Au revoir, Louise....

She inspired me to the very core....

Finalmente...!

Traffic Light
After several weeks (!) of not working, I finally got some stuff done today in the blazing heat of my studio. Dealing with a broken heat gun and resorting to using my hair dryer (which works, by the way), I labored over three small panels. I tried scanning these with my new scanner, but not sure they look any better than when I shoot them with my Coolpix. Anyway, I'm glad I got some work done....

Carissimo Fratello

Tiny Treasures....

I just love these tiny little canvases I found at Dick Blick Art Supplies. They allow me to plow through little thumbnail sketches in wax and work out ideas for color, composition, and content. These are 4 'studies' for my Family History series and are only 2.5" X 4" in size.

"3 Siciliani"

"Sylvia ~ Diddie ~ Sunny"

"Felice ~ Felix ~ Phil"

"Destination Pozzallo"

Mother's Day 2010...

"Mother's Day"

Today is the second Mother's Day since my mom's passing in January 2009. There was a lot of activity on facebook with everyone wishing their moms, aunts, wives, friends, and sisters and Happy Mother's Day, and feeling a little envious of those who still have their mom, I decided to spend some time in the studio creating a tribute to my mother. Oddly enough, the piece did not just flow out of me ~ on the contrary, it was a day of struggle where nothing seemed to go right. I worked on this simple and very grey piece for around 3 hours until reaching point where I knew it was time to stop.

I never start out with the idea for a composition in my mind before starting a piece. I usually just place the objects on the page and juggle them around until the composition feels right. After contemplating this composition for some time, I noticed how I had placed the photo of my mother beside the empty frame, rather than inside it....
Happy Mother's Day mom. I miss you and I love you.

Pyromaniac at work....

Provincia di Ragusa
Note to self~ Next time you choose a new medium to work in, make sure it has nothing to do with HEAT.

It was almost 90 degrees today outside and around 190 degrees in my top floor, sun-drenched, low-ceilings, skylit, heat trap of a studio. On top of that, add the heat from my two hotplates and heat gun and you have one heck of a hot situation. Determined to make the best of it and get some work done I drew all the curtains, covered the skylights with paper, put the exhaust fan in the window, and propped the Vornado on the floor blowing in my direction. With a liter of ice cold seltzer within reach, finally, I am ready to begin.....

So without planning anything too ambitious, I finished a small "quartet" of 2" X 2" panels and started a new horizontal piece. Ironically, although I have little tolerance for the heat, I seem to always work in a medium that has to do with 'heating things up'. After spending years in boiling hot kiln rooms making ceramics, I am now hunched over a 250 degree hot plate with a heat gun in my hand. Now that summer is upon us, I'd better put my thinking cap on and come up with a good plan to keep my work space cool and well ventilated....or I might just be working on mono-prints all summer.....
Family Four