The new YEAR! News of ....

Well this is the first post of the new year. Boy I feel lousy! Crap really. I can see I need a bit of a boost. Hold on I'm going for coffee and a change of music.  Twenty minutes latter.... then some more... and a bit more......Ahhhhhhhh! Coffee! Music!!! All better now!!
Sorry, bit of a barracuda in the "out look on life at this moment" application. Now where was I? Yes Wess! The enviably great Mr. Wess has sent a bunch of pictures of his creations. The latest is of a Indian lady dancing with High heel moccasins. Rather nice high heals, really. I mean if they did not have high heal moccasins then they should have. History would have been a whole lot different now wouldn't it?  This particular sculpture has a control man inside and a bunch of sophisticated control mechanics in side. 

High Heels Moccasins! 

The Man that is driving the woman. Yea Right!

Close up of control room. Way Cool!

My hats off to you Mr. Wess! Always totally awesome!! He is obviously still working on the hair and other components but what a great sculpture as it is!
Ain't it great that inspiration flows freely all around all the time. Mr. Wess always motivates me to push the boundaries a bit harder and keep working.
 thank you sir. Keep up the good work.

Altoid Painting # 2 & MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!

Yes it is Christmas and I hope that this finds every one full of love and joy. And as MY GIFT to YOU (read as self promoting with great amounts of ego) I bring you the 80%, more or less latest altiod painting. The first pict. is from a post in August, before, and the second is.......... the after!

Putting the elements together

And now!!

Getting Better?

And now as a super Christmas bonus heeeeeeres Cheri's!!!!!!!!!!

Most Magnificent!, Unbelievable! Super Fantastic!

I love my wife so much and all the unbelievable inspiring gifts she gives me every day. Every day is Christmas here. We are constantly building joyful art for others to enjoy. Does not get any better than that.

HO!HO!HO!

I keep starting!

Well I'm still in the start mode it seems. Oh well better than the not do anything mode. This applies to this blog. The art, on the other hand, is constant and just keeps on going! We have done a few little community shows and have been selling a tremendous amount of Cheri's jewelry out of the house. So much in fact that we do not have enough to take to the stores. Just means more to make and this means more beauty to see!
I have been working on new display's (picts. soon), ornaments and a new Altoid picture! Just having great fun, fun, fun!!! The Altoid picture # 2 is in pieces right now as I let things dry and work through the permanent assembly steps. Takes a while. Then pictures!
We also had our first snow. Here in Oracle Arizona that means 1/4 inch and gone in an hour. It then rained for two days. We call that a BIG WINTER STORM EVENT! Tells a lot about our weather doesn't it?
Oh well off to the art factory.

"I be wanting to dance in the winter sun, in the dappled light, in the golden day." said the elf with a wicked grin to the maiden quite fair. She smiled her sweet quiet smile with arched brow. She knew about elf's that danced in the winter sun with maidens fair and little ones with summer smiles that appeared that same year. She held out her hand....... and they joined their smiles for all the rest of their years.

Revisit of the Steam powered Time Machine

Well I finally have some decent pictures of the Steam Powered Time Machine and as mentioned in my Face Book page I also have several detail pictures of the same. It should be noted that the reconstruction has been slow and laborious and will continue as more information or parts are uncovered or recovered. There are also reports that there has been several other artifacts recovered. More on these as they are verified as actually belonging to the wreck site or Captain Bland. There is also a rumor of another expedition being mounted to the wreck site. Hmmmm. I will  keep you posted.
I am enclosing the original article just in case there are those of you that are not familiar with the true story.


 From an article published in the Air Heart Daily.

The Steam clock of Captain Mortimus B. Bland as recovered from the almost unreachable and precariously positioned wreck site of the air ship Demistictus. This clock was recovered during an expedition to the site where the Air ship Demistictus finally found it’s last mooring. Untimely and as unexpected as it was, it was not a fatal crash, as it probable could have been. The surviving crew‘s accounts of the last excruciatingly dire events all agree it was only with the actions of Captain Bland that the outcome was, well, ok.

Of course, as was reported, Captain Bland was not present to join in the relief of a safe landing. Unfortunately the Demistictus was completely destroyed and the Captain was never found. Which may not be a bad thing or a good thing, I’m not sure which. After all Captain Bland was not a Captain, as we later learned, or a Bland! And there are more than a few questions surrounding the cargo the  Demistictus was carrying on what was to be the last and fateful voyage and what of the extraordinary astronomical calamity that appeared to only be located in the immediate vicinity of…… You see why this artifact is so mysterious. Even the gentleman that supposedly assembled it is quite unavailable for comment.

What exactly was the function of what appears to be an ordinary steam powered clock that however includes many unclock- like features? And what of the eerie glow what emanated from the Captain’s cabin right before the crew heard the Captain bellow “ABANDON SHIP PLEASE!”. Although there was one fellow that swore what was said was “A BACON SANDWICH  PLEASE”. The crew to the last man and woman took the first interpretation to heart and scrambled over the side and dropped unceremoniously to the rough terrain below. Whether or not this course of action precipitated the coming events or if a bacon sandwich could have changed the outcome is still hotly debated. The outcome was really  quite a splendid meeting of airship and a rather large forbidding bit of granite. Splendid, in this case, meaning quite a site to see. Of course I’m sure that Captain Bland might have disagreed.  But we will never know now,  will we?

