ΟΧΙ ΚΑΡΤΕΣ - retitled Broken when completed

I am creating a piece for an exhibit at the MFAH Glassell School, the theme of which is Learning From Athens. Twenty of us went to Athens this summer for the Documenta 14 exhibition

http://www.documenta14.de/en/

We were led through the exhibition by Anna Tahinci, Ph.D. 

https://www.mfah.org/blogs/inside-mfah/author/anna-tahinci

Anna is the professor and Area Coordinator of Art History at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. In addition, she is from Greece. Those of us who went on the trip are invited to submit a piece for the exhibit. First, I made a list of images and thoughts that stood out .
My list of thoughts about Greece
1. Who can forget the beautiful, white marble, ancient architecture and sculptures, the kind and helpful people, and the fabulous fresh food?

2.  I have a very vivid memory of a refugee/homeless man whose posture had physically changed from a lifetime of panhandling I walked by him several times, he always sat in a recessed doorway of a vacant retail space. The day I can not forget he was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, he had fallen asleep. His head had fallen forward and sunk beneath his shoulders. His right arm was out stretched holding a spare change cup. His arm looked impossibly long from many years of stretching it forward, hoping for handouts. 

3. The owl is the symbol of ancient wisdom and is also the symbol of Athens.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owl_of_Athena

4. Poor financial decisions have left the government/country in poor fiscal health. This is Ironic for a country whose ancient symbol is a wise owl.

5. The country is overrun with refugees. 1.03 million people have entered Greece since 2015.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/09/how-greece-fumbled-refugee-crisis

6. We noticed that many of the smaller retailers have signs in their shop windows that say ΟΧΙ ΚΑΡΤΕΣ, which means that they do not take credit cards. They do not take credit cards, so they will not have to pay taxes to the government, then they complain that their government is bankrupt.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/World/Europe/2016/0411/Why-Greeks-swap-of-cash-for-cards-could-end-a-culture-of-tax-evasion

7. Lemon trees are abundant in Greece.

8.  Olives are the country's most renowned export crop. When I think of olives, I can't help but think of the saying, "extend an olive branch," which is a peace offering.

9.  Many of the archeological sites have been framed by steel beam scaffolds, since 1975. The government does not have money to complete the restoration or to remove the scaffolding.

http://www.kathmanduandbeyond.com/why-acropolis-always-covered-scaffolding-athens/

10. The National Technical University of Athens was used by students for refuge during a political protest in 1973. A tank broke down the gates. The mangled gates remain onsite in the state the tanks left them. The mangled, rusted steel made a beautiful memorial to the students who died in the protest.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Technical_University_of_Athens

Gates of The National Technical University of Athens- Memorial

I see beauty in mangled steel. My piece will have to have mangled steel in it.  

After considering the above list of thoughts, my piece will be a life sized, homeless Athenian, or it could also be a refugee. I will build a steel armature and cover it with white concrete. I will not cover the steel with a rust preventer. I would like to find some olive tree cuttings to add to my concrete for texture. The piece will have an owl representing the establishment/government sitting on the figure's shoulder, weighing him down, and the owl will be looking away (turning its back on the people) from the figure. Once the piece is covered in white cement, I will then take a sledge hammer and diligently break away the concrete, exposing and (hopefully) mangling the steel.

Below are the day by day photographs of building the armature.  

First welds  

End of day one  - from the bottom up- human rear end, backbone and rib, mid shoulders span.

added head, hanging below the shoulders. 

side view  

Added crossed legs

side view

from back 

Left side  

added feet/shoes, and exaggerated out stretched hand. 

Side view.  

day 3- I added a lot of rebar for support.  

added the owl, (parliament or government)  armature

Reinforcing the armature- no wiggles  

more reinforcing  

view from the back  

right side  

End of the second day of adding the lath

Front view

back view 

left side view  

The right side  

Another day's work -  

a leg, two hands and a cup covered in lath.   

Starting week three-- adding lath to the owl 

View from the front 

View from on the back  

View of his right side  

view of his left side  

"the road" - cyclist on right lenticular"

my first look-

I have been worried that a new lenticular from my "the road" series would not work out. This is my first proof. I have put five drawings together to create the lenticular of a cyclist pedaling. Each drawing is of a different position of the cyclist's feet, legs and shoulders. This is the first of three, each made from five drawings.

Still in the box- my very first look.  

Grateful for a shot to try something new.

I am almost ready for this fall's "known and underknown" exhibition at art Brookfield.

http://www.artsbrookfield.com/houston/

In downtown Houston, we have several buildings owned by Brookfield Asset Management. They are unique in that the lobbies of their properties are used to bring art to downtown Houston.

The curator, Sally Reynolds, visited my studio this past spring and selected a lenticular and a wire sculpture for a fall show in the lobby of Heritage Plaza, "known and underknown." I was particularly excited to have her visit my studio and doubly excited that she selected two pieces. I have wanted to try out a new pedestal idea, but simply have not had the room in my studio. I wanted to try putting the wire piece on a much larger pedestal, a pedestal that almost functions as part of the sculpture. Sally agreed to see what I would come up with for a new pedestal.

