Coop Cuckoo Clock

Coop Cuckoo Clock, 2010. 10" x 5" x 3". Cardboard and glue.

Christmas Card 2010

Christmas Card, 2010. digital work, illustrator & photoshop.

This is my first attempt at using Adobe Illustrator. I put the text on the card in Photoshop. I like to read the magazine "Digital Artist" which has really excellent guides done by working artists' that give step by step advice on a piece they've created. I used one to do this wintertime scene here. Illustrator is a pretty daunting program and the other couple of times I've tried to use it I've closed the program in digust w/o any thing to show for it. But I picked up a 'classroom in a book' for the program and used a more level head to try and wade through the example from the Digital Artist mag.

I think it turned out pretty well and I'm very excited at the potential I now have with the vector based program. Hopefully more to come...

椅 (chair)

椅 (chair), 2010. 5.5" x 3.75". Digital Work.

In honor of the 2010 recipient of the Swedish industrialist and inventor _ _ _ _ _ prize awarded by the Norwegian _ _ _ _ _ Committee. This is for the Chinese people that want to know.

Bowman's Cuckoo Clock

Bowman's Cuckoo Clock, 2010. 12" x 7" x 5". Cardboard and glue.

Cover Series: Dahlia

Cover Series: Dahlia, 2010. 4" x 6". dahlia, canvas paper, acrylic on cardboard.

The cover series comes from rituals I had a child. Bed time for me as a kid was stressful on my overactive mind and involved a mantra that I would repeat each night. Sometimes the recitals changed, but the general theme remained the same. So to deal with being so scared of the dark I would say things like, "Nothing bad will happen to me", "Mom and Dad are right outside", "The faster I get to sleep the faster I'll wake up". Before I got into bed I had to remove all the evil action figures and toys from the room and place them in the hall. That meant Skeletor, the Rancor monster, Cobra Commander et al were relegated to outside.

The ritual could end once I was under the safety of the sheets. The cover series stems from the removal of fear after I got into bed. I felt that nothing bad could reach me. Blanketing the flowers in this way keep them from harm, keep them from death. It's a way for me to provide shelter for something the way I felt the act saved me as a child. Though the object may be hidden by paint, it has something the others will never have; immortality. Like a reverse fossil the outline of the object remains. There is also irony in the fact that it is already dead.

If I am ever fortunate to have my own studio I have bigger plans for the cover series.