Showing posts with label cast and altered. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cast and altered. Show all posts

Thursday, September 9, 2010

From the Ground Up

Everything begins somewhere! Here, I'm showing a metaphoric birth and realization of an idea. I like the concept of wonderful things arising from a fertile mental ground.......





This raku wall mask measures 9 3/4" high by 5 1/2" wide by 3 1/2" deep and is ready to hang.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Soul Searching....

I've done a lot of this lately (soul searching, that is) and it seems that no matter how hard I search, it's hard to find! I feel as if I've just been flinging my arms about - doing a little of this and a little of that and (to my mind) a whole lot of nothing. Perhaps I'm stuck, perhaps I'm coming unglued, but I'll keep on searching that soul till something makes sense.....

Monday, July 20, 2009

Life Support

This piece was conceived and made at the same time as the previously shown "Heart Attack" and further illustrates how I work within a theme. All the work I'm currently doing is in this same framework: lots of ongoing themes that sometimes mutate into new themes. For me, creativity is an evolutionary concept and, by its nature, never static.

"Life Support" is another one of those masks that I wish I'd written a few notes about when I made it! Without a doubt, I had hearts on the brain - but the motivation has escaped me.....

Saturday, July 18, 2009

A Heart Attack

I love words - and plays on words, and this piece is clear evidence of that! Most times it is somewhat challenging to get an idea across using only a face, but this mask was almost too easy. Of course, this heart attack is not of the medical emergency sort: I'd like to think that we can be overcome by whimsy and heartfelt delight at any moment.

I made this mask circa 1999 and I still think about it occasionally......

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Feed Your Head

Remember.....what the Doormouse said! Some of you will remember this as the reverberating last words from a favorite old song (circa 1968, The Jefferson Airplane on Surrealistic Pillow - for those of you scratching your heads). It's one of those stanzas that will play back many times in my head, and it did just that recently. Time to bring out this mask for another look and a reminder that nourishing the mind is as important as nourishing the body!

I've been out of town for the past few days and haven't been able to work on the blog. I'll be home till Friday morning when I'll head out again - this time to Palo Alto for the ACGA show at the Art Center. If anyone's in the area, please stop by on Saturday or Sunday and say Hello.....

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Foolhardy

Yet another Fool - but this fool is ready for anything! If one is willing or unable to prevent playing the fool, there must be some type of protection from the consequences. Here I've chosen armor as the device and it's nailed on good and tight so that this Fool can bumble along at will. Whether our protective coverings are real or metaphoric, they play an important role in shielding us from lifes' unpleasantries....

Monday, June 15, 2009

Free Falling

This little mask is on a journey much like my own. I feel sometimes as if life is very much a free falling adventure with little to grab onto to slow the descent. And then too, a wind can come up and change my course - or a bird could capture and carry me away. So many possibilities and yet, so little control. I wonder if we're all free falling and colliding with each other as the winds play.....

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Brainstorm

Is this how a "brainstorm" would look? Well, for me it's one possibility - and my work is all about possibilities and what ifs. In my quest to personify ideas, the results are sometimes a bit strange and even a little foreboding. I do enjoy hinting at (or poking fun at) some of life's mysteries.

This piece was made early in 2000 when my brain was working overtime. Its size is approximately 9" high by 4" wide and I have no idea where it now resides......

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A Different Perspective


Sometimes the simplest pieces are the most effective at delivering their messages: I feel this mask falls into that category. With its skewed angle and shrinking grid it seems so obvious....but is it really? Beyond the obvious is the question (yeah, always with the questions!) why is a different perspective necessary or even desirable? I'll leave that for you to answer - or not....
The size of this stoneware mask (2002) is about 7" high by 5" wide and she's hanging around somewhere on an unknown wall......

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A Gathering of Old Friends....


Here is a grouping to illustrate what I was talking about in my last post. All of the sculptures are wearing masks - except for the "Open Heart". The masks can be removed to reveal the face underneath. I play around with these and put different masks on the sculptures: there are always so many possibilities within my own creative sensibility that I have a difficult time putting limitations on it.....

Friday, May 29, 2009

Are We Having Fun Yet?

I've been having fun - going through photos of masks past. This one is from 2002 and seemed a good fit for a Friday that's arrived on the heels of summer. I used to do a lot more harlequins, and I still do make a few small ones, but they just aren't as interesting to me anymore. That is probably because I've done just about all I can do with them (for now). At the moment, and for quite some time, nature, nurture and dreams have taken center stage.....