Look, look and look again!

I have probably spoken about this before but it warrants repeating many more times.

It is one of my worst faults, that of creating as if I am on a time slot and not paying attention to some of the most important rules - measuring then re-measuring and keep re-measuring until a piece is done and even then re-measuring.

I don't care how good you are, measuring takes all doubt away.

Often when you are working on a piece you get so lost in tunnel vision you forget the entire piece and just focus on the eye or neck or antler that you are interested.

Recently one of my "who" people that I love dearly went down to see what I was working on and "kindly put" explained how I had two different animals going on in one body. (If you missed my blog about the "who" in your life go back and read "another great powerful read".)

I realized I had been so intent on getting my favorite part just so that I had neglected to continue to re-measure to give it a balanced look.  Your eye is fickle when it comes to your work and convinces you all is well and all is perfect.

This goes back to what I have said about taking photo's of your progress (often photos make you admit something isn't right).  Use your mirrors in the corner (one on one wall opposite another on the other wall) so you can see it in the round.  Often just covering it each night can also spring the truth on you the next day.

This reminds me of the old saying "do what I say don't do what I do".  Why do I hurry, who knows, I think our world rushes so therefore.....

WHY CREATE IF YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TEAR IT ALL DOWN AND START OVER AGAIN!

More good reads!

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart by Gordon Livingston

"The three components of happiness are something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to."

How many of us are living with all three??Those of you that are doing some type of creativeness I know are full filling at least two of these, hopefully...something to do and something to look forward to, if you are not then you need to re-think your creative outlook. You should get up every morning with an intention...something you are going to research, something you are going to create or something that you are passionate about that you are going to turn into an object of art.

"we are responsible for most of what happens to us"

"Happiness is not simply the absence of despair.  It is an affirmative state in which our lives have both meaning and pleasure."  Bruce Poon Tip

Living Big, Pam Grout

"What would I do if I knew I couldn't fail?"

"Not to dream more boldly may turn out to be , in view of present realities, simply irresponsible" George Leonard

Patch Adams "don't live in other people's ruts".

"we are visitors on this planet...during this period we must try to do something goo, something useful without lives" Dalai Lama

I am fortunate to have all three, something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to and I wish that for all of you.

"There is no greater waste than to live an ordinary life.  There is nothing more tragic than a person who has lost their magic" Mark Eberra

All of us have a choice to be Happy, it is choices, choices, choices......make them wisely.

What and why do people buy?

I recently was reading Fine Art Connoisseur and there was an article from B. Eric Rhoads, publisher and he hit on some very basic facts.

"Though it is impossible to specify exactly why an artwork sells, I do know that when you buy a piece of art, you are usually buying what author Malcolm Gladwell calls the tipping point - the accumulation of 10,000 hours of experience.  You are buying the artists personality and passion, years of mentorship, study and experimentation, thousands of failures, moments of frustration and joy, and worries about how to make a living".

"Today more than ever, we tend to get caught up in status and resale values, when we should actually focus on the fact that art is personal, reflective of the person who created it, and appropriate for the person buying it.  Unlike most non-essential purchases, artworks are forms of expression and intercommunication that live on long after the maker and the consumer".

"You are also buying what that artwork does for you.  Its stimulation of an emotion or a memory is surely worth more than its investment value, though it is nice to imagine that someday your heirs may benefit tangibly from that value."

"So what are you buying, really?  I am not sure it can be articulated definitively, but you'll know it - feel it - when it happens."

Rimrock Muley

Quite often I find an animal that is just fantastic in every stage of life that you just want to do it over and over again celebrating each stage.

I have loved mule deer ever since we moved to Colorado and I saw my first one.  It was up in the Rocky Mountain National Park and it was only a brief, fleeting moment but it was enough to tempt me to search for them frequently thereafter.

There are so many ways to depict an animal, at young stage, in the early stage of development and muscle and antler growth but then as you watch the animal development in years to come the antler development is awesome.

There are often antlers that develop after injury in a young animal and create a particularly unusual shape that stays with them their entire life every time they develop that years antlers. There are particular animals that their antler development is influenced by diet or environment.  You find a six or seven year old deer that has been feeding well and developed naturally and you will find a prize worth a thousand pictures, paintings, and cries out to be sculpted.

