May 31, 2009

Early this month I exhibited at the North Village Artists Market. I sold three pieces plus a few cards. Had the usual 'promises to buy'... but..... about 20+ artists(& some crafters) exhibited....

There has been a major change down at Lakota... the management, understandably, wished to include more artist's works ..so I moved to the opposite wall & was allotted less space. I will have to be more selective with what I take down there because there is enough room for about eight things...

March 21, 2009

Obviously, I'm not keeping this page current... lots have happened in the past month(s).... the dark, dreary days of January and February took their tole & some of my stuff wasn't all that okay... however, everything is now greening up....

..I did another presentation at the Osher Lifelong Institute . As before, it was a pleasant experience and I had, more-or-less, a captive audience of about 25 that listened to how I plied my craft... I gave away lots of printer rejects(...trial prints, errors prints etc)... also, gave away several of my lesser works that have been 'behind the couch' and unseen as door prizes... the people that received these were very appreciative... I was asked if I would give a course on making art stuff, but I declined...too much equipment & probably not much interest.... one of the attendees made the comment that my front yard looked like a graveyard.... with my 'creative' scrap concrete structures... I drove by her house over on an adjacent street and found her yard completely void of anything except grass... I know, I know.... I shouldn't take this criticism to heart but remarks such as these were/are uncalled for & probably left to a more private conversation...

I've discovered a gifted artist photograper in the past months....Zoe Strauss... got her book "America".... and another cinephotographer David Kessler..... I found one of his pieces "They Got Bills to Pay" ...quite poignant...

January 29, 2009

...I'm still getting some mileage from the Tribune article published last week... a young woman came up to me at a local pizza place and exclaimed"You don't know me, but I know all about you...." ...she is a journalism student and we had a nice conversation...

... several....no MANY times in the past people have commented regarding how I make my stuff &/or the originality issue... a local Cultural Affairs functionary even commented I "made reproductions"....others have said something to the effect that I was violating copywrite laws... clearly these people lack understanding .... when I use another piece of art in my renderings I give the original artist credit if there is significant influence... FWIW see the Tribune article below for my feelings related to this subject..

...anyhows, this morning's Wall St. Journal addressed this issue....<----- click on this sentence

December 14, 2008

.....it's been a busy and tireing last few weeks.... did a show out at the Parkade center....sold a few things... about 22 artists...next year there should be lots more

http://lhote.us/affair-08.jpg

A nice article appeared in the local paper, Columbia Tribune... I'm amazed that the reporter, Lindsey, was able to make anything coherant from my bumbling, blathering-on & etc speaking..

Columbia Tribune Dec 14, 2008, Niche Article

October 12, 2008

Art is a Contest!!

Over a month ago I submitted my required registration for two pieces to be part of a show at a local bank.. it didn't cost anything to enter so...why not??? There was a list of 'requirements' for the art entered & I followed these with my art pieces.. the art I entered was not my 'best stuff' by any means because I wanted to just experience the process(.... sounds like sour grapes?)... on the opening day of the show I walked around the bank and noticed one of my sculptures was placed against a wall with it's front facing inward... I turned it around... At this show, there was a single judge whose assignment was to decide who's art was better than who's art.... what a concept... the public was invited to cast their vote on their choice... the ribbons for the contest....err uh..Art Show..were already on the pieces when the public arrived... admittedly, the pieces that won ribbons were well made and nice but beside them were equally nice & well made things, IMHO... Oh! those requirements... baloney.... I knew of at least 3 pieces that failed the test & they weren't mine.. BTW I didn't get any ribbons... just picked up my stuff and ...out the door of the bank wondering "there will be a next time.... what will I want to do then?"....

Now.... the same art organization that helped sponsor the event at the bank is having an 'invitational show' at their place of business... according to this morning's paper, they sent out 40 requests for art submissions and a 'multi-level jury' picked the 'top ten' for the show..

....most every 'juried' art show has a contest of some sort... 'best of show' kind of things... token prize money & certificate...

...makes me wonder.... how would van Gogh, Judd, Calder or Monet have faired in these contests?

