Sepia Drawing of Belly Dancer

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Through word of mouth, I was invited to create a series of works for a potential exhibit in Austin, Texas, next year sometime. The show theme is about models and their creative energy with the artists they work with. And thus, I found myself at the home studio of my friend Maria Lyle along with another artist Patricia Lyle (no relation) working with belly dancers.

I show you here an experiment in which I used Conté Sepia Drawing Pencil on some kind of acrylic primed board I bought years ago to try out for oil painting. I intended to use the pencil only to sketch out my design and add paint later, but the more I got into the sepia, the more I was loving it.

Meet “Alana” She is an original drawing, sized 16 x 12 inches.

Today’s blog entry is dedicated to my Grandma Phyllis Pease, who did not wake up this morning 08-08-08. One of my favorite memories of her is when she stood in front of the St. Paul Cathedral with us. After a personal tour filled with family story telling, she looked adorable in her round white furry beret on a COLD Minnesota winter’s day as she invited us to her favorite neighborhood bar for a beer.

When Rejection is a Good Thing

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am trying to find the bright side . . .
Yesterday I took some waxes over to my bronze casting foundry and learned that one of my compositions is not feasible to cast into any other material. Last summer I was asked to submit an idea for a bronze art limited edition series to be used as a corporation’s board of directors’ gift. I thought it would be a good excuse to try something different from my application the year before, but was later told that my new design was “too modern.”

I am not sure why this struck me as funny.

And thus, the waxes and sketches sat in my studio here in central Texas for a year while I went back to work in Italy. But a lot of times, I like the ideas I have for other people and want to see them through. So, knowing that I would soon be delivering some waxes of a new composition, I decided to pull out my rejected waxes and my soldering iron. I began welding wax to make the composition ready to sprue for the bronze casting process. I now intended this to be a one-of-a-kind bronze sculpture.

So what is the bright side? Normally, I discuss any potential hurdles with my foundry before trying a tricky or experimental composition. In my haste and possible arrogance about my experiences in casting bronze, I did not do that last summer. Losing the bid on the large corporate project for an idea that turned out not to be financially feasible may have been the best thing that could have happened last summer.

Or so I tell myself . . . Allora, I must admit that I have not given up hope and my wax will find a place in storage until I can come up with another idea for casting that may work. I show you a detail shot here of my little composition. Perhaps you bronze artists will have an idea about why this is a difficult metal (or even the non-sexy resin) casting project.

If you like what you read, please consider . . .