Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 4 “bringing home the bacon”

Connecting the legs and reinforcing them.  

Building the hips and connecting the legs

Side view  

View from back

I create triangles to give the piece stability and strength.

Left side view with triangles 

View from the back

view of the right side

Using scraps to create triangles to strengthen the ankles.  

Looking back, I can now see the hips are not right and are exaggerating the movement. I will have the movement exaggerated when the piece is finished, but for the armature, I will have to tone it down.

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 3 bringing home the bacon

This sculpture is about the movement and the energy of rescuing livestock (a pig) during Hurricane Harvey. Today I have to decide on where the figure's weight needs to be to best balance the sculpture and express the energy of hoisting the swine to safety. The photos I took of Griffin while he was walking helped me committe to the foot placement. For the weight, I need new reference photos taken from each side. I am fortunate that my husband is always agreeable to posing for me. We wrapped a stool in a towel to stand in for the pig. Below are the new photos.

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View from the front  

View of the left side  

back view 

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 2 “brining home the bacon”

Step one - I find or take a photo to use as a reference. Many times I take screen shots from videos I find online. This time I took photos of Griffin and Alex. At the time I was planning on sculpting “The Guy In the Astros Cap”. I had Griffin carry Alex and I took photos as he walked. I can still use the pictures of Griffin walking. Alex is too cute and tiny to stand in for the pig. I will have to wing the pig.

Photo if Griffin’s feet.  

Step 2- I start with the armature for the feet, piecing  them together from the small leftover scraps of my last sculpture.

Left foot, right foot  

I really like the pigeon toed aspect of this photo. 

Even though I like work from photos I feel free to change anything I want. 

Gust- patina

November 15, 2018

I am working in the spacious new Glassell Foundry. There is abundance of space to work in.  

Hat 👍🏼 Patina👍🏼 Torch👍🏼 Welding gloves👍🏼 Paint brushes👍🏼 Respirator👍🏼 Eye protector👍🏼 

The patina I am using is a layered hot patina. First I heat the piece with a torch. Then I start laying a heavy dark brown, then a heavy layer of titanium oxide. About 30 minutes in I spilled the titanium patina.  

It is really a bummer because once I remix it I can not use it for 24 hours, the chemicals need to bind together. Grrrrrrrrr.😬  

November 19,2018 

Starting where I left off.  

Three days before thanksgiving and I can’t help myself, I want to finish this patina today.  

After a heavy layer of titanium ash I ran out of butane. Luckily a second tank was ready to go.  

Faux bois Wedding gift ❤️❤️ #12 the 1st layer on the branches.

You can see the rough coat on the underside of the bench.  I am ready for the second application of concrete.

I have flipped the bench over and will work from the top to the bottom. You have to work from the top to the bottom because the process is very messy. 

Step 1. Protect the bronze birds by covering them with plastic wrap.  

Step 2.  Paint the lath with a concrete bonding adhesive. 

Step. 3 Make a slip from the concrete and the bonding adhesive. Paint the slip onto the piece. 

Step.4 Apply concrete by hand.  

Mateo. 5 Remain calm, enjoy the process.  

It turns out my bonding adhesive is old, as a result my concrete does not want to stick together. I am grateful I am only working on the scratch coat. I can fix anything that falls off when I apply the final coat. 

I like this branch growing around the other

Things did not go as planned as I worked on the bench. My bonding adhesive was old and the cement just was not sticking. And marriages do not go as planned. The lesson here is just roll with it. I will get new bonding adhesive next week and the next application will go smoothly. It is not worth getting upset over. The fun part of marriage is having someone go through the rough spots with you, someone who makes the rough spots not so rough, maybe even fun. Look for the good in every situation, it is there. Make your problems work for you. 

Harvey Heroes- Houston Responds

Back in October I received a phone call from  Jeff Schultz of Houston Responds. Jeff was holding a conference the following  week for local churches.  He was trying to recruit volunteers to help those who still need help getting their lives back after Hurricane Harvey. He needed images for his Bible study booklet. I was thrilled to help out. I never received a copy of the booklet, but here are a few screen shot from the email he sent me. 

“Glyphosate” Airing the devestating impact that pesticides have on pollinators

I am expanding my regenerative agriculture/sustainable living work.  This additional work will air the devastating impact that pesticides have on pollinators. I have decided that, to portray the reported impact of pesticides on this basic ingredient for life, the artistic language for communicating this message will be scale, placement, technique, and media. 

Scale- My paper is 44” T X 30” W. The pollinators size will be magnified approximately twenty times.    

(Should I go bigger?) 

Placement- The bee will be on its back, and dead at the bottom of the page.

Media- I will use watercolor as it immolates the water properties of pesticides.

Technique-I will attempt to apply the media so that It speaks of the pesticide spray, pollen dust and disintegration. Getting the perfect technique down is one of trial and error. Below are trials I-VI. 

Attempt #1

#2 getting better.  

#3 is the ghost of #2 

On day two I have decided to try adding more colors in the black and maybe blast it with a spray bottle of water and then print it.  

