"Land of Lincoln", My Nibblefest Contest Entry for Sept's 'Furry Friends' Theme

"Land of Linclon", Original Acrylic Painting on 5.5" x 12"Wood Panel

September's Nibblefest Art Contest week has started (on the 20th).  The theme for this month is "Furry Friends" and this is my interpretation/entry.....

CLICK FOR "LAND OF LINCOLN" AUCTION LINK 

(As always with NFAC, bidding begins at just .99 cents!)

  I kicked around only a few ideas for "Furry Friends" before finally settling upon this one.  It's actually an image I've had in my head ever since a Nibblefest contest a few months back, when the theme was "Animals in Hats".  I had fully intended to participate that month -- ruminating on all kinds of well-known, historic hats that I could potentially work with.  Lincoln's iconic 'stove-pipe' top hat came to mind, and so I planned to create a portrait of Abe sporting an exaggeratedly tall top hat, with an owl peeking out from a hole in it.  The owl (appropriately symbolizing 'wisdom") would literally be "IN a hat", rather than the more obvious route of having an animal WEARING a hat.   In the end however, it was such a crazy busy summer that I never did manage to even start on an entry that month, despite my clear concept and the fact I'd fished around in my stash of second-hand canvases and painting supports to find the perfect, tall-and-skinny piece of found wood....    

Fast forward to this month when I was thinking about "Furry Friends".  Animals came to mind of course, but while I do adore critters of all ilk -- I just couldn't get myself in the mood to paint one.  Mostly I couldn't stop thinking of my earlier Lincoln portrait idea -- the image repeatedly popping into my mind.  And so, figuring he's portrayed often enough in the historical record with a beard that he reasonably counts as 'furry', it's the route I took....

"Land of Lincoln" Side View, showing painting extended on all sides, as shown here.....

I did change a few things from my original concept.  For one, I swapped out the owl I'd initially had in mind, with a cardinal.  The Cardinal is the official state bird of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln's home state (and mine).  The following is my auction description:

 

I live in Illinois, not so terribly far from the state capital of Springfield, where Abraham Lincoln, our much-beloved 16th president, lived, worked, grew a beard (hence was 'FURRY'), and got his start in politics.  I recall taking school trips to his home and his grave in my youth -- and went on to take my own children to these revered sites, plus others that have opened since (such as a really terrific museum/presidential library).  All of this Lincoln lore attracts multitudes of tourists to our area, and as a result Mr. Lincoln is mighty Big Business in these parts (like, nearly as big as Corn and Soybeans). Sadly, despite this legacy, my state (whose official state bird is the Cardinal) is not currently on especially sound footing, not financially, politically or otherwise.  As we continue ride on Mr. Lincoln's coattails, I can't help but wonder sometimes what he might think of our "Land of Lincoln" , as the marketing slogan goes, if he could somehow be with us today....."

More Fun Ballet Company Commissions....!

The Nutcracker Ballet's "Mother Ginger", as painted upon an 8+ tall plywood cut-out

So I'm finally getting around to posting about another project I was recently commissioned to create for our local ballet company (as mentioned in my previous post)....
 

 Our local ballet puts on a lavish production of The Nutcracker Ballet every year, which has become quite the December tradition in these parts.   A highlight of this family favorite, is the 'Mother Ginger' (AKA 'Marie Antoinette') vignette... whereby a person, shoe-horned into an impossibly enormous, hooped dress, comes out onstage  (so big she must be discretely wheeled out of the wings via a special platform), with an entire passel of wee child clowns escaping from underneath her skirts to cavort and dance, much to the delight of the audience.   Often the person portraying Mother Ginger is a man in drag, which can be quite hilarious, and on other occasions things go even a step further and a local personality of some sort agrees to portray her for a performance or two.    It's fun stuff! (You can see a pic of the real Mother Ginger here)....

At any rate, our ballet company recently hosted their big annual fundraising soiree/gala event, and I was requested to paint the Mother Ginger character as a prop for use as part of the festivity's decoration and entertainment.  The company provided me with the plywood cut-out (over 8 feet tall).  I asked if I was supposed to portray her as a guy in drag, like our Mother Ginger often is.  'No, not necessarily', I was told.  Instead they said they were looking for a 'sexy' Mother Ginger (all while remaining strictly PG of course!).
Well all righty then!

The following is what I came up with:

A 'sexy' painted 8+ foot tall Mother Ginger (AKA 'Mare Antoinette')

Is that 'sexy' enough for you, lol....?

Additionally, I was also asked to paint two other characters that are always featured in the show -- a young Maid and Footman...:

A painted Maid and Footman (a little over 5 feet-ish tall)

At over 8 feet tall, the Mother Ginger cut-out was especially far too large to get into my house, but thankfully I have a wide, old-fashioned veranda front porch, with a roof.  That's where she lived for a goodly chunk of my summer...:

Mother Ginger in progress on my porch (see the ladder for size reference)....

