Archive for December, 2010
Practical design
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Aesop’s Fables
Oak Leaf bedside tables, 24H x 12D with a 20 inch glass top, crinkled brown craft paper over heavy cardboard tubes. The tubes are available in a variety of dimensions, sold in hardware stores as use for cement-pouring re: fence building.
I’ve had this idea to make bedside tables for a few years now, and selling the house has motivated me to finally make them. I have not been able to find any in the stores that I like. Faux suede effects were the intention here, but whether or not that was successful, I’m pleased with the results. A brown circular woven mat was purchased for $2, finishing the look.
These bedside tables coordinate the oak leaves on the oak headboard that was carved and given to us by my Dad.
Framing on Northern Delights 02 update
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
Northern Delights 02, 24H x 36W inches acrylics on canvas, adhered to a 36H x 48W x 1D inches canvas. Mask/resist medium was used to maintain white spaces and pure colors in both sections.
The central painting was started in 2008, and the framing dilemma resolved today – a perfect example where some paintings just need to hang around for a while before they are well and truly finished.
I began extending the scene of the central painting onto the back “frame”, a 36H x 48W x 1D inch canvas, in the same style, but stopping for a coffee break, then coming back with fresh eyes, decided to quit in the early stages. I’m pleased with the clash of styles – a rather impressionistic style framed inside an abstract. Art is the best place to exhibit any rebellious tendencies! Besides, formal frames can sometimes cut off the energy of a composition too abruptly. Every painting does not need a frame, but finishing the edges should always be considered.
Here is the finished painting as it was previously. I used masking medium to block out areas that are intended to stay white, and am continuing the same technique on the back frame.
Comforters and Joy
Monday, December 13th, 2010
While organizing and packing for the big move to Oregon, I’ve been uncovering (so to speak!) things I haven’t seen for a very long time. 
In 1992 our boys played hockey and collected hockey cards, so they each chose their favorite to be recreated on a comforter for their beds. My thinking was that if they had stuff they liked in their room, they would keep it tidy. Hey, it did work for a while! Pillow cases, lunch bags and toy bags were made from left-over fabric, and they painted on some too. I’m saving a few of these things to hand down to their children.
At the time these were made I was working freelance, mostly for interior designers. There were outside on-site jobs, but the work I enjoyed most was designing or matching and painting fabrics at home. I’d be given a fabric sample, a room theme, or sometimes only one word as inspiration, and a limited time to come up with an original idea, then produce it.
The standard business advice to keep professional and personal life separate might work great for companies buying and reselling someone else’s products, but does not apply to artists. For me at least, work and home life flow as one. Creativity is basic. It’s always there buzzing around, and when professional work is not switched to “on”, it’s looking for something else to do!