Cox18 painted by Blu

Weapons of War Series: Machine Gun and Cluster Bomb

Machine gun object made from a plastic drinking bottle, cardboard, masking tape, and painted with enamel paint.

I think it's funny that I have band-aids on both hands. When you paint you get paint on you; when you cook you get burned; when you cut things you end up wearing band-aids.

 

Cluster bomb object made from a balloon, cardboard, and masking tape.

 

Individual cluster bombs made from cardboard and masking tape. Soon to be painted.

Weapons of war are made to kill while death rocks back on his heels and laughs.

 

An Effigy Born From Mud and Blood

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.

I made this effigy from distressed brown paper bag (from Market of Choice). I soaked it in mud and glue then wadded and unwadded it.

The object is also made of masking tape, oak gall, horse chestnuts, rock, sticks and balloon.

The material that looks like twine is brown paper bag twisted tightly.

I made the object as an extra for my 3-D Design class at Lane Community College. The Instructor is Sculptor Andreas (Andy) Salzman.

 One thing he has stressed is that we own an object and deeply discover the materials with which we work. I think I achieved these things with this object--it was an exciting project!

 

Here is where I started....

 

 

 

 

The Dead Painter's Society: Copying The Masters

The Dead Painter's Society is a group of students from Adam Grosowski's painting class at Lane Community College (LCC).

We meet outside of class, at LCC, on Fridays, from 12 noon until we are tired and want to go home.

 I did this painting today: Friday, Febuary 25, 2011.

In class we are supposed to be copying the masters--paying especial attention to values: black(1), grey(5), and white10).

This painting (acrylic on cardboard) is after Theophilus Brown, Untitled (Interior), 1963. Oil on canvas, 46 1/4 x 48 in.

Theophilus Brown was part of the Bay Area Figurative Art School of 1950-1965. Richard Diebenkorn is the most famous of that school of painters.

The photos below are of my painting in progress. I will add color--hopefully-- this weekend, once I get the values in order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead Land: The Artist Book I Made

The first photograph below is of the image to the tunnel book  I made in the class I am taking at Lane Community College called, "Artist Books and Pop-Up!"
The class is taught by the amazing book artist, Susan Lowdermilk.

 The photograph below is the text, to my artist book, that accompanies the above image.

It is a book, so when you open the book the text is on your left and the image is on your right--and yes the image is back-lit by battery powered miniature bulbs. The objects within the image are seen through a screen of distressed tracing paper.

My Artistic Influences and Heroes: Sculpture

RED GROOMS 

 

                                                                   KIKI SMITH

                                                                CLAES OLDENBERG

Upside Down City (1962) by Claes Oldenburg

The Lonely Room

The cardboard box and objects in it are made entirely of cardboard, paper, glue, some wire and masking tape--everything is covered with a layer of masking tape, making it white and ideal for drawing.

I made it as an assignment for Andreas "Andy" Salzman's 3-D design class.

 The drawing below is a drawing I did from putting an action figure in the cardboard room to represent me.

I did the drawing early in the morning to get the melancholy morning light. Then, I added the Portland skyline. I used to live there and once had a life there. It was a dream within a dream.

I bought the action figure--the hospital orderly--at Hiron's.
 They also had the Cat Lady and Vincent Van Gogh.

 The Vincent Van Gogh figure comes with two heads so one can interchange them. One head is the bearded Vincent, the other is of Vincent shaven, wearing a hat with a bandage over his mutilated ear.

Poor beautiful Vincent. He was--like me--lonely and disturbed and unlucky in love.

The Tree Branch Dragon Claw Clay

This object is made from clay and in the photo is not yet fired.

The clay object is the result of a class project (3-D Design with Andreas "Andy" Salzman), where we were to take an organic object and render it in clay.

I chose a little branch from a tree.

I didn't like the clay compared to working with wire and then cardboard, paper, tape, and glue, but as the clay hardened and I got down into the organic object and began really looking, I started liking the process.

I am starting to like sculpture and 3-D design more and more--mostly due to learning from a real sculptor and teacher--and I am a little afraid I might be won over to 3-D art from drawing and painting.

I know this is silly because there is nothing really ever static and unchanging and my fear is from wanting security, stability, and certainty.

Pema Chodron a Tibetan Buddhist teacher says there is no such thing as security and a lot of our suffering comes from trying to seek and establish it.

I need to let go and let the muse take me wherever the muse--and Andy's influence-- will lead.