Dust Bath, 4H x 6W inches dry pastels on charcoal paper, for Hannah Gerber’s The Perfection of Small Birds

 

Chickadee 02, 4H x 6W inches charcoal on paper, another sketch for Hannah Gerber’s The Perfection of Small Birds

Chickadee 01, 8 x 10 inches charcoal on paper, for The Perfection of Small Birds, by Poet Hannah Gerber

Hannah was only looking for cover Art, but when commissioned to do only one design a lot of preliminary sketches are presented also, partly as a way of warming up but also to give clients a selection. As a result, extras were also used on inside pages.

Dusk, 8H x 10W inches dry pastels, graphite on charcoal paper.  A few sketches for Poet Hannah Gerber’s book The Perfection of Small Birds will be posted this week. This one was inspired by “Dawn”, a recent acrylic painting.

Dawn, 13H x 37W  x 2D inches acrylics on canvas, wrapped sides painted, scene continues onto narrow frame. Inspired by sparrows on the fence in our back yard, singing during dawn every morning as if to create the day with their song! Sold.

Gold In The Mountains 02, Kananaskas Valley, Alberta, Canada, 11H x 14W oil pastels on paper, 3-inch-wide white double mat and 26H x 22W inch white custom-built white wood frame with crackle finish.
Aspen / Poplar trees in the Rocky Mountains during Autumn display large yellow-gold leaf masses, represented here with strokes in a diagonal direction. Textures in varying directions add interest, as in tree trunks  marked vertically across the entire page, grounding the drawing as a whole with regard to composition. The green-black portion displays the vertical growth of evergreens.  Horizontal strokes were appropriate for the mountain, with the golden glow of distant poplars softening its nature and place it back in distance.

Mayan Bowl Replica Chair, 29H x 29W x 29D inches durable, functional, comfortable refurbished vintage 1960’s plastic lawn chair, mixed media: woven canvas strips, plaster cured and painted, varnish and wax.

This replica of an ancient Mayan artifact re-utilizes a vintage plastic lawn chair that was considered Art in its own day. The refurbished chair was created by a process of weaving canvas strips and white glue paper-mache style over the entire plastic top and bottom, layering wall plaster sanded in between coats, acrylics paint, varnish, graphite, marker, more varnish, then waxed for durability. Three more chairs are yet to be created with historic Art themes from other cultures.

The original bowl design is from the Late Classic Period of Mayan history, 600 – 900 A.D. Common Era, portraying two water Gods witnessing the birth of the all-important Maize God who emerges from a turtle, symbol of the earth and origins thereof. Customarily, hieroglyphs written along the top rim show the bowl-owner’s name and what the bowl was used for.
Inspirational resource: Maya, Divine Kings of the Rainforest edited by Nikolai Grube ISBN 3-8290-4150-0

Post-dated notes: Accepted into Grand Prairie Arts Council Juried Exhibition and Sale Sept./Oct. 2007, and won Second Place cash award, 3D Category. Also accepted into Artjury.com’s 2007 Fall/Winter Juried Online Exhibition.

Bluebonnets Abstracts, set of four 3 x 4 inches oil pastels studies on paper.

These studies are based on Springtime scenery along Beltline Road in Irving, Texas three years ago. The amazing fields of Bluebonnets are now replaced by a major housing and commercial development. I can say, ‘I was there when…’.

Texas Bluebonnets, 16H x 12W inches dry pastels on charcoal paper, unframed, off-white mat.

Bluebonnets Abstract, 36H x 24W inches acrylics on canvas, trim frame. I’m trying a new angle on the subject, and kept my glasses off for this one so I can see abstract better!