What I've been doing...
Amazingly, teaching full time art in a high school inspired me to get artistic and do a few things of my own - for the first time since College...Below are some of the pieces and experiments from this year. Maybe more to come over the next year?
Metamorphosis drawing with Conte & Chalk Pastel on brown paper as an exemplar for Grade 10 project.
Painting of my kids, sort of bordering on Impressionism - Acrylic on paper
At Christmas time, was asked to contribute to the annual GP Festival of Trees. My submission was a Jackson Pollock inspired tree. Built hexagonal canvas with hole in the middle for tree skirt, star made from brushes I used to "apply" the paint. Kicked over a can of paint on Art room floor (thanks for cleaning it up Grade 10 class,) and wrecked my shoes & pants in doing so. On the plus side, the tree won 1st place in the Home Crafted Category.
I'm no expert on the wheel, but I experienced a glimpse of success with this little guy. Pretty happy at how the glaze turned out.
This fused glass dish began some experimentation with melting things in the kiln.
I had a great idea to try and make something out of broken beer bottle glass. It's going to require a bit more work, but there's some potential here...
The best of my fused glass experiments - Ship in/on bottle. Melted this wine bottle in the kiln, painted with acrylic on the underside of the bottle. This was tricky because I had to paint things in reverse order to ensure they would show up the right way through the glass. The first picture shows how the ship looks from the bottom. The second photo shows the finished piece which was exhibited in the GPPSD "Creativity Lives Here" staff Arts Event.
Meet Zoe, the bedazzling face-painted, perm-numbered mannequin head of the CSHS Cosmo Lab. Acrylic on...skin?
I took a cool photo last fall off my back deck - dark sky with sunlight hitting the trees - wanted to try and capture the effects of the light and keep a fairly abstract feel. Here was the result - Acrylic on Canvas 3' x 2'
Acrylic with Moulding Paste on Canvas - This is Basil, my daughter's special...stuffed sheep. Painted June 2015 for her 4th birthday.
Fine-tipped ink marker overlaid with watercolor. Painting of my kids when Oliver was about 2 months old but still pretty tiny.
Acrylic on Canvas - Painting of a tractor for my son's 2nd birthday (June 2015).
My second moderately successful creation on the pottery wheel this year. *Note, this teacup is smaller than a standard teacup...