The Gift of Intuition

I haven't always been a big fan of intuition. Back in my 20's I thought it was too woo-woo. But over the years it has proven its self right over and over again. So now I trust it 100%. It may not always have the exact answer, but it always points me to a new doorway; the right 'next thing'- even though I haven't a clue what's on the other side. I trust it will be exactly what I've been looking for.

"The Gift of Intuition", ceramic, copper, fabric, enamel, photo transfers.
20x7x7"

Back to Figurative

I've moved back into the figurative after my experimentation with tiling recently. My first figure out of the gate is "Type A". It is a wall hung piece, rich with a lot of detail, mostly due to the etched brass surfaces. I'm definitely liking this direction, and "Type B" is in the works.

Copper, torch-fired enamel, glass, mixed media.
22x7x3"

Somedays She Is Nuclear

I'm not feeling particularly nuclear at this moment.
Yet there are days, now and again, when I work in my studio and the help that I asked for the night before from the Universe is unquestionably there in the room. Isn't it lovely when that happens? For me it is when the strangest concepts enter into my mind, certainly not mine, yet they make total sense and they have a certain grace. Such concepts energize me like crazy, even as I don't quite know how to proceed. That feeling of knowing I'm going to dive into all that uncertainty is delicious. And I also know that there's really no other place I'd rather be.

"Somedays She Is Nuclear"
Copper, ceramic, enamel, mixed media.
33x20x6"

Detail

The Ship Galapagos

"Galapagos"
Copper, enamel, brass, glass, mixed media
14x23x6"

Yesterday I finished a ship that I've been working on for several weeks. It is the most ark-like boat that I've made to date. I wanted it to represent the journey of my life so far. Along the way there have been memories and experiences that I have kept close to me, and they are represented by the bottled "specimens" lined up on the top deck. There are talismans too, etched in brass attached to the deck just below the glass vials. In my mind they protect and also bring good spirits. I've always loved the idea from generations past, that words / letters / symbols placed 'just so' within a circle can have such powers.

Glass vials with talismans below

The "bumpers" on the side of the boat are some kind of seed dyed red - I found them at the local florist. One of those things that sit around in the studio until, at last, you figure out how to use them.

Red seed "bumpers"

The big wheel cover is a photo I took of some local chamomile weeds, along with a tiny starfish and, of course, tiny vertical stacks of the planetary signs (for my hope that there will be guidance in the days ahead of my journey).

Copper & Enamel Riverboat

Last week I started playing around with making boats again. I think I have a love of boats that is here to stay. Yet each time I revisit my ship making, I always like to experiment with new proportions just to keep things interesting. This time around I found some images of old tin toy riverboats that called out to me. Then began the process of figuring out how I might assemble such a structure. Here in shorthand is my thinking.

First the hull structure (the long narrow piece) and the top deck. I like to use a card stock for figuring out the pattern because it can be taped together with scotch tape first to see how it works out.

The challenge with that long hull piece was making the curve just right for the stern and then torch-firing it. A pretty awkward piece to handle. Then I brazed it to the deck. Wheels are attached with a threaded rod through holes drilled in the hull.

Next were the wheel covers (the half circle with brazed sides). The graphics on the wheel covers are created in Photoshop and then output onto an inkjet decal paper. Tiny screws attach the wheel covers to the hull.

The white enameled top cabin came next. I cut all those windows out with a jeweler's saw (lord!). The cabin isn't attached yet, nor are any of the chimneys. I need to create 2 more smaller cabins. I just have paper place holders in for them in this picture, but the pieces for them are laying on the desk.

The brass caster wheel will be used in the stern underneath. I have a support in there now just as a stand in. I'm thinking the caster connection will get hidden under the small back cabin I have yet to make.

More to come... 

Copper Toy Train

My ongoing fascination with wheeled pieces.

"Driving Passion"
Copper, brass, glass, dried roses, aluminum, mixed media
10x12x3"

Poppy seed pods

I love poppy seed pods. They're perfect little seed dispensers, but more than that, for me they are a symbol of illusion (due to their association with opiates).

