Fellow artists?

Rarechild

New member
This whole past month I've been on a break from school and working tirelessly on creating Precious Metal Clay(PMC) jewelry for a show I have coming up on the 19th of this month. Thus my sitting on the computer all day- I keep up with you all as I create in my studio. (I'm a shameless facebook hound as well:)

Right now I'm firing a batch of rings and pendants in the basement.

Over the past several years I have been exploring metal art- welding, blacksmithing-then casting in bronze, aluminum, iron- and started to hit on a passion- the casting of metals. Then an artist friend gave me a whole mess of dried-out PMC and I ran with it. Had to reconstitute it all, learn the firing process and kiln use mainly through the internet- lots of trial and error and a couple of meltdowns.

I hope to use this show as a launch for a custom metal objects business- actually have 7 pieces lined up to make after I finish up with the show for friends and family.

I have dabbled in all sorts of mediums- clay, wood, all manner of metals, drawing through it all, even a little painting. The thing I love about casting is that you can use any material in the known universe to create a texture or shape- any number of materials for mold-making, many processes for filling the molds. Plus I like shiny things and fire:)

Using PMC, which I have in silver, bronze and copper- they also make platinum and gold- has been so great- I am able to go crazy with the casting process but also sculpt, do assembly pieces, burnouts, make anything in any medium and be able to reproduce it in precious metals. Plus I don't have to have a cupola or a huge amount of materials- metal, sand, binder, etc. to do it. It's just like modeling clay in a lot of ways, and comes out pure- not alloyed-i.e. fine silver- 999.

Any other artists out there? I'd like to hear about what you do.
 
I have a background in visual arts from college. I did printmaking, sculpture, watercolor painting, photography, drawing... and studied art history....

I gave it up for a long time, for various reasons, but am in the midst of re-enlivening it. (This is the VERY short story version.)\

I've been collecting tools, materials, knowledge, inspiration, and skills to work in woodcarving and mosaic, mainly. Mosaic is a wonderful and strange world that most artists are not much aquainted with, but it is worthy. There is an emerging "fine arts" tradition in mosaic art. I'd like to play in this, and contribute. Same, woodcarving/sculpture. Also, stonecarving, mainly alabaster. (Some of which I can find and dig up myself -- from the very Earth.) But mostly I'm moving in the mosaic arts direction. It started with wanting to make "functional art," but didn't get stuck there.

I really need studio space -- and thus, funds. My apartment is tiny, like my budget. For now.
 
I wouldn't consider myself and "artist" but others seem to. Apparently I'm "more talented" than I give myself credit for? My art has always been more a hobby than anything I'd consider making a living off of.

My mediums have been diverse through the years and have changed back and forth depending on my mindset and situation. I've done oil on canvas, mostly landscape scenes and most of those have been given to family and friends over the years. I also sketch everything from cartoon characters to portraits, though my hands are not what they used to be for that particular artistic expression. I like oil pastels and colored pencils to add color when I want. Lately, I've been designing tattoos for friends, mostly tribal and Asian themed. I love knowing someone is going to have a one-of-a-kind design on them made by me-and that I don't have to give up the original. (I've given away so many pieces and while I love knowing someone is enjoying it, I always feel a tiny twinge of loss.) I've been getting into polymer clays over this last year. I sculpt mostly animals and fantasy creatures. Making human forms is something I'm working on but it usually causes agitation as I am a perfectionist. I paint these by hand with acrylics. I've also dabbled in beaded jewelry making, wood carving, and began scrap booking with a friend with pictures of our kids. Not exactly "art" but something I can put together in 20 minutes to create something satisfying.

It's been awhile since I've really been able to do any of this. My son is not a child to leave me be. So many of my supplies have been used as his playthings in the last year or so, some with and some without Mommy's permission. (Read that as clay full of dog hair, oil paint on the rug, an easel set far too low for me to use, expensive broken pencils, scribbles on several finished pieces, and crazy glued clay figures.) It leaves me feeling creatively frustrated (if you don't use it you lose it feeling) but at least I'm fostering creativity in him. :D
 
My field of training is Theatre. My undergrad transcript shows an emphasis on Acting and Directing, although honestly I'm more a general theatre artist and technician. In a nutshell, I'm trained to do basically everything there is to do in a theatre, front and back of house. Except sound design (nobody bats 1.000). My Master's thesis was in Shakespearean dramaturgy.

I'm also earned a few shekels as a writer from time to time, and I can paint.
 
I painted this:

polyamory2.jpg


does that count?
 
I like it.
 
I am too... I have many hobbies! Some call me a regular Renaissance woman. :)

I paint - I do some scientific illustrations with watercolors, I draw, and also paint in both acrylics and oils. I find it is the closest i can come to meditation for me. I have also designed several album covers for bands when I lived in Seattle.
 
I'm a writer - lots of poetry (yes, published) and stories and a couple of books never finished or barely started. I'm currently doing the NaNoWriMo and working out some of my current issues that way. I've done some metalworking in the past (jewelry) but it's an expensive hobby. I hope to get back into it someday. My family is heavy on the writers and artists (even those that don't make their living that way) and feel most comfortable with creative types.
 
Another artist in the house. I draw and take photos. In drawing/painting, my word is inspired by art and design from about 1890 to the 1950s. Starting w the pre-Raphaelites, thru Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Art Moderne.

I have little to no interest in modern art, with a few exceptions (Warhol, Rothko). I am also inspired by Japanese woodcuts and Egyptian art.

My favorite artists are Aubrey Beardsley, Klimt, Monet, van Gogh, Lautrec. I also appreciate ad art from the 20th century.

Here's a wee sample. Pls dont reproduce.

marieA.jpg
 
sky 1.jpg
sky 2.jpg
sky 3.jpg
sky 4.jpg

I don't know if my image uploaded, but here are some recent ones by me. I took the Canadian prairies as my inspiration.
 

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Those are wonderful, RP! I particularly like the second one. There's something very active and dynamic in the relationships of it.
 
I've been dabbling in the same version of photoshop for years, and refuse to upgrade the software since I've not substantially upgraded my hardware. I am starting a wedding photography venture (though I don't like to define it as solely wedding photographry, as that chaffs with my notion of being simply a photographer... it's just more socially marketable).... working for dirt cheap and producing art of the photos. I'll spend countless hours working to make simple versions and very surreal versions of the photos. I love it.

and writing fiction ... that's not subversive at all.... :)

http://poiesishagakure.deviantart.com/
 
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I do a lot of furniture making and wood turning, which definitely has a varying degree of artistic . . . ness.

I'd post pics, but I'm too lazy to pull them up right now. :p
 
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