art studio activity

this was my studio at 10 am this morning. lots of activity going on. all very new works in progress.

studio view

this series of small paintings each measure 16X20"

remember those drawings I did of the ocean?!

oil paintings 

I'm still having fun with my spray foam and have been going back and forth between the painting and the sculpture. new this week are the braids.

braided sculpture 

I'm also trying out different metallic paints on them. it just occurred to me this is my spray foam ball and chain!

oil paint and metallic pigment

and here's the studio at the end of the day. a little cleaner and with three new canvases on the left just barely started.

studio view

Storm King Art Center

This weekend we visited the

Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, NY. 

If you've never been, it is an absolutely incredible place and a very worthwhile trip. It's the most perfect blend of art and nature I've ever seen with amazing monumental sculpture in, around, and on top of rolling hills and scenic mountain views. Take a look:

We got the perfect weather day

Sorry I don't have the name of every artist

I'll tell you the ones I do know. This is Claus Oldenburg's Drain Pipe

This is not a tree stump

Although it's made from little squares of tree stump

Did I mention the weather was perfect?

This is Alexander Calder

A very cool mirrored fence

Can't really tell in this picture

This is part of a special exhibit by Zhang Huan. Lots of giant Buddha body parts strewn about

The exhibit is titled Evoking Tradition

I think this one is called "Three Legged Buddha". It's pretty massive 

Especially compared to the little grass seed heads everywhere

There were plenty of real beehives around so this was tres apropos

My family walking up one of the many hills to see the Richard Serras

And there's Anna walking on the Richard Serra

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

This piece could be played with a rubber mallet creating an enormous sound like a huge gong

A dinner bell for the giants in the mountains

Another hill

I was trying to capture the grass,

which looked like a huge watercolor 

Here's a cool bench made out of nickels

A sun-glared Tony Smith

You think these are just rocks don't you?

They're not

After so much walking we eventually succumbed to riding the trolley

The ride was pretty informative 

Sorry this shot is in motion. You can't see the mermaids in the front of it. A cool piece by Roy Lichtenstein right by the pond

There's the pond

There's the wall by the pond but I don't know the name of it

If this wasn't a bench I'm sorry to say it definitely got sat on

Husband and daughter yelling and singing down the tube to some strangers on the other side. This is a temporary untitled piece by Virginia Overton

More prettiness 

Some of the clouds even looked fabricated

The sun was playing artist too 

Here's another shot from above of Tony Smith

There were quite a few pieces in this red-orange color. Perfect compliment to the landscape

The toughest and last hill of the day

Just to reach Alice Aycock's work, my old teacher from SVA

Two really different pieces. I wouldn't have thought from the same artist

I don't know this artist,

but I do know this one. So many instances of art imitating life

And last but not least. Quite happy to end up at the visitor's center with one of my favorites, Louise Bourgeois

This place is awesome. 
Can't wait to go back when the leaves are changing this fall.

new works from the studio...

I got a new camera this week and am 

so happy to share some pictures of studio life here in 

Beacon New York -

it's so cool I am able to walk to my studio from home

kinda weird though that it still smells like an old high school

lots of activity going on right now

and still a few boxes that need to be unpacked-

finally put these brushes to good use for the first time in too long

and I can FINALLY see all my supplies all together

here's some of the work which right now is neither here nor there

made with spray foam and mixed materials. this one has some laundry meat stuck in there

I've been checking out a lot of John Chamberlain lately thanks to Dia: Beacon

these could be models for something bigger

or just meaningless balls of spray foam!

here's some experiments with braided spray foam

fun to make but tough to work with

the first time I did it I couldn't get the sticky off my hands for two days

taking the gloves off to get a better grip is a very very bad idea

here's a group of canvases with spray foam slathered on

hard to see the true texture from the photos

better in this one

there's about 9 of these but I don't really know what to do with them yet

and then there's my collages

in between every project, and when all else fails, there's always collages

if I could get what I like about these on a canvas I'd be very happy

they're very thick because most of the cut out papers are heavy watercolor

they're fun to make almost like working on a puzzle

So there it is, pretty much everything I've been working on lately.
There are also some canvases that I started but not picture worthy yet,
and much more to come... see you soon