Looking

A fantastic example of being in the right place at the right time.  A shout out to Anna Shiffler's eyeballs.  

Approximately 2:45pm view out of my studio window.

Window, Sunlight, Scarf, Slides circa 2002

Give&Take

Tis the Season

On Sunday C2G2 ReJewelry participated in an indie craft fair in Bethlehem, Pa at The Secret Art Space.  It was a gathering of local artists providing unique gifts for the holiday season.  I grew an emotional attachment to the space and to the people who were there; I just love it when all walks of life are brought together by art (visual, musical, literary & culinary).

Christina Giungo of C2G2 ReJewelry 

Andy Po selling all his memories: T-shirts from his closet.

Anna selling her knits and handmade wallets
and Kyle of Blind Willow Bookshop.

Jamie of http://savethekales.wordpress.com/ made truffle chocolates in savory flavors like ginger and chipotle! 

Loving the teamwork.

And now I share this song:

Papyrus

The changing of season from Summer to Fall is undeniably one of the best times of year.  The brilliant colors that make up our landscape is adored by many and creative inspiration is amplified.  After collecting fallen leaves in various colors, I sliced them into thin strips and arranged them into  linear and grid compositions to incorporate in my handmade paper.  On some trials the leaves bled into my paper while drying but here are four pieces - measuring 4"x6" - which I think were pretty successful.

Papermaking is super easy and a very relaxing process; it pretty much consumed me for the last two days and I'll be experimenting with more materials and shapes in the near future for sure. This website provides a good tutorial: Papermaking at home.

Peregrinations

Wow, September and October came and went. At the end of September I spent ten days in California traveling down the Pacific Coastal Highway with stops in San Francisco, Yosemite, Big Sur, LA and San Diego.  I recommend this trip to anyone who loves a scenic adventure.  California is a big state and going from city to city I wholeheartedly understand why people go there and don't come back.  There are endless ways to spend the majority of your time outdoors due to the beautiful weather and so no wonder why people are pro-active in their efforts to preserve and nurture the land.  While driving from Yosemite to Big Sur I loved seeing hundreds of windmills scattered across the golden hills and seeing solar panels everywhere.  

In SF I was enthused by huge support of emerging artists at the SFMOMA and there's a really great bookstore/museum dedicated to the Beat culture.  Yosemite was incredible.  Sites of Half Dome, El Capitan and Bridal Veil Fall was an unforgettable vision.  Ohhh Big Sur.  Drive along the mountain side where land and sea meet, pitch a tent amongst hundred year old Sequoias, frolic on the pacific beaches, and notice the many different flora and fauna because nature doesn't get any better than that.  After Big Sur my comrade and I shacked up with family and friends in LA and then San Diego to end the trip where we enjoyed plenty o tasty waves and a cool buzz.

Niagara Falls

In October I went to Niagara Falls, American soil.  I saw the mist above the falls over the buildings miles before arriving at the park.  Super exciting.  There's an observation deck that offers a direct view to the American Falls (height guestimation is 800ft) and then you can also go down to the gorge bringing you to the base of this fall.  Fancy yourself some island hopping to experience the top of Bridal Veil Fall and Horseshoe Fall.  I was enthralled in the beautiful blue-green waters at the base of each which are surprisingly calm after such heavy deposits of agua.  Also, there are rainbows in all directions when you visit each island which was most thrilling for me.  It would be cool to see all three falls from the Canadian side but I don't have a passport.  Shame, shame. I know.

Painting the figure

It has been 4 years since I have attempted to paint the figure.  I can't believe I let this happen, but there is no time to dwell on that, it's time to paint.  

A little over a month ago I met Amy Rims:  a talented oil painter who can create an accurate portrait in like, 5 minutes, with thick layered globs of paint ("likes this").  Amy posted an ad on Craigslist for fellow artists proposing to meet once or twice a week in her basement with a live model.  I couldn't have found her at a better time since I really miss the energy that is cultivated when working around others, and aside from my usual abstractions of nature I love working with live models and need the practice.  I used to primarily render the figure in charcoal - never paint - so each week I have been working in water color, acrylic, or oils.  I'm not trying to think about it too much because I don't want to lose the whimsical nature of my painting style, but I am hoping to gain likeness through brevity and power in each brushstroke.  Here are a couple of my favs:

Lisa & Othello
This was my first attempt at painting the figure on canvas since like 1992.

Lisa
I painted this with Renoir's babes on the brain; I had gone to the Philadelphia Museum earlier that day to view Late Renoir.  I was identifying with him very much that day, even if he is the Thomas Kinkade of figurative painting.  Call me Tom, I won't be too insulted. : P

A quickie of Lisa

A quickie of Shivanni
She was delightful.

Last Friday

On August 27th Amy Rims, Andrea Cameron and I displayed and sold some art and apparel at Valley Square in Warrington, Pa during the shopping center's monthly event called Last Friday.  This was such a fun evening which offered a wide variety of foods, several bands, a moon bounce and puppies!  We only had a couple of days to get some stuff together but I was really proud with how Amy, Andrea and I presented our work in such a short amount of time.

Amy Rims in the background doing live drawings of passerbys, Andrea Cameron's tye dyed apparel, and artwork by CDG (moi).

Amy Rims in action

Andrea and my merchandise showed together very well.

Handmade postcards in pen and watercolor by CDG

Monomania

"Paint as you like and die happy." - Henry Miller

Okay, Henry. I will.

I have an obsession with drawing leaves and creating my own types of flora dangling from space.  Where there is a clean white area of paper in my view (and reality isn't particularly engaging) clusters of leaves show up.  Flowers with fangs.  Escape ladders. When I let my mind play while creating, improvisation ensues and the result is either aesthetically interesting or a terrible mess.  My conscious mind wants control but I always toss together elements formally separate just to see what happens.  I am embracing this today, tomorrow, from now on!  Judgement does not live in the basement!  Just lots of paint and jewelry.

Crayons

Crayons are a queer choice of materials for anyone over 10, but I was enthralled in the depths of my box o 64 one afternoon.