...other stuff

Last November I gave a presentation about my work in a seminar at the local extension office...the program is mainly for retired(ooops! repurposed) folks, much like myself... this year the same program has invited several of the town's top level artists... the first a sculpture artist had some good stuff but she seemed to have an arrogance about her and was obviously commercially oriented..she had brought two of her small pieces and 'hawked' them, and her website, at the end of her presentation... this past Friday, however, the artist was one of an entirely different color(pun intended) ..he is a painter of note around Columbia...a young person trying to support a growing family with his work... he is cleaver, funny and NOT pretentious about his work.... the next artist seminar is a local water color artist...I have some preconceptions about him & we'll just have to wait and see...

September 28, 2008

Columbia Art Venues

There are vast differences in the two major art shows in Columbia... Art in the Park managed by the Columbia Art League and Columbia Festival of the Arts managed by the Columbia's Office of Cultural Affairs.. I attended both of these events this year Art in the Park in June and Festival of the Arts this weekend.. It would appear that as the CAL event gets better and better the COCA event gets less and less. The clear difference is the airy, openness of the CAL event held at the Stephens Lake park and the sardines-packed-tight event run by the COCA crowded around the Boone County Court house.. Also, the Art in the Park event(probably in its 20+ yr history) attracts more of a variety of artists of quality products... In interacting with the managers of both events it is clear to me the personalities of the people in charge spill over into their respective events. About 30-40% of artists at both events seem to be either jewelry or ceramics people...This weekend the CAL sponsored an Art Show at Boone County bank <--- this event had very high quality entrants..talented and creative.... BTW the writer had two entries...not my best stuff because I was just wanting to experience an event where a judge decides "this art is better than that art."...the next morning, after entering my stuff, I dropped by the bank only to find my one sculpture facing the wall(i.e. good side out of view)... I turned it around

May 15, 2008

Criticisms::::

Even some of the masters were bothered by negative criticisms of their work... When one puts his/her stuff out there, they can expect all sorts of remarks... most good..some troubling...many of little value in improving one's work.. Rollo May, mentioned at the bottom of this page, addressed this issue of criticism and the creative person. Sure, I like remarks like "you sure have talent" or "that is REALLY good" but these are useful only as 'strokes.' Below are parts of some of the many e-mail notes I have received over the years.. The last, rather lengthy one(& kinda condescending), prompted me to address this critique thing...

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“I was disappointed to see how much red, white, and blue you put on the Obama
work.  Your other people works have had plain backgrounds and I think Obama
would look better with a plainer background; even just a few rwb stripes
discretely across each corner would be preferable to the all-over rwb.  My
opinion.  I personally would give serious consideration to buying the Obama if
it were on a plainer background.

Keep on truckin'!”

* * * * * * *

“I am just a local Columbian who has recently become a fan of your artwork.  I am particularly interested in the nude portraits and sculptures.  I plan to visit Lakota to see what you have on display but I was wondering if you sell any of your pieces.  I love original and unconventional artwork and would love to someday own a piece of yours to hang in my new house.  You do great work and I look forward to hearing from you.”

* * * * * * * *

“When we received your request we were uncertain about its listing.  Going first to the tab "Metal Art"...we saw that 11 of the 17 images shown were reproductions of other artists work and thought there may not be enough original art.  When I looked further, I saw there are many original pieces throughout the website...very creative and some very good. 

There is a lot to see on your website...and it is interesting to read about each piece.  Sometimes though, as happened here, people may not take the time to dig into all of the possible titles. Maybe you could have a tab where you show only pieces available for purchase and/or those you consider to be your best for the visitor who doesn't have time to look through all of the folders. 

Think you have a lot of potential as an artist and the reproductions you do are wonderful---so why not expand on that and try to create more original pieces of your own.  Next year you might consider applying to show and sell your work at the Columbia Festival of the Arts to get it out into the general public.  That would be some great exposure for your work. “

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March 9, 2008

I've really been remiss in updating this page in a timely manner.. you can see what I've been doing by clicking on the tabs for the months of Dec 07 and those in 2008. The dreary, dull days of mid winter don't help with the creativity aspect of what I do but I try to stay at it....

