Assemblage
Another one where the idea came quickly to me.
After being bottled up for so long behind a disposable low-hung curtain, he finally manages to rise above it to introduce his newest and easiest nosy balancing act.
Wood, acrylic paint, fabric, paper, wire, nails
11 x 7.75 x 3.5 inches (28 x 19.7 x 9 cm)
March 2024
This may be the first of several counting house pieces. The little hand pieces were designed using Affinity Designer then individual pieces were cut with a Cricut machine from card stock. I glued four of each of the hands together to make a sturdy thicker piece which were then painted first with white paint then several coats of yellow paint. The tiny books are made from pieces of wood covered with heavy paper then painted. I used an extra tiny chair leftover from the dripping yellow chairs piece and made this one dripping blue.
It was new and improved, but now this bona fide A-1 expendable counting house seeks new management.
Wood, acrylic paint, paper, found object, fishing tackle, paint transfer | 16 x 6 x 3.5 inches (40.6 x 15.2 x 8.9 cm) | March 2024
I wasn’t sure how this one was going end up when I came up with the idea of doing a tower of pats of butter. I started working on it near the end of 2023 and it sat derelict in a corner of the studio until the end of February 2024. After I started working on the pats of butter again the idea came to me suddenly to make a mini m-house to go on the top of the tower. This is the smallest m-house of the four I have built.
The floor that the slice of bread is resting on is a piece of MDF that I used to help get clean cuts with my hand saw and miter box. I carved the hanging light bulb from a piece of round dowel. The wall socket was made using the paint transfer method with a tiny picture that was laser printed. The little yellow pencil was made from a dowel with words paint transferred on the side.
Atop the butter pats tower, mini m-house discovers one of those sensational moldy ones.
Wood, acrylic paint, paper, wire, paint transfer
13 x 5.75 x 3.5-inches (33 x 14.6 x 8.9-cm)
March 2024
This is one of my favorite pieces and I had a lot of fun coming up with the idea for it and working on it. This is one of those where the idea and title for it came quickly and I didn’t over think it.
Wood, acrylic paint, laminated paper, string
11.75 x 11.5 x 3.5 inches
(30 x 29 x 9 cm)
June 2018
I had been reading about Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Kenneth Noland and wanted to see what would happen when I watered down some acrylic house paint and poured it over the surface of a small panel. I came up with this piece and decided to put some kind 8-ball in it and ended up with an 8-ball yo yo. The yo yo is made from two wooden wheels I got from the craft store. The 8 in the white circle is made using the paint transfer technique I often use with the titles.
It was a magical descent into the abyss of disposable 8-ball yo-yos.
Acrylic paint, wood, linen string
10 x 10 x 1.5 inches (25.4 x 25.4 x 3.8 cm)
July 2023
If I had the studio space I would consider this small piece a maquette and do a 100 x 100-inch version with a 20 x 20-inch 8-ball yo yo hanging from it. As the song says “It doesn't cost a dime to dream.”
The title pieces are printed backward. I will coat this printed side with paint and place it painted side down on the art. After the paint is completely dry I will put water on the paper to soften it so it can be rubbed off revealing the type underneath which is no right reading.
On the reverse side of the title bar I pencil in an arrow to mark the center of the title and make sure the title is not upside down when I stick it to the art.
I set out doing another piece of work with this panel but decided to get rid of what I had done and created another behind the yellow line work completing it in 2016.
The four hand shadow creatures are made of painted fabric pieces backe with heavy paper and fixed or hung on the panel with small screws so they swing freely. The hand at the top is also made of painted fabric and paint transfers. The chair, iron head, and lollypop in a yellow frame are hand constructed from wood.
With the exception of the first yellow line works no one seems to want any of the others. I gave the first one I did to a family member as a gift.
Please stand behind the yellow line. III
Acrylic paint on wood panel, string, cloth, recycled soda pop can, wire, paper
22.25 x 22.25 x 3 inches (56.5 x 56.5 x 7.6 cm)
October 2016
This work was created nearly six years ago which isn’t a long time. How ever no one seems to be interested in wanting to own it.
The donut image attached to the bread slice made of wood is a paint transfer of an image I took of a glazed donut when I worked in the bakery department of a local grocery store. The bird is part of a discarded craft thing. The bread slice shape in the bird’s beak is made of laminated heavy paper. The yellow wheels were purchased from a craft store. The black base is made of wood covered with some very coarse sand paper then painted black to resemble an asphalt road. The telegraph poles are made from .5 inch thick dowels. The bread slice hangs on the wire with two eye screws. The green and blue paint wrap around the sides of the box.