It is amazing to me that how I perceive how my day is going is directly related to my mood, which is directly related to the noise going on in my head, which is directly related to my hourly illusion of good, bad or indifferent. So it makes all the sense in the world to change that illusion to something very upbeat and enticing, right? Well, there is the challenge in a nutshell for me!

"Into the World of Dreams"
Etched copper,  brass, aluminum, pewter, enamel, mixed media
12x6x4"

Speaking One's Truths

I had a dream about speaking my truths recently. It has stuck with me, and just this last week this piece came out - seemingly in honor of that message. I etched the narrative of the dream at the base of the glass.

Funny how the subconscious works.

"Speaking One's Truths"
Copper, glass, brass, vacuum tube, enamel, mixed media

Another Wheeled Piece

This one is called "Reoccurring Lessons: Loss, Love and Illusion".

Copper, glass, bleached bones, dried roses, poppy seed heads, wheels.

Altar to What is Cherished

Once again I am inspired by Mary Oliver's writings. These words are etched into the glass at the base:

Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?
Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into  the garden
and softly, and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,
with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness to be wild and perfect for a moment,
before they are nothing forever?

"Altar to What is Cherished"
Copper, glass, dried roses, brass, found pivot wheel

Shadow Boxes

I've been using Ampersand cradled panels lately for my work as a base, the ones with the 2" sides. The other day I realized that the back of these panels seemed WAY more interesting to me than the front. I suspect there are many others that feel this way too, but it was the first time my own brain went there. I really enjoyed working with the dimensional quality. Here are my first two and I'm thinking there will be quite few more...

"She Started to See This Whole Vast Mystery Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts"
Etched nickel silver, copper, enamel, glass, mixed media. 8x8"

"This Small Temple She Calls Home"
Etched brass, copper, enamel, glass, mixed media. 12x6"

Kiln Fired Glass

Back in January I did some research on how to transfer black and white imagery onto glass, something that I've been intrigued by and wanting to experiment with for sometime. Turns out there's a pretty simple method using a film that is run through an old style lazer printer (not ink jet). It is a decal that then can be soaked off the paper backing and attached to (very) clean glass. After that it is kiln-fired. The iron in the lazer printer toner cartridges is the "active ingredient" fusing itself into the glass and coming out as a sepia photo image. Pretty amazing stuff.

Since then I've made some pieces that have the kiln-fired glass attached.

"One Day Clarity Appeared With the Greatest of Ease"

"She Is the Yin to His Yang"

It's a little hard to see in the photo of this one, but there is a dancer in front of the kiln-fired glass section.

"Holding It Inside as If It Belonged"

This piece has wall mounts on the back (which you can barely see in this photo) that push it out from the wall about 1.25 inches. And unless one clicks on the image to enlarge it, it's a bit of a challenge to see the shark image within the skirt area.

I don't own a kiln, so I want to give a big "thank you" to Brian Brenno here on this island who generously offered to fire these experiments for me. I dare say all the Photoshop work (I'm such a beginner still) that I did just to get these images out seems to be calling me in a new direction.

Steampunk

A number of months ago it was brought to my attention by a young amazing artist, Jethaniel Peterka (www.jethanielpeterka.com ), that some of my work had "steampunk qualities" about it. I, of course, had no idea what that meant and so I had to go google it. "Retrofuturist fabrication" is one description I found, along with: "the goal of (Steampunk) redesigns is to employ appropriate materials, such as polished brass, iron, wood, and leather, with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era."

"Unearthing His New Set of Dreams"
Brass, copper, nickel, steel, glass, enamel, vacuum tube, fuses
33x17x4"

So, yes, there are times when my work can fit into that description, at least partially. This recent piece, shown above, seems to move into that territory. About a year ago I found an old post office box door with a glass window in it at a second hand store. I finally got to use it in this piece.

The door opens to reveal a set of brass-ended old glass fuses that I put writings inside (on acetate), these represent the unlocked dreams within the figure. The blue backdrop is a picture of the Universe (I love that idea that we all have a Universe inside us). The poem etched on the door is about starting over by one of my favorite poets.

There's also a lens that I pulled from an old telescope in this piece. 

