365/2013 - Day 159

a brief look at the art of West of Center (2013)

Today I went back up to the Northville Art House to get a better look at the art of West of Center -- the 5th Annual All Media Show juried by Matt Eaton and curated/produced by Joanne Bandoni.  This time around I only took a sampling of photos so that you can go and see the show in person...it runs through June 30 during regular gallery hours.  More information after photos.
 

a long overview

"Spirit of Bad Dolls" by Juana Moore -- SOLD!

"Quillz" by Took Gallagher -- his orange stripes turn yellow and his purple ears turn pink with the heat from your hands

"Should I?" (detail) -- by Amy Fell Burford

another view of Juana Moore's "Spirit of Bad Dolls"

"Ruin Reverberant" by Kate Paul

"Scrap Quilt Circa 2013" by Joan Potter Thomas

"Scrap Quilt Circa 2013" (detail)

"Hidden Secrets" by Peggy Kerwan

"Art of Fire" by WanChuan Kesler

"Varying Degrees of Penetration" by Joe Trippi

Joe Trippi's "Varying Degrees of Penetration" (detail)

"Subsistence" by Kyle Pryce

"The Eye" by Dattatreya Phadke

Dattatreya Phadke's "The Eye" (detail)

 

 

"Love Michigan" by Jeff Cancelosi

Jeff Cancelosi's "Love Michigan" (detail)

West of Center / 5th Annual All Media Show
June 7 - 30, 2013    Free   Regular Gallery Hours:  Wednesday - Saturday 1-5 p.m.

Northville Art House
215 W. Cady St.
Northville, MI  48167
(248) 344-0497

-  -  -  -  -

Today I am also trying to make a pair of black and white glass eyes for a possible plaster cloth guy.  This is not how I usually try to paint eyes, but I made the pupils with a Sharpie marker and globbed on white acrylic paint (I didn't have any white spray paint).  If I like how this turns out I may enter him to a local show with the theme "Black/White/Red"...but I'm not sure yet.  Deadline is quickly approaching so I need to decide/get to work!

And here is today's Tookies progress:  ten finger puppets have ears/horns, eyes, and mouths.

365/2013 - Day 96

making progress

I am very happy to have found the picture of the sugar glider that I thought I lost.  This was the rather remarkable (to me) image of a sugar glider that suddenly made my plaster cloth creature with the big eyes seem not so out of the ordinary...(at least the face/overall look).  There actually IS a real life creature that sort of looks like this...and I had no idea it existed. And I stumbled onto it when I was thinking of making a marsupial for an online show and I Google'd marsupial and Australia and that image was in the results and I was startled to see my guy that had been evolving into this form for such a long time.

and also today...

I finally got up the nerve to try to add the last bit of shading to my foxish-creature collage.  I think it is done...but here is a sneak peek.

365 Day 108

it seemed like a good idea at the time...

I usually check my email and Facebook before I go to bed. Well, last night/early this morning I saw a call for art from the Northville Arthouse for their show called West of Center. (And yes, they are "west" of Center St.) I have wanted to submit something there for a while but I haven't been able to fit anything I already had in progress OR make something specific that I was happy with.

I went to bed and I naturally started thinking about what I could do for Left of Center. Then the ideas wouldn't quit and after an hour I eventually had to give in and just get up because there was no way I was going to fall asleep. I was thinking of several things I had in the basement that could have been bases for a plaster cloth creature. I brought some of them up to the studio and I couldn't quite get things to gel.

Then it came to me to try and use a couple of things that I had in progress but had "set aside for later". I made these when I was first trying out plaster cloth and they were pretty misshapen and wonky. I worked with them for a bit and things started coming together.

I like both of them a lot but they are both in the very very very beginning stages and most likely will end up looking quite a bit different than their basic shapes.

The canine-ish head was already a fairly substantial clump of plaster cloth. The only thing I knew about it for sure was the tilting ears looking like he hears something. Actually, that cracks me up...even when I've had enough sleep. I think this piece will be a take off on one of my drawings/characters called "Wolfy". When I started out the head was more of a rectangle and had sort of flat (but very bumpy and crater-y) surfaces. I added the nose and tried to get a rounder shape for the head. I also added a thick neck...it originally had a wrapping paper tube neck. It is sitting on top of an upside down tomato cage. (I have a number of the cages that I bought specifically to make papier mache things with -- big creatures...I am still working my way up to that and I have switched from papier mache to plaster cloth.) This guy is about 48 inches tall.







harsh early-morning-it's-snowing light is not great for lighting objects for photos




























































The catlike guy started out tonight as just an aluminum foil covered balloon on a wrapping paper tube neck. When I started playing with it I found that the balloon was not as inflated as it once was. I compressed it a bit and shaped it a little and made the markers for ears. I added stuff around it to give it more of a body shape and this is where I am so far. The arms are just lightly taped so I could see how they might work. This guy is about 21 inches tall.