This image doesn’t show the title which was added at the bottom of the frame.
The only two formal methods of communication left to contemplate.
15.25 x 22 x 3.5 inches (39 x 56 x 9 cm)
September 2018
This is one of the largest pieces I have made and it is still hanging in my home. I made it eight years ago when I had more space to work in. The panel is made of 1.5 x .5 inch wood and MDF. When the crank on the left is rotated the walking fingers hand attached to it moves back and forth. The other hands on the right side are painted on pieces of muslin fabric backed with some heavy paper. They are attached to the panel with small brads at the top so they swing freely. The small hand shadow shapes on the yellow bar were made by cutting the shapes out of newspaper. Each shape was then painted with yellow paint and adhered paint side down to the yellow bar. After the paint was dry and set I wet the surface of the shapes with water and rubbed the paper off to reveal the black type underneath.
The idea for this one and several others came while waiting at a light rail station for a train to arrive and noticing the yellow strip near the edge of the platform. A voice on the intercom would caution folks now and then to stand behind the yellow line away from the edge of the platform.
Please stand behind the yellow line. II
Acrylic paint on panel, cloth, wire, paper
24 x 33 x 1.75 inches (61 x 84 x 4.5 cm)
October 2016
I created this tryptic piece twelve years ago when we were living in West Jordan, Utah and it still hasn’t found a good home. It is one of my favorite works. The boxes (rooms) and roof top are made from some old fence slats. The baseboards of the rooms are made from popsicle sticks purchased from a craft store. The body of the snake coming out of the hole in the room at the left is made with a piece of old Christmas tree light wire I acquired some years ago. After all these years I’m still using piece of that wire. I made everything in this piece from scratch.
Guards of the panini maker levitate.
Recycled fence slats, found objects, wire, popsicle sticks, acrylic paint, staples.
13 x 15.625 x 3.375 inches (33 x 40 x 9 cm). 2012.
I like to take new eye screws and give them a tarnished and old appearance. It is a simple process of holding an eye screw with needle nose pliers and heating the eye end of the screw with my trusty pen torch till it goes dark and even red hot. Then I dip it in cold water to cool it down. I usually rub the cooled down piece with a paper towel to dry it and it give it a slight polish.
Depending on the metal the look is either a dull gray or a blackish color like the one on the right in the picture.
The butane torch by HONEST.
Here is probably the most detailed look at an assemblage piece I created thirty two years ago. The owner of this piece asked me to glue the little vase back on that had broken off the top rung of the ladder. I was able to take some pictures of the piece. In addition to the fix I took the opportunity to upgrade the hanging wire on the back.
I used some paper from an old German book to paste on the box frame and the green rungs of the ladder. After gluing the paper on the box frame I rubbed some dark green paint on the paper. You can see where some of the paint didn’t adhere to spots of glue residue. The white squares are pieces of paper glued to the background then painted white and dusted and rubbed with graphite powder. All of the objects on the ladder rungs were hand made. I handwove the tiny rug and made the iron head from a piece of rusty tin can and constructed the tiny book our of tiny pieces of paper. The title at the bottom was made using a portable German typewriter that sadly I no longer possess.
Wood, acrylic paint, paper, wire, metal, handwoven cloth
13.5 x 5.75 x 2.5 inches (34.3 x 14.6 x 8.9 cm)
May 1991 (West Jordan, Utah)
Painted wood vase with three copper wires. 1 1/8 x 7/16 inches (2.8 x 1 cm)
Painted wood and graphite with a copper wire out of the chin. 13/16 x 1 1/2 inches (2 x 3.8 cm)
Wood, paint, and graphite. 11/16 x 5/8 inches (1.7 x 1.6 cm)
Wood, paint, and pasted page numbers from an old book. 5/8 x 1 1/8 inches (1.6 x 2.8 cm)
Iron head made from rusted tin can metal held in place with copper wire. The face was made with white paint. 11/16 x 5/8 inches (1.7 x 1.6 cm)
Book made with scrap print making paper and paint. 11/16 x 1 1/8 inches (1.7 x 2.8 cm)
Wood, paint, and graphite pencil. 1/2 x 1 1/8 inches (1.2 x 2.8 cm)
Wood, paint, pasted paper, and copper wire. 1 3/16 x 1/2 inches (3 x 1.2 cm)
Handwoven cotton yarn. 2 3/4 x 1 1/4 (7 x 32 cm)
Signed with graphite pencil at the left side of the third square from the bottom on the left side of the background.
