Saturday, December 8, 2012

A Metaphorical Jump

"Lava Jumping" is finished. This installation is in my own home. I started the process of getting it installed months ago. After painting each pair of legs and poking many many holes in the wall I am finally done. The prospect of living with this installation made me extremely picky about the work's placement and colorings.

I didn't want the legs to chance snagging backpacks and hair alike. I also needed to have them high enough that toddler hands could not grab them. I only wish I had a way to protect our Christmas tree in a similar way. This spot at the end of my hallway/stairwell turned out to have the most clearance and visual impact. It can be seen from the front door.

I believe the colors I chose reflect my family and my children. My boys are active, warm, laughing, and passionately interested in many things. Fire for example. And I'm including my big "boy" Sam here. My eight year old inherited this fascination from him to the extent that on his first day of Kindergarten a couple years back he wrote that his "first day jitters" were about the earth crashing into the sun. Cute, huh?

And so I dedicate this installation to my sons who frequently jump lava and other fantastical flames in their daily adventures. (My jumping is limited to clearing backpacks and wheeled objects).







Moving Earth

Sam and I have been busy this fall shaping a little bit of extra-Eden, our .18 acres of it. Sam pushes earth with his shovel. I stack things on top of things.

The far left section will house a greenhouse/cold frame to extend our growing season. The ground has been excavated in preparation for its concrete footings. He has also prepared the earth for a cement pad to go under a tool shed. This is the spot seen up against our foundation on the left hand/garage edge of the house.



Greenhouse foundation on left. Shed is to be located behind it up against the house foundation.


Steps


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Installation at Home


I am installing a series of 44 leaping and running legs in the hallway of my home. With two active boys and all their friends zipping in and out each day I figured it was about time.

I'm feeling really happy with the addition of color to these legs as well. They are lively and gleaming, like a fire's flame.

I will post the finished install on the wall when it is done.




Legs lined up and ready to be attached to the wall. You can see the "template" I taped to the end wall which will aid me in getting them mounted just right.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Got Carhartt?


I am so stoked! I got featured on the woman's line for Carhartt blog. AND I learned that Carhartt makes their awesome canvas work gear in raspberry. Who knew? I have always loved Carhartt  since tough "skins" really do matter to those of us who work hard in our clothes. 

Check out my post from last November to see what kind of abuse I give my work clothes.

And since you know I love clothing and the practical/fantastical relationship they hold for me you will appreciate the following observations: 

I want to look and feel pretty even when I'm going to get covered in clay and showered in sparks.  I've always worn clothes that I figured were too stained or ugly to wear "out" in public. Well that doesn't quite work for me. I want to look good even when no one else sees me. 

So I understand now that durable AND flattering work clothes rock my world. 

The following photos were taken by Jennifer, the woman who runs the Carhartt blog:


"Untitled" exhibit at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City, April 6-30, 2012


I've been meaning to include pictures of my mini installation at the "Untitled" Show at the Rio earlier this year. It's about time!

As I've been doing more and more now, I used recycled legs from previous installs to arrange in a new way for this show.

The premise for the exhibit is that the public gets to suggest titles for your piece. It gets rather interesting to say the least! Namon Bills curates this show each year. Below I am including the best titles my piece was given.

I really like my piece with the egg sculpture in the background--- nice visual pay, eh?




".99 a pound"

"Leg-o-Land"

"Fier"

"Synchronized"

"Leg Man's Island Paradise"

"Better Half Volcano"

"Topless"

"Rockette Mountain"

"Ken"

"Barbie and Ken vs. the People"

"Mt. Vesuvius"

"Fantasy Fireplace"

"A Rainbow of Gymnastics Feet" -- submitted by a 6-year-old

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

My Studios Heat up in August!

Things have been getting hot here in August. I happen to work in two lovely studios. One is in my cool basement, a place for working with clay and paint, making rubber molds, and other quiet projects. It's also big enough to fit a couple not-so-quiet children (my two boys and their cousin) who sometimes make stuff alongside me, but mostly distract me!



My garage studio is for doing all things hot, noisy, messy, and smelly. I have been working and sweating here a lot the past few weeks, namely working on Armor Dresses, steel stands for said Armor Dresses, and re-finishing a Venetian Bombe chest.