I've found, over the past few weeks, some very helpful writing about the creative process. In addition to the Rollo May book referenced at the very bottom of this page I suggest you might be interested in the following. Just click on the sentence to bring up the pdf file.

1. An area writer, Walter Bargen, Missouri Poet Laureate.... take note of the section "Bargen's Advice for Young Writers." The tips would work for just about anything creative ...just replace 'writing'(or related wording) in the article with any creative process.

2. Sam Harrison, 10 Ways to Get Inspired by the World Around You. This article appeared in a recent issue of How Magazine.

December 3, 2007

I just finished a show down the street at the Unity Center, Affair of the Arts 2007. The past, almost 2 months now, have been spent with some commission work...some of the pieces can be seen in the Nov-Dec 07 section.

On a completely different note.... dealing with people who 'talk the talk' but don't walk the walk...so many individuals ask information about my stuff with the usual blah, blah about how wonderful it is and say they will get back to me because they really like a particular item or they have some Xmas presents to buy etc. etc.....& you never hear from them again...

Also, some time ago, I was a little irritated by the haggling people do when they decide to buy something... now I am used to it and feel the haggling is just part of the process of selling art...

...don't get me wrong, now... the past year has been wonderful for me.... I've sold nearly 20 pieces, done two commission projects and taken in more than one month's retirement income.

The display of my stuff at Lakota is still going well.... people comment quite often how much they enjoy going there and seeing what I have done......

October 14, 2007

It's turned a little cooler here making working in my metal workspace, a screened porch,pleasant. The past several weeks have been used preparing a presentation as part of "Potpourri of the Arts" at the Osher Lifelong Learning center. That presentation was October 12 and was a very pleasant experience. I sold one of my sculptures, A Brooklyn Brownstone, within a week of placing it at Lakota. I have been doing some commission work for one of the deans at Mizzou for the past month and the project(s) should carry me well into November, however, I will continue to work on my personal projects in order to keep some balance in my 'creative' life....

August 5, 2007

I'm still down at Lakota Coffee company. I brought Orange Woman home last week...she had been down there since the start of the show. Presently, I'm working on another caricature & some other portrait things.. check by the Aug-07 tab on the main page...

I'm planning on doing a session for the University Extension in Mid October about me/my art work for one of the arts courses that will be offered..

July 8, 2007

I continue to move stuff on down to Lakota Coffee and bring home pieces that have been there for months.. It's curious... the works I bring home smell of coffee for a while after. I attended a local Garage Art Exhibit over at Brady Commons on the university campus.. A Columbia Missourian reporter asked for an interview because, I suppose, I was the only viewer at the time.. Click here to see the article.

May 31, 2007

Again, I've been slacking off in keeping this page up to date. I'm working on my fourth commission piece for the company mentioned below and along with my lawn care endeavor for several seniors and single moms I've had some limitation on the amount of time I can spend on my artisan work. My stuff is still down at Lakota and I still get occasional inquiries about purchasing things but after I quote a price I don't hear back from them.

I'm trying my hand at self-producing note cards and greeting size cards picturing some of my 'better' pieces. Getting these cards out there has been a bit of a problem because the several 'galleries' around town just don't seem that interested.

April 26, 2007

Whoa!! It's almost May and I have been remiss in keeping my Blog Page up to date.. I've tried to get the publisher of a local, slick, upscale magazine(April issue)to give me permission to put an article about me and my work on this page but so far he doesn't respond to my e-mail. MyMissourian.com has a little story about the Obama piece.

Currently, I'm working on some commission work for a local electric company. I've finished two pieces and am working on a third. I'll post some pictures here as soon as the woman at the electric gets the pieces hung....which might be as early as tomorrow...

March 8, 2007

Molly Fergus, working for the College of Education at Mizzou, wrote a very nice article for the COE Newsletter. The original article has been replaced by a profile article(Aug 4 '07). Click on the picture on the profile page and you'll be redirected to an article... the text needs some serious editing...

