I'm getting ready for another gallery show--this time I'm really excited to be doing a duo show around the theme of amusement park rides and games with an amazing oil painter named Peter Cole. I would link here to his blog or site but I don't think he has one so I'll post photos later. I thought I'd try something new and show a bit of the process of making my pieces. This piece is a bit different from some of my previous ones--(as most of them are I guess). This one is a large clay sculpt of a woman who is literally a wreck and I named her The Cyclone after the famous roller coaster at Coney Island. Here she is in transition-the first step of sculpting her took about 2 hours total. The background is on the back of an old plywood and formica tabletop that has been in my basement for years. I drew rough outlines of carnival rides and tents on the background with oil pastels, then melted wax encaustic over the entire thing (the woman included.) I have colored her face with acrylic paints and soft pastel crayons. The roller coaster in her hair is made of wire and she sits on a found wood base. The pics here show the beginning mound of clay to her semi-finished state but I'll have some better photos of the finished piece in the next few days.
Here is the completed Cyclone piece from my previous post plus 4 of my new pieces that I'll be showing this starting this Friday, Nov. 5-Nov.30 at the Hilliard Gallery-1820 McGee-KCMO.
The Juggler-She was trying to keep all the balls in the air. This piece is about trying to juggle it all in life. It is a working dexterity game. It contains 5 metal balls which fit into the round holes over the woman's head. This piece is constructed of wood, tissue paper, handprinted fabric, painted metal, and wax encaustic. It measures 8"w x 10"h.
Conundrum-Sometimes I can't keep my mind from wandering. I wanted to make a piece that depicted a person's thoughts shooting around their head and pinging off of one thing or another, winding around Wonder and Imagination, occasionally getting stalled on Doubt or Skepticism but ultimately landing somewhere between a Bad or a Brilliant idea. This piece is a working pinball game with a ball shooter, faucet handles as spinners and curved metal scoops that provide ball stops. It's 16"w x 20"h.
Bed of Nails-He was on pins and needles.This piece is constructed of clay, found wood, nails, handprinted fabric, and acrylic paint. It measures 12"w x 6"h.
World's Tallest Man-He was above it all. This piece is constructed of clay, acrylic paint, found wood, wire, and handprinted fabric. It's 6"w x 12"h.