I surrounded it with an etched nickel plate to make it look official. The lens is suspended above an inset area that has a diagram of a heart in the background and another fuse. The lens magnifies the whole thing. This inset area sits within a brass plate 'upper body' segment that has an etched steam engine diagram on it. So there you go, that's about as steampunk as I get.

She Is A Bride Married To Amazement

I finished this piece several weeks ago. It is about wanting to stay in the moment and appreciating all the marvelous things that are in my life right now. I seem to be challenged by that notion on a regular basis.



 I liked the idea of a woman being married to amazement and I wanted her to be in a rather 'showy' setting full of the wonderful things that dazzle her. The coral image (enameled) represents the undersea world, the field of stars (etched) represents the heavens, and the earth (enameled) represents all that lives here and just the wonder of the earth in general. The bunch of rose buds, fabricated out of copper, symbolizes love and relationships. There's also a flying fish in the small etched and enameled circle in the center of the coral area - I think flying fish are pretty amazing myself. And then I threw in two trained cats that are jumping on cue through the hoops on either side of her because I thought that would be Truly Amazing.

The bride is making her entrance through some etched brass imagery. I love the dress. The upper part of the piece has 4 talisman images in circles and then one central image of a pyramid which I see as a symbol for always striving for higher ground. The talisman images and the pyramid are all etched too with some transparent enamel on top.

 It makes me feel good having her around.

Etching & New Inspiration

Since mid-May I've been beginning a body of work for my upcoming November solo show at Patricia Rovzar Gallery in downtown Seattle. It is always a challenge for me to create 20+ pieces that somehow feel like new ground and keep the creative fires hyped up and burning.

It seems that I have several very strong sources of inspiration for this new body of work. First off, I took a class with Larry Calkins ( a WONDERFUL instructor) at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle back in late March. It was a wire sculpture class that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have always loved the linear quality of wire and the way that an open 'container' can be made that I can then place something inside of. This fits in perfectly with my desire to explore internal/emotional qualities that can be found inside of us humans. Also in this class I learned that I can use brass rod to braze copper to steel. A bit of a break through for me since I always presumed that it wasn't possible.

The second big inspiration is Mariko Kusumoto (you can find her work at www.mobilia-gallery.com ). This amazing artist has actually been inspiring me for years, but I decided back in May that her use of etched metal pattern and imagery on her metal surfaces was an element that I wanted to bring to my work in a much larger way. In the past I have used enamel almost exclusively to bring imagery to the copper surfaces of my sculpture, so this is a bit of a departure. I also like the idea of working with the muted palette of copper, nickel-silver and brass as a main focus and then bringing in some color with small amounts of enamel.

The third inspiration is Keith Lo Bue (www.lobue-art.com ). I know I'm hardly alone with him as an inspiration source, but the man is amazing in how he fearlessly puts together all kinds of 'stuff'. And he always shares the process on his blog. His design sense, his playfulness, and his tenacity in exploring new materials and pushing himself are what I find delightful.

One of the first pieces that I've done below is titled "Relishing Her Late Bloom".

I've got a little bit of everything going on in this piece (what's new?).  The wire skirt has leaves and a lotus bloom fabricated out of copper, there's a small amount of enamel at the top of the skirt with the Venus sign on it, and the separate piece above her has etched brass imagery of the seasons, sun and moon. Off to either side of the etched brass imagery are smaller circles containing good luck talismans. Those, too, have been etched (in copper) that has then been enameled with a transparent enamel. The whole piece mounts off the wall about 3-9", with the skirt area sticking out the farthest, so there are quite a few cast shadows when it's lit with a spot light.

I am really enjoying the etched surfaces and looking forward to exploring this path further!

New Small Work

I've been working on a number of small scale pieces over the past couple of weeks. I primarily work in copper with some enamel fired onto the surface for color. Over the past year and a half I've also started including found objects that I've either collected or recently found at thrift stores. Seems I'm mostly attracted to brass and glass pieces. Some inspiring things have come off of Ebay, like a huge supply (277!) of antique porcelain doll legs from Germany that I recently bought. I enjoy working small at times because it allows experimentation versus my bigger pieces. All sorts of oddball things come out.


Photos from top to bottom:

"Truly, Deeply"
"The Dirt of God"
"Funny Bone"
"The Key to Question #078319