Projects | Thoughts | Ideas
I’d like to invite everyone to my first art showing! There will be a reception with delicious Hor d’voures at the Old Soul Co. on September 10, 2016 from 6pm to 9pm! If you can’t make it on that date, you may still see my art displayed through September. However, if you can make it, I would love to share toast with you celebrating my art debut. Feel free to invite friends and family! I’m excited to showcase my work!
This project was inspired by a photo I took of a tree visible from my backyard. Looking at Foresters websites online and using their tree age calculators, I have estimated its age to be over 300 years old! It difficult to see in the photo, but its circumference is 212 inches! It boggles the mind to think of generations of people who have come across this tower of a tree. How many children have climbed its limbs and played in its shade? How many creatures have called this ‘home’? How many countless storms has it endured to remain standing strong to this day?
My interpretation of this tree is made of reclaimed fence wood. My neighbors replaced their fence and the contractors had it loaded in the truck and were headed to the the dump. They were nice enough to dump it in my driveway instead! The process of transforming this once pristine wood into a usable board is a dusty job! After days of sorting, sawing, planing and sanding, the end result is… the Tree of Life.
What a mess! I really need a dust collection system!
It’s been done before, but here is my take. This photo took several days to plan and set up to get the shadows and alignment just right. I got a piece of 4′ by 8′ plywood and painted it pink. I used 4 cans of spray paint to get an even coat! Getting the angle right was another challenge along with the light placement and light intensity. Both the background and the cereal boxes had a high gloss producing excessive glare. I ended up using a circular polarizer which worked perfectly! The end result reminds me of Wayne Thiebaud.
A behind the scenes shot.
A while back I received a backdrop kit as a Christmas present and I was itching to put it to use! I knew my subject was going to be flowers, my favorite subject, but I was never satisfied with my shots. The flowers were beautiful, but the shots lacked any emotion. In post processing, I found if I removed the color, the shapes the flowers made became the focus. I liked the drama this created and so I made a series of them. I hope you enjoy!
