December, 2015 Finally success.

Five new paintings completed, four from my National Parks trip and one from a trip several years ago in Bend, Oregon.

Moved to the Big City

November, 2015

The new studio is put together and I have started painting again. Thrown out the three I have been working on and starting over. Don't know why I  can't seem to finish a painting, but I have started again.

August, 2015

Decided to move back to the Portland area to be closer to our kids and grand-kids. Moving the end of this month, so work has been put on hold. Good news is that my studio space has more than doubled and I can run out and within minutes buy art supplies I run out of instead of ordering them online and having to wait a week. looking forward to just  browsing in an art store again.

June, 2015

I am beginning work on some new paintings of my 2014 trip to the National Parks. Also with these works will be a new book of these paintings. I know, I am running behind, but I became so engrossed in the pinch models I lost time. But I am back to work.

Male Pinch Models

This year I have decided to work on some small sculptures that I can also make the molds on and cast myself. These would be some of my "pinch models", which are quick 9" sculptures that I make and from these I make my larger pieces. The pinch models help me figure out the emotion and body position of the piece and also the wire and pipe structure I need to support the clay and the piece.

By nature these models are rough and very "chunky" and lack the final refinements and details of the finished piece. But I am fond of them because they are so explosive. In the past, I usually destroy the pinch models when I have completed the larger piece. No more.

I have made the first three male figures out of a series of maybe 6-10 figures, and my goal was to cast them myself in a marble like stone, with a small edition of 6 of each.

You know what they say about the best laid plans. Well, they are right.

I never have made my own mold and so hve never cast anything. I have made wax pieces from of my existing molds, but that's it.

First step is to make the rubber mold around the original clay piece. Piece of cake, I know what they are to look like and I use Smooth On Rebound 25 as suggested. I start by painting the rubber on, wait 90 mins, paint on another layer, wait 90 mins. then trowel on the next three layers (with  the 90 min wait between, a long day). And I decided to make all three molds at once ... save some time. 

Problem was, in the Youtube videos from Smooth On, they did not show me how to make the flanges wide enough and tight enough to hold the casting I poured. So after I made the outside Plasti-Paste mold around the rubber mold (another 1/2 day), I extracted the molds from the original and poured my first casting in silicon, just to make sure the molds held the detail. With the silicon they were perfect.

     

When I poured the final stone solution, the molds leaked like a sieve. And the powders I used did not look like marble, but bad plaster. 

Time to regroup and rethink this. I went back on Youtube and did some searching and found a couple of ladies in England that was using the same mold making products I am and they made a video showing how they did it. They used playing cards to make their flanges and legos to make their register pins. 

 

So, I started over,  on one this time, I think I am getting smarter. And it worked. But instaed of a stone, what am I going to make the final cast out of? How about a cold cast bronze, or bonded bronze which will allow me to add patinas like my cast bronze pieces. 

I redid all of my molds and cast everything using Easy Flow Clear with bronze powder mixed in. Then I researched how to get a good patina on the pieces, and I found patina waxes. I did not want to work with chemicals like cupric nitra and liver of sulfer, and the waxes worked great. Instead of leaving the chemicals on for a few minutes, the waxes you leave on for at least an hour then rub off what you don't want. Over the bronze casting I rubbed on a black wax then a green wax over that. They look great. 

    "Inquisitive"         "Loosening Up"            "Success"

   

I just published my first eBook!

I just published my first eBook!

Stepping up to the plate, and into the 21st century, I have published my book "Behind the Paint - Italy 2011" as an electronic book, available through Amazon.com.

I got the free book from Amazon "Building Your Book for Kindle", read it over a few times, 36 pages, and it sounded pretty straight forward. Only takes 5 minutes.

Well, four tries and 2 days later I was finished and the ebook was up on Amazon.

My problem was that I set up the book to be printed in a publishing software, not Word. So, I had to copy and paste all of the formatted text from the publishing software into Word, which stripped all of the formatting of headlines, paragraphs and captions and photos. It was dropped into Word as just text, except the images, which did not come across.

Next, I set up the formats in Word as per Kindle's specs, it took several minutes, and then go through each line making sure it was correct. Then I had to import all of the photos and redo all of the captions again.

When that was done, I uploaded the files to Amazon, quite simple really, and checked the previewer. Did not look quite right, so I revised it several times, until I was happy.

If you are a normal author, you write in Word and you don't have photos, and making an eBook is a piece of cake. If you are an artist and a graphic designer, and your book is photo heavy, well, it just takes a bit longer.

I do plan on publishing all of my books as eBooks, slick once I understand now how it will work.

So look forward to two more eBooks in the next few months, and I am editing my fourth book of the "Behind the Paint" series, it is on five National Parks, and I have started to write my fifth book, "Behind the Bronze" a series of stories and photos of my sculpture. Books four and five in paperback first, then eBooks.

Ready for Stormy Weather Arts Festival 2014.

Ready for Stormy Weather Arts Festival 2014.

I am ready for the Stormy Weather Arts Festival. My sculpture demo is Saturday Nov. 8 from 11 - 4pm. With a reception starting at 5pm. The place is Cannon Beach, Oregon and at Haystack Gallery.

I will be working on a new alabaster stone piece, weather permitting outside Haystack Gallery under their white tent. This piece titled "WindsweptIII" is about 14" high and as you see from the image below, she is seated on some rocks with the wind blowing her hair behind her.

