Nibblefest Art Contest: 'MoonShadow' wins 3rd Place....!

"MoonShadow" places Third in Nibblefest...!

Good news!  Just found out  my entry, "MoonShadow", won Third Place in February's Nibblefest Art Contest -- hooray, I'm thrilled....!   Thanks, Nibblefest!  (See Nibblefest's Facebook Fan Page here)

Day 28 of the '29 Faces' Challenge, and Now For Something Completely Different: UNpainted Rocks....

UNpainted Rock People, in the Raw.....

Day 28 of the '29 Faces of February' art blog Challenge!  We are finally here, the second-to-last day of February -- who can believe it all ends tomorrow......?

Aside from being Day 28 today, it was also Tuesday, which happens to be my busiest day of the week.   Today was no exception, as I was out of the house for most of it.  So while I wasn't able to spend a lot of time in my studio today, I do have some Faces I took photos of tonight to share that I'm hoping will be of interest to many of you.....

As most of you must know by now, I love painting what I call "Rock People" -- the little faces and figures and such like that I spy hiding within the natural bumps, cracks and crevices of ordinary rocks.  I'm always on the lookout for these especially characteristic rocks wherever I happen to be.  Only, in my dozen or so years of searching however, I've come to realise just how rare and extraordinary they actually are.  By far most of the time, a rock turns out to be just that....a plain old, ordinary rock.  But I'm going to share with you here two rocks I have that are as yet UNpainted, just to demonstrate to anyone what these rocks look like in the 'raw' as I find them.....

The first one is a chunk of what I'm guessing to be limestone (yes, I took ONE course in Geology in college).  I think it's a pretty incredible find because it has not one, but TWO faces that are very clearly and obviously carved into the stone, by Mother Nature herself.   Everybody I show this one to is always pretty astonished -- the faces are simply THAT apparent, for all to see (here's hoping my photography tonight doesn't fail me!).  Note especially  that unlike all the other rocks I've featured, this rock is completely UNPAINTED -- I used only a bit of graphite pencil this afternoon along some of the cracks and edges of the rock just to help distinguish the features for the sake of photography:

Meet the 'Old Man/Old Woman'.... 

Two Faces clearly carved into the rock, one on each side.

Do you see them too?  The 'Old Woman' on the right, and the 'Old Man' on the left....?

Here with slightly different lighting....

Let's take a closer look at the Old Woman shall we...?

Just look at that eye socket and nose.  And that beautifully unmistakable CHIN...!

So much character, and in a rock!

She has a lovely jawline and hairline too -- really, can you describe this as anything other than Nature's Sculpture....?

 And now, let's take a look at her companion, the 'Old Man'.....

Nostrils, eyes, mouth -- it's all there. And dont' you love his pensive expression....!

A very sumptuous lipline.  Please tell me you see it too!

A little on the tipsy side, I'm making this rock stand upright for optimal pics:

This angle shows off his sculpted nose pretty well....

I see them as an old married couple, bonded one to the other, for all eternity....

A truly amazing find, in my humble opinion....

Pretty remarkable, no?  So special in fact, that though I discovered this rock ages ago, in the decade or so that it's been in my possession, I've never been able to bring myself to actually paint it.  And don't know if I ever shall.  They just seem so perfect in themselves, y'know....?  I like to tongue-in-cheekly refer to what I do as 'liberating' the Rock People -- but really, when it comes down to it, these two don't need any 'help'  from me....

And now for fun, another very special 'raw' rock, that was 'hiding in plain site' on me, for who knows how long....

Meet, 'Elly'....

"Elly', the wee elephant rock....

'Elly' the Elephant was (re)discovered only recently.  Let me explain.... As you can probably imagine, I'm pocketing rocks all the time to bring home.  Even though precious few rocks actually contain these perfect wee figure that I'm constantly searching for, I'm still always on the lookout for them should they cross my path.  Even when in doubt, with nothing immediately jumping out at me on a rock, if it happens to be shapely...?  My gut compulsion is to bring it home anyway.  As such, I've amassed quite a large 'reject' rock pile in my yard, to be incorporated into my garden landscaping.  Well it was only a few months ago, one day in late fall, when I was raking some leaves off our patio.  I felt a rock tumbling under my rake, caught up as it was in some leaves I was raking, and so I reached down to pick it up and toss it back onto its pile.  Only as I did so, I was stunned to look down and see an elephant face pop right out at me...!  It was especially stunning, because, being outside and all, it meant that this particular fellow had at some point been formerly REJECTED by me, possibly years ago.    How I missed seeing this little guy before is beyond me, because it's as plain to me now as the nose on my face!  (Or the trunk on an elephant, whatever metaphor you care to use).  I guess it just goes to show you, when in doubt, don't throw it out....!  (and it makes me want to revisit ALL my yard rocks again, just to see what else I've missed!).....

