Other Day of the Dead Creatures

For the October show, I wanted to focus on Dia de los Muertos -esque animals. I created cats, dogs, foxes, elephants, bears, whales, and even 'boneless' sharks with the floral designs on their bones. I knew I was more into the Dia de los Muertos art than most people, but the animals without the bones showing sold better than the Dia ones. That is not to say that I didn't get a lot of great feedback on all the pieces. And not to say that I didn't sell well. But I think the robot heads are the way to go for the next show.

Robot Heads

I have been seeing robots everywhere lately, so I've been wanting to make some that were comical and unique. I used some wood for the base and embellished them with various metal pieces and radio tubes I've been collecting for this very purpose. I sold all but a few, which I plan on reworking for the next show.If you have and collections of metal pieces and parts you want to donate to the cause, let me know.

What does the Fox say?

I made this fox sculpture before I know about the popularity of the YouTube video by the Norwegian comedy duo 'Ylvis' (click here if you haven't seen it). However, on first Friday, a young guy came up to me and said, "If you put a call out next to that piece that said 'what does the fox say?', you would certainly sell it". Well, I made the call out the next day and many people laughed at the reference, but it didn't sell. But that is okay because it is proudly displayed in my orange dining room now.

Denver Barrel Art

These are images of the barrel I did for the Denver Barrel Art contest sponsored by Tequila Herradura. The restaurant hosting the barrel is La Sandia. We had a fun Reveal night on October 30th. Thanks to all of the friends who came out to share the night's events with me. I was given the barrel on October 14th, so not a lot of time to decorate. I think it turned out fun though. the story if of the goddess Mayahuel, who "is the female divinity associated with the maguey plant [agave] among cultures of central Mexico in the Postclassic era of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology, and in particular of the Aztec cultures. As the personification of the maguey plant, Mayahuel was also part of a complex of interrelated maternal and fertility goddesses in Aztec mythology and is also connected with notions of fecundity and nourishment."

left side

Mayahuel - Goddess of the Agave plant

right side - soldier offering sacrifice

right side - soldier offering sacrifice

Title

Hispter Plaques

I'm not a hipster (but secretly, I like the concept). I've been seeing the hipsters out in the art walk more and more, so I wanted to make something that would appeal to them (even though most of them don't have the money to buy such things). So I asked one of my young and hip friends what would a hipster say. Other than the great lines she gave me like "It's like a whole bowl of awesomesauce", I found a great source on the internet. So these are a few that I came up with.

 

There Be Dead Whales Here!

The Day of the Dead show is going to be open at the same time our show is open in October, so I thought I would contribute some pieces to that theme. However, I wanted to do some works that were different from what folks usually see. And being so inspired by whales lately...

Everyone knows the story of Jonah in the belly of the whale. 

Well, in this version, the whale did not get the instruction to spew Jonah out.

So, being that he had so much time on his hands, 

Jonah started doing some scrimshaw with the whale's rib bone.

One dead whale says to the other, "Why did we go extinct?"

The other one answers, "No one wanted to humpback."

Nice gag - even though they aren't really extinct, nor are they humpbacks.

Just laugh and move on...

Some pieces are just imspired because I find an eight foot long piece of wood in an alley.

 

Painted Oliphants

I am also working on a variety of wood elephants for the show. These are the ones that are done so far.

I was inspired by an article in the National Geographic about painted elephants.

Exitium means Destruction in Latin.

This was inspired by a tattoo I saw of a black elephant head.

Would Destruction incarnate be wearing a fez though?

To go with the Day of the Dead theme of the show in CHAC Norte, I created several animals with painted skeletons. Here is the first Day of the Dead elephant that I have ever seen.

I got a lot of good feedback on the elephants. But this small piece (10"x5") surprisingly drew the most attention. I could have sold it 10 times over.

Garden Art 2013

Some photos of the yard. There are treasures hidden throughout. It is a wonderland playground for the cats.

Recently framed pieces of art from others

I just got some pieces framed that have been waiting awhile, but since you might not get a chance to see it hanging on the wall, I thought I'd include images of them here.

I found these three at the Art Student's League Art market. They are by oil artist Pat Carney. 

This is by Daniel Lowenstein. 

He was showing at the CHAC gallery in July. 

I have been enthralled with foxes lately, so this one came home with me.

This is one of those rare thrift store finds. It was folded up in a bag with other fabric. 

It is a real batik, but no artist name on it. 

My latest iPhone app - ToonCamera

If you haven't played with this app yet, I really recommend it. It has more than a dozen style brushes to use and that is enough for endless possibilities! It is high enough resolution to blow up to 8x10 with no problem. Look at some of the samples I took and sent to my email.