Captain Bland's Steam Powered Clock/Time Machine?

Detail of some of the Steam Clock Modifications on the left. 

Here you can see the steam boiler, Controls and valves and regulators.

Close up of the damage from the explosion and fire at the time of the wreck.

From the Kitchen

Well we have been working like crazy on "products" (translation- extraordinary art objects for the sale to exceptionally gifted people of the arts.) It is always such a joy to be working away and realize that the art object that you have been so diligently working on starts to come together and it's beauty appears. I have heard people at shows make comments like " Oh I can do that!" or " That didn't take a whole lot of time". Both true. My thoughts when I hear this is " yes you can make it, but make 100 or more, day after day" and "This one required 1 hour and countless more to get to this point" " How much is an hour of work worth?". Artists are specialists. We work constantly at improving what we are doing. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been constantly improving my recycled metal flowers for ten years. WhOOOOOOOOO! Where was that going? We do art because we love it and the payback is that others love it. It is fun. There are some long hours and frustration but all that disappears when you are looking at joyful beauty. All people in all professions go through the same thing. We are all artists!
Back to the "products". I am placing a few more "samples" on this page to boast I mean show what we do. I am very proud of our work. As you can see I do the flowers and Cheri takes them to a new level. I love her work.

Printed Irish

Sun Flower

Rusted Irish

Sun catcher Small Flower

Sun catcher waiting for flower

So there you have it a few more special items.
It's easy to see that all these years and years and .............. we have had a whole lot of fun.
And there is more and more all different and beautiful.
I guess that is what this blog is about. Having fun. It just so happens that it is art that we have fun doing. Very convenient since this is an art blog, don't you think. Well it's back to the kitchen of creation and whip up a new "item"! I can't wait to show you the boxes and there is this one piece that Cheri has done..... I won't spoil the surprise. And speaking of surprises we have this friend, UNBELIEVABLE WORK! Wess you there? I'm really having fun with this.
"Enjoy the day!" the mouse said as he sat in the shade sipping his sweet nectar tee. The mole nodded her head in agreement and slipped under the leaves. " A good day it will be indeed "

Still at the Gem Show ... But.....

Well while we are negotiating with China for additional funds to buy MORE & MORE, not really, though that might not be a bad idea, hmmmmmm, here are a few of my lovely wife's creations that went to Wyoming. These are a very popular series of match box shrines. I should say the match box shrines are a popular series. Better you think? Well anyway, she has been making these for years. In fact one of these were one of the first creations I saw of hers. I looked with amazement at the detail and quality of work man ship. Not only are they completely encased on the out side when you open the inside they are also finished. She also places a charm on the inside that goes with the theme of the match box. Vincent Van go has a little silver ear on a chain!  She makes a lot of lotiria card ones, saints of all sorts,themed ones and then there are the " fancy " ones. I love them all but the fancy ones are totally exquisite!!!!!

 

Elvis of course. With all the do-dads of the music industry. Then theres Ms.Monroe with her diamonds and the Mermaid with the treasures of the deep and the icon of all girls in the whole world! The one and only ( Trade marked plastic doll ). Do not want to be sued for using the name or anything. But I believe that you can figure it out Can't you Barbie?

Theres More coming up latter. Ms. Cheri Mossie is forever creating gorgeous works of art! I will post more as time allows. I often tell people, you are people right? I guess I can tell you anyway, I live in a land of wonder where Xmas is every morning. See, she works at night and when I get up she has a beautiful new piece of art for me to see. How great is that!!! I LOVE IT !! ( by the way our Xmas tree is still up ). Till later we are again off to the show, fossils I think, for fun.It's all fun. For you artists sketch one of the above, now thats a way to spend an after noon. Now where is my Indiana Jones hat?

11 Degrees of ?

Well the Gem show has started and we are running like crazy. More on that later.

The buyer came by and loved our stuff. The store is in Jackson Hole Wyo. Beautiful art in a beautiful place! We are going up there in the spring. Big trip! First ever for us! I'm not much on vacations and things. I enjoy working. A very " you get things done if you do them " mantra leads me through life's paths. We do take Sunday afternoons off to explore the desert and fossil hunt and of course fish.

Following is a series that I did some time ago. I decided that a portrait that was composed with the angle of the head at 11 degrees of tilt was absolutely perfik' (spelling from a BBC show, Loved that show) So I made this series and I as you can see I was so totally successful. They were all done with the under painting and then layers or washes on top. Bunches and bunches of washes. Well to make a long story short ( wife waiting to go spend the national debt at the gem show ) the lady from Jackson Hole loved them and wants to put them in her gallery. So they must be framed and sent out into the big world. They are all excited about this. When I did shows they, meaning the paintings , would all clamor for the best spot in the tent. That's why I did shows. It was because the paintings wanted to get all fancied up and show off. ( loose translation not much sales but great fun ) My art has been described by a gentleman at one of these shows as " the artist has some serious mental problems". He said this to me not knowing I was the artist. He was also a shrink. You should have seen the backpedalling on that one when I said ' I'm the artist"! I grinned for days!!!! I do what I want because I want to do it. I do not paint to fulfill some unknown expectation. I have done that and was always very miserable trying to reach the constantly moving bar.  But any way I'm Off to the gem show to find treasures of wonder and joy.