I did get lots of strange looks from the neighbors and passerby, for weeks....:

Nutcracker Maid and Footman in progress on my front porch

But in the end the projects were completed in time (thank goodness), and then I myself was able to attend the fancy shindig that all three figures were requested for (I managed to discretely snap pictures of them in use during the party)....:

Mother Ginger at the party

Maid and Footman, part of a fundraising game involving champagne glasses and fancy jewelry prizes!

I got a big chuckle at the event too, because they'd dug out my old papier mache Boar's Head (which I blogged about way back when), to use as party decoration.  That thing really only sees the light of day at Nutcracker time (used as a stage prop), so I was quite surprised to be "reunited", lol....!

My paper mache Boar's Head, used as party decoration

Doesn't he look grand up there on the pedestal....?  (Seems to be pimping some wine here)....

As for Mother Ginger, she even made the local newspaper afterwards
(note the striking young woman posing with her here is NOT me, but the ever lovely dancer, Erica J.  ...).

Mother Ginger makes the local society pages....

Sleeping Beauty Ballet Stage Props

As usual, time gets away from me.....

A grouping of Sleeping Beauty Ballet papier mache stage props.....

 ....I was meaning to post a fun project I was recently commissioned to do for our local ballet company, when I realized I never did blog about a previous one that I also did for the Ballet, this past spring.  Well being that it seemed like an exceptionally busy spring on my end (and thanks in no small part to this particular project actually), I guess I just forgot to write about it despite the fact I do like to keep general track of my various projects in here, if even just for my own records.   Therefore I'll do so now, and save the original post I was going to blog for a later day....

As it stands, our local ballet company here in town put on an opulently lavish production of 'The Sleeping Beauty' Ballet back in the Spring (May '14).  I was asked by the artistic director to come up with some stage props to be used as part of the story line.  At Baby Princess Aurora's christening ceremony, the fairies of the kingdom are invited as honored guests to bestow upon the infant their especial gifts of character and talent.   The ballet director explained to me that there were to be six fairy blessings in all, and that she wanted the dancers acting the fairies roles to be able to carry props representing these gifts.  What exactly they were to be, and how they were to look, she was leaving up to me....

A little research of the old, original Brothers Grimm tales lead me to choose the following as my fairy gifts:  The gift of 'Wisdom', the gift of 'Radiance', The gift of 'Music', the gift of 'Dance', the gift of 'Grace', and the gift of 'Beauty'.  I then set about designing prop pieces to reflect these abstract traits (created in papier mache, but of course).... 

The following is what I came up with:

The Gift of Wisdom....:

A paper mache Owl to represent 'Wisdom'

The Gift of 'Radiance'.....:

A papier mache Sun to represent 'Radiance"

The Gift of "Music"....:

A papier mache Harp to represent "Music"

The Gift of "Grace"....:

A papier mache Sun to represent 'Grace"

 The Gift of "Dance".....:

A papier mache Louis XIV Court Shoe to represent "Dance"

The Gift of "Beauty"....:

A papier mache (and restaurant take-out box styrofoam) Rose to represent "Beauty"

(This white rose blossom was created by hot gluing bits and pieces of two take-out boxes that I cut up and strategically re-assembled....) 

All fairy 'gifts' are approximately 18 inches high, and composed of pretty much....garbage.  Well, that is to say, recyclables.  Can you picture the styrofoam trays that hold sliced mushrooms from the grocery store at the very bottom of the bases...?  Or the yogurt cups that make up the upper portion of the bases....?

Here's an early WIP pic I took of the props' (very) humble beginnings.....:

What I began with (the bast on the far right with a fresh, gooey layer of papier mache).  We're talking plastic trays, yogurt cups, bulk CD containers, old telephone cord, etc etc.  Repurposing galore, People!)

So, while they all started out as refuse, in the end, they turned out like this....:

Something from Nothing!

 And they really did look lovely on stage.  Here's to fun 3D projects....!

"Henry David Thoreau", My Nibblefest Contest Entry for August's 'Forest Creatures' Theme

"Henry David Thoreau": acrylics on 6 x 8 canvas panel (permanently mounted to an 8 x 10 rustic wooden board)

CLICK FOR AUCTION LINK (Starting at just .99 cents!)

