Cardboard Dragon Sculpture.. Almost

Well, its that time of year again!

Committing to making art everyday for the month of January ( or in my case, the whole year) and I can honestly say I have no fear! It will be a grand year filled with art projects, late nights, and inspiration.

Kicking 2012 off with an experiment in sculpture might be fool hardy to some but I'm trudging ahead with my glue gun at the ready.

Here is how far I've gotten in one day..

First concept art of a dragon-beastly-creature and a cocky rider.

Next I sketched the profile out on a cardboard sheet.

After cutting, I started adding width.

After hours of glue gunning (2 burnt fingers) and cutting, here is my beast!

Later I'll add wings, horns, frills to the beasty and dimension to the rider



After the structure is complete, I'll get my hands dirty with some paper mache!

More to come, but right now Casa Blanca is playing and a bowl of spaghetti is waiting for me.

Stay Artsy & DFTBA

Sarah Bosserman

the rambling pen

While choosing to let the pen meander automatically as mind was distracted by the new year blooming in various parts of the world, this series of sketches on lined note-paper emerged. Though just a few spilled from December into January and 2011 into 2012, I'm still counting it as day 1. As I observe their similar egg-yolky theme, I wonder where they will go, or if this sketch phase is their full expression.

How do you know if it's art?

My latest projects involve going and buying up what could most politely be called "vintage costume jewelry," cleaning it, stripping plating off of it in some cases, soldering earring posts, or pendant bails onto them, and adding chains and beads and so on, sometimes re-plating, to make newish jewelry. But is it art? They are not high-end pieces. The cost of materials is low. I think maybe it won't be long before these pieces appear in the same sorts of places where I bought them to begin with. So I don't know.

My profile picture is one of my "up-cycled" pieces. I have always loved old bits of jewelry and pins, and so on, even if they aren't made of precious metals or gems. I don't like the flashy pieces with lots of rhinestones. I like the bits and components of old jewelry that have stood the test of time and wear, and just need a bit of love and creativity to be wearable again.

So, is it really art?

New year. New art. Here is the start of a new piece for my series of book art/kinetic hangings. The paper is hand made by Helen Heibert, a Portland papermaker. I stained the center portion with tea leaves and outlined the stains with brown ink and then used watercolor pencils to add the pop of color. The poem is written in graphite and is from a book of old Japanese poems I've had for sometime. The writing on the side is done in ink with a crow quill and is my attempt at imitating the poets name in Japanese. I have a total of seven panels that will be strung together and will hang from a foot long rusted bolt pulled lovingly from the Columbia River by my dear friend Te' who knows me well. Happy New Year fellow art-a-day bloggers. I look forward to seeing what everyone has to post!

Happy 2012!

Hello all! I hope your new year is a very creative one. Here are a couple of pages from sketchbook.

Happy New Years

Hello and checking in, happened to be on the planet for New Years LOL.  Here is a piece I got done 3 weeks ago. Gave it to a friend for 50th Birthday..  I call it "Hamontlum Falls"  :)  Have a happy New Years and good art and and good posting. Greg Ashby
Ashnmyst@aol.com
ashnmyst.blogspot.com

hello

Hello, hello, hello, is there any body in there? Smile if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home? This is a test, it is simply a test for if it was a real posting it would have be made easier to do by the 7th graders who program computers. I worked on four pots (coffee cups, are they art?), and one painting and started to fire two kilns today. We should let Mike Salazar in on this. His sculpture is in my kiln. Cool, Huh?! These things should have speel checker. Pat

Trouble Posting?

Look to the far upper right corner of this page.  The link "Sign In" is there though challenging to see with the gray on gray colors.  Once you are signed in you will see "New Post" show up in the same area.  This will bring up a dialog box with icons to help you load images, video, links and more.  Remember to push the red "PUBLISH POST" button before you exit the page.  Otherwise your post will go into draft status and sit lonely in the back room.

New Year...New Opportunities

Can't wait to get this new year started and there's no more positive way than with the momentum Art-a-Day provides. This is only my third New Year's participating in Art-a-Day and just want to encourage those who might be hesitant to participate because they feel they might, at their best, be sporadic in their blogging abilities, DO IT ANYWAY!!. Though I admit I started out in that position this blog and all the wonderful artists in it will inspire you to keep moving forward. And it is really a great group to be moving forward with. Thank you Bobi for letting us cheat and start a wee bit early as the enthusiasm "pre-race" is just too much to keep contained. My "artspace" walls are covered with inspirational quotes. When I feel any discouragement or energy-drain coming on I wander over and just start reading and it always kicks me in the butt back in a positive direction.

