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Phoenix Athens Residency Artwork Progress Photos Set 1 of 2

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I’m not always good about taking as many in-process photos as I could, but I do try to remember to do so! Here are the ones I took from my first half of Phoenix Athens residency artwork. Keep in mind the overall lighting, angles, flatness of papyrus, color accuracy, and so on are not that important to me when taking progress pictures; there are sometimes big jumps in the overall quality between them and the finished portfolio image, where I take great care with all of those factors. You can click into any of the images to see them larger and page through them.

Potential:

Syncretism:

The Seed:

Marginated:

Symbolism:

New Artwork: Earth Measurer

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An in-progress photo showing my contour drawing which underpins the finished painting!

I made the acquaintance of this inchworm at Whiterock Conservancy, and began the contour drawing over a year ago. I picked it back up this winter break!

The title of the piece, Earth Measurer, is the English translation of the Ancient-Greek-derived “geometer.” Geometridae is the scientific name for the family of caterpillars (and moths) that make use of the distinctive method of locomotion that is not only described in the family’s scientific name but also in many of their common names: inchworm, spanworm, looper, and measuring worm.

After spending a lot of time really looking at inchworm anatomy and learning terminology (FYI, they have true legs and prolegs), I am again impressed with the variety and richness of animal forms in the world; there’s plenty of alien to explore right here. This past summer, while painting mosquitoes from LSU Vet Med’s epidemiology department, I was surprised by how hairy they are upon examination. Similarly, on this so-called hairless caterpillar, there’s still a fair amount of hair, called setae! I included it in the painting as well, though you’ve got to get close to the painting or zoom in quite a bit to see it.

This is Earth Measurer, acrylic on basswood panel, 6x12x1.5”, 2023.

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 20 Process

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Here are a couple of photos of the in-progress Vulture Sculpture! In the first image, you can see how I built an internal armature out of pink styrofoam insulation, wire, and disposable chopsticks. Armatures are really helpful for a few reasons: A) they provide structure and support to bolster strength and keep the clay from sagging, B) they weigh a lot less than clay which makes the piece-in-progress lighter so it puts less stress on weight-bearing areas while wet/uncured C) if you leave the armature inside - like you can do with QuickCure Clay - the finished piece is lighter than if it were solid clay which is typically desirable, and finally D) the armature materials usually cost less than using an equivalent amount of clay.

Then in the second image, it’s midway along; I’m still sculpting the QCC (note the head and wings are unfinished) but it’s taking real shape and I’ve already incorporated the artificial turf, though I have yet to “mold” it with the heat gun. Finally, there’s the finished piece in a similar orientation for comparison!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 8-19 Process

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Here are a few of photos of the in-progress work for Skeletal Ceramics. The first image has some of the bones used in their respective vessels, followed by two more images of the raw ware or green ware. I didn’t take photos while glazing because I was doing it outdoors in 98*F weather so I was sweaty and covered with glaze - as well as acutely aware that I probably needed more glazing time than the shop would be open for!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 7 Process

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Here are some in-progress photos of Seeing Double!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 6 Process

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Here are process photos from Crèche Chic!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 5 Process

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And here are process pictures of Singularity from start to finish!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 4 Process

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Here are some in-progress images of Hosts! I had to almost exclusively use my two smallest brushes for the whole painting, which was tedious but ultimately worth the effort.

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 3 Process

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Here are process photos from Lineage! I first used the debudding tool on a plain basswood panel and then painted over it with white acrylic to make the background. Then I drew out the goat contour, and before I even drew the eyes or snout I then went over the area she’d be painted with molding paste several times to fill in the depressions. I added the eyes and snout and a couple more layers of molding paste, and then began painting!

When I paint, the order of what I do can change depending on the textures involved; I always aim to paint further away first and then foreground last, but in this painting’s case I left the eyes and ears for last as I was painting the goat fur with synthetic bristle brushes. They gave the mark-making I was looking for, but their lack of precision meant that I wanted to get the fur mostly down before I addressed those more tightly detailed areas.

After I finished the painting, I varnished it, and then worked on the halter rope before gluing and clamping it onto the basswood panel.

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 2 Process

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As I mentioned in my first post about this painting, the coloration of the background comes from my novel usage of veterinary stains and medicine as art media, and I continued that color palette into the subject as well. However, there was a lot of trial and error in the creation of the background, and a cyan coloration that was produced ended up quickly going almost entirely fugitive (bleached out). I reinforced it with acrylic droplets as a final step, but as the painting continues to age, the background purple coloration is also beginning to fade. I may need to redo the whole background eventually, but right now I am adopting a wait-and-see approach!

This painting has already had a number of failed backgrounds, because two of the chemicals I tried to use for pigmentation clearly did not work from the start. The first I attempted was chlorhexidine, and the second was light green stain from Histology. “Wait a minute!” you might say to yourself. “Those chemicals are still listed in the mixed media!”

You’d be correct - I left them in because I kept sandwiching new chemicals between layers of acrylic medium, and I can’t be sure that some of those initial layers didn’t create the compositional effects that later resulted from the Diff-Quik methylene blue counter stain. That is the chemical that brought both the purple and strong cyan into to the background, but the cyan came from watering down or thinning out the stain and it began going fugitive quickly. The purple stuck around long enough that I thought it was permanent, but now it too is beginning to fade. I’ll continue to update you as to where this painting ends up, in terms of both aesthetics and process!

LSU Vet Med Artist Residency Artwork 1 Process

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I tend to be pretty bad about taking process photos, but I’ve been trying to be more intentional about it for this residency! Here are several images of Fortification in progress, culminating in the finished artwork.

Hard at Work Making Ceramics

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I’ve been spending a lot of studio time with ceramics lately as I’ve got several bodies of work in progress simultaneously and each have different time pressures. I’ll discuss each as they continue to develop! However, in these photos I was preparing for the Dakota Potters Supply raku workshop I attended in Sioux Falls this past Saturday, April 23rd along with our ceramics instructor Paul Adamson and two Morningside students.

Since this semester has been so busy, I only had one raku piece ready to go by April 14th (the start of Morningside’s Easter break). I needed to have all the pieces I wanted to bring in the bisque firing by April 20th, which meant finishing the rawware by April 17th to give it time to dry. I cranked out seven more pieces over the holiday, so I was able to bring eight with me to the workshop! My sweet spot is between six to nine pieces for each workshop day, so that worked out perfectly.

In the first image, you can see me in the Morningside ceramics studio as I used the slab roller, a foam square, and a 6” mushroom anvil to prepare a few small platters. In the second photo, I’m handbuilding a vase in my kitchen at home.