Sandblasted Stemware Sets

I made this set of sandblasted wine glasses for a work mate who stopped by the show. I had some other stemware at the show that generated a buzz. I got three more commissions for additional sets, so I'm planning on working more with glass. They aren't too complicated, just time consuming. I could see making these sets and having them available at the CHAC gallery on an ongoing basis.

The small stones were also popular. People wanted to commission specific words and images on them, but for $4 a piece that isn't much profit.

Art du jour 9-9-08

I have been looking for some 4"x4" frames for over a year to put these etched mirrors in. I finally found some and they work well with the silver of the mirror. I saved the images to blast in stone later on, but I thought these would make an interesting display. I want to experiment with blasting the front and the back of mirrors to create a layered effect.
(These sold in the October show.)

October 2008 show at CHAC Norte

I will be showing again next month in CHAC’s North gallery, CHAC Norte, located at 774 Santa Fe Drive. I plan on showing sandblasted stone furniture and sculpture. I rented a large space, so we'll see how much I can get ready for this show.



I have outdoor tables ready to blast now. I'm using botanicals and outdoor themes, including butterflies and flowers. I'm also thinking about layered glass table top blasting. I've experimented with glass plates, but it might be a challenge to go to the bigger size. Should be fun to try and beautiful if they turn out.

Sandblasted Marble spheres

These have been popular. I’ve found some solid marble spheres in several places, including a couple 2 inch ones on my recent Tucson trip. I have sold a few already.

Sponsors make an art show great

The show opening went really well. The First Friday crowd was smaller than usual due to cloudy weather, but there were still about a thousand people through the gallery over the weekend. We had some great sponsors. Julia Blackbird’s Restaurant provided appetizers on Thursday night for our preview party. Mountain Man Fruit and Nut Company donated 600 pieces of wrapped candy. It was the perfect sanitary thing to have available for our guests and surprisingly no mess. I’m not sure why people will throw a wrapper away, but they leave cups and plates all over a gallery, including on top of art sitting on tables. We also had Country Fair Nursery donate half a dozen potted Fall containers to display around the gallery. We got many complements on the above donations. So, many, many thanks to our sponsors and friends who helped out with this show.

Silk-screens

I needed some way of producing the same image over and over for this idea I had for the robots, so I got out the silkscreen kit I had and made a couple in only a few hours. I had forgotten how easy it was when you don’t have to stretch your own silkscreen. I did a robot and a spaceship that I used in several pieces for my September show. Just like any medium, I learn with every new piece the things NOT to do the next time.

The kit came with drawing fluid and masking fluid, so one of the easiest ways to make a silkscreen is actually drawing on the silkscreen what you want to be inked on the surface of your art form. You can even correct any “over-spill” of this preliminary masking liquid after it is washed off. So cool! These two are just outline silk-screens, but after this show, I want to make some multi-colored prints using 3 or 4 silk-screens.

Rainbow Invasion, Silkscreen on paper, 14x24, 2008.

Zap I, II, III, silkscreen on crackled acrylic canvas. 5x7, 2008.

New Robots

Here are some images of the new robots. They are going to be in the September show. I don’t have anywhere near the number of pieces like I’ve had in previous shows. Well, unless you count every card and small stone a separate piece – then I probably have more pieces in a show than ever before.

Robot Toy, 30x30 Acrylic on canvas. Comes with toy.

Oblivious of the Destruction, 18x48 Acrylic on canvas.

Detail from Oblivious of the Destruction.

September 2008 Show flyer with times

This is our show flyer for the September 2008 show. I’m showing with 5 other artists. We named the show Nuestro Otoño, meaning Our Autumn. I like the graphic and the look of the card, but I think that there is a major advantage to putting samples of each artist’s work on the card. People see something that looks like what they would want to own and they’re motivated to come take a closer look. A show’s works don’t have to look the same or match a color scheme for people to get a sense of what will be showing. I think we didn’t do that this time because I didn’t want to spend the time in Photoshop editing six different images like I’ve done in previous shows. Lesson learned.

I plan on showing a dozen rocket and robot paintings, silk-screens, and illustrations. I’m also setting up a table for my sandblasted stones and glassware. I’m also going to try selling some greeting cards. The items on the tables are low price-point pieces that get people to stop and look.

If you’re in Denver during the month of September, stop by the CHAC gallery at 8th and Santa Fe Drive to check out my new pieces.