Elephant Face!  Her Left Side....

Her Right Side....

She looks a little like a wee shy baby to me -- with her ears and trunk all really apparent....

Remember, raw rock here, unpainted -- but can't you see her too...?

So here's hoping you enjoyed my especially Special faces for Day 28 of the Challenge....!  (and for any newcomers, here is my usual blurbie about my painted rock art....):

Typically, a rock... is just a rock. But sometimes, when luck smiles upon me, very special ones reveal themselves. Then I 'see' Rock People, little figures hidden within the naturally formed bumps, corners and crevices of ordinary stones -- Nature's very own sculpture. With the help of a bit of paint, I enjoy 'liberating' these unique wee folk for others to enjoy as well.....  

 (To see more of my painted rocks, click on the 'Painted Rocks' label for this post -- as well as visiting my Painted Rock Gallery on EBSQ)....

Day 27 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge: A Painting entitled 'White Dress"......

Day 27 of the '29 Faces in February' art blog Challenge!   We are almost to the end of the challenge by now -- nearly a full MONTH of Faces.....

My piece for today is another one of those that I figure should weigh no less than 12 pounds by now, what with all the paint I've dabbed onto it over the years as I've fiddled with it on and off (mostly off).  Nor can I decisively say that it's officially 'finished' either at this point (I did work on it this evening, but it got late and needed to quit for the night) -- therefore we will have to still call this one a 'Work In Progress', rather than 'Finis!'.....  

"White Dress"

15 x 17 Original Painting on a support I created myself using an salvaged, upcycled frame.

The lighting in my house isn't so great at midnight for taking pics!  In any case, this is another painting support (and a companion piece to Day 3's Face, 'Red Dress', as written about here) that I made myself using an old, second-hand salvaged frame.    Note that I really and truly am committed to this particular technique, that of incorporating old frames into my artwork  (I'd better be, because I have like a lifetime supply by now, lol) -- still, it doesn't make the painting of  them any easier....!  I just always seem to get quite hung up when it comes to incorporating the frames into the pieces themselves -- in particular case here with the 'shoulders', using as I am the bottom part of the frame as part of her 'White Dress'.  It took forever getting that detail to my satisfaction, fighting as I am against the natural distortion.  Also in this case, those things at the bottom of the canvas are supposed to be 'vines' or 'branches' or some such, and quite possibly wrapped around her too, only I'm not super crazy how all that's looking either right now -- so indeed..., while we'll still call this one a WIP for the time being, happily I can at least say it's MOSTLY finished by now (with just a few more things to work out)....:

"White Dress" uncropped so as to show the painted, incorporated frame

My statement regarding the use of salvaged, upcycled wood frames in my art work: 

".....I have begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself utilising the old, salvaged wooden picture frames that cross my path from time to time (usually for free).  I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill as part as our local waste stream.  The process of recycling these vintage frames into painting supports/canvases is a lengthy one, typically involving stabilising the frames (which can be quite rickety), cutting thick paperboard to fit, securing it all and pasting and building up a painting surface with layers of overlapping scraps of paper.  The end effect is a highly textured surface that adds dimension and depth to my paintings, complete with a built-in frame (onto which I often extend my painted images, incorporating the frames into the overall piece) into one cohesive, ready-to-hang whole...."

Day 26 of the '29 Faces' Challenge, another bas-relief Tableau sculpture

Day 26 of the '29 Faces in February' art blog Challenge!  Gosh, I can hardly believe that once I post today's Face with this very entry, there will be but 3 more Faces in February to go....?  That's amazing!

