Sunday, March 20, 2011

Intro to Sculpture

It's been a slow month in terms of creating. I just finished a 16x20 landscape with two figures for a wedding gift, which was a little return to traditionalism and to the figure. And now I find myself wanting to break again from 2D media to explore sculpting. I've begun whittling Lord of the Rings chess pieces out of poplar (with a beautiful jack-knife cased in turquoise, red jasper and mother of pearl...thanks Alex). This is a project that will take at least a year, with my half being the "light" side and Alex's half being the "dark" side. And if it ends up being even longer, well that's okay. Because it will take me just as long to read the books.

But in the meantime, I've chosen a piece of Brazilian soapstone to start chiseling away at. Here it is. I have no idea how long the process will take or if I will like the results, but I'm starting.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Notes from the Armory...

We went down to New York to visit some galleries and mostly to see the Armory Show. It was 55 degrees and the sun was out all day, making for a pleasant walk-about. But at the day's end, after all was said and saw, this lovely photo of Miranda and my bloody mary just post-bus-drop-off seemed to be the only one I took, so it shall be posted. And, even though I didn't manage to take any photos at the Armory (I suspect this was due to the chaotic and packed setting), I did manage to leave with a few scribbles, as follows:

(Page 1)
Notes:
Tom LaDuke-paint swabs on foggy delicate images-multi-dimensional
David Scher-King at table-oils
self-breaking piece-witty-makes people feel awkward
little kid with great hair trying to open installation piece of door with leg sticking out of it-gallery rep rushed to stop him-no parents around-funny
Jenny Scobel-drawing of girl in pencil w/ watercolor-freckles-soft
Michael Borremans-"The Ear" * had "heat"-vivid
Sigurdur Gudmundsson-photos-70s-3 artists running, funny
Birgir Andresson-portraits with words, silkscreens, "Portrait #15 &17"-Moscow XL Gallery-strange man guarding this section
Claudia Wieser-Mystical Room-very precise
giant photo of white Schnauzer-I miss Maggie
Tom Sachs-woodburning piece
(accompanied by a scribble of the framing of his work)

(Page 2)
"No, you do not touch Art; you look at Art. You do not touch Art.
(miniscule pause) Look! A burning tire!"

The latter note was a quote from a father to his ~5 year-old daughter after she attempted to touch a very textured painting. I feel that this statement sums up the event nicely. I put my notebook away after recording it.

It was a good trip.