"Drifting"

"drifting"

drifting"

36" X 45" X 55"  

found object wire cloth

This piece is made from upcycled wire cloth I found at Txrx labs. They pour aluminum and use these wire strips to reinforce their molds. They break out the castings and leave the wire mesh in the yard. I always pick it up when we pour bronze because it is sharp. I started playing with it while we waited for the bronze to heat. I fell in love with it's malability, rusted patina and chunks of plaster embedded between the wires.  

I sculpted this when I was thinking about urban ecology and  how successful birds and especially pigeons have evolved in urban environments. In contrast many of the people we see in these environments with pigeons appear to be struggling to stay present.  

This figure leans in on his left side where he is clearly involved in the environment around him. His right side is patently struggling to stay present and his head/brain and right side upper body are not visible to the viewer. Evidence of their absence is depicted through the torn collar and shredded back right of shirt. 

I can't to come up with the perfect base for him. Right now he is temporarily sitting in a box wrapped in paper.  

Inspiration

After the freeze  

At first glance it is always heart breaking to loose landscaping to a freeze.  When you take the time to look closely -it is really beautiful. 

These were thriving and a bit envasive elephant ears in my urban pond bog. It will be fun to see them rebound this spring but for now you can not deny the beauty. The lines, the color I will register them in my mental artist pallet.  

New bronze - still in wax

Update

It is coming along. I was able to make good use from the plants that were over taken by last weeks freeze. 

With a few more modifications this is the wax and organic material that I will make a mold of and then cast in bronze.  

New Bronze - frillback pigeon- the wax work

I have 2 life size (maybe bigger than life size since I tend to exaggerate my birds) bronze pigeons in my body of work. Two is an awkward number so I am going to pour a third this spring.  

Below are are the two existing pigeons. They are very unusual breeds. 

Pulling out the newspaper  

I used newspaper to support the initial layer of wax. I do not want it to be solid so I am now pulling out the stuffing (news paper). This will leave a hollow shell. 

Last Friday night we had a pretty hard freeze. I love what it did to these fern leaves. I am considering using them to create the curly feather texture on the frill back pigeon. 

Dorothy Hood

The Dorothy Hood exhibit at the STMFA was stunning. Sadly they did not allow any photos of the exhibit. They did have this cool photo exhibit. Here are we are. #dorothyhood

Cindee and curtis at STMFA

#dorothy hood 

If you are in NYC check out my piece @ Site:Brooklyn art gallery

 
The Figure: Interpreted Through Contemporary Mediums

Juried by Barbara A. MacAdam

Site:Brooklyn
165 7th St
Brooklyn, NY

for details see the link below.  

 http://eepurl.com/cvMw0f

Site:Brooklyn

Artist Reception – Wednesday January 18th 6-9PMJan 19 – Feb 19, 2017

Gail Nadeau - "The Red Kimono"Artists:

Steven Palumbo, Kang Sean, Courtney Bae, Elise Thompson, John Gallagher, Petrea Noyes, Carol Coates, Phillip Connell, Tom Acevedo, Barbara Smith, Ronald Gonzalez, Cindee Klement, Andrew Hockenberry, Deborah Druick, Robin Dintiman, Kathy Collins, Claire Gilliam, Candice Flewharty,
Farnosh Olamai Birch, John Power, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Ola Aldous,
Greta Young, Gail Nadeau, Mary Lou Greene, Tomas Modzelewski,
Claire Apana, John Patrick Snyder, Alain Rogier, Diana Burchfield,
Alexa Hoyer, Sophie Brenneman, John Kayrouz, Brooke Alexander,
Joshua Dean, Owen Brown, Sharon Bartel Clements, Rajab Sayed,
John Edwards, Gill Alexander, Lee Ann Carr, Colleen Kelly,
Michelle Muri-Sloane

A history of lenticular prints

A history of Lenticular's

from www.didik.com

The concept of 3d effects and images goes back to at least 1692 when Gois-Clair, a French painter, discovered that he could achieve a dimensional effect on canvas by interposing a grid between the viewer and the painting. Bois-Clair painted two distinct pictures on a plane surface, over which he affixed a grid of vertical laths. These laths were arranged perpendicular to the plane and attached to it at right angles. By looking at the painting from the left side, you would see one distinct painting, while if you looked from the right side, you would see another distinct painting, while if you looked straight on, you would see a blending of the two together. Examples of his work can be seen at the Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen. The Brussels Museum of Arts has a similar example, but using three distinct images.