I started to scope out the junk/antique stores in Montrose. I wanted a club chair, with clean simple lines. Basically, a pedestal that looks like a chair. It had to be the right height, with a simple texture, and needed to be wide enough that a dog would need to pull up on it to see over and around, looking for his ball. This is what I found.

Trying it out for size in my garage studio.  

First, I took a very strong needle and sewed down the back cushion, as if the dog's weight was holding it down, right where his paws would rest. The next step was creating the finish. It took over a gallon of paint to make it look like a pedestal/sculpture. Sally was concerned that people might try to sit on it. As a result, I attached the dog's wire ball to the seat and I also added a pillow in the corner.

Below is the original wooden pedestal. I still like the original pedestal for its simplicity, and hope to have the opportunity to exhibit the piece on it in the future, if I am lucky.

I recently sent Sally a photo of the piece. She seemed pleased, and promised to find a place for my sculpture on this larger chair/pedestal in the show. I am very grateful that she gave me the opportunity to give this idea a shot. She really did not have to. Thank you, Sally.

The road-

"the road" - new title of work.

When we celebrated Father's Day, and my kids asked me what I had been working on, I replied, "My cyclist series." We discussed the series and potential names for the series at other family gatherings. That started a new flow of names: bikers, bikes, friends, asphalt, or ass-fault (a little offensive)... then Curtis said, "Why don't you call them 'the road'?"
N i c e, "the road!"
I like "the road" as a name more than cyclist,  cyclist is too obvious. "The road" is poetic. Thank you Curtis😍 You are the best husband 😀 and father. Any thoughts? 

So, from here on out, I will call them "the road."

"lifting spirits"

I am slowly having all of my work professionally photographed. Here are the images that Will Michels took of "lifting spirits". He did a beautiful job. 

LIFTING SPIRITS

11 3/4" X 5 3/4" X 7"  bronze 2016

Unicorns in my work?

I have always been curious about unicorn lore, their beauty, and symbolism. However, I have hesitated to use unicorns in my work due to their close association to drawings by little girls, and the images on their fashionable pink or purple t-shirts. After reading the article below, I may reconsider using unicorns in my work.

Certainly, we could use some unicorns in today's culture. ​

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-mystery-mets-unicorn-tapestries-remains-unsolved

This summer killing time on a lazy day I was sketching with coffee and made these images. ​

The head of the unicorn is camolflouged in the very middle of the page. 

shake shake shake V

shake shake shake IV

shake shake shake III

shake shake shake I

shake shake shake II

shake shake shake 1

 SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE I

30" X 22" charcoal, ink and bubbles 2015

Easter of 2015 - grateful to have both kids in town we decided to go to the Buffalo Bayou Dog Park - all of us. My son Griffin took a slow mo video of our elderly Labrador Kitty. Kitty loved the dog park and would retrieve tennis balls from the pond like she was a two-year-old pup.  She would consistently drop the ball at your feet and as you would bend over to pick it up shake all the water off her coat right on to all those standing near by. My son’s video inspired my “shake shake shake” series.

"happy dog IV" mono-print

11"X 15"  

mono-print   detail

11" X 15"  

mono-print  

meeting with a curator

In the spring I was approached to have a solo show at Nos Caves Vin. The space is curated by Elise Miller. I have a set out a large selection of my drawings out for Elise to select from. 

I can't wait to see what she picks.  

Why document art work?

I recently received a link to download the photos taken of my recent wire cloth sculpture titled, "January 21, 2017." It is exciting to see professional photos of my finished work, but most importantly it is necessary to have professional photos for publications, websites, marketing, submitting to exhibitions and for documentation. I feel that when art historians of the future look at the work of artists living and working in this day and age, their ability to understand the processes, materials, concepts and inspirations will be as important as the actual work. The documentation of these items will greatly add to the artistic, social and monetary value of art. It is just a hunch I have from my years of experience in the business world. I hope I am right and that it does add to the value because it takes a lot of time, not to mention money, to have it done professionally.

I love this shot taken by Will Michels: http://madebywill.com/

Will is a very talented photographer. Check out his work on his website.

Www.madebywill.com

"the turn IV"

I am still experimenting with the runner image movement and monoprints. I drew this on a piece of plexiglas used for my lenticulars 40LPI. 

Detail  

" the turn IV"

30" x 20"  

water color, ink, and pastel

monoprint

sculptural pedestal

 "that ball is not going to throw itself"

 1 gallon of paint  and counting 

"the turn III"

"the turn III"

30" x 22"  

monoprint - water color ink  

"the turn" II

30"  x 22"  

monoprint - water color  

New work and the inspiration - "the turn"

the turn 30" x 22"

water color monoprint

This is a drawing from a photo taken of my father in approximately 1944 while running track for the El Paso High School Fighting Tigers. In 2007 I used this photo for the graphics on an invitation for my Dad's 80th birthday party. This year he will make the turn for his 90th.

This photo also gave me the idea to make my photo finish sculpture. In this photo he is obviously not at the finish of a race. I have played with 3 different versions and techniques to get the right effect.