Etsy Store - New Items For Sale!!

 The "Tesla" motorcycle being built by Jeff of Saint Motorbikes was the subject for a painting of mine a few months ago. I finally retrieved the painting from Covet Boutique and have it now listed for sale on Etsy :) A big thank you to Autumn for hosting the Oil on Asphalt show once again, it was lots of fun and everybody loved the bikes, lamps, paintings, and photography. It was great to work with a group of very talented people. Here's the link to the Etsy listing...

The "Box Lamp AKA The Man Lamp" is also up for grabs on Etsy. I think the last post on the blog (scroll down) is a bit more informative with regards to the building/thought process going into making this piece, but there is a nice description on the sale page as well. Link to the Etsy listing...

The "Ural" painting is also still for sale. There is a short bit written about it a few posts ago (scroll down a little bit further), and a much larger picture on the Etsy site. The photos don't really do it justice, the colors are much more vibrant face-to-face. Link is right here :)

Also, please note that these are all the original products. They are not prints or reproductions of any of my work. The lamp is definitely a lamp, is it's a great piece that works very well while looking very rugged and manly. The paintings are both original pieces of work, both are acrylic over gallery stretched canvas and are ready to hang (they are unframed at this point), they are not canvas prints, these are real paintings finished with a semi-gloss varnish to prevent fading and protect the artwork :)

The Box Lamp

This Lamp is now FOR SALE in the Etsy store!

Here's a link to the Awesomeness ---> click here!! Yay!!!

The "Box Lamp" is one of my more recent projects. Done for an assignment at college, the goal was to make a functional piece of sculpture for home use. I started sketching out ideas after seeing some of the interesting Lamps that my Dad and previous classes had completed. The idea for the cutouts in the sides came from sketching through idea after idea and finally trying to just do something simple. The lid (unfortunately I forgot to snap a pic of it...) is completely square and has "L" shape cutouts in the corners to mimic the light passing through the sides, or the shadows where the brackets block the light. I thought it would be a little bit of light coming through around each of the squares, with the majority coming out through the "window" cutout in the center, turns out it's just bright, and I mean BRIGHT lol.

The light shows through the sides and top pretty clearly and casts nice shapes and shadows onto the surrounding walls. The idea of casting the light/shadow shapes originally popped into my head after seeing some other student examples and remembering back to shadow puppets from elementary school :)

Another view from Front and Center...

But how do the squares "float" within one another? How are they recessed into one another? Well, that was easy to figure out, not quite as easy to accomplish. Aluminum strips were hammered into 90 degree, zig-zag style bends to fasten to the back of each square, recess 1/2 inch, and repeat. Four brackets were used per side, and then fastened to each square with brass hardware. There is also brass hardware on the lid, including two cabinet door style hinges, one pull/handle, and two brass hasps (jewelry box closures). To stick with the handmade / industrial / look what I can do theme, an Edison style 60 watt bulb is used to not only provide the light, but also to look super sexy when lit :)

Just a Little Note

To anyone that reads or likes to keep up with my blog and/or work, Thank You :)

The summer class that I've been taking is one of the few that I have left to complete my first Undergraduate degree. The work that I've been doing is new territory for me, but overall I'm happy with it. After the summer semester is over I plan on taking some of these projects a bit further. Sculpture and Three Dimensional Art are both still new to me, but thanks to some cool people that I've been working with for the past while, I think that completing these will be much easier.

The last project that I had completed was a "Box Lamp", the assignment was to create a free standing piece of work that would also serve a functional purpose. It's hard to explain how it looks, but just know that it's really awesome, I think I may do another one or two in different colors, and that it has a nice Edison style bulb. I'll be picking up the lamp on Thursday from the College and posting some nicer pictures once I have them edited.

My next project is one that Architecture people will like, redesigning an area of the college's quad surrounding a circular mosaic of our school mascot. Unfortunately I don't get to use the cool miniature trees and grass like a real model, it's all made from paper, foam core, and cardboard. I may not post the model itself, but for the presentation aspect of the assignment I'll have a larger sized concept drawing, so look forward to that :)

Thanks again for putting up with my inconsistent postings, and for looking around at the blog, my deviantart pages, and also the new site www.zenangel13.com

The New Goodies :)

The last few weeks have been pretty fun. I've been finishing up some required classes for my AA, one of which is 3-D Design. The teacher is enthusiastic and has more tattoos than me, I am loving it. Our first project was a paper sculpture. This one below was based on the idea of a radial airplane engine. I was going to use some metallic colors but I didn't feel quite right about it, so instead I went for a nice, warm color palette, thinking about fire and combustion. Kinda reminds me of the sun :)

Radial, approx. 16" x 16" x 3"

This next project is a wire sculpture. Of all the ideas I had sketched out and thought about the ease of making, this Barn Swallow was probably the easiest, and most fun. I used to watch the swallows try and dive bomb my cat at the old farm house in this nice pose, kinda where the idea came from. The frame was made from 5/8" steel rod, the outer contours made from 1/8" steel rod, and then finished it off by wrapping the wings, tail, and beak with 16 gauge galvanized steel wire. It hangs from the ceiling surprisingly balanced and looks like it's just about to fold in it's wings for a quick dive. I think once the summer semester is over it may be taken apart partially and redone with sheet metal to make it more representative.

Steel Barn Swallow, approx. 36" x 36" x 9"

This last painting is one that I've been wanting to do for awhile. It's based on the Ural Racer from Saint Motor Company that I had done some of the pictures for awhile back. After doing the "Tesla" painting I really wanted to do another dramatic, moto-inspired piece, but since it's raining outside and I can't ride today, I went a little nutty with my big brushes and did this one pretty wild and loose. I like it, I've always dug the abstract expressionism, so maybe this could be my new thing :)

Ural Racer, Acrylic on Canvas, 24" x 48"

More Tesla Paintings

Some of you may remember that I did a small 6"x6" painting for the RoCo6x6 exhibit currently going on now in Rochester, NY. The purpose of the event is to sell artwork from artists who are local, emerging, yound, old, out-of-state, or international, etc. and are kept anonymous until the piece sells. The proceeds of the art sold goes to the Rochester Contemporary Arts Center to help keep their programs running and supporting local arts.

Another show called "Oil on Asphalt" is being arranged for this Saturday, June 16, 2012 at the Covet Boutique in Arlington, VA where Bad Juju, Saint Motor Company, and myself, along with a few friends and other artists will be trying to pimp ourselves out to the crowds (by showing up, eating and drinking, being socialites, pretending we know what we're talking about, having your people fax our people...). This weekend should be pretty entertaining. I started painting for the RoCo6x6 exhibit and liked the "Tesla" pictures a lot, so I decided to hold off until later to do another Tesla themed painting a bit bigger. This show has a motorcycle and art theme, so it worked out perfect :) Here's the new guy on the block!

The Other Half...

After a few more hours in the garage, the other side of the face is mostly put together. Tomorrow I should be able to get the eyes, nose, and mouth finished :) I'll still have a few things left to do after that, like cleaning it up a bit, treating it, and figuring out a clever way to mount this thing... Not sure if it'll be free-standing on a pedestal or if it should be a wall-hanging...

Taking Shape