not for sale
Next Entries »Takkakaw Falls
Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Takkakaw Falls, Yoho Valley, B.C. 830 feet high, said to be the most impressive waterfalls in North America next to Niagara. 12H x 9W inches graphite, watercolors, based on antique Vandyck photos of the Canadian Rockies. Study only, not available
Mt. Assiniboine
Friday, January 11th, 2008
Mt. Assiniboine, about forty miles southwest of Banff, Alberta. 12H x 9W inch watercolor and graphite, study only, not available.
I inherited some charming antique books of hand-colored “Vandyck Photogravures” of Canadian Rocky Mountains scenery as it was at the turn of the twentieth century. The monotone sepia and few other pale colors add such a warmth to the already beautiful scenery in the 1910 photographs, and since I haven’t tried watercolors for years, I thought they would make perfect studies.
Andra’s New Hat
Sunday, May 27th, 2007
Andra’s New Hat, 14 x 11 inches graphite on paper
Evelyn
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Evelyn, 11 x 14 inches graphite, eraser on paper. When drawing I use the eraser as much as the pencil. Taking advantage of smudges that build up gradually is a good way to keep adjusting the placement of things and clarify details. This is especially effective with portraits.
Pre-Columbian Jaguar Beads
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
1. the tray 2. the beads 3. a picture of the original necklace.
The Pre-Columbian Jaguar Beads are made of Polymer clay, a permanent material once baked, acrylic paints, varnish, tray re-purposed and paper-mached, painted and varnished for durability.
I was drawn immediately to this Pre-Columbian Mayan necklacewith jaguar beads upon seeing a photo of it, and would love to own it. Well, making one is the next best thing! The original necklace of gold jaguar head-shaped beads was made over 500 years ago, discovered in a tomb in Guatemala.
Like much of the pre-historic and tribal art that looks crude or seems like it should be easy to recreate, there is a lot more here than meets the eye. One of the things that’s so enjoyable about a project like this is experiencing the same design dilemmas that the original artist might have encountered.
There is a lot of good design in that simple-looking necklace! I think the goldsmith who created the original might have used a mold because each individual jaguar head-shaped bead needs to be identical, and so do the small round ones in order to string the beads together and obtain the exact uniform semi-circle shape. Mine were individually shaped, less than perfect, and did not fit together well unfortunately. I’ll need to make a mold from one of the more perfect beads in order to replicate this with consistancy.
The jaguar beads are glued onto a useful tray, a recycled film case that was paper mached then painted with acrylic, and it’s as if a moment in time is recaptured, a moment when the original artist had beads on a surface, ready to be strung together. The refurbished tray is varnished, durable and useful. Hand wash gently with damp soapy cloth, and the crevices with a wet paintbrush, dabbing the area softly to absorb excess moisture.
Eneggma
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
Eneggma, set of 4H x 4W dry pastels on paper, part of sketches prepared for “The Perfection of Small Birds” by American Poet Hannah Gerber. Frames use crackle glaze and off-white acrylics over robin-egg blue. Sold.
Chickadee 02
Sunday, April 9th, 2006
Chickadee 02, 4H x 6W inches charcoal on paper, another sketch for Hannah Gerber’s The Perfection of Small Birds
Chickadee 01
Saturday, April 8th, 2006
Chickadee 01, 8 x 10 inches charcoal on paper, for The Perfection of Small Birds, by Poet Hannah Gerber
Hannah was only looking for cover Art, but when commissioned to do only one design a lot of preliminary sketches are presented also, partly as a way of warming up but also to give clients a selection. As a result, extras were also used on inside pages.
Garlic and Magic Apple
Tuesday, August 9th, 2005
You Go, Garlic! and Magic Apple, 6 x 6 x 1 inches acrylics on canvas. Sold.
