About a year ago, I discovered that I had a friend in the St. Petersburg art community that was also a fellow art educator. I friended her on Instagram and Facebook, and discovered she was a REALLY amazing oil painter that went to college at Ringling, one of the best art schools in this area. I oogled over her talent, and she was liking some of my artwork online as well. This past spring, she approached me about having a duo art exhibit here in St. Pete. Since she was a painter, she was looking for someone that produced artwork in a different medium, and she left it up to me as to which I wanted to work in. It is hard for me to decide, since I like to work in mixed media, but I know as soon as the ideas flowed, I could nail down a medium. But I was thinking found object sculpture. Next, she told me what theme she was thinking about, and I was perplexed at how I would contribute. She gave some examples of what she was using for inspiration, and luckily that helped me generate some ideas. The theme had to do with post apocalyptic Florida, and all that remains is wildlife. My mind went straight to robots and sci-fi movies, but then I decided to focus on the animal aspect. I began researching the history of Florida, its inhabitants, the animals that were around then. Then, I thought about nature taking over man made objects (buildings, cars, homes) and found some interesting things on the web. But then, I had an epiphany! What is the animals societies developed so much, that they had a religion? After that thought, it was all over. I cant say more than that, but the pictures that follow will give you a taste of the 2 pieces I have finished so far. Some things I pulled to construct some of my found object sculptures...I love that I get to use the things that I have been collecting in an exciting way!
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Mexican folk art is very inspirational to me. Its loud colors and nod to the Catholic religion resonate with me and my artwork. I was excited to present this workshop that featured a popular motif, the corazon, or heart. I use a lot of hearts in my work, and the flaming sacred heart is part of my logo I love it so much. I couldn't help but to create a new lino cut to fit inside the wooden heart and paint then print on the wooden heart. Check out the progress as I sketched it out, hand carved and printed it below. Some are available for purchase at DFAC's gift shop. Tonight was my first time leading a workshop at my favorite art centers in this area, the Dunedin Fine Art Center in beautiful artsy Dunedin, Florida. Valentines Day was approaching, so I thought this would be a great time to approach them about working with hearts. I decided that I would provide participants with 9 inch wooden hearts I cut out in my Dad's workshop, and bring lots of paint, embellishments like beads, wire, tiny nails and stencils. Students were encouraged, and brought extras like gold leaf, and Milagros to add. It was a small group of ladies, and it was an extra bonus that that DFAC allowed students to BYOB, which most did! Below check out some prep and outcomes of the workshop. I plan on teaching a class at DFAC this Fall/ WInter, more info to come with that... The heart I made during the workshop. XO!
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