I would like to share one of my favorites by Thomas Merton,
"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."

Happy New Years to all, Alice Beckstrom

Art-a-Day 2012!

Will join us?

Our 4th annual Art-a-Day "officially" begins January 1st though you creative rule breaking types - which pretty much describes most of us - can start blogging and posting images whenever you're ready.

Know others who would like to take part or have you changed your email?  Email bobiwilson2ATgmail.com (insert ampersand in place of AT) with the request to join or update and I'll send an invite from the site.  Share the fun!

A portion of a piece I have been working on called "The Contortions Of The Modern Woman" , this is the bottom left quarter.

Having coffee at the Roxy, -Kennewick Coffee Co.

Collage

I see that a few posts show up here now and then so I thought I'd share what I've been doing. In January I wanted to try collage but didn't quite get to it - now I have. I've made several and just finished this one as a gift for my mother-in-law's birthday.

It's on an 11x14 canvas with acrylic paint, crackle medium, layers of sheet music, magazine horse photos, and text and drawings from a 1952 kids book about a pony (she's a horse lover). There's even a picture of her with her horse in the lower right corner. To add dimension I added the 2 terra cotta stars wrapped in wire, the beads strung on wire and the lasso knot of wire in the upper left. All in all I quite like it and loved the process of creating it for her.

Parisian Painting

Today I spent a few precious hours in my local Starbucks painting and reading.
With every page I read of A Movable Feast by Hemingway, the desire to pick up my brush and paint became harder and harder to deny. I love how his writing is a continues stream of thoughts, honest, somewhat blunt, partially funny, but always true. You know how he feels without himself telling you in a cliche way. What a gift! I want my paintings to have that truth.
Right now I'm working on a concept (not yet put on paper) that will involve fabric studies and reference photographs. Maybe I'll let you in on it this week.. hmm.

While I mulled these thoughts over I put in so time on my sisters' gift.
Now an elaborate chandelier and a bitter sweet girl hold center stage

Stay Artsy,
~Sarah Bosserman

DoomElla and you... :)

This is "DoomElla" 16 x 20 and ready to be in the Psychic Fair. Which of course is this weekend, Saturday and Sunday April 2nd & 3rd, out at the Tri-Cities Convention Center. I will have a booth there, come by, see the art, strike up a conversation, mostly of all grab a few M&Ms LOL :)

Five Moons done ready for Psychic Fair

Well this is "mostly" done. I call it "Five Moons" It will be my feature painting for my booth at the 11th Annual Psychic Fair. In Kennewick, WA. This year it's at the TriCities Convention center. $6.00 to get in. There is healing, Massage Therapy, Readings. Lots of Arts and Crafts... and Paintings. Saturday and Sunday April 2nd & 3rd. :))

This is acrylic on 2 canvases that are 18 x 24. So altogether it's 24 x 36
Greg Ashby
ashnmyst@aol.com
ashnmyst.blogspot.com

My Urban Folk Guy is coming along fairly well.
I lowered his eyes and I'll add the pupils tonight. I add some highlights on the wallpaper background, and thinned his beard a bit. I don't want to add to much detail to this painting. Solid colors, firm patterns and bold contrast are what I'm after. A bit modern, with a American Folk Art feel.

It's just another style to try to learn and grow from.. hopefully another layer to add to that Holy Grail every artist delves deep to attain.

..Personal Style..

It's a long road yet though.

Stay Artsy,

~Sarah Bosserman

I did mean to unload my whole history LOL

I actually thought I was posting on my ASHNMYST blogspot..  then I hit view blog and saw the wall paper and thought   crap.. wrong blog idot LOL  :)  oh well enjoy.

Mural on Computer Room Wall

My first, maybe my only Mural. I did this when we first moved in in 2002. Took out some paneling and found cement block that just said.. "Paint Me"  :)) ha ... so I did.

Al Stewart in "Wine Passages"

This is a piece I did for Al Stewart. No he didn't solicite the painting I just wanted to do that one and give it to him at a concert.   He didn't want it, but he autographed it anyway. But he loved it.

This was back in 2003 I believe, out at the Three Rivers Winery in Walla Walla. Thanks Al