All four sides of the outside of the frame were rubbed with gray acrylic paint then scrubbed into cracks and indents of the wood with thinned black acrylic paint.
The back of the piece with signature, location where the piece was created, and date of completion. This also gives a look at how the box was constructed back then. I measured the piece again and got more accurate dimensions that differ slightly from those shown on the exhibit label.
Of the four galleries that are shown on the exhibit label only the Phillips Gallery now exists. I was able to show, and if my memory serve me right, sell work in the Courtyard, Pierpont, and Dooly Galleries.
I had the base for this one sitting on a shelf for a few years and finally figured out what to do with it. Here is the result.
I installed the branch over a month ago and wasn’t pleased with the idea on what to do with it. Then early one morning solution hit me and I cut the top part of the branch shorter and put the plate with cakes on top.
A short stack of delectables reaches new heights with a pat of broken butter.
Wood, acrylic paint, tree branch
19 x 6.5 x 9.75 inches (48.2 x 16.5 x 24.7 cm)
December 2022
Detail of the broken butter pat made from a section of yard stick. I used my new jeweler's saw to cut the angles.
Another detail of the broken butter pat. I wanted to make it appear to be melting. I’m still in my drip stage.
Starting a new assemblage box by painting a white primer coat. I’m being more vigorous with brushing this one. After this primer coat dries I will paint the actual colors using a brush and spreader card.
This is what you get when you hold the camera in one hand and brush with the other. At least I have the option of saying “cheese” to snap the image instead of using a finger or thumb.
A controlled still posed shot.
The finished primer coat on the inside and outside of the box.
I've had the front of this one put together for a couple of years and leaning against various walls. It would have been easier to use 45° angles for the roof but I chose to use what ended up being 72° angles. That made for some challenging cuts with the tools I have at my disposal. I used a hand saw and my mini table saw.
The sides being glued to the front.
Finishedwith a small base. I had to fix the front top point of the roof that got dented when it slipped out of my hands and hit the floor. The wood for the facade is very soft. I used plastic wood to rework the corner.
I made a mold of a small bottle and cut it in half and have been casting these halves of bottles to use in a piece. I am using Durham’s Rock Hard Putty as the casting medium. It sets up very rock hard as the product name implies. To make sure they do hold up I inserted a piece of bamboo skewer into the plaster while still wet and pliable. I’m not sure what else I’m going to do to them. Stay tuned.
Here is how those six objects were used that I posted about yesterday. This is another of those where the main structure was constructed a few years ago but I could not figure out what to do with it until now. Some things can't be rushed I suppose.
Title: Another piece of art hanging by a thread. Well, isn't that just silly. Wood, acrylic paint, wire, string | 22.75 x 3.375 x 4.125 inches (57.8 x 8.6 x 10.5 cm) | October 2022
I created this miniature painting to mimic those in my Cayucos series that haven't been popular and haven't sold very well.
This image will give you an idea of the scale of the miniature painting in it's early stages.
Making some tiny objects to go in another tall wall piece.
A tiny book, 8-ball, cupcake, pot, yo-yo, and slice of cake. The only ones I made are the book, cupcake and cake slice. The yo-yo is made from two wooden wheels from a craft store which is where I got the little wooden pot and bead. I plugged the holes in the bead with a stick to make the ball.
I've had this tall building structure for a few years now and could not settle on how to use it. A week ago it suddenly came to me what to do with it and here is the result.
The building is made from recycled slats from a pallet. The windows are paint transfers from laser copies. The figure hanging by a string is made from wood, recycled Christmas lights wire, and the head of a broken brush. I suppose he is a carry over from 2020 & 2021 with his black mask.
I have included a couple of detail shots of the figure. Just for fun I added some direction text on the figure.
The title is: It was a tall order. Nevertheless he had high hopes for a soft landing.
Mixed media. | 26,25 x 5.5 x 6 inches () | October 2022
Here are the finished buckets I have been post about. Although you can’t see it there is a hole drilled in the bottom of each bucket from which paint will leak out of.
I have had the basic structure of this piece sitting around in a corner of the studio for several years now and it suddenly came to me today what I want to do with it. This will be one that can hang on a wall or be free standing. I haven’t quite worked out what I want to do with the windows. More to come.
I’ve had the front facade put together for a few years now and today I added some reinforcing pieces in the back and sides and a base.
Equipped with hanging hardware.
Here is how the piece will hang on a wall. A white coat then an off white coat of paint have been applied.