My Gallery

2011-12-14T01:23:00.000-08:00

Class is over on Monday, and I am very anxious to be done for a while. I turned 50 on the 4th, and it dawned on me I've been in class for 10 years, and still no Bachelors degree. Oh well. I wouldn't do it if I didn't love it.

Last week's assignment in drawing was to do a composite. This drawing is actually taken from bits of three photos. I like it even if the professor didn't. I just lucked out to have one of those teachers this time who has nothing positive to say, so I shrug it off, and take his inevitable "C" with a grain of salt, knowing I did my best.

2011-11-15T20:09:00.001-08:00

These are some of my recent projects from class:

graphite study of folds

watercolor of geisha with folds in Kimono

Practice of Raphael's Angel in colored pencil


Finished painting of Angel.

Seashell in Watercolor

2011-10-31T18:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Eric

2011-10-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Eric in the shade

Wanted: for a haircut!

These are sketches of my son, Eric from class this week.

Eric squinting in the sun

Watercolor studies in Glass

2011-10-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

These are my first watercolor paintings. Studies of glass, with reflections in cast shadows and refractions. One is done with traditional watercolors, and the other is done with watercolor pencils. They aren't great, but I can now count the number of paintings I've done to 2 and a half (I'm still working on one!) I hope you are enjoying yourself these fine fall days.

Done in watercolor pencils, this is a study of reflections in a cast shadow I know the ellipsis is off (now).

Done in traditional watercolors. A study of refractions with a lemon in tea.

Fun with Photoshop

2011-09-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

My "painting" of Little Man

I was having fun the other day, and created this digital painting of one of my cats, Little Man. If you look on my main page, he's the strapping fellow sitting on my drawing board. Just something different to look at, eh?:

Ahhh, classes are finally over

2011-05-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well, Looks like the warmer weather may be upon us soon. This has been the weirdest weather ever this year! And it is still plaguing the nation. They will be in my prayers for quite a while.

My daughter graduated from college this month, and I was pleased as punch to see her take that walk to get her sheepskin! I don't know where she is headed from here, but I know she will excel no matter what it is.

It is so nice to have a bit of time to myself now that classes are over for the summer. I did learn a ton in class, and that is always a good thing, but I really need a break for a while! Of course, next month I'll be missing it all again... I Did manage to make a mold that created the end result that I wanted, yeah! I was really proud of this little cat. It took 16 seemingly endless weeks to get here. I hope everyone enjoys their summer as well!

Work in progress, part 2

2011-03-03T15:45:00.000-08:00

My version of the dreaded Torso!

With the metal dividers for the mold in place.

Encased in plaster

Oh, man, it cracked and broke!

Triage in the Icy depths of the garage. She doesn't look half bad after major surgery.

My daughter, the surgeon, I'm so proud!

So far on this project I've spent 2 days re-creating a torso to use for a mold we are creating in class. She is a replica of a 19th century sculpture, a famous one, although I can't seem to recall the artist. To be honest, I hate this torso. For the last 3 years it has continued to be a subject for class assignments, everything from drawing to sculpting, and now a mold. I guess I should be grateful that there aren't more models to buy for this class, because they are ridiculously expensive. At any rate, she isn't the most attractive form, rather misshapen if you ask me, but there she is again. Thought you might (or might not!) like to see progress on the mold. This thing is built from scratch of layers of plaster and burlap. It took hours to build in my cold garage, flinging plaster everywhere, flinging curses everywhere as well... The finished mold didn't come out all the way, and one of the underarms collapsed as I took the mold off the clay form, much to my disgust and dismay! However, with the kind assistance of my daughter, we did a late night triage' in the garage, and repaired the breaks as well as we could. She will suffice for the project at hand, and if the mold doesn't turn out, I will chock it up to another lesson learned the hardest way possible. I thrive on screwing up challenges!
I will keep you posted.

Yeah, like anyone actually reads this...

2011-02-27T23:41:00.000-08:00

Had to make a figure to build a mold on. She's based on a sculpture done in the 19th century. My work is far from that genius, but she will serve my purposes.

New Year's Benediction

2011-01-01T00:37:00.000-08:00

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. May your coming year be a wonderful thing in which you dream both dangerously and outrageously. I hope it'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and you will be liked and you will have people to love and to like in return. And most importantly, because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now - I hope that you will, when you need to be, be wise and that you will always be kind. And I hope that somewhere in the next year you surprise yourself."~ Neil Gaiman

The Chimp is Finished

2010-12-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well, the chimp came out really nicely, don't you think? Unfortunately, he has cracked in several places, making him really not the best candidate for a working cookie jar. So what do you do with a chimp sculpture? My daughter thinks he will make a great model for the hats she makes to sell, and I agree.

Have a Very Merry Christmas everyone and thanks as always for stopping by!

The Continuing Saga of the Happy Fella

2010-12-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

Let it never be said that I could ever leave well enough alone. Here is the latest version of the Fat Cat (thanks Bill, it has stuck!) He was destined to be a welcome sign, but I don't know now. Where the beard came from is anyone's guess, but I suppose that suspends all similarity to Mr. Pickwick!

I would ask anyone who might have any ideas on how to proceed with this guy, please let me know! I dreamt that I put small round glasses on him, made the background a rainbow of colors, with the printed word VINTAGE on it, but thought that a bit cliche' in the real world. shrugs...

Hope the rest of you are enjoying better weather, keeping warm and enjoying the love of family nearby!

My final projects for ceramics class

2010-11-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

The Cookie Jar behind the mask!