This piece first started out as a clay piece to be cast in bronze (the clay figure on the right in the first photo), then I did a life size bronze of the head only,  titled "Spirit of the Sea". Now he is becoming a stone piece. She is very versatile.


I am also unveiling a new completed stone sculpture. She is 18" tall also out of alabaster. A photo of her is also below.

Oh, and I will be having a book signing of my three paperback books; "Behind the Paint" both one and two, and "The Building of Courage".

Come by and see me and my new "Ladies", and stay for a drink and some nibbles.

July, 2014 The Classic Elements:

I have completed all four Elements in this series; Water, Air, Earth and Fire.

On Saturday May 3, I unveiled the first of the Elements cast in bronze; Water as well as the others completed in clay.

Pre-cast prices for the individual pieces are $5500 ea. (except Water which is cast), retail will be $6000 ea. Each is a Limited Edition of 10. Life-size Bronzes of each are available Limited Edition of 2 each. Prices on request. Please email if you have questions or wish to order.

Water -Final Bronze
On the west, is the element of Water. I have tried to capture the qualities of Water: emotion, love and compassion by laying her down in a long, smooth textured, fluid pose, her hair winding under her and becoming the water gently flowing over and caressing the rocks beneath her. In the Greek and Christian beliefs she embodies the season of winter which I have depicted with her headband emblazoned with a snowflake. Water’s “tool” according to the Wicca and Christians is a cup which I have her holding and it has two dolphins which are her “animal” sign, and a water creature like her astrological sign of Pisces. Lastly, on her chest is her ancient “elemental symbol”, the triangle with the point down, or could it also be a chalice?

Fire - Final Clay with Patina Color
The opposite of Water on the eastern point of the compass is Fire. She is the opposite in every way. Fire is energy, passion, strength so I have her rising up as a warrior springing into action with her sword, her “tool” in the moment of attack. Her fiery personality is carried through with her spiked hair and active texture on her and the area engulfing her. Her headband carries the sun symbol, her season of summer. The elemental symbol is the triangle with the point up, the opposite of Water. Her sword handle carries the symbol of her astrological sign and “animal” Leo – the lion.

Air -Final Clay (detail) with Patina Color
Out of the north, is the element - Air. Not only the opposite in direction of Earth, but in all other qualities. She is rising up in freedom, creativity and intellect, and carrying her message and in her left upraised hand, is a bird her “animal”. She has a more youthful and open figure than Earth and on her headband is her season symbol of spring – a budding flower. The “tool” she carries is a light wand with the astrological symbol of Libra. Her elemental symbol, is the triangle with a line through it, but with the point up.

Earth - Under Construction with Patina ColorThe south holds the element of Earth. Her qualities of order, stability and maturity are emphasized in a more curvaceous maternal body, seated on a globe holding court with her “tool”, a sturdy staff, and on the head of the staff is Taurus the bull, both astrology sign and “animal” symbol. Her headband prominently displays a leaf, as she is autumn. Proudly on her chest is the elemental symbol of a triangle- point down- and a line running through it.

Ready for Spring Unveiling May 2-4.

I am ready for Spring Unveiling. My sculpture demo is Saturday May 3 from 11 - 4pm. With a reception starting at 5pm. The place is Cannon Beach, Oregon and at Haystack Gallery.

I will be unveiling the bronze of "WATER" from my Classic Elements series. The other three pieces will be there as well and they will be finished in clay. You can order the three; FIRE, AIR, and EARTH at a pre-cast price, and the bronze of WATER will be sold at a special price for the weekend only. Each is a limited edition of 10.

Nancy and I are driving to Enterprise, Oregon (6 hrs) on Monday (April 28) to check the metal of WATER, and then on Tues. I will be back in the foundry working on the patina with their artist. I will also pick up the casting of the Stone Sculptor and deliver it and the completed stone carving to the client. Then home with the completed WATER. 

I will also have my latest book at the show for sale. They just arrived from the printer, "Behind the Paint - France & Italy 2013". And some of the paintings that are discussed in the book will also be at Haystack Gallery.

Hope to see all of you there.

My Latest Alabaster Stone Carving - Part 5

  

This is where I am now.

I have completed my carving, (see photo on right), and now will put in more details of muscles and drapery as I sand starting with 185 grit sandpaper.

The next 5-6 days will be spent sanding and polishing the stone, using from 185 grit to 800 grit wet/dry paper. The next posting will be the final piece.

My Latest Alabaster Stone Carving - Part 4

FYI, when I first started carving in stone, I bought the beginners set of soft stone carver’s chisels and rasps. And they did a good job for a few years until I decided I liked carving and wanted to do more.

That’s when I decided to go all in for tools, so I bought several good Italian Milani rasps and chisels in the sizes that I seemed to use the most often.

Personally I don’t like to use power tools although I have an angle grinder and a Dremel when I really need them. A friend asked why since I could do the carving in half the time with power. I am just starting stone carving and I want to feel the stone and find out how to work with it. And yes, I have made a few mistakes. I have several small pieces of stone that started out as a single larger stone until I hit it wrong. So now I have some practice pieces and have learned a bit about the grain of stone and veins of mud. Hey even the master Michelangelo spent several years carving a piece of  marble when he hit it wrong and it shattered enough that he had to get a new stone and start over.