The Cyclone completed plus 4 new pieces

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.

Evolution of a "Cyclone"

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.

New Stuff in my Etsy Shop

Lg Lovebird Cage on Hanging Plaque
Sm Rollercoaster Cage on Hanging Plaque

It's been waaaaay too long since I added some new pieces to my Etsy shop but now that I've started, I can't stop...each day I'm trying to add at least one. Here are some photos of some of the new pieces-cages that hang from found wood plaques on the wall. I also have a new ferris wheel with a curtain behind it. A few of my lamps will be listed there soon too!

and the birds bear witness...

This is one of my new large pieces that I just built recently. I've been working on it for a few weeks. It tells the story of a coaster called the Serpentine that was skimmed by a twister in a small Kansas town long ago. The ticket booth and games tent are the only buildings left standing and the coaster has only three cars left, one of which is teetering on the end of the track. It measures 21" wide by 11.5" deep and 21" high. For more info or to purchase click here.

Roller Coaster

After thinking and mulling and sketching and thinking some more, I finally put together a roller coaster piece. This one car is meant to look rather lonely and the birds perched above are the only witnesses to the possibility of the car careening off the track. 

I've been branching out lately into other formats than just birdcage circus tents and will put some more pics of the new pieces up soon.

I will be doing a show in Roundtop, TX on April 1-4 so if you're in the area, stop on by.