Russian Lenticular films of the 1930's

1936 Patents covering what would lead to the formation of Vari-Vue. The term Lenticular is used in the patent to describe linear lenses.

1948 Vari-Vue is formally incorporated in New York. Informally, lenticulars had been produced by the founder since the 30's. Vari-Vue goes on to popularize the technology world wide and becomes a household name. Vari-Vue creates the first flip images, animated images and "winkies". Most terms used in the lenticular industry today were coined by Vari-Vue.

Look Magazine printed anaglyph images, starting in 1950

The February 25, 1964 issue of Look Magazine featured a Lenticular black and white image of Thomas Edison surrounded by several of his inventions. An other example was in the April 7, 1964 issue of Look Magazine and was full color ad for Kodel Fiber division of Eastman Chemical Company. Eight million lenticular images were produced for each of these two magazine issues.

Venture, which was also owned by Crowl Communications, used a lenticular cover for their magazines, starting in 1964.

Crowle Communications produced, between 1964 and 1968, 100 million "Xerographs" or lenticular images under the Crowle Communications name and under the Visual Panographics, Inc name (which was located at 488 Madison Avenue in New York City). Sizes ranged from a few millimeters to 28" wide by 19 1/2" high. They used so-called rigid PVC or poly vinyl chloride which as inexpensive to produced but had a number of drawbacks including its tendency to yellow, and limited optical qualities. This technology was at licensed and then purchased from Topan Printing in Japan, which, in the late 1950's, had a relationship with Vari-Vue, also of New York

Mark making with scissors.

A favorite blouse mysteriously ended up with a weird frayed rip in the back.  - my solution - mark making. I am a fan of the frayed rip look that is big in the fashion world right now. I am going to go to town making marks with tiny scissors all over the blouse. 

My beautiful blouse pre slashing.  

Frayed rip  

Now to rewash and hope I get the same fray all over.  

I love it.  

It will get better every time I wear it.  

I see pigeons

Cleaning up my home work space I came across this drawing I did a few years ago.  

Paint stick on sandpaper  

8" X 10"  

2014 I think  

Actually at the time I drew this I think I was giving serious thought to having a few laying chickens in my side yard. It was probably inspired by chickens.  It is most definitely an abstract fowl. 

A gift- Plaster angel

I am packing up the Christmas decorations today. My son griffin made me this angel when he was in preschool. Such a happy little angel.  It has such beautiful suttle textures.  

peace - 2017 peace pigeon project #17

My son Griffin and his girlfriend Alex gave me some bulbs when they returned to the US from the Climate change meeting in Morroco this fall. I planted the bulbs this morning and as I was a bought to throw away the box I decided to upcycled it and turn it in to a German beak trumpeter pigeon with leg muffs. The biggest challenge was giving the pigeon the feeling of life and movement and not just pigeonish abstract shapes. 

View from tail feathers

left side of bird

On a side note birds and plants are a big part of the solution to controlling  global warming. Checkout the work Griffin and Alex are involved in 

 http://regenerationinternational.org/

Playful bow

I started this piece around Thanksgiving.  Finding a new material I became distracted and have worked on other pieces since. dist. I am just now getting back to it. 

One of my favorite things about having a dog is the pure joyful fun they bring into our lives. When they want to play they do what we call in my house the playful bow. When they go into the playful bow mode they  bounce around to try to tease you into chasing or playing with them. They also do this with each other. 

This is the first playful bow piece. My plan is to complete 3-5 abstract dogs playing together. The piece will have lots of energy going in lot's of directions but all in harmony.  

I want to push the abstraction of the figures.  

Rusting wire cloth

I am running out of this upcycled wire cloth. I bought a new role and hope I can recreate the amazing patina of the upcycled material.  It is coated in zinc so it will not rust. The salvaged material has a bit of plaster and rust coating it that I want on my new wire cloth. 

