed pleased, and promised to find a place for my sculpture on this larger chair/pedestal in the show. I am very grateful that she gave me the opportunity to give this idea a shot. She really did not have to. Thank you, Sally.
shake shake shake I
If you are in NYC check out my piece @ Site:Brooklyn art gallery
The Figure: Interpreted Through Contemporary Mediums
Juried by Barbara A. MacAdam
Site:Brooklyn
165 7th St
Brooklyn, NY
for details see the link below.
Site:Brooklyn
Artist Reception – Wednesday January 18th 6-9PMJan 19 – Feb 19, 2017
Gail Nadeau - "The Red Kimono"Artists:
Steven Palumbo, Kang Sean, Courtney Bae, Elise Thompson, John Gallagher, Petrea Noyes, Carol Coates, Phillip Connell, Tom Acevedo, Barbara Smith, Ronald Gonzalez, Cindee Klement, Andrew Hockenberry, Deborah Druick, Robin Dintiman, Kathy Collins, Claire Gilliam, Candice Flewharty,
Farnosh Olamai Birch, John Power, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Ola Aldous,
Greta Young, Gail Nadeau, Mary Lou Greene, Tomas Modzelewski,
Claire Apana, John Patrick Snyder, Alain Rogier, Diana Burchfield,
Alexa Hoyer, Sophie Brenneman, John Kayrouz, Brooke Alexander,
Joshua Dean, Owen Brown, Sharon Bartel Clements, Rajab Sayed,
John Edwards, Gill Alexander, Lee Ann Carr, Colleen Kelly,
Michelle Muri-Sloane
Playful bow
After a few days work.
I started this piece around Thanksgiving. Finding a new material I became distracted and have worked on other pieces since. dist. I am just now getting back to it.
One of my favorite things about having a dog is the pure joyful fun they bring into our lives. When they want to play they do what we call in my house the playful bow. When they go into the playful bow mode they bounce around to try to tease you into chasing or playing with them. They also do this with each other.
This is the first playful bow piece. My plan is to complete 3-5 abstract dogs playing together. The piece will have lots of energy going in lot's of directions but all in harmony.
I want to push the abstraction of the figures.
Brooklyn show January 19 - February 19
I am so excited to have the opportunity to show my work in Brooklyn.
“The Figure: Interpreted Through Contemporary Mediums”
Juror - Co-Executive Editor of ARTNews Barbara A. MacAdam
Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn New York
January 19- February 19,2017
“shake shake shake I and II lenticular was selected.
The address is
Site:Brooklyn 165 7th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215
The Gallery Exhibition Dates: January 19 – February 19, 2017, Opening Reception: Wednesday January 18, 2017 from 6-9PM
shake shake shake IV started
10/5/1016
10/11
End of day 10/11
I want this one to have it's front right paw off the ground. In order to achieve this the paw will be lightly defined to keep it physically light and the left side will have to be very sturdy- tricky
End of day 10/12
Right paw lifted.
Awkward view.
Working on the backside.
From the back
10/24
Left side
shake shake shake IV, V,III,II,I lenticular
new piece
A whole lotta shak'n goin' on
30" X 22"
shake shake shake III post #2
Starting back legs
Either the body is too long or too short.
Still working.
Problems.
So much to fix.
I was wanting her to be stretching both forward and backward - but it just looks like the body is too long.
Front angle
Placed with I and II
Still working
I love the tail.
Stagnated- I am dreading shortening long the body.
Monday the 26th
It turns out I have the length of his body right, and the leg length is right. The thickness of his abdomen is wrong.
I have cut the wire in the middle of his back off and will add height in his hips and shoulder blades.
I have already worked on the shoulders.
Coming a long. I used his tail to. Yield up the hips.
Now under the neck looks weird.
Stopping for the day. I am dipping some pieces at TxRx
"Shake shake shake III", "that stick is not gonna throw itself", and "sit"
Tuesday the 27th
View from the back through the piece to the front.
