Year: 2010

I used a lot of texture for this one – I’m realizing that some days I’m in the mood to work with a lot of texture/fragments of images, while other times I like to focus on plain colors. This piece was inspired by a trip to the Natural History museum – I took a picture of one of their bears on display in an animal exhibit to use as a guide for the general outline of this bear. The background and shadowing were sort of made up as I went along.

I hope everyone is enjoying the first few days of September. I’ve been working away as usual, and I’m excited about a couple of commission pieces I have in my schedule. I’ve been working on a lot of animal and landscape collages, however both of my commissions are portraits. I sort of put portraiture aside after having two solo exhibits back to back this summer that showcased different work for each show. I was a little burnt out on using figures for my subjects, however now I’m rested up and ready to dive back in.

At the moment, my children’s book and animation work is put on hold until I finish up my work with clients.

This piece is currently hanging in the Goodwin exhibit. I enjoyed working on the background and creating a blend of abstract shapes and color as well as more defined objects like the shrubs. This crane turned out to be quite the character – he seems to be almost smiling.

Anyway, at the moment I’m working on drafting my children’s book. Once the storyline is cleaned up and where I want it, I’ll work on some sketches for the illustrations. It’s quite an exciting process – I can’t wait to get started on making some collage illustrations!

Yet another collage completed during my visiting artist work and it’s the second piece in a cat series. While working in an open studio, and being away from the computer, I was able to get quite a bit of work done. However I was working about seven days a week for a couple of months, and I think at the moment my body is telling me to cool it. So I’ve been doing quite a bit of relaxing these past couple of weeks. Yes there’s also been a lot of work involved, but I haven’t been as intense about it as I have been in the past. I’ve decided I need to take it easy before diving back in.

At the moment, aside from “taking it easy,” I’ve also been dabbling in some brainstorming, story boarding, and working on art-related work in the digital sense. I think in a couple more weeks I’ll make myself sit down every week and complete at least one mini collage. While working with art that involves the computer, I don’t want my studio art skills to grow rusty – so I’ll have to keep at it on the side.

I’ve also been feeling very thankful for having so many supportive people in my life. When it comes to being an artist, there are always people who try to drag you down and discourage you from your dreams. But at the same time, the smaller group of people who are rooting for you from the beginning are the ones who are much more memorable and important than any negative talkers. I’m happy to have those positive supporters in my life.

Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend! I’ll be spending mine taking pictures for future Bosty adventures.

Here’s another collage that I made for my animal series on display in The Animal Kingdom exhibit. I haven’t really explored underwater creatures with my work, perhaps I should? The Baltimore Aquarium isn’t that far away, and I’m sure I could find plenty of inspiration there…

I’m about to get started with some more brainstorming and storyboarding for today. I’m excited to work on some new projects. I’m thinking of dabbling in video sometime soon as well. We shall see – there are only so many hours in the day.

After doing a series of dog collages a few months ago, several people started requesting that I do a few cat collages. While I was a visiting artist at the local art center for June and July, I was able to complete a few cat collages. Here’s one of the first ones of the series.

I hope everyone had an excellent week! I’ve been working on some grant writing lately – it’s not my favorite thing to do, but the more I force myself to do it, I sure hope the better I’ll get at it. I also hope to work on writing, editing, and revising a few artist statements for the different portfolios I send out to galleries. And once all the paperwork is through, I hope to get started on brainstorming a children’s book.

Anyway, have a great weekend!

Another day, another collage. And it’s another one inspired by a trip to the zoo. I love the bright colors you can find in nature and other creatures.

So the craziness of all the exhibitions I’ve had going on this summer has calmed down a bit. The past couple of months I was practically working away on art or art-related things about seven days a week. Now that I have my summer lectures, presentations, and the majority of my shows under my belt, I’ve been a little lazy these past couple of days. I suppose you can say I’m resting up from all the work I was doing.

Pretty soon I may take a bit of a break from working on original works of art. I want to get started on storyboarding a children’s book or perhaps planning out an animation. I’ll still work on a few small pieces here and there, although there won’t be as much work posted here.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a lovely week!