Click here to look at the article.

February 25, 2007

Kyle Stewart, mentioned earlier below, did a excellent(IMHO) job with the article in today's Columbia Missourian. Once you load the file....& it is a large .pdf file, click on the Muse tab on the right... now if you have a dial-up connection ...click on the link and go get yourself a cup of coffee while the file is coming down...

Click here to download the Missourian article..

February 18, 2007

An exciting announcement blurb is in this morning's Columbia Missourian. Click here to see the blurb.

February 16, 2007

The Metaphor In My Yard

A newspaper reporter contacted me today and asked for more details about the door I had built in my side yard. Click on this sentence to see the structure.

Following is my response to his inquiry

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....these questions don't bother me....     here is the story about the door I call the metaphor in my yard.  One of the earliest Ken Fallin wire sculptures is the Nancy LaMott.  I bought several, then all, of her CD's.   On one of those CD's she sang the theme song from "Days of Wine and Roses" the song has the same title.  The song won an academy award and was written by Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini.   Here are the lyrics...

The days of wine and roses laugh and run away like a child at play
Through a meadow land toward a closing door
A door marked "nevermore" that wasn't there before

The lonely night discloses just a passing breeze filled with memories
Of the golden smile that introduced me to
The days of wine and roses and you

(The lonely night discloses) just a passing breeze filled with memories
Of the golden smile that introduced me to
The days of wine and roses and you-oo-oo

....probably you haven't seen the movie...starred Jack Lemmon & Lee Remick..   the days of wine and roses were a metaphor for the couple's life ...lots of alcohol and such...  Jack Lemmon's character finally gave up alcohol but the Lee Remick character could not...  so the "closing door" is a metaphor for their life before he sobered up and they parted ways...   well....I was 'hooked' on Nancy Lamott and the door mentioned in the song seemed to have some meaning for me....  so I put up the door and behind the door represents my life before about 2002 and on this side is after and on to the present...  I leave the door closed, but unlocked, because ever once in a while I find it necessary to look back through that door(metaphorically, of course)...  FWIW the crate  I dismantled to make that door has a FRAGILE label on it and that label is a convenient part of the metaphor in my yard...   the "days of wine and roses" doesn't have any part in my version of the door metaphor...only the third line of the first verse of the song is relevant...

.....the above might seem a little wacky for some...  when I tell people about the door they might say something about Poe( but it has nothing to do with him) and just nod like they understand..

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February 11, 2007

This past week has been very rewarding. Wanda & Alien Woman have found new homes. Alien Woman was purchased by a New York couple that was at Lakota and saw my things on the wall. Wanda found a new home with a Mizzou student. In addition, I have had two interviews for upcoming publications ...one for the Columbia Missourian Sunday Muse section and the other with an electronic publication of the Univ of MO. College of Education. The exact date of publication isn't certain at this point in time, but should be sometime this month.. I should be getting galley proofs of the articles very soon..

I continue to rotate things in and out of the Lakota Cafe. I'll mention again; the staff at Lakota are very cordial & helpful.

January 19, 2007

Today I replaced some of my pieces at Lakota Cafe with some other works...some new. Skip, the owner, is allowing me to keep my stuff up there, more-or-less, indefinitely until some other artist requests the space. The experience with Lakota, so far, has been quite rewarding with several sales and a large number of inquiries and kudos from Lakota patrons...

December 17, 2006 8:00 p.m.

I just finished hanging my exhibit at the Lakota Cafe. I had to' improvise' in order to hang what I had from the crumbly mortar between the bricks on the wall. It took 3 different visits to finally get the task completed. The stuff will be there for about 4 weeks and really looks a lot better than at the Ragtag because of the ambiance of the coffee shop. This past Saturday I exhibited the 6 hrs at the Affair of the Arts, downtown in the old Puckett's building. The A of the A this past Saturday was the last weekend of 3. Some of the artists had dropped out and a spot was vacated so I was asked to show.. Ranata Brown(an artist herself) was the show director and did a very nice job managing things.