In any case, I do hope my Face for today (bird face!) is not stretching it too much here: 

 "Robin Song" 

9.5 x 11.5 Papier Mache bas-relief Tableau Sculpture

Like my piece from several entries ago, "A Bird in the Hand", this is a bas-relief tableau-style sculpted work, using a second-hand, upcycled frame that has been mache-d over and incorporated into the piece as a whole:

View from the bottom to show the 3-D sculptural elements

So this piece has an interesting history.  I actually began it years ago (sound familiar?) as an entry for one of the themed monthly art exhibits of the online art community, EBSQ.  I recall working on it, and being happy with where it was going in terms of the sculpting....only somewhere along the line I had underestimated my time and it wasn't long before the deadline was looming.  Papier mache can be notoriously tricksy, because you can never be certain just how long any particular step is going to take -- not to mention the potential for uncooperative weather to totally gum up the works (say, if it's cold, damp, and rainy -- which I call  "witchin' weather", because papier mache just will not DRY).  Whatever the case, I ended up being unfortunately forced, with mere minutes to spare before the official deadline, to enter it half-finished (the sculpting of it all done, but not the painting part of it).  In my rush I had slapped on at least some color, but overall it just wasn't 'done' to my mind.  I did enter it anyway, but really wasn't at all personally satisfied:

My half-finished piece, as originally entered.

I always meant to return to it and properly finish it one day, but never seemed to get around to it.  That is, until today.  And it's glad I am that I did, because I'm much happier with it now....!

'Robin Song" Side View.  Glad to finally be able to declare it 'Finis!'...!

My usual statement regarding my use of salvaged old picture frames in my artwork:

"....I have recently begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself using the old, salvaged wooden picture frames that cross my path from time to time (usually for free).  I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill.  The process of recycling these vintage frames into painting supports/canvases is a lengthy one, typically involving stabilising the frames (which can be quite rickety), cutting thick paperboard to fit, securing it all and pasting and building up a painting surface with layers of overlapping scraps of paper, and adding additional sculptural elements as with my bas-relief tableau sculpture.  But worth it, being as that the end effect is a 3-dimensional surface, complete with a built-in frame, as one cohesive, ready-to-hang whole...".

 

Day 25 of the '29 Faces' Challenge: A Painted Lion Rock....

Day 25 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge.  And I'm tired, people...!   Still, there was no way I was not going to do a Face today, as close as we are here to the end of the month and my record so spotless thus far....

I admit it wasn't the most productive of art days today however.  I fiddled with no less than four different ongoing face-relative projects in the studio today, representing hours of time, yet not getting very far with a nary of them.... that is, except for this wee fellow.  Another painted rock that, again, like all my other projects from my aforementioned 'Pile of Shame',  is one that I'd started years ago (so long ago I can't now remember any detail of how I ran across him in the first place) and never got round to completing....

I think the problem with this guy was that, despite the fact the rock had a really OBVIOUS lion face from the first time I spied it, with the nose and the mane clearly defined, and the proportions just right, my first attempts at bringing him out resulted in something far more 'cartoony' than I was looking for.  And I'm sure part of that is likely due in large part to the fact that I often start my projects with gusto, but without the benefit of any reference material, thanks to my inherent laziness.  So then, when my pieces get to their 'ugly stage' (and they ALL get there, at one point or another), and I'm not thrilled with how it's going I'll just set it aside 'for later' (which may or may not ever come). Well yesterday when I finally got back to him I actually looked up some lion photo references instead of just trying to wing it, which proved to be quite helpful (so much so that I really ought to do it more often, but I digress..).   

Meet the 'King of Kats' :

'King of Kats' has a raised face, surrounded by a lush and silky mane....

3" long by 1.5" wide and 1.5" high

I forgot to photograph him with a coin for size reference, but he's really quite wee....

From all angles he has really lovely proportions. Mother Nature was particularly clever with this one.

This view really show off his exquisite 'lion' shape -- really quite dimensional!

As I always like to say, 'Nature's Sculpture'

Odd view from the back, but again it shows his lovely sculpted features....

 

And, yet once again, for anyone new visiting here is my usual little blurbie about my painted rocks:

...Typically, a rock... is just a rock. But sometimes, when luck smiles upon me, very special ones reveal themselves. Then I 'see' rock people, little figures hidden within the naturally formed bumps, corners and crevices of ordinary stones -- Nature's very own sculpture. With the help of a bit of paint, I enjoy 'liberating' these unique wee folk for others to enjoy as well.....  

