New assemblage and throwing some bowls

I've been working on this assemblage for  awhile now and I think its completed. I was thinking that I could embellish it more but I don't want it to be about excess or just going overboard for the sake of it, I believe in a bit of restraint,  I had to tell myself repeatedly to not go Baroque on it.
This assemblage touches on the subject of aging and coming to terms with it spiritually, physically and mentally. I'm over 50 years old and its a time as the noted Mythologist, Joseph Campbell, says "not of achievement but of realization"  A transition into assimilating the choices we've made, where we've been and where we are going.

I have also been fired up to throw clay again on the wheel and start altering the wheel thrown bowls. I watched a wonderful inspiring 30 minute documentary on Lee Kang Hyo, a potter from Korea https://youtu.be/ayDjp4yvF3o?list=PLw5HG1BBLUD-0xdwZYaXb0xV6Qt7PQzcQ
I'm rusty, but I am going to persist, be in the moment and I hope to make a few good bowls in the future!

Latest Collage

 

This one is approximately 12" x 8" has  exactly 13 separate pieces that makeup this collage.

hand crafted in my space.

3 new assemblage sculptures

                              I've been busy completing the detail work on two of these assemblages and the nutshell one came together pretty quickly! The one titled Hollow Hills has been a work in progress for about 9 months! Exploring different variations and trying to finish up the details which seem to take the longest! I'm not a fan of spelling out what specifically these works are about, but it's the usual themes I like to explore, life, death, spirituality, Buddhism.       

                                           Shadow play   
Height 23" x  Length 16" x Width 3" constructed with two boxes, glass, part of a trophy, old embossed newspaper, a fishing lure, string, a ceramic hand, collage, lettering, paint and put together with wood screws, bolts and gorilla glue.

                                                                     In a nutshell
Height 17" x Length 8" x Width 8 1/2" when its opened the length dimensions are 8" longer
constructed with an wooden nut that used to hold cutlery, resin casted birds, clock parts, earing, two lenses, metal cut from a cookie tray, cut up candy dish, water colors and acrylic for the painting designs and black matt paint for the exterior and held together with wood screws and gorilla glue.

                                             Hollow Hills
Height 36" x Length 17" x 5 1/2 " Constructed from part of an old cabinet, the body of a clock which need major reconstruction, brass chandelier arms, drink coasters, glass hands, rusted wolf, plastic bird painted gold,  a collage with some of my writing, small ravens mounted on wire, I painted the body black and gold leafed a detail on the front door. Put together with plenty of nails, screws glue.

Assemblage

 

I'm working on a few new assemblages and this one is finally completed. I've built it to accompany two other assemblages that adorn the front entrance of the house. Loosely based on traveling to find waves to surf. The piece is 13" x 11" x 2" This assemblage incorporated many items from different sources, parts of a globe, a serving platter and bits cut from an aluminum cookie tray to a die cut newspaper from 1930's. The wood sea horses I found at the swap meet for $3! Put together with wood screws and glue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detail of the assemblage

 

 

 

                                                                        Side detail

 

 

                                            Detail of the front of the new assemblage

 

 

 

                   This is what the three assemblages look like together at the front entrance.

                                                     Detail of the assemblage on the right

Guest Speaker at Art Class Huntington Beach High School

I was stoked to be asked by Matt Harward,  Art Teacher at Huntington Beach High School, to speak to a few of his art classes about my artwork and my approach in creating the assemblages that I build. Matts classrooms are chock full of materials, artwork, books, tools and computers to assist the art students in the creative process.  Kinda looks like the area I work at home so I told the kids that thier classroom is an excellent space to create and is exactly what an artists workspace looks like!  It appears to me that matt strives to create an environment of creativity and learning that enables one to feel comfortable in expressing themselves.  

I brought in to class a few of my own assemblages to show as examples as well as tools I use and adhesives to assist in putting the pieces together. I also brought box of common objects that I use in creating assemblage just to give the students an idea of what one artist uses to create a visual language.  I discussed my working method, how I get ideas to make art,  objects I use and how I use them and how I put it all together, the nuts and bolts of constructing an assemblage. I was really impressed with some of students attitudes and questions about assemblage and about my own work.

Thanks for asking me to hang out and talk art matt!

Matt has his own website  

  http://www.mattharwardart.com/

check it out when you have a chance

Photo by Matt Harward

Kneelo Cove design

This design is one of my first combination of traditional cut and paste collage and computer assisted collage. All the images are from paper sources and layered traditionally on a 1/8" cardboard, then scanned and images manipulated in photo shop. text added later.

Middle Class @ The Cuckoos Nest and Frank Ruffino of China White at the Cuckoos Nest

I found a few more images I took with my first camera a Nikonos III underwater camera that I bought before I went to Australia. I was still trying to figure out how to not draw attention to the camera and shot without a flash, not so great but some neat ones every once in awhile! very difficult to get any decent results! I shot a lot of photos like this, of some great bands but the photos just turned out crap and I chucked them in the trash! so bummed I didnt keep them because in hindsight I probably could have salvaged a few. 

Jeff Atta, Mike Atta

Jeff Atta

Frank Ruffino 

Ron Quigley surfing photos from 1981 Brookhurst st. H.B.

Ron Quigley

Im starting to digitize some of my old Kodachrome slides from 30 + years ago. I took these watershots of ron 30 + years ago.....the slides have dates on them and these are from November of 1981 at Brookhurst st. in H.B.  I believe he's riding one of Bob Hurleys shapes. Ron was a wonderful guy and I remember we had two things in common, surfing and the Arts.