Creating A New Visual Narrative: Part Deux

Okay I'm finally back to working on the custom commission piece that I accepted many months ago. I hate to think of how long it's taken me to get started, but in my defense the client said they were in no hurry. Plus I actually have been making other pieces in between...okay, enough excuses!...here's where I'm at now. I'm FINALLY getting a solid, clear vision of what I want this piece to look like. It took me a long time and a lot of mulling over because, as I said before, I've never done a piece that depicts a certain city. Below I've listed the steps I've gone through so far. Next step is to actually roll out the clay and begin sculpting! Oh boy:)

What helped me most was finding the "stage". Many thanks to my friend Eric for bringing this wonderful old barn door over. I just love the thick, chunky bolts in the top! We had to cut it in half and add a small shelf at the bottom for the city to sit on.

Next I researched on the web-the pics I have here are an amalgam of many photos that I pulled from Flickr, real estate websites, etc. I cropped in tightly on these photos to get the detail of the wrought iron that is so specific to the French Quarter.

After looking at the research and building the stage, I started sketching the piece to scale. I don't have tracing paper large enough so I had to tape several together. I wanted to have the words "Vieux Carre" in there somewhere as that really says French Quarter to me in a romantic way. I also didn't want a realistic depiction of the Quarter-instead I wanted to give the flavor of it by focusing on the swirls found in the ironwork and the shapes in the peaks of the roofs, etc. I also wanted to get the large palm leaves in there as they are ubiquitous to that city--I ended up placing them within the context of the buildings, as when you walk by a courtyard gate and see nothing but a proliferation of palm fronds.

This is showing the trapeze couple that will hang in the upper right hand corner. This piece is to celebrate a 25th anniversary so I wanted to have two lovers flying over the city.

In this antique cheese box, I will have 3 sculpted heads, 2 saints and 1 "sinner", as NOLA is called the city of saints and sinners. The buildings will be constructed from a combination of all the mediums I use: clay, painted metal, twisted wire, and found objects.

60s Graphics Love

http://www.flickr.com/groups/georgesbriard/

Okay how come nobody ever told me about Georges Briard? I've been admiring his work for many years but never knew who was responsible for the cool graphic designs on a lot of the vintage bowls, mugs, and towels that I've seen in antique shops and thrift stores for years. These are just a few of his images but if you're as inspired by him as I am, just do a google search under his name and see what pops up!

On the surface design front, just sent in my payment for my booth so I'm officially committed to doing Surtex in 2012! I'm continuing to pull inspiration from lots of different places and am really having fun creating new collections. I'm also trying to research the places/websites that I think might be a good fit for my work. It's always important to consider your customer first (or who you'd like your customer to be.) I'm starting with the stores or sites I love to shop at and trying to target that consumer. Have a fun creative day!

Finding inspiration where you are

I went out in search of some visual inspiration the other day to help me get started on a Moroccan themed collection. Fortunately I didn't have to go very far because I live just a mile from a very beautiful place-it's called the Country Club Plaza. It's a Spanish/Moorish/Moroccan style shopping area here in KC and although I pass these buildings almost daily, I never stop to take photos of them. I thought you might find them interesting and inspiring as well! Is there somewhere near you that's also inspiring or different? If so I'd love to see it.

On The Other Hand....Something Completely Different

I am very excited about a new direction I've decided to go in! It's both a departure of sorts and also revisiting my past...I'll explain. When I worked at Hallmark here in KC, I was in the Party and Giftwrap department. We didn't design the cards that Hallmark is most known for--we designed the surface pattern. The decoration that went on everything from wrap to bags to plates, napkins, and cups. I became well versed at creating a repeat in Photoshop (after computers came along-before that we did it by hand with photocopies.)

So I have decided that in addition to continuing to create my 3D pieces (and finishing that commission piece from the last post), I am going to Surtex next May to begin my reintroduction into licensing! I am shooting for having at least 12 collections of 8 coordinating designs each. I started a couple of weeks ago and now have a few card and collection ideas percolating...it's really exciting to work in another dimension for a change. I think it uses a completely different side of my brain than building mixed media pieces, or at least it feels that way. How about you? Heading in any new directions?

Creating A New Visual Narrative: Part One

I've been commissioned to do a piece for a friend commemorating his wedding anniversary. He has given me free reign to create anything I want (which is a gift but is also somewhat scary to me) but it does need to be about a city-specifically, it should be about New Orleans. This city holds special meaning not only to my friend and his wife, but also to me as I used to live there and still have family there. I've been mulling it over in my mind and I keep getting stuck...how do I create a piece that depicts a city yet is still in my style? I've never done a city before....I mean, what would it look like? I called this post "Creating a new visual narrative" because in a sense that's what you do as an artist when you set out to create something that has your unique look to it--and it's not always easy. I'm showing you my sketchbook here with some beginning twigs of an idea...(now you can see how bad a sketcher I am.) These aren't the first sketches of this piece by any means, but this is the first one that actually has promise-at least to me. To you it probably looks like chicken scratch, but to me I know what to start on now. A title "Saints and Sinners" popped into my head so I've drawn some saints flying overhead and also contained within boxes (Saint in a Box-THAT should be a product:). Now to create the scene: I'm thinking of trying to do a wrought iron gate along the bottom with a 3-dimensional Saint Louis Cathedral behind the gates. Not sure yet how to build the church, possibly out of wire with either fabric or papier mache over. I'll keep posting my progress here in case anyone else is interested in how a piece comes together. This is what I'd call "Part 1-The Struggle". I know something's going to work out, just not sure what yet!

