11/10/2017
guess what I did last night?
this is the first piece in the series where the lining has blown away and the moth holes have grown into full fledge hole.
The torn grossgrain ribbon and rip in felt.
I didn’t get to say goodbye
memories - unequaled
I stopped by Sloan/Hall to give the sales staff my artist statement talk about my memories body of work.
https://sloanhall.com/
This is my first experience letting someone else sell my work. It has always been one of my favorite Houston stores. The staff is very friendly, attentive, and very knowledgeable about the products they carry. I they will do a good job of representing “Memories”. I talked about my work and about the pieces they are carrying and then Shannon Hall handed me an envelope. It was a payment for the the big piece “Memories- unequaled”, and I am still shocked. I didn’t expect anything to sell so quickly. - I didn’t get to say goodbye. Clearly, I have some separation anxiety with regard to my art.
“memories”
Driving home from Austin, I was stuck in traffic and very stressed. My whole body was tense and I was gripping the steering wheel tightly. I looked up to see a giant billboard for one of the Hill Country lazy river family resorts. On the billboard was a stick with roasted marshmallows on it. Instantly, the tension melted away as I was overcome with happy memories. I thought, "Wow! That imagery is so powerful, it drastically changed my mental state. I have to share this." Working on the pieces I felt a little silly, but the more I thought about my bronze sticks with marshmallows on them, the more I realized that the American leisure time tradition of roasting s’mores is a story not only worth sharing but worth telling: families and close friends gathered around a toasty campfire, roasting marshmallows on a stick, telling ghost stories, and making warm, sweet memories.
Peace pigeon #22
Last fall I started a project - an experiment with new materials. I made a new sculpture every week, with a new material. My subject the German beak - trumpeter pigeon. He is graceful, interesting and conducive to expressing energy. Picasso drew this same pigeon and called him a the peace dove.
http://www.arttimesjournal.com/art/reviews/May_June_10_Ina_Cole/Pablo_Picasso_Ina_Cole.html
I can't seem to stop the project. Here is another pigeon, I found him on our afternoon dog walk.
Healthy herds
A few summers back I drew three monumental elephant drawings. Enlight of the recent national news I repost these. We need protect the elephants, we can not risk a mistake, conservation and healthy herds a are a necessary fact to sustain life.
“Score” #14 armature of the face and head
11/15/2017
And just in time as I have a studio visit tomorrow with Patrick Palmer the master of heads.
full face frontal.
Below is the head and body from every angle
Front right
front
Front left
left
back left
Back
Right side
Front right
close up
“ Score” #12 armature/fingers to hold the violin.
Here is a pattern I made to Help me gauge how big each finger section should be.
Here I have tacked the first and second joints.
Once I decide if I like the placement of each joint then I will strengthen the welds.
The fingers on both hands seem to be ok. Hopefully when the lath and concrete are added I will still be happy.
“score” #15 artist statement
11/15/2017
As I work on a piece I start tinkering with what the artist statement should be. Many times both the piece and the artist statement take on unexpected directions and meanings. Below is my latest rendition.
“score”
artist statement
From the beginning of time music has been used as a powerful way to influence human emotion. Modern scientists report that music has the ability to change brainwaves that control our emotional energy. It is presently used not only as an artistic expression, but also in physical and emotional therapy.
“score” was inspired by a slow shutter release photograph of my cousin, Concert Master Andrew Irvin, that captures multiple images as he plays his violin. Applying this concept of multiple images with the raw materials recycled wire, steel, and white concrete “score” embraces both the primal impact, music has on our emotions and the contemporary elements of music. ”score” not only expresses the energy of playing the violin but also the raw energy expressed through music. The application is raw, emotional and visceral
“ Score” #13 armature/tails
11/14/2017
The figure is wearing a tux with tails.
View from the backside of the piece- I added the back of the pants leg and jacket tail on the left side of the figure.
full body view
Both jacket tails welded in.
“ Score” #11 armature/fingers to hold the bow.
This piece is abstract but, in order to capture the gesture I really have to understand where the musician is exerting his energy in regards to how he holds the instrument. I found the below link online that talks about the proper way to hold the bow. I also researched how to hold the violin. It is held with the chin and chest leaving the fingers the ability to move up and down freely.
http://www.singingwood.com/violin-bow-hold/HowToHoldTheViolinBow.html
The fingers that hold the bow.
The left hand is missing all the fingers. That is the palm and back of the left hand. I will work on the fingers tomorrow.
“Score” post #10 right arm
I have attached the right upper and forearm, hopefully in the right place. I am welding the armature for the concrete part of the sculpture. Attached to this armature will be the metal lath that the concrete rest on and the additional wire that will extend outside of the Concrete showing the energy of the music created by the violinist. I see the violinist as a pedestal for the sculpture. A very specific pedestal.