Well, I have to tell you, I've never received a comment that one of my faces looked like a corporate "fat cat" before! I guess that will go down in the book as my weirdest so far. Anyway, I ended up changing the face anyway, not sure if it's still a businessman or not anymore... My other piece to that project, a chimp, was supposed to wear the fat cat as a mask and peek out from it, sort of a statement that behind every happy man lies an ape. But the mask didn't fit on the chimp, and ended up going from a bust to a cookie jar, per the requests of my children. They like him, and so he will not end up as so much yard art like so many of my other sculptures have. The reworked face is shortly destined to become a Welcome sign, the face surrounded by leaves and flowers. Somewhat of a suitable ending to that corporate entity, eh? They are both far from being completed, but it takes several weeks to finish a piece, and class ends in 3 weeks, so we have to start the final project now. Below are photos of the before and after for the mask, and my newly completed cookie house. While you don't have to comment if you don't want to~~~ I don't know how anyone feels about my work most of the time, but if you do comment I love those honest reviews!

The "Before"- Fat Cat

The After, destined to become a Welcome Sign

Happy Holidays to all!

The half-baked man, or the Happy Fella...

2010-11-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is the face my professor suggests making into a mask with a bust behind it. My question is, what should the bust be of? I know, too wide open for a question, but wrack your brains anyways, kiddies and let me know what you think. PLEEEZE!

OK, kissies, and thank you to all concerned!!

And now it's a shoe...

2010-10-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with it once it is complete, but this week's assignment is to construct my shoe... One that says something about me. Well, considering I only have 5 pairs of shoes, that might be a bit difficult. I think that my work shoes are rather appropriate, though, don't you think? Don't be fooled by the enormous size. Clay shrinks as it fires, so in order to get a close fit (excuse the pun) once the thing is dry, the original had to be over-sized.

This is my shoe as well, so you can see for yourself if I did a good job or not..

Something new to look at for a while

2010-10-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I have a bit of a whim and decide to post some of my work here. Rare times, I realize, but I don't always have stuff created to share. I started another sculpting class a few weeks ago. Not much to show yet, but give me a couple of weeks, and there will be more.

Some recent work, since it's been months since I posted anything!

2010-04-11T00:08:00.000-07:00

Amanda

2009-10-20T00:46:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd put Amanda on the gallery, too, along with some more of my facial studies.

2009-06-28T01:21:00.001-07:00

This is my cat, Eddie. It is a bit stylized, more like a drawing for a kid's book, but I really like it. I thought I would save it here for future reference. Eddie has taken to eating paper lately, he's only 4 months old, and you can't see the teeth marks that are in the corner of this picture... guess he signed it for me!

2009-05-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

This is my interpretation of a skull. It is full of errors, but done. I just hope I can finish all the rest of the projects I have to do by the end of the semester on the 16th...

Has my work improved any at all?...

2009-04-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of my latest pieces.

2009-03-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more of my drawings, to see if you can tell any improvement...

My Figures

2009-03-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

This semester I am taking two figure modeling classes, one in sculpture and the other in drawing. I went into these classes with ZERO experience doing the human body, save for a couple of pieces I did for my last semester classes, and they were both heads. So these are probably full of mistakes. But it takes a lot of practice to get it right, and so I am posting my progress as I go. I would love some critiques, and don't be afraid to be honest! That is how I learn.

Happy Halloween, with a new gargoyle

2008-10-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

This gargoyle is a lot more "cutesy" than I had imagined, but sometimes you have to accept what a piece turns out like, different or not. Let's face it, I always think less of my work than I guess I should. Oh well!

The latest sculpture

2008-10-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted here in quite a while. Here is my latest work, a project from my college class. She has a bit of a Halloween feel to her.

The Finished Doubt

2007-12-15T22:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry, everyone This piece is sold!

Well, here is the finished piece, for sale at Etsy.com under the name cookiekins40. Please feel free to stop by and give me your critique on any of my pieces. I could sure use the input. I lost some of the detail when the glaze was applied, but that is what happens sometimes.

Doubt

2007-10-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

When I do a piece, it is never crystal clear how it is going to turn out. I have a vague idea in the beginning of what to create, but sometimes that isn't what the end product is. I really wasn't shooting for this guy at all when I got started, but he just sort of flowed into the clay. There are times when you stop thinking all together, and just let what happens happen, and that was the case with this sculpture. But that was how it happened with the other two heads that were done earlier as well. This was the hardest piece I have done to date, because it was so small, and the details are smaller yet, but there was an enormous sense of completion and even relief when it was done, like he's been sitting inside me for quite a while. He really fits in with the Halloween season, don't you think? Although raw right now, he'll look a little different once he is fired and finished. The pics aren't great, but here they are (that and the fact that I can't seem to delete them!):

Del Norte County Fair Winner

2007-08-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am amazed! I entered my face in the county fair, and I won a First Place ribbon and a Best of Show. Can you imagine that? My art wins prizes.

Too bad my photography will never win awards!

My daughter's book gargoyle

2007-06-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

This is a requested guardian to protect my daughter's precious cache of books. He is about 6 inches tall at the moment, but he is raw, and will shrink when fired. He has hollow eyes and mouth, so when a small tealight candle or an incense cone is placed inside his body, they will either glow or smoke... He isn't very scary, though!

more boxes

2007-06-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is another of my boxes, made again from ceramic and painted with acrylic paints. It also measures about2 inches tall and about 1 1/2 inches wide.

my boxes

2007-06-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone, this piece is sold!

This is one of my boxes. It measures a bit over 2 inches tall and about 1 1/2 inches wide. It is made of ceramic and painted with acrylic paints.

My first Digital Painting!

2007-05-31T17:18:00.001-07:00

This is my cat Chicken Little, done as a digital painting in my Digital Imaging class, spring 2007.

My first bust

2007-05-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

This was done in my ceramics class, spring 2007.

My First Face

2007-05-31T17:11:00.000-07:00

This was done in ceramics class, spring 2007