So what do you think of when you think of 'Forest Creatures'....?  Such is the theme for August's Nibblefest Art Contest .   The above is my interpretation.  I suppose I could have taken a more 'literal' approach, but, as anyone who reads this blog (if there actually is anyone still reading this blog, lol) knows, I generally prefer to take a more literary approach when it comes to the Nibblefest themes.  Therefore one of the first things to pop into mind for me when reflecting upon 'Forest Creatures', was the old tome, "Walden: Life in the Woods", by the classic 19th century author, Henry David Thoreau.  Mr. Thoreau went off and lived for two years on the remote property of his buddy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in a self-built cabin tucked in the woods, along the shores of a pond, as an experiment in simple living (then he wrote about it).  Worked for me, so I went with it...

Once I knew I wanted to paint a tribute portrait of Thoreau, I dug around in my stash of second-hand frames and painting supports and came across what I decided was the perfect thing to use.  As I've mentioned in this blog previously (numerous times), years ago I made the decision to forestall buying any new art supplies (excepting paint and brushes) in favor of supports I can either make myself, or find second hand.  Since then I've amassed quite the collection of second-hand frames and wood plaques and the like.  One of these was a small canvas panel that had been permanently mounted with metal brackets onto a very (very!) heavy, very (very!) rustic chunk of darkly stained, textured wood.  It was leftover, unwanted, after a local charity garage sale, and so I schlepped it home with me to save it from the landfill, but without any idea of what I might actually get around to using it for, being as that it was rather...unique?  Well, with its 'old-timey' look, it turned out to be the perfect thing for my particular subject matter.  Not to mention fairly appropriate I think too, what with the whole 'forest'-y themed thing we've going here (because what represents Forest more than a big, heavy chunk of actual wood plank....?).

Side view.  Thick chunk of wood!

The following is my auction description...:

"Henry David Thoreau"

My entry for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC),  the theme for August being 'Forest Creatures', features a tribute portrait of the venerable author, Henry David Thoreau.  Painted in acrylics on a unique, second-hand 8" x 6" canvas panel permanently mounted onto a heavy and rustic 10" x 8" wooden board (see side view photograph), this original painting is signed and ready to hang.

When reflecting upon this month's theme, 'Forest Creatures', one of the first things to come to mind was the classic 1854 tome "Walden: Life in the Woods", by Henry David Thoreau, wherein he writes about to his personal experience with the simple life while residing in a self-built cabin within a natural setting on Walden Pond, surrounded by forest...: 

 
"....I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion...."
  ~Henry David Thoreau

To see all the lovely 'Forest Creature' themed artwork this month, click HERE.....

My entry for the EBSQ June 'Fern' Show: "Dylan Thomas - Fern Hill"

 

 "Dylan Thomas - Fern Hill"

Original acrylic painting on an 6.5 x 8.5 Oval plaque

It's been a long while since I've entered an EBSQ, Self Representing Artists online show...., but, ready as I am to get back into a painting routine, I decided to make a point of coming up with something for the June '14 EBSQ  'Ferns'-themed art exhibit.  As mentioned numerous times on this blog, I do enjoy using literature, music and poetry as inspiration, often incorporating whatever literary references that pop into my head as jumping off points when it comes to artistic themes.  One of the first things to come to mind when thinking about the subject of 'Ferns', was the title of a much beloved 1945 Dylan Thomas poem, called 'Fern Hill'.  And so, for fun, I painted a tribute portrait of the prolific Welshman in his younger days, before the years of hard drinking and hard living really took it's toll upon his looks and health.....

To see my Dylan Thomas 'Fern' exhibit entry page on EBSQ,  

click here....

To see *ALL* of the 'Fern' EBSQ exhibit entries, 

click here.....

**** UPDATE (7/9/14):  This piece won "Member's Choice" (AKA 1st Place!) in the EBSQ 'Ferns' exhibit!  Thanks, EBSQ! ****

 

"Dylan Thomas - Fern Hill"

 

"Desolation Row" (Bob Dylan), My Nibblefest Contest Entry for June's "All in a Row" Theme

"Desolation Row", painted in acrylics on a 6 x 8 found, wooden plaque.

Click for Auction Link

Ay Carumba.  It's been quite long time since I last posted here in my poor neglected wee blog.  Not because I haven't had much to talk about, nay -- more like because I guess it's part of my nature to be on the flighty and sporadic side of things.  I do take lengthy breaks from the bloggery from time to time (some breaks longer than others).  Yet I do always seem to find my way back.... eventually. 

This was a year of adjustments -- new job, new art students, a really and truly miserable winter the likes of which I've not seen since my youth (hello, Polar Vortex!), my daughter graduating high school, college visits, my son shuffling around the country in pursuit of his dance aspirations (with us visiting often in order to see him in action), and just busy family life in general.  For months it felt like I was spinning my wheels just trying to keep up with it all.  Happily, despite the ramping up now of Summer, the pace of life is settling down and it feels like I'm finally hitting my stride again, so it's back to what I love.  And that's Art, people...! 