Right arm and torso
front view
View or right side
View from back
Left side
the bayling wire head head is a stand in. It was laying in my studio.
“Score” post #9 repositioning the left forearm....
....to hold the muIcal instrument.
I need to repositioning the left forearm to hold the violin. I have a bailing wire face attached to you he neck of the armature to help me visualize where the head would be.
front view
left side of front
left side
backside
figures backright side
Front right side of figure
I am excited that the piece still balances on it’s own, however it is starting to want to lean forward. In order to keep it balanced I will add the right arm next.
Why are some people ready, why do some people know the moment?
People ask me all the time where do I get my ideas. And I too am fascinated by where creativity comes from. I do not believe it can be taught and for most part it is not easy to describe as creativity, it is one of the great mysteries of the brain. However the Eudora Welty quote in Glasstire this morning beautifully states how I often find inspiration, or how inspiration often finds me.
“The title That Day underscores the viewer’s sense of being there beside the photographer and the way in which the captured moment remains ever fresh in the image, some of which were made as early as 1979. That was the year when Dallas-based Wilson began assisting Richard Avedon with his own six-year photography project, In The American West. Describing Avedon’s portraiture process in her 2004 book, Avedon At Work In The American West, Wilson noted that he would wait for what Eudora Welty called “a story teller’s truth… the moment in which people reveal themselves. You have to be ready, in yourself; you have to know the moment when you see it.” “
- gene Fowler
-http://glasstire.com/author/gene-fowler/
I guess the question should be why are some people
ready, why do some people know the moment?
a moment caught by a "gust"
“score” post #8 winging it.
11/09/2017
I decided to weld the arm pieces onto the torso. I started with the left arm and the palm of the hand. I am totally winging this. Since the piece is in motion I want the arm position to reflect movement. The left shoulder dips and the elbow digs into his side. The left forearm has to be free so the fingers can to move up and down the violin. The violin will be held in place between his chin and his shoulder/chest.
Next I decide to trace my hand to determine how long the finger pieces of steel should be. Then I draw in the bones and measure how long each finger bone is between the joints. My hand is smaller than the figures would be but by the time I add the lath and cement it should be the right size.
My hand pattern with bone measurements.
The hand pattern with two pieces of the palm of the hand bones cut.
Detail of the left arm and the palm of his hand.
The bones in the palm of the hand.
Now I need to see if I am anywhere close on the angle of the forearm and back of hand. I will do this by holding up a violin to the figure.
No, I missed it. Tomorrow I will cut the forearm off and reattach it with the wrist right under the violin. Then I will look at the angle of the hand. That might also need to be altered. Totally winging it.
New piece post #7 “score”
I am ready build the armature for the head. I find this terrifying for some reason. I have this wire fac I made last spring. I have attached it to the neck in order to experiment with the size/and shape of the head.
“Gust” artist statement tweaking
I continue to tweak new versions of possible artist statements for “gust”, looking for the perfect words.
How does this sound?
“Gust”
Woven in felt, every hat tells a story, shaped with memories, recording beliefs, and veiling sorrow, some eloquent and some twisted. Cradled in our imagination, they blow in strange, wonderful ways, spinning from past generations that are inhabited by our respect to balancing our present responsibilities and fears. In generations past, in fable and in legend, hats sheltered spirits, represented people and occupations, and defended against the elements.
“gust” In my kitchen after applying the patina. Living with this hat for a few days making sure I am finished with the patina in it.
“Gust” applying the patina
I continue to do my bronze work every Thursday night in the Foundry Class at Glassell, it is located in the temporary TXRX location in east Houston. Tonight I started applying patina to a second piece in the series.
Using a torch I heat the piece.
My left hand holds the torch and heats the piece starting at the top. With a paint brush in my left hand I apply a chemical to the heated metal.
Before
After
In the TXRX MFAH Glassell foubdry studio.
New piece post #8 “score”
October 31, 2917
happt halloween
I worked on adding to the torso today.
The torso is basically the pedestal for the sculpture. In this case the figure/pedestal is not only an intregal part of the sculpture it is structural. If has to stand alone firmly, support the concrete and added wire and add to the energy of the music.
Before
Front view
after
Right side of figure
Back side of figure
Left side of figure
Front side
New piece post #7 “score”
Working on this piece I am seeing music everywhere. A year ago I was seeing pigeons everywhere as I was sculpting a pigeon out of a different material every week.
chaotic string instruments.
Soft billowy distant sounds accented with distinct short beats of a drum.
New piece post #6 score
I worked on the upper torso today.