New Word Signs Too!

Walk The Tightrope

Tame The Beast

TaDa!

Step Right Up

Play With Fire

Flex Your Muscles

I almost forgot to show my new word signs to you also! All are similar to old sideshow signs but with a double meaning. They are handpainted and handlettered on recycled wood, with painted and aged metal, clay, and acrylic paint. All are for sale in my etsy shop or on my website. Click the titles beneath each sign to be taken to the etsy listing for that piece.

New Work-Fall 2011

The Illusionist

The Control Freak

Pacing The Cage

The Tightly Wound Woman

Bed Of Nails 2

The Invisible Woman

The Imposter

I've been AWOL for a long time I know, but I have several new pieces to show for it! I did these pieces in preparation for the Plaza Art Fair, held here in KC Sept.23-25. This time the theme I focused on was sideshow freaks, but not the type you usually think of--instead I wanted to show how we all have idiosyncrasies that make us each freaks in our own way. In fact I feel like I have been each of these people at various times in my life! The show went well for me and I want to thank everyone who came by. I always love doing the PAF because it's one of the few times I get to see old friends who I used to work with and also make some new ones. Below are most of my pieces from the show. I also have smaller pieces that aren't shown here so be sure to visit my etsy shop to see them all. I'll be putting those that didn't sell at the fair on my website and etsy shop later today. Please click on the title of the piece to go to those links.

More New Lighted Pieces

Lighted lovebird nest-$90.00

Polka Dot lamp with lovebirds-$160.00

Flying Bird lamp-$160.00

Grow Tree lamp-$175.00

Hidden Potential lamp-$275.00

Hippodrome lamp-$250.00

Lighted Circus Cage with bird-$90.00

The Hobbs building show here in KC went really well and many thanks to those who came by and visited my little "light" studio for the night. Here are some pieces that I still have and will now be for sale in my Etsy shop.

Crescendoh interview

That Jenny Doh. She amazes me...she never seems to lose her fascination and enthusiasm for artists and bringing people together around creativity. Although I've never met her in person or even talked to her on the phone, I feel her positive presence every time I get an email from her. She must have a life full of good karma and wonderful friends! I was fortunate enough to be interviewed on her wonderful blog Crescendoh. Take a peek here to see the full article:

http://blog.crescendoh.com/crescendo/2011/02/legato-tammy-smith.html

New Pieces And a Holiday Thank You Sale!

11"x14"version of The Moving Target w/6v motor

Escape Artist Dog- 6"h x 8"w-customized for your dog

Tattoo Artist Cat- 8"h x 6"w-available as is or customized for your cat

example of custom Circus Dog piece

The holiday season is just around the corner and as a big thank you for your support throughout the year I am offering 10% off (plus free shipping on anything below $600.00) on any pieces on the "Available" page of my website until Dec.19th. As you can see above, I've made a smaller limited edition version of my large "Moving Target" piece plus I'm taking orders for custom "Circus Animal" pieces made to look like your dog or cat.

The Details:

Find something you would like to purchase on my site by clicking on this link- Artwork-Available. Send me an email with the title of the piece and I will send you a revised invoice via Paypal.

Pieces must be purchased by Dec.19th to ensure delivery by Dec.24th. Custom pieces must be ordered by Dec.11. I will also give 10% of the sale price of each piece to a local charity for anything collected up to Dec.22nd.

Big ol Chunk of new Work2-The Animals

More new pieces, continuing on the circus freak train.This time though the freaks are domestic animals-dogs and cats. They are 6 "x 8" in size and are limited editions, signed and numbered. I am thinking of doing more of these later in the year so let me know if you like them! They are made from clay, wire and painted metal on the sides of the frame. They will be priced at $175.00 each.

Somerset Studios Article!

I was so thrilled to get to write an article featuring my circus lamps in the current March-April issue of Somerset Studios magazine. They did an amazing job with the photography and I can't thank Jenny Doh and Pam Garrison for finding and contacting me. I'm extremely grateful to them both! Also be sure to check out Jenny's newest project site here-http://blog.crescendoh.com/crescendoh/

More Circus People: World's Strongest Man

Here's the latest circus person in the collection(which right now consists of two but is growing.)

It's hard to get a good pic of this guy as he lives in a 5 x 7 shadowbox frame that is lit by a 12 V replaceable light. It is run by a 9V battery on the top of the frame. The trapeze artist from the previous post is already sold but I will be making more and different trapeze artists and other circus folk! He is made from plus clay and wire. The frame title is made from metal and printed fabric. To see more info or to purchase this guy, click on this link for my Etsy shop.

Now Introducing: Circus People-Trapeze Artist 1

In the last few days, I got these images in my head of what my circus people could look like so decided to add them to my body of work. The trapeze artist is my first but I have more in the works. Please give me feedback--would like to know if you like this new twist!