Fired Aniwah Sculptures

Here are some of my finished stoneware Aniwah. See this blog's archives ["Aniwah Workshop"] for a step-by-step on how I made the little 12 inch fish (at the top) in recent clay classes I taught at TSC and FAMU. The big (24 to 36 inch) Aniwahs stand vertically like the Japanese funerary sculptures ("Haniwah") that inspired these commentators on loss of species. "Aniwah" is just a punny nickname I came up with to suggest "Animal-Haniwa" and add some comic relief.

Artists' League Summer Annual June 10--July 8, 2011

Come out to see the show! I have one stoneware bottle in it--"The Story that is Me". The reception is at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Friday, June 10, 7--9 pm.

compositon as springboard

You can use a strong composition you recognize in other artwork as a springboard for developing your own original ideas and imagery. Just substitute different objects or creatures with similar forms as the master work, and your picture may surprise you with a story. Try to use the geometry of the abstract layout for tension to reinforce your narrative . (credit: illustration copyright 1907 Mary Hamilton Frye: "He grabbed the boy..." used for educational purposes only)

ice cream and apples wc composition

Here's a new watercolor of apples and ice cream, showing the steps from pencil sketching to ink lines, then masking followed by watercolor wash background; after that the masking is removed and the figures are painted in before a final reinforcing of lines with a fountain pen. I started with the simple idea of circle, triangle and rectangle and went from there incorporating a revision of a poem I wrote in the 70s.

Asters in fireplace

Here's a sketch I made of what looks like golden Asters pushing up through the leaves in our old fireplace. I'm not sure if these are the endangered species, but I admired their resilience.

pigeon watercolor lesson 2

Here's the second installment of the pigeon picture showing:

removing rubber cement mask, sketching in lines with ink, washing in feathers with ink and watercolor, plus layering watercolor wash in the birds and background. Try to keep working the background as you do the birds, altho the figure will determine the values of the ground in this case.

Watercolor Lesson: Pigeons

Here's lesson one of my "pigeons" for watercolorists:

Inspiration:

I was inspired by the way warm light shone into the shed, illuminating a mood of safety inside and allure outside; a metaphor for taking creative risks. I wondered what type of bird built the nest. I thought about a childhood story of the pigeon who gave all of his silver feathers to help the less fortunate and was reborn a golden phoenix.

Techniques:

First I blocked in the basic colors and values of the shed in my large sketch book.

Next I did numerous pigeon sketches until I absorbed their forms and attitudes.

A couple of poses that would symbolize the homebody and the traveller caught my eye; one bird looks back at the nest while the other looks outside.

Using rubber cement, I roughed in a resist of these two on 140lb hot press (smooth) D'Arches watercolor paper and subsequently washed in some light color areas while refering to my original shed sketch.

I plan on a "Wizard of Oz" effect: the light outside and where it strikes pigeons will have color and the interior of the dark shed will be mostly black and white.

(More later as this piece develops)

Aniwah Workshop

I coined the hybrid word "Aniwah" as a combination of "Animals" and "Haniwa". Haniwa are ancient Japanese tomb sculpture. My Aniwah sculptures relate to these tomb figures to express my sadness at the death of certain animals, extinction of species and loss of nature. Yet there is always an element of hope or humor. This fish is a small Aniwah made from a wheel-thrown bottle as a demonstration for Art classes at FAMU and Sculpture Workshops at TSC. My larger Aniwah are 25 to 30 inches high.

31st World Wide Sketchcrawl 4 16 2011

Mark Fletcher

Mark Fletcher

Mark Fletcher

Mark and Jeff

Jennifer, Mary, Mark, Jeff

Mary Sterner Lawson Mary Sterner Lawson DeDe Harter DeDe, Jeff, Mark Jennifer Clinard Jeff Zenick Jeff Zenick Jeff Zenick

Here are some images from the 31st World Wide Sketchcrawl. We had a great day! To see images from friends around the world go to http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ and click on "forum", then "31st world wide sketchcrawl". Have fun looking and you are welcome to join us sketching next time, probably in July; just email or call any of us for info. (Or if you are not in Tallahassee go to the link above to start your own group wherever you are.) There is a special link in sketchcrawl to help with the Japan Disaster if you want, but sketchcrawl is always free.