The above is my entry into this month's Nibblefest Art Contest.  The theme for June 2014 is "All in a Row".  I thought long and hard about the theme.   It wasn't so terribly inspiring to me at first.  But then a classic old song by Bob Dylan, called 'Desolation Row', finally came to mind.  And thank goodness for that because I decided to do a tribute to Mr. Dylan and his epic, 11-minute song/poem.  I really do like this song -- especially the harmonica solo at the end.  Makes me want to take it up!  Sadly, I wasn't gifted with much in the way of musical talent, so that isn't likely to happen anytime soon (probably best if I just stick with the painting and sculpting)....

The following is my auction description:

.......

"Desolation Row"

My entry for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC),  the theme for June being 'All in a Row', features a portrait of the venerable singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, in his younger days.  Painted in acrylics on an 8" x 6" found wooden plaque, it's my tribute his classic song, "Desolation Row".  This original painting is signed and ready to hang.

When reflecting upon this month's theme, 'All in a Row', the epic song of free-flowing poetry, "Desolation Row", by the songwriter and poet Bob Dylan, came to mind. 
The following excerpt of the song was my inspiration...: 

"....Yes, I received your letter yesterday
About the time the door knob broke.
When you asked me how I was doing,
Was that some kind of joke...?
All these people that you mention,
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame.
I had to rearrange their faces,
And give them all another name.
Right now I can't read too good --
Don't send me no more letters, no.
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row....."

~Bob Dylan

...............

View showing painted sides....

"The Bronte Sisters", My Nibblefest Art Contest Entry for May's 'PORTRAIT' Theme

My Nibblefest Art Contest entry for May,

"The Bronte Sisters":

Click for Auction Link

"The Bronte Sisters", painted in acrylics on a 3.5 x 4 found, wooden plaque.

Once again, Nibblefest Art Contest Week rolls around, with May's theme being 'PORTRAIT'.... 

Well, anyone who follows this blog surely knows portraiture has to be among my very favorite things to paint.  Regular readers might also recognize this particular piece from a few months ago, back when I was attempting to follow the last '29 Faces Challenge' (as written about in this previous blog post).  Indeed, though I did fail pretty miserably in my challenge bid that time around, managing maybe only half of the 29 Faces during the course of the month (oops), all was not quite lost because I did come up with this particular little painting at the time, with which I was well pleased....

'The Bronte Sisters' tribute portrait, view to the right side

As I'd explained in my earlier post (linked above), I stumbled across this funny, little wood plaque at a charity garage sale years ago.   Unfortunately it never occurred to me to get a 'before' picture -- but please take my word for it that it had originally been painted in such a way to suggest a rudimentary 'slice of bread', complete with those curvy, carved sides.  Well, while I do like to re-purpose the old found frames and plaques that I find around and about town, the size and shape of this particular one had had me sufficiently stumped for ideas -- and so, I put it aside.  For years. 

Quarter for Size Reference

Until it finally occurred to me during the 29 Faces Challenge when I dug it out that the curvy sides looked exactly like ''heads' and 'necks' to me.  And that despite the plaque's petite size, I realized there was room for three separate faces.  It was then that it sprang to mind to paint a tribute portrait of the lovely and talented 'Bronte Sisters' (while painting on all sides, 'in the round' as it were, for a 3D effect).....

'The Bronte Sisters', view to the Left Side

The following is my auction description:  

"The Bronte Sisters"

My piece for this month's Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC) (~the theme for May being 'Portrait') is an original arylic painting on a small and curvy, found wooden plaque (3.5" x 4").  Complete with painted sides for a 3_D effect (see pictures for details), my entry features a triple portrait of the famous literary sister team of the 19th Century, 

 The Bronte's:  

Anne Bronte:  (17 January, 1820 – 28 May, 1849), author of
'Agnes Grey' and 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'

Emily Bronte:  (30 July, 1818 – 19 December, 1848), author of
'Wuthering Heights'

Charlotte Bronte:  (21 April, 1816 – 31 March, 1855), author of
'Jane Eyre'

  The Bronte's were a talented lot, but it wasn't exactly an easy life.  Losing their mother at a very young age to disease, losing two elder sisters to more disease, dealing with a troubled alcoholic brother and enduring sexism galore (a cultural norm at the time) in regards to their writing and publishing, they then each went on to get ill in their 20's and 30's and enter into early graves themselves.  But happily not before leaving behind a body of work that remains much beloved and classic reading to this very day.....

..........

"The Bronte Sisters", a view from the top.....

'The Bronte Sisters', view from the bottom.....



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To see ALL the great 'Portrait'-themed Nibblefest Art Contest entries this month
(with each starting at just .99 cents!),
just click here....