A pats of butter tower, moldy pat of butter, and a mini m-house.

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

From the sketchbooks 1

This is from a page 672 in the sketchbook dated 3 November 1988—21 July 89. That was back when I was having fun and more carefree. I didn’t worry what anyone would think of it.

Untitled | Graphite, glue, and pastel

Still hanging around. Part 4

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

Still hanging around. Part 3

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

Still hanging around. Part 2

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

Still hanging around. Part 1

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.

32 Years Ago

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.

A rare sculptural piece

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.

It's just sitting there.

This one has been inactive for almost two months now and I just can’t seem to get it going again. It is still in the beginning stages and there is a lot more to do before it all comes together.

2 fer 1 No. 1

I finished my first 2 fer 1 work this evening. It is meant to be displayed on a flat surface so each side can be viewed. For example it could even be displayed on a desk, shelf or fireplace mantle and flipped around now and then to change the view to add variety to an atmosphere.

One side is an abstract tissue paper painting created with pieces of acrylic painted tissue paper glued to MDF panel then gloss varnished. The flip side is an assemblage created with wood, acrylic paint, plaster and part of a twig. It is signed and dated on the bottom and initialed and dated on one of the sides using metal letter punches.

Tissue paper painting side.

Assemblage side with title.