Left backside through to the front.
Left side
Front / leftside
This view needs some work.
Front right
Right side
Looking through his abdomen towards his face.
shake shake shake III - done (I think)
Interesting angle
detail of active tail wag
Looking through from the back.
ears and tails on the move
shake shake shake- wire III (day 1-2)
Day 1-
The goal is to have 5 wire shaking pieces that make 1 massive sculpture.
Screen shot photo for inspiration and the first two pieces.
Tools and materials ready- nose and 1 ear.
The head.
Day 2-
Still working on the head.
Left front paw- a little pigeon toed.
Left and right paws and legs.
Body parts - the front legs on the right. The head on the left.
It looks like a mix between a bat and 1/2 a dog.
Mage is all ears and front legs.
Coming along but very strange looking.
Stepping back for a moment
That is an ear in motion.
The lower ear.
Uh oh-
awkward
My pliers rack.
It looks better in person. the back half will have to wait until tomorrow.
Seeing how her front half works with the other two pieces.
Just playing around with placement
2 and 1/2 pieces.
Work in progress.
"that stick is not gonna throw itself"
I put this picture on Facebook and Instagram requesting title of work suggestions. Kay Powell Curtis' aunt face booked me "that stick is not gonna throw itself." Curtis and I both burst out laughing. She took the words right out of his mouth.
It is a keeper. Now I just have to finish it.
Thank you Kay- 😘 thanks so much for taking the time to look at my post and for sharing your very special quirky Kay verbiage. You made my day.
"that stick is not gonna throw itself. "
New piece- still working on the title
9/26/2016 - 10/2/2016
I started a new sculpture. This will be an additional piece to my series based on shaking dogs. My fingers are crossed.
Pedestal ✅ photos of similar pose ✅ wire✅ wire cutters✅ music ✅
The beginning
Paw
Double
Starting the body. This will be the back side of the piece. The front of the piece you will see just the dogs head popping out and paws gripping the side of a deck.
Right side view
I Moved the piece from my garage to my studio at Glassell. It got a little banged up in the move. There is a lot of negative space involved in these pieces so it is important to have a clean white background behind whichever side I am working on. I have created a movable partition that I move around it as I work.
I taped two 3 paneled science fair poster boards together to make my clean white back drop.
Left side started
Adding more support
More wire
Front view- at this time he is headless. The most important part of this piece will be the dogs expression.
Left view- the tail is wagging extreme left. I spent an entire day getting this tail perfect. Next week I will take a backside view.
The next step is to start the head and face.
I will start a new post for the head of this piece.
I am still struggling with a name. Curtis suggested "did I win?"
I was thinking "paws up"
Naming the piece is an important task to me. I struggle with the name of each and every piece. And I am struggling with the name of this piece.
If you have a suggestion for a "title of work" please do not hesitate to send me an idea.
New piece in the works- I am still working on the name. It will be part of my "shake shake shake" work.
9/26/2016
I started a new sculpture. I hope it works with my shake shake shake work.
Pedestal ✅ photos of similar pose ✅ wire✅ wire cutters✅ music ✅
Starting dogs left paw .
Paws pulling up on edge of pool.
Right paw gripping edge.
Starting the body
Adding back right leg for support.
A good place to stop for the day.
I Moved the piece from my garage to my studio at Glassell. It got a little banged up in the move. There is a lot of negative space involved in these pieces so it is important to have a clean white background behind whichever side I am working on. I have created a movable partition that I move around it as I work.
.
Yikes! So many problems to fix at this point. (Left view)
His tail is wagging far to his left. (right view)
I worked a full day on legs and torso and I am feeling a lot better about how it is shaping up.
I will address the head in a deprecate post.
new wire sculpture "shake shake shake-jump".