 (To see more of my painted rocks, click on the 'Painted Rocks' label for this post -- as well as visiting my Painted Rock Gallery on EBSQ)....

Day 24 of the '29 Faces Challenge": a big Painted Rock Head....

Day 24 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge....!   And I  can really feel myself counting down the days by now, whew....

Tonight's blog post features a long-unfinished project I pulled out to work on after being inspired upon seeing the face project of a fellow Challenge artist, named Liz Drake.  She had posted hers to the '29 Faces Challenge' Facebook Event wall, and it reminded me so much of this fellow that I took it as a message to properly finish him up, for once and for all....

Meet 'Rocky":

 You know the saying, 'Do you have rocks in your head"?  This poor guy's head IS a rock!

This is actually quite a hefty fellow, as you can see by the quarter I included in the photo for size reference.  But isn't he great???  Just look at that nose...! :

(For those who can't see the above Facebook link of Liz Drake's piece, hers was the face of a man with a very large 'schnozz', which is what reminded me of this big guy)

This was a project I'd begun many moons ago, after my father found this rock out in a cornfield and passed it along to me. I remember taking one look at that incredible 'nose' and immediately seeing the face encased in the rock -- and so it was with great enthusiasm that I began my painting project. But, as I'm sure you all can guess the old Art of Patience song and dance by now, it was an enthusiasm that fizzled before too  terribly long.  Part of the reason for that I think, is Rocky's 'two-faced' nature.  His left side's surface (shown above) is very even and smooth, which made the painting fairly easy and painless.  His right side however is significantly more rough and craggy, and it was there that I found myself hitting a few snags.  Over the years there were several attempts to finish him up, but never really to my satisfaction.  Finally today however I made a real concerted effort to focus and pay attention to what I was doing, and quit fighting but actually embrace the asymmetry (I never like to 'force' the rocks).  And it's with a happy heart I feel finally able to declare him officially  'Finis...!".

His eye follows you around....

He has a very defined 'ear' on his right side....

I really love this guy!

And again, my usual little blurbie about my painted rocks:

...Typically, a rock... is just a rock. But sometimes, when luck smiles upon me, very special ones reveal themselves. Then I 'see' rock people, little figures hidden within the naturally formed bumps, corners and crevices of ordinary stones -- Nature's very own sculpture. With the help of a bit of paint, I enjoy 'liberating' these unique wee folk for others to enjoy as well.....  

 (To see more of my painted rocks, click on the 'Painted Rocks' label for this post -- as well as visiting my Painted Rock Gallery on EBSQ)....

Day 23 of the '29 Faces' Challenge: A Student's Wolf Face-Mask Project:

Day 23 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge!   And whew, we are definitely in the home-stretch by now.  Once I hit the 'publish' button for this post, there will  officially  be less than a week of Faces left to do....  Huzzah!

As for today's face project, the Face I'm posting is going to be a little....different:

Student's Mask Project

While this face is technically my student's project, I was instrumental as to the creation of it, and so I'm making the executive decision that it 'counts'.  Allow me to explain:  I have a high school-aged student that comes over on Thursday afternoons for private art tutoring, and together we have been working on making a mask for a big ballet recital she has coming up.  There is to be a dance segment  based on 'Little Red Riding Hood', with my student, a wonderful little artist in her own right, having offered to make a paper mache mask for the person in the role of 'Big Bad Wolf'.   There were some constraints.  The director wanted the mask to be especially light weight, and to have nothing that would cover the mouth of  the dancer -- and so my student and I set out to design something accordingly, starting from scratch.  Here are progress pics of  our mask making project: 

We began by building up a wolf-shaped form, shaping and constructing the ears and the 'mane' from light cardboard, adding sculptural elements and covering the whole thing entirely on both sides with duct tape:

Wolf-shaped Form, covered in duct-tape

 Once the form, or 'base', was completed, it was time to apply the papier mache layers to it:

Applying the paper mache layers.

Wet and gooey.