My garage studio gets LOTS of south-facing exposure, and that makes it about 100 degrees here on most days in August (Eagle Mountain is a desert-y place). On top of that I have my kiln running a lot lately, which is also in my garage!

Here's one of my latest dresses which came out of the kiln and went up to Coda Gallery  a couple weeks ago:

Dress of Armor #26, glazed ceramic and steel, approx. 34 inches tall 
Dress of Armor #26, glazed ceramic and steel, approx. 34 inches tall 

Dress of Armor #26, glazed ceramic and steel, approx. 34 inches tall 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

"Moon at Rest"

Stainless Steel
21 x 10 x 6 inches, including base
Casting no. 2 of 10

This is casting number two of the piece I made last fall. I have nicknamed her "Moon Lady" but she is also known as "Ascension." You can see from the first casting that calling her "Ascension" was appropriate for the mounting my clients wanted: suspended in air and appearing to rise. 

This second casting is reclining on a 1/2 inch thick stainless slab. And I couldn't call her "Ascension" because she simply isn't ascending. So "Moon at Rest" she is!

I have shipped her off to be part of Sylvan Gallery's grand opening at their new location in Wiscasset, Maine. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello to Ann and Rick Scanlan the gallery's lovely owners. Here is their Facebook page as well.






Welding the gleaming lady in my garage studio. New helmet too!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sculpture Sale

Help! I'm drowning in sculptures and need help clearing my closet! I'm posting here all of the work I have for sale.  I want to move this work so please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!



MIEL

"Miel," bronze, number 10 (of 20), 10 x 4 x 24.5 inches with base

"Miel," bronze, number 10 (of 20), 10 x 4 x 24.5 inches, shown without base


LUNA 
To me she is a closer-than-we-think mythical spirit. I would say that most of my female figures are created with this muse in mind.

"Luna," bronze, number 3 (of 15), 19 x 4 x 3 inches
"O Victory" is a figure based on the "Winged Victory/Nike of Samothrace." The original Greek sculpture is one of my favorites, a fierce and passionate spirit-goddess.

"O Victory," bronze, number 3 (of 20),  25 x 8 x 8 inches with base


"Reina," bronze, number 3, 36 x 6 x 6 inches



The following plaster dresses are from my installation "Stories the Hummingbird Told Me." The body is gone, but leaves traces of herself. Sentimentally motivated, I observe the same about the insects, animals and plants around me.

"Lilac Dress,"  plastered dress with paint 

"Lilac Dress" (detail), plastered dress with paint

"Hummingbird Dress," plastered dress with paint, 39 x 19 x 10 inches

"Hummingbird Dress" (detail), plastered dress with paint, 39 x 19 x 10 inches


"Wasp Dress," plastered dress with paint

"Wasp Dress" (detail), plastered dress with paint


"Hillary," glazed terra cotta, 16 inches tall

"Hillary," glazed terra cotta, 16 inches tall

"Venus," glazed terra cotta, 19 inches tall

"Venus," glazed terra cotta, 19 inches tall

"Venus" (detail), glazed terra cotta, 19 inches tall

"Venus," glazed terra cotta, 17 inches tall

"Venus," glazed terra cotta, 19 inches tall

Reina is a sentinel, a female guardian of strength and stillness. Her name means queen in Spanish. This casting of Reina is hydro-stone, a very hard plaster, over which I've dripped paint and parafin wax. I fell in love with the plaster/wax effect in college when I first came across the works of Medardo Rosso. I love plaster as a primary medium and wax over top just makes it luminescent and other-worldly. Probably don't want to put her in a sunny window!

"Reina," painted and waxed hydro-stone, 36 x 6 x 6 inches 

"Reina" (detail), painted and waxed hydro-stone, 36 x 6 x 6 inches


"Duo," terra cotta, 16.5 x 8.5 x 3 inches

"Duo," terra cotta, 16.5 x 8.5 x 3 inches
This "Duo" is all about resurrecting broken things and making them better. Here, a broken cast from the mold became an excuse to try a new non-toxic plastic resin I discovered. I was casting legs at the time, and after mixing a batch of plastic I poured the remainder over this piece. Lots of batches later, I ended up with this. Another drip, drip, drip....is that time I hear standing still?

"Duo," terra cotta and plastic, 17 x 8.5 x 3 inches

"Morning Muse," terra cotta, 21 inches tall

"Traveler," hydro-stone, 14 x 14 x 11 inches