 This particular muley had a nice set of antlers with stickers and added points to give him royalty and dignity.

small work...loads of fun

I have several shows this year that have asked for donated work and at this day and age that is an expensive request  considering the price of copper.  However I feel that a small piece also gives a patron that either can not afford a large piece or has no room for a large piece the opportunity to purchase a reasonably priced piece that will fit anywhere.

Also I have learned that a lot of people are not aware of the love found in humane society locations (I hate to refer to them as pounds). So for the very three reasons above I have decided to do a piece that depicts the type of love and response one would find in adopting a dog or animals in need of a home.

I recently decided to replace my dog that I lost several years ago with another adopted dog, it was a tough decision because I really loved Snookum (my cocker) and had lasting memories that did not fade easily. This is actually my third adopted dog, one was a Cockapoo, one a cocker and now a Lhasa Apso.  They all were a little older than a pup and some have had either medical problems or emotional problems but they were all so worthy of loving.

In this piece which was as I was trying to make up my mind as to whether to adopt another or not (yes it is hard to love and suffer that lose but it is harder to have an empty hole in your heart), I wanted to depict the type of dog that is of no particular type of breeding but just lives to hear your voice and play with you.

I did this quickly while working on another piece and because of my love of dogs and my loneliness and also my love to work with warm clay it turned out just as I wanted. Notice how I had fun working with the warm clay in making the hair look like it is begging to be smoothed.

I call it Just One More Please and people respond to it just as I wanted them to but I also mention that next time they are looking in pet stores for animals to remember the shelters and all the love just waiting to be had.

Good Photography versus Bad photography

Just a little note to try to show just how much a great photo can show off your work versus just how bad a terrible shot does and to tell you that regardless of how you show your work...Internet, galleries, magazines etc. you just have to have great shots.

This is a photo done years ago and at the time the world required that you have nothing behind a piece of work (especially no shadows).

See how the photographer used photo shop to delete everything in the background making it stand out to the viewer or judge approving or disapproving to get into a show.

We were actually told we would be thrown in the trash if any shadows were visible.


Recently I had a few new pieces done by a great photographer in our area of Colorado.  I had seen his work in several art magazines showing the talent of some pretty well known artist so he has been on my bucket list for quite a while.

 

See the way Jafe captures the light only in areas that show off an angle not just making it shiny.

 

 

To me Jafe Parsons is the best of the best in showing the pieces to your advantage and catching the attitude of a work and all the little subtle texture that I do.

 

If you want your work to show professionalism then give 110% in your work and hire only the best.

 

 

Applying to Shows

Wow, this year I decided to expand my shows and get into a few more new ones farther away and did I have an enlightening moment.  Shows have changed since I used to try to do 6 or 8 a year.

For one thing a lot of the good shows are outside and you provide your own 10 x 10 white tent, complete with sides and weights to hold it down in the wind.

Secondly, most good shows are managed by sites such as Zapplication, which require pictures of your work and tent set up in a defined pixel size.  If you are not fortunate to have  Photo
Shop you have to either hire someone to change your pictures and to also realize not all shows are requiring the same size some are 1000 pixels some are 1920 pixels etc.

Thirdly, I was shocked when I realized almost all of the shows I chose had a very early deadline date in either January, February, or March 1st.

So this  year being late because of all the needed requirements I failed to get into all I wanted but I will get back into the game.  I will continue to be in the Loveland Sculpture Invitational (my 6th year) and also the 17th Street Art Festival (my 2nd) in Cheyenne (which has entertainment daily). Thirdly I added a new show, Estes Park, which will be in September (my favorite time of the year in the mountains anyway). It is always exciting to see new shows open up therefore giving you another venue.

As usual after walking on my bottom lip I realized there are always future years and shows are a delight because of your ability to talk to patrons and I have met so many really sweet and interesting people.  Some come back year after year and some even feel like extended family.

So if you are interested in getting into outdoor or even indoor shows this next year, start applying early and make sure you have all your ducks in a row... Jafe Parsons gave me quite a management tool for entering multiple shows with multiple requirements...his cd of pictures gives me multiple sizes to meet all demands.