Wet Paper Mache Wolf Mask... (along with a papier mache panda, another student's project)

The paper mache layers were applied over several weekly sessions.  Finally today the mask was thick and dry enough to be removed from the wolf-shaped base/mold:

The papier mache doesn't stick to the duct tape, and so with a little gentle coaxing, it lifts off.

Gently pulling the mask away.

Off it comes -- good job!

And...it looks great!  What a lovely Face for Day 23...!

Paper Mache Wolf Face Mask, almost finished....!

Now all that is needed is to paint it, which we'll do next week.

And also for fun, since we had some time to kill once the mask was removed (and we'd smoothed over the raw edges with the last bit of papier mache), I introduced my student to the fun that is the ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals)...:

Sketching her ACEO

A cute wee fairy -- how sweet!  (to be finished with watercolor another day)

Day 22 of the '29 Faces' Challenge: Another Nibblefest Art Contest Entry....

"Good Morning, Starshine" : A  3.5 x 4.5 Painted Reclaimed Wooden Plaque

Beveled Edges and Painted on All Sides

The background is actually more purply-dark blue than the flat black as it appears here.

Day 22 of the '29 Faces' Challenge!  And I was really hoping to get to bed before Midnight tonight....but alas, it is not to be.  Well at any rate, for my Face for Day 22 I ended up whipping up another Nibblefest Art Contest entry today, being as that it was the 22nd and I could enter a 5 day auction. 

*Click Here For Auction Link*

As mentioned in a previous post, I adore painting Anthropomorphic Moons.  Therefore I couldn't very well have a Nibblefest theme like 'Moonlight' and not come up with at least one little MoonFace for it.  And for my support I recycled a 2nd hand-acquired, small wooden plaque that I'd been hoarding for awhile (after saving it from the landfill)....

My auction description:

"...I am currently participating in a very fun art blog Challenge, called '29 Faces in February':  a 'face' in any medium, for every day this month. So far I have managed to paint (and blog about) a Face of some ilk every single day for the past three weeks.  Since today (Wednesday) is Day 22 of the Challenge, and I just happen to LOVE painting anthropomorphic moons, I decided to come up with one last entry for the Contest, that I can also just happen to use as my art challenge "Face-du-Jour".   How practical...! ..."

Day 21 of the '29 Faces' Challenge: 'A Bird in the Hand', Papier Mache Bas-Relief Tableau Sculpture........

"A Bird in the Hand" :  12 x 16 Papier Mache Bas-Relief Sculptural Tableau

Side View

Lots of dimension and depth

Day 21 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge!  Wow, I can hardly believe I have actually managed to paint and to post every day for the last 3 weeks....(!).

In any case, it is with great pleasure that I am presenting this particular piece as today's 'Face'.   This was something I started ages ago, as in years back..., and, as I'm sure you can probably guess by now, never got around to finishing (see my  'Pile of Shame' post).

Looking back I can remember the sculpting part went easily enough -- using papier mache technique, and an old frame, I built up the surface to create the three-dimensional tableau.  And that part I was quite pleased with -- it was when I went on to paint it that I found myself getting stuck.  I recall flip-flopping on my choice of color palette a few times, and painting over several sections.  Then at some point my aformentioned late free-ranging, rascally house rabbit got a hold of it somehow, and chewed  on it as she was wont to do.  So then it needed repairs, sigh...!  Well needless to say I ended up setting the whole thing aside for a good long while.  Which brings us to the present.  An online artist group I'm a member of (called the ART Community:  click here for their Facebook 'Fan Page') is hosting an event called 'The Bird Project', whereby members are invited to submit art relating to the bird theme, with the deadline being today the 21st.  A few weeks ago in anticipation of this particular event I managed to fix the rabbit-damage, but left the painting completion for later.  'Later' ended up being today (and at the last possible minute no less) -- but whatever, I'm just happy to say I got it finished tonight and uploaded in time, even if it was with just literally minutes to spare....!  Plus it's just a really good feeling to know that it really and truly is finally finished after all these long years, for once and or all, and that I'm able to say I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out.....

(And P.S. Just a note to say I know I need to catch up on comments and emails -- it's been a really busy last couple of days, but please know that I appreciate ALL the wonderful input and contacts and am intending to catch up again just as soon as I can....!  Thanks, Everybody)