fuzzybunnystew

Necklace formed with memory wire and threaded with beads and shrink plastic. I drew the mouthpiece, connecting headjoint part, and all the keys on my Emerson flute. It took longer than I anticipated and turned out differently than what I had in mind, but I like it. I really want to get better at working with wire. Most of the detours from my original plan were due to not getting the wire to do what I wanted it to do. I do like the individual parts emphsasized, abstracted to represent the body of the flute without it actually being shown.

More shrink plastic cause it’s so much fun and small and manageable. I made the cookie a long time ago, but I thought it would be more interesting to connect it with these other objects. I ate in a Chinese restaurant last week. I walked up to the counter to place the order where sat the lucky cat. I received my meal in a red and white box. I cracked the cookie at the end as is procedure and pondered the manufactured wisdom. Wouldn’t quite be the American Chinese take-out experience without the cookie tradition.

A small quick drawing in Prismacolor pencil of my glassfish.  I had him for I think six years.  He finally passed away this past weekend.  He had the whole tank to himself and had outlived his brethren by five years.   I never named him, but the household dubbed him both Michael and Gilbert.

These are shrinky dink earrings I drew and baked. I am interested in the cycle of the blooming weed that transforms to a wispy, puffy seed, scatters through the wind, and begins anew.

I created this shrinky dink from a polaroid I took of two peaches with Time Zero film. The film has been discontinued. I’ve heard that Polaroid plans to discontinue all of its film soon. A rather sad development. I’m interested in process, transformation, and the relationship between objects in these little shrink plastic creations I’ve been doing as of late. The camera I drew from is an SX-70 Land Camera. I titled the polaroid, “Ripe Peaches.”

Prismacolor pencils on shrink plastic. Working yet again with the whole hormones and chocolate theme, this time on a smaller scale.

I’ve stalled with this particular oil painting since May. I finally threw some pthalo blue paint on it last night and feel better about the direction. The initial painting lacked a unity in the color and style used and I was at a loss on how to pull it together.

I decided last night to try a suggestion from Dan gleaned from watching a documentary on Leon Golub and Nancy Spero. Golub would paint a figure in his work, then cover the whole canvas with one color and scrape away particular areas. This sounded like a possible solution to the problems I’m facing with this particular piece. I plan on working the figure, rabbits, and text a little more, then laying down another layer of color and utilizing the same process of wiping the paint away.

I also plan on changing the figure somewhat. I used myself as the study and think my treatment isn’t exactly the feeling I intended to convey in this painting . I drew a couple of drawings last year when I conceived this idea. I looked at the whole idea as rather comical. A woman sitting around in her underwear, moody and crying, gorging herself on a room of chocolate bunnies. Right now, this woman looks very unhappy and overwhelmed. I think I was overwhelmed with the whole life/school balancing act when I was painting it initially as well as no longer thrilled at using my own body as a subject in my work. I think a little time away from it has been helpful in seeing these problems and gauging the direction I need to take this piece.

Trying to get into the swing of utilizing this blog for my art. I have a dozen projects in various stages of completion that I want to get finished before this fall to submit for my BFA. I thought summer classes would be a break, but I’m finding myself doubly busy. I hope that writing will help me focus, knock out the work that’s piling up.

Earlier this spring, I bought a role of butcher paper for an idea concerning the pictures above. I want to examine the relationship between humans, animals, and food. The animals drawn so far are life size in ink and marker on butcher paper. I need to tackle my largest animal, a cow, so I can get a better sense of scale and time needed. I wondered how one might respond to a somewhat realistic rendering of particular animals juxtaposed against the division of butcher cuts. It’s a different experience from seeing a small cartoon of a cow used to select meat. Much easier to see it as simply chuck or filet as opposed to a cow. I think there’s a high level of detachment from viewing a cow in pasture to the steps in between to the consumer picking up a steak in a sealed package.

I also need to refine my idea of what animals I intend to use. I need to focus on animals fairly common to the American palette. The tarantula, a regional Venezualan edible, will most likely get cut from the line-up. I like the drawing of the rat, but I’m unsure if it will stay. I’m interested in putting in a couple of animals that are certainly consumed, but unlikely canidates for the average meal. I realize that pretty much any animal or insect is sustenance for someone out there. I plan on carrying through with the butcher shop theme by adding mock packages of wrapped meat as well. I think a trip to a butcher shop is in order for some ideas.

I rendered these six drawings with a pen on blank watercolor postcards, utilizing prismacolor markers for the eye color. I used old photos of my cat Mao as a study. I think I’m fairly familiar with the nuances of his stripes at this point. Drawing’s an excellent tool to pick up details in life one tends to overlook.

I sent these postcards in conjunction with a postcard blitz on 04/28/07 for the pet food recall asking for attention to the matter. Those affected were prompted to send at least six cards to their two state senators, Senator Durbin, CNN, and the White House.

I’m pretty overwhelmed by all the information out there on this topic and by how many other people’s pets have been affected. It’s oddly heartbreaking and comforting that so many others are in this together. I really appreciate the feedback I’ve received from so many others affected by this. I’m sorry so many others are in the same boat though.