Click on this sentence to look at some pictures I took at the exhibit at Lakota.

December 8, 2006

I finished up a project that has been in the works for about a year now...see dec-06 projects page for pictures of "The Sash."

A university photojournalism student finished up his class project and sent over a .pdf copy for me to look at. Click on this sentence... ***caution it is a BIG(3.8 meg) .pdf file so you will have to wait a bit for it to load.

OR

you could click on this sentence and, maybe, get the file from his server.

Nov 29th, 2006

The December issue of Missouri Life arrived yesterday with the article mentioned below.. some slight changes had been made with the galley proof. The magazine has state wide circulation which will, most certainly, give me far greater exposure than the local exhibits for my art offerings..

I took my portfolio down to Lakota Coffee Company down on 9th St. and spoke with the owner Skip DuCharme. He agreed to host a solo exhibit of about 15 +/- of my things. There will be about 1 or 2 new things in the exhibit and 14 or so of the pieces that hung at the RagTag. In the past, Lakota has hosted quite a diverse group of works by various local and regional artists....some contraversal.. The exhibit at Lakota will start about Dec 5th, depending on the current exhibitor taking her things down, and will run until the 1st of next year..

I'm beginning to sell a few things......which is nice....

Nov. 7, 2006

An article by Stephanie Ruby is slated for publication in December's Missouri Life. The final(I hope!) galley proof can be read by clicking on this sentence.

Nov. 2, 2006

A progress page sent out to my address book.

http://lhote.us/n-progress/n-progress.html

Oct. 31, 2006

The exhibit at the Ragtag came down today. The RagTag never mentioned the exhibit on any of it's webpages.

Oct. 14, 2006

The opening went well. The RagTag has yet to update it's webpage to announce the opening. Click on this sentence to see a webpage about the opening.

Click on this sentence for a 'suggested' gallery page. This page I did when I had a little time a few weeks ago.

Oct 10, 2006

Click here for enlightenment.

Oct 8, 2006

Little notice in Sundays Columbia Tribune, Ovation section.. Click on this sentence.

October 5, 2006

We couldn't finish the hanging on the 4th so we finished up today.... it looks very nice... here are some quickie pictures I took yesterday. Click on the following

http://lhote.us/hanging/hanging.html

October 2, 2006

We are going to hang the art at the RagTag this Wednesday afternoon. That evening the stuff can be viewed. The opening is all set for the 11th & it is now written in stone.

Sept 27, 2006

Some unforseen scheduling problems have floated to the top. The opening at the Ragtag will be moved forward a week to October 11, 4:30-6:30.... but even that date/time is not yet written in stone..

Sept 26, 2006

A nice article by Columbia Tribune reporter, Matthew LeBlanc, appeared in tonight's paper. Click on this sentence to view the article.... you may have to enlarge the picture to full size to be able to read it. Or just click on the following to read from the Tribune archive. http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2006/sep/20060926feat001.asp

Sept 24, 2006

The 1st annual North Village Art Walk Block Party is now history. The whole process was enlightening in spite of the wind trashing some of my display. Click on this sentence for some of the sordid details.

September 20, 2006

Today it looks like rain this coming Saturday for the Village Art Walk....hope not.... I'm packed and ready.. I finished the first phase of my nail harvest mentioned below. Click on the link..

http://lhote.us/nails/nails.html

Sept 17, 2006

The curator of the RagTag Cinema Gallery contacted me and my opening will be either the 17th of Oct or the 18th.

Today I found a new source of art materials... I put out the word on the local Yahoo Freecyle group that I needed some old, rusty nails and this fella sent me a note that he had an almost unlimited quantity that were the left overs of 8 years of bi-monthy Japanese Fire Meditation events.. Braving bugs, weeds, humidity, rain and stickers I harvested a 5 gallon bucket of nails. I plan on renting an electric cement mixer and, using some landscape rock pumice as an abrasive, knock off the cruddy scale on these puppies so I can braze up some nice stuff.

