3.29.2016

Welding Workshop -az

My father once suggested I should get into welding and in a burst of nostalgia, I agreed to take a MIG welding workshop when Karin invited me.

After being given a thorough explanation of safety, the tools, and the process of welding, Karin and I set to work. We were supposed to make a critter but when faced with an array of materials, I decided to make a heart instead.  My mind went blank when I was picking out materials. Fortunately Terrence, our instructor, was helpful in this department. I cut, bent, & joined the bars with a weld to make the heart shape, and then added the chains with more welds.

Andrea's metal heart.


Welding is fun but it requires practice. The auto-darkening helmets surprise you when you are welding because they go dark the second you start welding and and briefly you cannot see what you are doing. They adjust accordingly but that doesn't mean you have. Because for that moment I couldn’t see, every time I thought I had a good weld, I didn’t.

I have two welds- the dark grey spots-  where I should have one.


Karin is more familiar with welding so nothing fazed her. She picked out materials with her usual enthusiasm and got to work. When she chose an unusual garden implement, Terrence made the observation that her work looked like a parrot fish, which it did although I don’t think that was her original intention.

Karin's creation. 


We finished our projects early so we were lucky to get a demonstration of, and a chance to try a plasma cutter. You can almost draw with a plasma cutter (and cut through ½” of steel), which is pretty cool.

Andrea's plasma cut heart. Karin did a moon. 


So as long I don’t need to weld a bridge, I am not a threat to society. Although, Karin and I are considering world domination with a plasma cutter.

One of the windows on the Stonybrook Fine Arts Building.



Our class was held at the StonybrookFinearts studio. Our instructor was Terrence Wong who is an excellent teacher, could not have been more patient, and to whom we give our many thanks.  

Unicorn in the parking lot of the Stonybrook Fine Arts Building. 

3.23.2016

The Ultimate Compliment -az

I made this painting and it had not found an owner. I was at a loss as what to do with it. Not being sure of the audience that might appreciate it, Tina Walsh, a friend, suggested that it would be good for a little girl's room. What a good idea but I knew no one with little girls. And so the wait began and continued for a long time. I finally gave up and was getting ready to send the painting to an alternative source when an opportunity to presented itself. My vet was pregnant with a baby girl. I sent her an email asking if she would like it. I got an enthusiastic reply and so the work found its new home.

I saw my vet again today and she let me know that the baby liked the painting, too. Her baby likes to look at the bright colors while she is at her changing table. My initial response was surprise as I thought babies liked really bright colors. But I really didn't think about the quality of the remark until much later ( I should add when my vet arrives my focus isn't on me. There is some anxiety on my part as I am hoping my horse will be a gentleman and he usually isn't.). But when I thought about her remark, it was indeed the ultimate compliment. In a world where I am competing with trademarked baby items, Emerson's response was very special. 

So I thank Tina Walsh, Megan, and Emerson for making this a extraordinary art day.  


16 x 20" acrylic 
Hand braided string and un-braided string outlines the horse. 
Hand woven binding on the background.
Soaked paper twirled around around beads as part of the background.
Old encyclopedia pages molded into inaccurate musculature.
Plastic pearls for the mane.
Old 80's earring for the forelock.

3.15.2016

building blocks -kes

 a b c d e f g
h i j
k l m n o p
 qrs
tuv

w x y





                               z

3.08.2016

Let's Play (SKF)

Hello Fellow Creators,

Let's play. I needed to return to a state of no agendas except the simplest judgements about color balance and the size of the running strips. I don't know where this is going. I don't even know what I am making, like driving blindfolded down an open highway. I just felt an urge to play with colors that I like together and to watch it grow. I started it last night and discovered that this morning
 I wanted brighter combinations.

Is it high art? Who knows? Sometimes it's a desire to return to the mindset you remember from childhood. One of the joys in being an artist is to be present in your own life. Just me and patches of color and texture, nothing else. A meditation embodied in countless choices. I can plan out paintings, design a park, or sew critters but to reduce all of the grand ideas to an immediate , "yup or nope" feels really authentic.
And I think this is key, to try and deepen our own aesthetic by how it resonates at an emotional level. Then you know you are onto something. I will update you on how this little exploration transforms, which could be crap, that's always a possibility but my experience tells me I doubt that will happen.

Love,
                                                               Sarah