11/20/2018

Day 2  

Glysophate #4

I added color more color but it is not showing up as I would like. The wings are much better. 

glysophate #5

I added more color and.......in this photo you can’t see it. In person it is Subtle. I kind of like it. 

I sprayed my plate with water after the last print and now I wait for it to dry. It is in puddles, it may never dry.  

Glysophate  #6

It has occurred to me that, working with individual bees, I am not addressing the colony collapse and disorder that will result. Should I? Do I need to?

Any thoughts to share? 

“You Make Me Stronger” - the old maul

photo by Nash Baker 

  At the end of every semester at Glassell, we clean out all the disheveled cabinets and drawers. We throw away broken tools and parts and reorganize the rest. A few years ago, while cleaning out the hammer and chisel drawer, I came across a worn out sledge hammer. Through the worn garish red paint the satiny steel skin of the mallet was unblemished, it had gotten better with age. Its handle on the other hand had not weathered as well. It resembled more of the rugged surface of old drift wood than a powerful hand tool. Its life had been extended several times with layers of duct tape that were now thread bare. I could only imagine over the years how many passionate sculptors had partnered with this handle and mallet to create their dreams; how many artist used it to mold their creations. I loved it for the history it held in the splintered grains of wood of its handle and the silent strength of its barely-red steel mallet. It’s days of hard labor are over. I bought the school a shiny new blue and yellow sledge hammer with a rubber handle and took the old red maul home to rest. Uncertain of its exact future, it rested on my den coffee table for the better of a year. Guests always comment on what a cool tool it was. It sparked unsolicited stories of hard work, of past labors and stubborn relatives. This summer, I decided to make a mold of the old maul. Each casting will tell a different story. This first casting is “You Make Me Stronger,” an ode to great partnerships as in the one with the artist, the handle, and the mallet. 

Peace pigeon project #17 - Pareidolia

In the fall of 2016 I decided to experiment with sculpture materials. I challenged myself to sculpt a new sculpture a week, each week in a different material. As my subject, I chose the German beak crested trumpeter with leg muffs pigeon because he allows me to express a lot of movement and energy. I have many drawings and a bronze sculpture of the German beak trumpeter. From a sculpturing point of view, his feathery feet keep him balanced without a pedestal allowing for lots of the expression of energy and emotion.

It turns out that the bird known in the US as a German beak trumpeter pigeon is the same bird that Picasso drew as the peace dove. Everyone knows His famous "peace doves". This particular pigeon was given to him by Henri Matisse. It is described as a Milanese pigeon. Possibly it was from Milan, but you can tell by the fancy feathers on his feet that it is a German beak-crested trumpeter with leg muffs. In German and French, the term pigeon and dove are interchangeable.

I am no longer committed to sculpt a peace pigeon a week but I don’t hesitate if a material or found object jumps out at me to turn it into a sculpture.

The very last beak break.  

Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock - “bringing home the bacon”

​I stared a new section in my Hurricane Harvey series of Harvey Heroes. These will all be LIVEstock rescues.

I made the first one today,

 “Bring home the bacon.”

44” X 30” watercolor monotype  

This is my first large monotype.
I have always wanted to go larger, but the temporary location of the Glassell School of Art did not have a big press. The pieces in this part of the series will all be 44” X 30” The Glassell printmaking studio has fabulous light, is super clean, and I love working in it. Alexander Squier, the head of the department and instructor makes sure everyone keeps it spick and span. This is the fourth time I have taken the class, print making is addicting and you need a press to feed your addiction. Plus Alexander is great.

Here is the ghost print. Something happened to the ghost. I am not sure what caused the mark that runs through the middle. When it dries I will try to fix it.  

Before fixing-

The ghost - “bringing home the bacon”  

Fixed  

My work space in the Glassell printmaking studio  

Me fake working for a photo op.  

March 3, 2013 - Woman Suffrage Procession -Inez Milholland- title of work update

Now that I have three pieces in my women’s movement body of work I have decide to alter the title and artist statement of this piece. 

March 3, 2013 - Woman Suffrage Procession -Inez Milholland

Riding aside historically represents oppression of women's rights. Suffragette Inez Milholland rode astride in the 1913 ride/march on Washington. Inez was not only protesting for the right to vote, own property, to sue, but also to ride astride.

This is my first piece of work that addresses the women’s movement. It first resonated with me purely from an aesthetic point of view, as I knew the aged leather would reproduce beautifully in bronze. What I did not realize, however, was that this sculpture would represent more than a stereotypical Texas western symbol. In my women’s movement body of art it represents the strength of Victorian women and the beginning of the women’s movement, the March 3, 1913 suffrage parade in Washington.

 For more information in the 1913 women’s movement see the links below. 

 https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimgs.6sqft.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F03%2F15104106%2FInez-Milholland-1913.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.6sqft.com%2Fbrownstones-and-ballot-boxes-the-fight-for-womens-suffrage-in-brooklyn%2F&docid=2ZnWV_e9x0g-OM&tbnid=YNNH9k49Fdl9wM%3A&vet=1&w=1024&h=726&hl=en-us&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 http://time.com/4391874/the-society-girl-who-became-a-martyr-for-womens-suffrage/

 https://goo.gl/images/bJeGyT

 http://www.lrgaf.org/articles/sidesaddles_and_suffragettes.htm

Sapling #7 - lath, 1st coat and second coat.