Click on this sentence to see what I dug up..

Sept 7, 2006

I'm about 85% finished with that piece mentioned in the Aug 27, 2006 entry. I had to recut her left eye from a section of Chevy pickup door(got at local Honda dealer body shop). Although the original picture was an ad about some hair frizz reducer and showed the woman will all sorts of hair, I decided to only feature her eyes, nose, mouth and a portion of the red coat she was wearing... Click here to see where I am today. I may figure some wayto fill a little of that space above her face... when I cut the frame I had intended to include some of her hair in the sculpture...

Sept 5, 2006

The rain and cool weather have made the grass shift into high and I'm back mowing for my 6 'clients'(seniors and single moms.....no charge) resulting in lack of progress on the art piece mentioned below. The Village Artwalk administrator has assigned me to 211 N. 10th(Auto Radio area) to show some of my stuff. I've rebuilt an easel( left behind by the defunct neighborhood school) to hold 6 or so of my things... Click here to see who else is showing and where..

August 27, 2006

In the past, I worked from sketches that were more-or-less line drawings[i.g. the Ken Fallin drawings] because these could be used to make working patterns without difficulty. Presently, I'm trying to go beyond and start from a magazine picture or photograph(changing my paradigm...so to speak ) and, using Photoshop, draw a workable pattern. Once the line and B & W drawing is printed I enlarge to about 200% and I'm ready to fabricate the piece. Click here to see a picture of the progression. And click here to see the final, working pattern....It is about 17" tall. The eyes have been enhanced with a marker and the lips redone... she's starting to talk to me!!!

Aug 26, 2006

I'm scheduled to show a few of my things at the North Village Artwalk , 4-8 pm on Saturday the 23 of September. Exactly where I will set up is yet to be determined.. Some of my 3D sculptures will be exhibited...maybe, a woodworking project or two... The Artwalk is an alternative to the Fall Arts Festival on the courthouse lawn and vicinity. Some time was spent to retake pictures of most of my good stuff and make up a portfolio of sorts. All went pretty well until my color printer started favoring red.

Aug 23, 2006

It got so uncomfortable out in my metal-working space I had to move my work area/studio to the basement. Now it is late Aug and the weather is a little more agreeable. I have been able to complete about 3-4 projects a month lately due to the impetuous of the upcoming show. Presently, I have more than enough sculptures to hang so I will have to do some culling. I see that I have got-into-a-rut with my present themes and feel I need to try something else or go in a different direction. Anyhows, I have made up some posters for the show and will put them around. I should be meeting with the Ragtag Gallery curator in the very near future to make some plans. In addition, I have ordered some 11x14 photo prints of some of my favorite pieces and they look VERY nice. I plan to give them out at the show as door prizes along with some of my small sculptures that are taking up space on my tables. People are asking me when the opening take place and I have to shrug and tell them the opening is not yet set. I was hoping the Garage Art folks(mentioned in the next entry) would have another show this month but it seems it's not going to happen...

In the past I have ordered some DVD's of some of the artists that interest me. Just the other day I got a set of DVD's presenting interviews of about 12 artists in New York. Art City distributed by Twelve Films. For me, anyway, it is very interesting the process and attitude of many of the artists.... Louise Bourgeois impressed me...

July 30, 2006

We took in 2 of the 3 venues of Garage Art yesterday evening. I met a lot of nice people and gave out some of my cards. These events, I believe, are each month during the summer. You can find out more @ www.garage-art.org (although the site is down as I write) or myspace.com/columbiagarageart. And I finished another wire sculpture. It should be posted today over on the July page.

July 23, 2006

I have ordered some commercially-printed color post cards showing two pieces and on the back side my artist's statement. They should be delivered this week. I made up my own 'business' cards from old file folders and the software I have. They will replace the text only gawd awful things I have been handing out.