"Shake shake shake" started with 5 simple abstract drawings of dogs shaking water off their coats. Here is the back story-
Easter of 2015 - grateful to have both kids in town we decided to go to the Buffalo Bayou Dog Park - all of us. My son Griffin took a slow mo video of our elderly Labrador Kitty. Kitty loved the dog park and would retrieve tennis balls from the pond like she was a two-year-old pup. She would consistently drop the ball at your feet and as you would bend over to pick it up shake all the water off her coat right on to all those standing near by. My son’s video inspired my “shake shake shake” series. In the drawings I used bubbles to express not only the action but the joy. The next challenge was to capture the same magical moment in 3D with wire sculptures. I have completed two sculptures and I have 3 more in my head. Then I felt the need to capture the dogs intense hyper focus on the ball before he is released to chase it down so I made "sit". "Sit " is on exhibit at MFAH Glassell studio school Interspace Gallery in the 2016 student juried show. This series of sculptures and drawings seems to continually lead to more work. I completed 6 - 50" X 60" drawings I call "fetch". The fetch pieces are more about the water as the dogs splash through water to get their balls. These pieces are all about ears and splashing. Still I feel I need 1 more piece to complete the story. The past 3+ weeks I have been working on another wire sculpture "jump". My goal is to capture that moment when time seems to freeze for a split second, the energy is calm and focused before the big splash landing in a lake. The point of view is from in the water and below the dog. Here is my drawing of "jump".
"Jump"
30"X 22"
ink, charcoal collage
Below I have documented the process of making Jump.
"Jump" The sculpture will hang off the cieling at least 7' off the ground. Starting was easy as I was able to work on a table.
Step 1 make a design his face with ears flying up and tongue hanging out.
His head is now hanging from the runners on my garage door. Please no one open the door.
Add a couple of hind legs, a tail and 1 front leg.
Still working
Hiding the garage door runner with paper. The wires get lost if the background isn't pure white.
It turns out hanging it off the garage door was not a good idea. I have been banned from working off the runners. Sorry Curtis.
Here I am trying to firm up the piece. In doing so I have over worked the outline. At least it isn't falling apart. Working in mid air (no table) on a ladder is not easy
. ......trying to get rid of any structure I don't have to have and creative beautiful lines, symmetry, and create that moment of flying/jumping/floating before the big splash.
Working in the sculpture room at Glassell. I am the only person here everyday. I am getting spoiled having such a great space to my self.
Struggling
Tweeking and struggling
tweeking tweeking tweeking
I love the legs - the head is much more challenging.
Better
I like this angle
I decide the tongue hanging out was ruining the focus of the dogs energy. Here is the new mouth.
Getting better I think???
i am almost there.
Reworked the face
A few adjustments in his forehead.
A few more ear tweeks tomorrow.
"Jump"
wire
I will upgrade these photos when I get in my new studio.
shake shake shake - body of work.
My "shake shake shake" series has taken on a life of it's own. It started with 5 drawings (see portfolio/drawings), then led to drawings of chocolates and goldens, lenticular prints, and wire sculptures. Once I start a project it is important to me to finish what I have started. "shake shake shake" would be incomplete without these next drawings and sculpture.
The title of these pieces will be "shake shake shake - fetch" or maybe "shake shake shake - splash" .
I started with 6 drawings. Sadly they will not all make the cut.
Trying a new bubbles technique.
Bubbles bubbles bubbles and white ink.
Hummmmm.
Three of these made the cut but that is another post.
These are the keepers of this batch.
"Sit!"
shake shake shake - sit!
41" H X 37" D X 19" W 2016
wire and tennis ball
"Sit!" is on exhibit at MFAH Glassell Studio School juried annual student show.
This piece captures that hyper focused - on the edge look a retrieve gets when they are waiting for their ball to be thrown. You can make them sit before you throw their ball, however it is all they can do not to start running at the first flench of your throw.
Tail detail
@MSFAH Glassell Studio School Juried annual Student Show.
Presently I am using a real tennis ball for the dog to hyper - focused on. I am going to replace the tennis ball with a bronze ball. I will start it this summer.
That will be another post.