studio shot

Here's the commission piece I'm working on - may not look like much at this stage, but it represents a whole lot of work already. Just figuring out the basic composition & how to incorporate the things the client wants into the piece while keeping it looking right has been a big deal, but I'm happy with where it's at right now. Now that I know what sizes the images need to be, I'll have good prints made of the photos. Then I'll gesso the board & hopefully can start the physical assembly before the end of next week -

commission sketches

I am often asked how long it takes me to make a typical piece of art, and I usually answer with something like, "Well, it's really hard to track that, actually..."

I've been working on this commissioned piece of artwork for some time now - first it was the basic idea in my head, then the time meeting with the client, collecting photos from her, measuring the wall space where it would go & taking some photos of my own in her backyard.

Part of the process has been to sketch several animals that have lived with her over the years, getting the right photos of those animals has been another part of the process.

And then finally sketches of birds that have shared the space...

For the smaller birds, I already have plenty of sketches, but then putting them all together in a composition with the photos will be another part of the process...

It's always one step at a time, and it has to fit in with everything else I'm doing - somehow I've never had the time to keep track of how much time it all takes.

heading back home

July 25, 11
10 a.m.
Natural Bridges State Park
Santa Cruz
sunny, light breeze, not too cool
kids playing in surf
mid tide
sea birds call out
surf crashes and ebbs

11 a.m.
just south of Davenport
Shark Fin Cove aka Panther Beach
sun holding - spotted tiny little cove from road
warnings of rip tides

As I'm busy taking photos from the cliff's edge, others come & head down the steep trail to the beach - if not for motorcycle gear & a pressing schedule, I'd be tempted to join them.

(click on panoramas to see them bigger)

Artichoke field on the plateau behind me -

Workers w/bags over their shoulders work their way through the field, picking.


12:25
Pigeon Point - Whaler's Cove
been traveling north on Hwy 1
lost sun - slipped under high overcast
bumblebee visits pale green ball shaped flowers at my feet
seal on rocky beach
waves lapping

Lone seal on beach seemed young - maybe a juvenile? - upright position until it seemed to notice me on the bluff above, then laid flat & hid behind rocks.

South end of Whaler's Cove

Whaler's Cove from Pigeon Point

Wandered around to find view of lighthouse that I liked. Pretty windy - standing just outside ropes at viewpoint but well from edge of cliff. As I'm coating the print, a gust of wind catches the negative and sends it toward the cliff's edge - I did stop to think before I leapt to secure my precious negative - not quite worth going over a cliff for it.

Scott learned a little & shared - fence around lighthouse is because the over 100-year-old brick structure lost an iron band securing the tower - trying to raise funds to restore it.

another coast ride

7.23.11
motorcycle ride w/Scott from home - west via the north bay to Sausalito - south on Highway One over the Golden Gate, circuitous route through SF to Pacifica - Half Moon Bay - to Santa Cruz - overcast nearly the whole ride.

Stopped often for butt breaks but not excited enough to break out the big camera.

Davenport just north of Santa Cruz, dog in this house wasn't too happy with me for taking photos.

Santa Cruz Natural Bridges, fairly high tide

beach visitors

just south of Natural Bridges

at long last...

Some pieces of artwork seem to flow nearly effortlessly from one stage of my process to the next - or at least come steadily without much stress, the product of many years of art-making. This is how it usually works, and how I can continuously produce & sell art at a rate that begins to sustain me.

But once in a while, the artwork is stubborn, the process does not flow easily, at least not at every stage, and it truly becomes art work. This has been one of those pieces; it started off reasonably enough, a second piece after a commissioned work on the same subject, one that I could do "for myself." That I could put on display, enjoy, and eventually sell. I often like to enjoy a piece for awhile myself before I sell it, and a commission can feel a little like giving up a child at birth, so I thought I'd sort of do it twice & I wouldn't miss it so much.

But I think that was the real problem here - the first piece, commissioned, flowed nicely and I was very happy with it, as was the collector, but then I didn't want to just reproduce it again, and that's where the difficulty began... this is the second piece, and I am pleased with it, but it came after much anguish & feeling stuck & disjointed. A long and difficult labor, to continue with the birthing metaphor; not that I love this child less, just that it was harder to bring it about than I expected and now I'm still in the recovery stage.

It's already gotten many accolades from my Facebook friends, so that's quite comforting - and I'm sure with a little time I'll feel better, but I also have a couple new commissioned pieces to dive into and I don't believe that I'll try to be doubling up on any of them at any time soon.

no place like it

So this is my new piece, pretty close to finished - I'm calling it "No Place Like It" - it's partly about where I call home, the Sacramento Valley, and where my final home will be in Heaven. There are maps from other places I've lived, that never quite felt like home, an image that has a tree with a wood cross on it, where someone apparently died in a car accident and went home.

It's also got a dog on it, as my home always includes my dogs - a bird, who's home is in the tree, a nest tucked safe inside, and a chair, so one can sit & rest...

shape of things to come

I have several things I need to be working on, but one that I've been dying to do, so that's getting done first, to get it at least a little out of my system & out of my mental way - at least I hope that's how it will work.

This started with an unfinished house-shaped CD shelf I found I found at Micheal's, which I've modified to accommodate a small branch I've collected. (There's a pile of them in my studio, I still haven't figured out quite how to store...)

It will get a couple photographs collaged on, with maps & sketches & whatever seems to make sense. This is going to be part of my "Where Your Heart Is" show in November at the Kennedy - it might be hard to keep it away til it's time, but I've got to start getting these pieces done.

re-organized

Been working at getting rid of old stuff I don't need to make room for new old stuff I've inherited & am likely to use in my artwork. Things like old maps, cool rocks & an assortment of old wood boxes are all part of my inheritance, after the passing of my grandfather. I've also become the keeper of many old family photos, including some old negatives, so it's possible that some of that could show up in my work, too...

This particular box was something I rescued from my grandparent's house some time ago but I hadn't decided what would become of it. Now it holds wonderful things that I want to have out - some could possibly find itself into artwork, others will just hang around and influence art. (You can click on the image to see it bigger & explore the box a little more.)

sonoma coast ride

May 29
afternoon
Shell Beach - riding along Sonoma coast
sunny, VERY windy

wild mustard & Queen Anne's Lace fully blooming

Just south of Shell Beach - looking north - no shelter for the bigger flowers, ice plant hugs the cliff

on bluff above beach

looking south

seagulls soaring off bluff

rain rain

5.28.11
on Mt Tam

Got caught in a downpour, tried to wait it out under this tree but it only got heavier - ended up riding to hotel on motorcycle, arriving completely soaked