My daughter special requested this piece. She asked if I could make her a sapling. My response was I could try, but the pencil size steel limits how thin I can make the tree limbs. Long story short, the sapling grew old fast. After the first coat the sapling limbs we're no longer sapling thin.

Covered in lath

Keeping an eye on my mix

The first coat - the bronze leaves are covered in green plastic to protect them.

First, I paint on the bonding liquid.

The piece is now ready for coat number 2.

Coat number 2 ✅

Here is the image edited super light in order to show the texture.

More details

Detail of upper branches

A little more concrete need under the bird.

Detail of trunk

The lower trunk and base.

The abundance of knots is evidence that this tree is the host of many insects and good bacteria. Bees and other insects use trees for nesting and receive antiviral properties from the fungus and bacteria that grow on the tree.

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity- Harvey Heroes - Solving installation problems

Have I done enough? Which should I edit? Include the cot, don’t include the cot???? How should I compose them as a group? 

Performance art - getting out of my comfort zone is playing with fire.

The Glade Arts Foundation had a Halloween event, for which they booked a local graffiti artist to create a piece during the event. At the last moment, he had a conflict. I was asked if I knew anyone that could fill in, I couldn’t find any takers They needed an artist to create art during the event that would be fitting of Halloween. I am a sucker for anyone in need and offered to come up with something. I wrestled with a few ideas that I thought would be fun to watch - ink bubbles or lemon juice and fire. I went with fire. When my son was 8 years old, we threw him a magician birthday party. I wrote the invitations with invisible ink, (lemon juice) with instructions to apply fire to the invitation to make the words appear like magic. With that experience over twenty years ago in mind, I showed up at the Glade Arts Foundation with my torch, lighter, graphite stick, charcoal, and stick of white pastel and jumped.
Below are the results that landed:

The portrait was the finale and about 48”wide. The others were my experimental play. I always try new materials on images I am familiar with. 

These were the prizes for the best costumes. The winners requested that I sign the front.

It was really fun to interact with the guest and to be a link in the human chain of life.  

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #12- adding 1 light element

Art based on a natural disaster can weigh on one’s emotions. With that in mind, and the fact that I would like the viewer to have a positive inner feeling after looking at my work, I am playing with adding a shaking dog to the body of work. I want the dog to be generic so that everyone can see their dog in it and I would like the dog’s energy to leave the viewer with a smile.  

Below are my first attempts. I hope one works.  

Roots #2 rooting out the best concept

I have very strong views on the connection between agriculture and health. I prefer to only eat organic grass-fed beef. I prefer to not eat any gmo products and I feel best when only eating sprouted grains. I want to know where my food comes from and how it is produced. Agriculture has a huge impact on our personal health as well as on our environment. Roots play a large role in regenerative and sustainable agriculture. 

The first root - The root is fabulous all by it’s self. 

The trunk is not so fabulous. 

Off with the trunk- 

Failure #1- Experimenting with ideas- this idea emphasizes the important of roots in sustaining  life. - too obvious 

Failure #2- Another experiment- “burden”  I grabbed this marble sculpture I did a few years ago. I have always wanted to burden it with something on his back. 

I like the thought, I think it either needs more more more roots or a Sprout coming out of the root.  

The root would be bronze.  

Stay tuned to see how I will use the roots.  

Cranes- through the window

A year ago, I made two works on paper; “Cranes Through the Window I and II”. The inspiration came when I stopped at a red light. Peering through the fogged and rain drenched car window, drops trickled down into tiny rivers, carving new landscapes in the glass. Beyond the miniature rivulets, dark and dusky clouds loomed in the shadows while others stood out in rays of hope. Through the puffs of gray, rooftops were stacked, and construction cranes delicately cross stitched in saffron and goldenrod garnished their capstones.

cranes through the window I 

30” X 22”  

cranes through the window II

30” X 22”

When asked if I had any cranescapes that were not monumental in size, I realized I had not posted these two pieces.

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #7 “those teenagers pushed our truck”

Another Heroes piece-

Those teenagers

30” X 22” water color monotype  

the ghost

Roots- Thank you Soul Cycle

These two dead plants were in pots outside of Soul Cycle. The roots were exposed and beautiful. This summer every week I would ask the staff if I could have them for my art. Every week I received the same response, that they would have to get approval from the locations manager to remove the dead plants. They are mine now. 😊 thank you, everyone at Soul Cycle for not getting irritated with my constant persuit of these roots. 

My interest in roots has to do with my interest in regenerative agricultural. I will explain in the next roots blog post

Hurricane Harvey Project - confronted with humanity #4

A piece from a large series of work inspired by the everyday heroes of hurricane Harvey.  

He was wearing overalls

22” X 30”  

the ghost print