The Eye of the Beholder......

I sold a mixed media collage at the High Hand Gallery today!  I was excited that I had sold something but I feel especially good knowing it went to someone who really appreciated it.  The woman who it belongs to now is visually impaired and was very excited to find art that she could experience through touch.  She liked that the fan moves.

Although many of my art pieces are dimensional because I work with found objects I hadn't really thought much about the tactile aspect of my art.  I should have, especially after teaching a visual art residency to a visually impaired class.  At the time I was mostly concerned about the my student's experience making art while not being able to see and I didn't think about how they would enjoy and experience the artwork after it was made.  Even though I'm a "visual" artist I think I'll have to keep in mind that people "see" in different ways.

Tonight's the night! It's time for the High Hand Gallery's Fifth Annual Bra Show and Live Auction

 
I finally finished my entry last night and will be taking it to the gallery to join all the other fabulously creative entries made by our artists and other members of the community.  Click here if you'd like to get a taste of what will be at the auctioned tonight at the High Hand Night Gallery.

Help us support women fighting breast cancer.  All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

The American River Student Art Show at the Crocker Museum

I've been busy finishing projects for school and getting ready for the holidays so I'm a bit behind on posting.  Had a great time at the Crocker Art Museum a little over a week ago when I went for the student art show reception.  I was pretty excited that the Norman Rockwell Exhibit was still there.  Rockwell has been a favorite of mine since I was in grade school.  It was amazing to see his body of work.  They had all of his magazine covers on display as well as many of his original paintings.  I didn't realize that his paintings were so big.  It was also interesting to learn more about his process.

Me with my piece "Synergy"

Having a little fun at the Rockwell Exhibition

We're finishing up in my collage class but I still need to do one more collage for my final next Tuesday.  It's been a busy couple of months trying to fit in class work with everything else in my schedule but it's been worth it.  I am a deadline oriented  artist and having assignments that are due at a specific time helps me get things done instead of being something I will do "someday".   Here is an example of one of those projects.  It's been talked about, moved around, assembled and disassembled countless times but it is finally glued together and ready for finishing details .......because it was due today.  I stayed up too late and I'm tired now but after years of talking about it I'll soon be able to call it done!  I need to work out how to hang it (it's very heavy) and I'm still messing with the wires but otherwise I'm happy with the way it came out.  

The name of the piece is "Disconnect" I mentioned in a previous post that it is a commentary on my love/hate relationship with technology and our society's growing disconnect between the real people and things in our lives and our virtual experiences.  The inspiration for this came after a discussion with one of my sons whose life sometimes revolves around computers more than people.

Deadlines......

The High Hand Gallery Artstock show is up and running and I have art on the wall. For awhile I really wasn't sure if I would finish in time.   I'm happy I finished but now that it's up where I can see it better I can tell which pieces I attached around 4:00 am. I don't know if anyone else notices but it bugs me. That's the problem with waiting until the last minute - there isn't any room for error.



In addition to the Artstock show I still needed to finish some new artwork to put in the gallery for this month's rehang. I finally finished two new pieces this morning at 4:00 and got them to the gallery on time. Whew, now I need to keep the up momentum and finish some more so I don't end up doing the same thing next time a deadline comes around. I'm taking a collage class at American River Collage so that should keep me motivated... especially when projects are due.   Here are my latest pieces.

Mixed media collage "Urban Jungle" series

Untitled mixed media collage

KVIE Art Auction

I'm excited that my mixed media artwork "Serenity" was accepted into the KVIE Art Auction.  I had mixed feelings on whether or not to donate it because it is one of my favorites.  In the end I figured if I wanted to get a piece in and represent myself well I should go with something I liked most.  At least the woman at KVIE who accepted it told me it was the best she'd seen so far.......to bad she was the receptionist and not one of the jurors. (I'm still waiting to see if it will be part of the online auction or included with the art auctioned on the air)

"Serenity"  (mixed media: foil, acrylic medium, plexi, watercolor)

 

Slideshow Overview of My Earl Warren Elementary Student's Artwork 2012

Here's a slideshow overview of the projects my Earl Warren Elementary School students just finished.  Each classroom received 4 lessons.  The classes ranged from Kindergarten to Sixth grade.  Take a few minutes and check it out.  They did some awesome work.  I am so proud of them!

My Newest Artwork

"Disconnect"   mixed media/ceramic/steel/acrylic

I love teaching but when I spend the bulk of my time teaching or prepping for classes it makes it hard to find time for my own artwork.  I'm trying to get a few pieces finished in time for an show at American River College.  This is a piece I've been working on for awhile that I plan to call "Disconnect".   It is inspired by my love/hate relationship with technology.  I love technology and the way it has made our lives so much easier but I worry about the negative role it plays in our relationships, especially with the up coming generation.  We are becoming more and more focused on our gadgets and there is a growing disconnect between the real people and things in our lives and our virtual experiences.