July 2, 2006

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Artist's Statement

I was born, raised and now reside in Columbia, Missouri. At the University of Missouri I obtained a B.S. in Science Education and taught science and mathematics for 35 years before retiring in 1999. My last 23 years I taught science, primarily physics, at the award-winning David H. Hickman High School. For the next 4 years after retirement I took care of my sick wife and dabbled a bit with woodworking. It was not until late 2004 I began working as an artisan wannabe with no formal training in art or metal working.  Previously, I had made some of the hardware elements for my woodworking projects. It wasn't until I discovered a large amount of copper wire in a dumpster at a building site that I considered making nice things from copper wire. I should mention, I use only discarded, salvaged or junk materials for my work. Some of my early efforts were quite crudely rendered but I was learning the crafting process. Eventually, I began using sheet metal I cut from junked computer cases, clothes dryers, microwave ovens and the like.  The pieces of sheet steel are cut from the original, discarded item using an angle grinder with an abrasive wheel and the detail cutting is done with a jeweler’s saw. I discovered the ubiquitous, wire, clothes hanger to be a challenging medium for my craft/art. Occasionally, I use scrap wood, fabric scraps, plastic and other materials as part of my renderings.

As others have discovered, there is beauty and usefulness to be found in the least of things. Is there a life metaphor here somewhere? Getting the treasure out of someone’s trash takes considerable effort and foresight as does making productive citizens from the disadvantaged.  The process of discovering the potential in a material and crafting it intrigues me the most and gives me the greatest pleasure.

When I see a drawing, painting, photograph and even an advertisement I try to envision how I can adapt the image to my process.  Sometimes the adaption is obvious because the sketch has connected elements that can be made with wire or metal sheet; the completed work is then in one piece.  Other times I have to make concessions and occasionally I fail and must discard the piece or start over.  In the beginning, I copied several pieces of yard art from a commercial lawn ornament company, made simple wire portraits and in the process taught myself how to braze copper. Then I discovered Picasso sketches and used many of his sketches for models. The line work of the Picasso pieces lent well to my copper wire sculpturing. I peruse the Wall Street Journal regularly and noticed caricatures drawn  by Ken Fallin. Ken stumbled upon a photo of one of my wire sculptures of Nancy Lamott on Nancy's memorial page and wrote me a very nice note. Since then he has been very supportive of my renderings of his drawings.  Jin Feng does wonderful work with metal and I have 'stolen’ a few ideas for use in some of my work. Lovisa Burfitt, a European designer, does very nice, elegant work and I have used some of her paintings for my wire renderings. In addition, I’ve worked from some advertisements that appeared in the Wall St. Journal.  Most of my sculptures to date can be wall-hung but I’m expanding my crafting into more three dimensional pieces.

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June 12, 2006

The curator of a small, local gallery at the RagTag Cinemacafe came by today to look at my stuff. She was impressed enough to allow me to have a one-man show. The month of July was open but that would leave me only 2 weeks or so to prepare so I picked the next available month, October. There is insufficient room to show anything other than pieces that can be wall-hung so I will have to go from there. By October, I should be able to get more than 6 things done and I still need to work on my "Artist's Statement." The woman liked my art deco lady so I gave it to her and another I had hung in a tree. Also, I finished another Ken Fallin piece, Jane Jacobs, and sent a picture to Ken and hinted I needed a current picture of Katie Couric ...well the great guy had one, unpublished drawing and he sent it my way right away with permission to use as a model..

May 12, 2006

This is Old and Has Been Superceeded & Artist's Statement...see above

For those envolved in the creative process, I have several books I would recommend. The Courage to Create by Rollo May is a must. He is an artist, practicing psychologist and lecturer. His book helped me overcome some of the early uncertainties I had about what I was doing. In addition, Sparks of Genius by Root-Bernstein and The Creative Process by Ghiselin could be a useful addition to the creative's library.

To get the necessary attitude and knowledge in the shortest amount of time about some of the great artists of the early 1900's I have purchased many DVD's and video tapes of all manner of artists ...Calder, Picasso, Matisse, Goldsworthy, Miro(my favorite ), Pollock, Giacometti are just a few.... In addition, I have built up a library of many books about the artists/sculptures in the past century.