Somethings make me very sad,

but I don't know why.

 

I am very sorry

Last of 2010

I ended the year with two copper plate etchings. I am very pleased with most of my prints and how they turned out. I experimented with the technique chine-collé.
My subject matter was hunting and the texture of fur. 

Collage with extremely thin paper with pigments of leaves and pulp.

Collage of "meat businesses" in the Chicago area from the Yellow Pages

Collage with the use of kitakata paper.

Kitakata collage close up.

Yellow Book collage close-up.

Before printing. The final chine-collé cut outs of kitakata used for one of the prints.

 

 

These are only a few pictures of the final prints. For my printing paper I used two different shades of Rivers BFK paper, one in an off white cream and another in a dark natural brown. For a few of the editions, I used a Japanese rice-paper, kitakata. This paper is very thin and has sort of a pink flesh tone to it. For four other editions of the print, I used pages from a Yellow Pages. The pages used were numbers and advertisements for meat businesses; one of my favorites, "STEAKS UNLIMITED" (which is no closed).

Tis the Season!

I got the cutest Holiday cards a few days ago.

I cannot wait to be back home!

It's Been TOO Long

Hello hello! It has been too long sense I've last written on this thing. I guess I will fill you guys in on whats been going on the last month or two...

I have started working with a theme in a few of my classes, basically it's

HUNTING AND BABES

 .....or the more politically correct title; The culture of women and hunting.
I started by looking into hunting culture in Africa, which mainly consists of higher-class Caucasian couples looking for a good sport. Hunting is no longer about survival, it's for fun and a good way to shoot the shit when your bored.

TEAMWORK

Then I went back to my ole' roots in Tennessee. I guess it is bias for me to say hunting in the south is for rednecks...but I think that statement is 80% accurate. A lot of hunting in the south is greatly based on family tradition.

"My great grand papi went huntin', my grand papi went huntin', and dad went huntin', so I sure as hell am going huntin' too."

It based down from generation to generation and is used as a method o bonding; usually between father and son. So it was very strange to me when I saw pictures of a father and his wife/daughter hunting side by side. Why is it so weird to see a little girl or woman hold a gun?

I started looking at artwork by Walton Ford and James Audubon.
Ford is a contemporary artist who creates large scale watercolor paintings or animals. His style resembles Audubon's classical 19th century painterly hand. Ford depicts animals in a very scientifically and formal way, using text in the corner to resemble notes and a journal entry. However, the actions of the animals and context are very grotesque and brutal. There are mainly paintings of sexual dominance between animals. The theme of bondage and old colonial traps are painted too. Many of Ford's paintings are in a sense critiques of Audubon's paintings.
Audubon was a notorious explorer and painter known for his naturalist paintings of birds and animals. However, Audubon killed more animals then he painted while on his escapades of the Western world. So to some extent, they are faked and posed images of animals that were more then likely shot by Audubon.

Walton Ford

James Audubon

So for my final project this is my area of focus. I am working from these pictures of hanging dead animals after they have been hunted. I want to the hanging animals to represent a clothes line or charms on a charm bracelet.

What I have so far....

Give me that doe

I started sketching on  package of oat meal that I ate for breakfast this morning. I love the brown paper of the packaging. 
I used watercolor and prismacolor pencils.

I really miss seeing deer graze next to the roads back in Nashville.
I also uploaded a few more pictures to my flickr you should check out!

Hunting and Women

A possible new series of drawings and paintings...title, "God, Hunting, and Lipstick."

Number I

I've got wood

I am working with wood for the first time here! It's turning out interesting. I'm working with the idea of a building being a nest....

Found a block of wood...

Sanded this baby for a good three hours.

Started carving using my woodblock carving tools.

Almost done! I just have to stain the wood outside of the carved out circle. 

 

For my Core Studio Class, we are learning about buildings, structures and systems. For our first project we have to use wood in some way and also create "texture" with our piece. I have never worked with wood before; I mean I might have help my dad fix the fence a few time when I was a little kid but that's it! I did most of the sanding by hand, because I was too scared I would sand my skin off with the electric sander. I should learn to be more adventurous right? 

Either way, I am really happy at how smooth this turned out. The carving didn't take too long either. All I have to do now is stain the wood surrounding the nest (the carved out circle).

I had a little inspiration for this piece....

Dungen poster September, 2010: by Sam Smith