Trying to recreate this finish  

Coating roll of wire cloth in plaster.  

Torching it to break down the zinc.  

Breaking off the plaster.  

Leaving it in rain to rust.  

One week later and not a touch of rust. 

I did a google search and it recommends spraying  an intense toilet bowl cleaner on the wire cloth to breakdown the zinc.  

Screen shot from google search

I used a different brand but very strong.  

12/24- success it rusted.  

Performance art piece- On my Dad's 89th birthday he suggested a performance/installation art idea for me. - I think?

I went home to celebrate my dad's 89th birthday. While at lunch he suggested I make some beef jerky by placing it between two pieces of wire cloth and hang it from a tree just like the Lewis' used to do when I was about four years old. The Lewis' were ranchers in the Guadalupe Mountains outside of Dell City (where I lived on a cotton farm). I often would find a brown paper bag in the seat of my Dad's pickup truck full of the most amazing beef jerky given to him from the Lewis family. I loved it.  He went on to say he thought it would be good for my work. I politely agreed and said I would take his suggestion. Afterwards my sister and I had a good giggle wondering what kind of work does he thinks I do? That said maybe he is on to something - the Homemade beef or vinison jerky making process could be a cool performance/installation work of art. Ina moment of giddiness my sister and I fantasized about my Dad's suggestion:  I could build a faux bois tree in front of Lawndale to hang the wire contraption that protects the lightly seasoned meat. When it is ready the viewers can sit in a 1950's/60's pickup truck and eat the piece (the jerky) from a brown paper bag and listen to some 60's tunes or news reports. 

I just reread this post and we were a l i t tle exhausted from preparing for his birthday celebration. 

My Dad wearing his 89th birthday party  crown.  

My sister and I throw him a birthday celebration every year. This year he wanted everyone to come to his place since it is too tiring for him to go anywhere. We brought breakfast tacos and silly holiday headbands to make it seam festive. My sister Janet Fortune and I also wrote a 12 days of Bob-pa's 89th Christmas adapting each verse to something we remember in his life.  We made my non singing family sing it to him. I repeat we do not sing. Our singing is so bad that we have used kazoos at birthday celebrations to sing happy birthday. 

Below are the words to the verses we wrote.  

The verses to our 12 days of Christmas.  

Party headbands  

My dad Bob Travis and my sister Janet Fortune after the serenade. 

He liked the song/birthday party and I got a great tip for a performance/installation art piece and some quality sister time. 

Happy holidays to all.  

"comb here" charcoal 2015

My Dad and son Griffin about 20 years ago.  

Hats

My hat thing has deep roots. When my grandmother Pina Mae Earp passed away I inherited her hats. We had just purchased a new home with nice high ceilings. I purchased an artificial tree to fit the ceilings then needed an economical way to decorate it. The hats were the perfect ornaments - just add a few bows. A few years later I found vintage beaded ornaments at a shop in the heights just like used to be on my grandmothers tree.  

Merry Christmas  

Houston art scene.

Brooklyn show January 19 - February 19

I am so excited to have the opportunity to show my work in Brooklyn. 

“The Figure:  Interpreted Through Contemporary Mediums”

Juror - Co-Executive Editor of ARTNews Barbara A. MacAdam
Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn New York
January 19- February 19,2017
“shake shake shake I and II lenticular was selected. 

The address is  

Site:Brooklyn 165 7th Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215

The Gallery Exhibition Dates: January 19 – February 19, 2017, Opening Reception: Wednesday January 18, 2017 from 6-9PM

A hand written note - a moment that matters.

When a piece comes back from a show I always open the box, examine it for damages, and write the name of the show on the back of the piece. When I opened "comb here" - to my surprise out fell a hand written note. What a nice touch  from Amy of Impasto Art Gallery in Colorado.

"Comb here" handwritten thank you note from Impasto art gallery in Colorado and artist statement for drawing.  

The show was "moments that matter: Finding the Extraordinary in the ordinary".  

Thank you notes are extraordinary. 

Wise words...

...from my brother's granddaughter Abby (I can't bring myself to say my grand niece). She posted this on instagram.  

words for an artist to live by.