Great Show! Thanks Everyone!!!

The marathon they call the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition is now over and today as I collect my thoughts I can't help but be thankful for all the support I received before and during the show. Okay so now a few people think I'm not (right in the head) but for the most part everyone's comments were very encouraging.
I would like to send a special thanks to Richard Wyman, Rudy Kehkla, Talia Shipman, and Lizzie Vickery who made my stay on Nathan Phillips Square that much more enjoyable. The community of artists during the 2009 show was amazing and I can't wait to do this again next year.
Pictures coming soon...

Sneak peek

A sneak preview of what will be on view in my booth (#530) at the Toronto Outdoor Art Show. This sculpture is titled "Fear of Mice" and incorporates many of the techniques I have been refining over the past months. This sculpture is made from reclaimed materials including brass fittings, vintage jewelry, baking tin, and other unique pieces.

The Outdoor Show is still a go!!!

I just received notice that the Toronto Outdoor Show will still be taking place regardless of the Cupe strike. I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be back to normal by then.

I have sympathy for those workers who feel they are being taken advantage of but so many artists make their only real income from this show and I am thankful that the show organizers have decided to go ahead as planned.

A whole new take on figurines

Three faces of a new direction. These aren't your Mother's porcelain figurines. How can conversation be dead during dinner when these figurines stare back at you from the curio cabinet.

Expanding the environment

Celestial Clown and Las Vegas Royalty are now mounted into their own environments to better display their particular characteristics. Each is mounted on a 24 x 30 wood support.

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

I will be in booth #530 at the 48th annual Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition this July 10, 11 & 12, 2009. If you are in Toronto on those dates, please come and see me at Nathan Phillips Square. Admission to the TOAE is free.

"Captive" makes it into new show

This three dimensional found object sculpture titled "Captive" has been selected for a new show at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga opening in May. The show is called "The New Hybrids" and showcases works using at least two different mediums. In this case Illustration, Sculpture, and Verse.

Painting with my heart instead of my head...

While planning for my solo show in October I decided to compliment the assemblage work with some colourful paintings and this is what I came up with. I have always loved contemporary Folk Art and thought I might try something along those lines. I set myself several parameters to follow and let my hand and heart do the rest. These pieces are as yet untitled but I have a series of thumbnails to follow and hope a story emerges.

Each canvas is 42x48 and even though the photos give them different background colours the originals are both the same shade of off white.

5 Senses Plus 1

Is there a sixth sense? Can we justify our suspicions about there being more than meets the eye. Is there energy in the objects surrounding us? This damsel uses her elevated position to release the power of her 6th sense. She perches precariously on a broken teapot handle and proudly grips a staff of protection. Energy circles around her in the guise of broken furniture findings. All the while the number 5 looms on the horizon as a reminder of her human limitations.

Queen Mu Mu goes to auction in Guelph

Jazz Art Auction 2009

SAVE THE DATE!
The Guelph Jazz Festival's annual spring fundraising art auction is set to roll on Sunday, April 19, 2009, in the afternoon. Please mark your calendars! I've donated this piece to the cause. Queen Mu Mu is 20 x 20 and framed under glass. She's looking for the perfect home, maybe it's yours.

Capturing youth

Baby Circus was quite the engineering challenge but eventually the problems were solved and the process taught me a great deal. Thank goodness for E6000 and my drill press.

Mans Best Friend and Fertilty

As much as I like creating found object sculptures, sometimes the assemblages just have to be finished. A thought occurs and before I know it an assemblage is forming somewhere on a flat surface in my studio. I keep looking at it and wanting to disassemble it to make space but something tells me to just leave it be. After a few days I break down and finish the thing just to see what it is.
It's easier to work on a flat surface, things don't fall off and roll under my workbench or stay perched only until I bump the table and them come crashing to the floor.
For me simplicity is the key to a great narrative in assemblage. The message must be short and precise. The story can go on forever but the intent must be confident and sure.

What goes around, comes around

Well ain't that the truth! As soon as I saw this dapper fellow I knew he had to make a statement. Life is like a bowling alley, no matter how many times you through the ball down the lane, it keeps coming back.

Thoughts about art openings

What is it about art openings that fills my stomach with itty bitty flying creatures?
People in groups.
Thank goodness most of the people at art openings are other artists but they are still people. I like people, after all I'm a (people) but in groups they take on a unified mass and turn into a different type of creature. Like a multi-armed creature of undulating colours it roams the gallery sometimes pointing, sometimes hugging itself while following the choreography of a very complicated dance.
I find it very difficult to find my place in that dance. I'll bet I'm not the only one.
While the dance takes place new people come and go from the creature and you can almost hear a rhythm of wine glasses clinking, feet shuffling, and whispering voices.
Little red dots start appearing on the walls and the creature becomes more animated. It's a beautiful dance but still overwhelming. I hope I can get better at this dance.

Las Vegas Royalty

Another antique box receives a special tenant. Las Vegas Royalty has it all. Side burns that would make Elvis jealous, a crown befitting his title, strong arms to get his way, and larger than life extremities.
Finished to either stand alone or hang, this piece portrays my fascination with idolatry.

Start of something NEW!

I have finally come full circle. Years ago I attended a Stained Glass course and learned the basics of that beautiful craft. A few years later I attended a Mosaic course to learn how to use up all the leftover glass I had. Now I have discovered that I can apply what I learned in those classes to what I am doing now using all the bits and pieces in my studio.

The photo represents just a detail of the piece I have just finished. It is the beginning of a series of pieces that will be very special, I hope.

A combination of textures and colours that can only be achieved in a sculptural form.

Inspiration everywhere!

Old man winter is making a point about who's boss by piling up the snow and ice around my home and studio but thankfully I'm all stocked up on supplies.



I'll be focusing on small sculpture for the next couple of months and am combining techniques to keep me inspired. Beads, antique boxes, battered cans, plastic dolls, and old tarnished silver table ware are just some of the items I'll be incorporating into my new work.

The Red Pig Studio wishes everyone a happy, safe, and content holiday.

Please take a moment to be thankful for all your good fortune and make a resolution to do so everyday. Focus on the positive, open your senses, and enjoy life!
Support the arts, laugh often, and ask questions.

What to make with antique boxes.

Lucky me, I found a couple of badly beaten up old wooden boxes with their visual history worn into their surfaces. A recent donation of flat glass disks were the inspiration for my most recent works.
The top piece is titled "Feed the Mind, Preserve the Body". Symbolism abounds.
Drapery hardware, watch housing, metal coil, tin lid, nails, tarnished spoons, part of a light fixture, and brass tags were used to create this piece.
The second piece is titled "Three Faces of a Hidden Agenda". Here's a secret, there is a hidden agenda under the tin square. Metal scraps from my treasure bin were used for this piece.
The faces are created from memory only. A compilation of people I have known.

Guest artist in the studio

I'm pleased to announce that for the next 8 weeks I will be hosting my dear friend Nicole Troop as a guest artist in my studio. Her work is influenced by the many places around the world where she has lived and traveled. Nicole works in mixed media and is not bound by any one technique. I am fortunate to have a variety of art pieces ranging from collage to painting hanging in my studio at the Williams Mill.