Love you all and you all love life! OK? OK!

Arizona Dreams

Indian Feathers

Past, Present and Future

Loosing her marbles

Vampire # 3

About a year or so ago, before the great flood of my studio and subsequent repairs, I had started the "Vampire Girl" I posted the beginnings in several earlier posts. Well the studio is back up and running and there was this day that.... I mean well..... anyway I pulled out the old picture and she said " it's time " and so it was. The last post showed the background and the base color for her face. I used blue to model the face. This sitting I worked over that color with more blue then burnt sienna and raw sienna. The darker areas was painted with a combination black. In this picture I combined blue, burnt sienna and crimson. After modeling the face I then started over this with a series of washes that were made of various amounts of yellow, red, white and raw sierra. Presto! Face. On top of all this there is a clear coat with a very light blue tint and gold glitter. Just a hint. The last coat shows up when the light is just right. OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Coming along nicely I think.
She still has more to be done but I'm not sure when that will be. THE GEM SHOW IS COMING !!!
And this year we have a buyer that Cheri is selling to that wants to stop by and see what else we do. And that means I have to get busy putting together samples. Feel the pressure!!!! Ya right. I do a recycled tin flower ornament that people love and sells rather well and I have only once had them ready for the Christmas season. They do sell all year though. There are actually quite a few different styles and sizes of the recycled tin flowers. A big seller is a rusted series that I do. Now try getting something to rust in Arizona! There is no humidity at all. I make it work though. And then there is multitudes of other things that need to be touched up and readied. I feel really good about working on art again.
 I have a day job that pays the bills and helps us build what we need for the day art will be 24/7. I have taken off for a year or more several different times to do nothing but art. I learned a hell of a lot about the "art" business in those times. I decided that I needed to be prepared to do art full time on my terms and that I needed to become properly set up. So I work. Making a living doing art, as Cheri has done most her life, requires dedication, self discipline and a health dose of reality. Learn to love the art you do for sales! Learn to work as never before to produce those items that sell. I came to the realization that right now I was not going to be an instant, overnight world wide art sensation. Kind of like a rock star. There are very few of the rock star types but mostly there are a hole lot of garage bands. I may never be a "rock star" but I will be a damn good garage band. After all it is the small good bands that bring untold millions joy and a good time. I like that. After all to me it is all about the good times and passing it on to others. Rich is good, famous not so good, being who I am not terribly bad.
So off to the art mines to work work and laugh!

William Arrives

Arrive! William did that with a bang! Well I found " William was dressed to impress. Would she care? He thought so. " As we now know she did.( See previous post or close to it.) Some day I will tell you about William and his bride. They have a wonderful life together now.

This picture started with the eyes, as most of my faces do. Then the nose and smile. I use the a proportioning technique where the width of the eye is used to lay out the face. One eye width between the eyes. 3/4 or one eye width to the outside of the head from the out side corner of the eye. 1 1/2 from the center of the eyes to the end of the nose and so forth. I'm sure that a visual diagram would work better. The Internet probable has it. It has allot of good stuff and a lot that I really do not want. The point is that things work because they are done right. Which means that you learn and practice. William is a sketch that is the result, more or less, maybe, of literally thousands of sketches. I have books and books of sketches. I have always sketched. It does not matter what you use. Trust me on this. Any thing that will put a mark on something else or create a loose idea of a picture will work. I lived near an ocean once and would go to a section of beach, find a stick, and sketch 50' tall pictures. Now that is fun!!! The dirt, sidewalks, twigs, leaves, stones, old boards. It all works. It is about getting the pieces that you are trying to bring together into a semblance of order that conveys the idea or emotion that you are trying to express. I obviously have a broad definition of Sketching. Oh well. It's all practice to me. I have never completed a master piece. I have completed a large bunch of practice pieces. All of them lead me to the next adventure. All the parts of William are probably somewhere in the sketches that I have done.

Which brings me to the sketch that I really like because its so happy. I just had to bring her here.

"The Cap and Coveralls". Country folk again. Whats with that? But she is loving the fun in life!!

Ink, pencil, water colors and maybe other stuff. If you look closely the pencil is loose and fast. Then the rest was applied. She always makes me smile. Thank you lady of smiling days.

What have you seen to day? Did you sketch it? Remember the 5 second rule from a previous post? ( Nov. 27/09 Vampire Girl #2)Picasso used light to sketch. A wet finger on a desk or table. So tell me what did you sketch today?

"Once you start to sketch then you will start to "see" what you are looking at and it will be the beginning of beauty in your world". I'm sure that this was said by a very famous important artist, Or me. Still good and very true.