Post #537092 by MadDogMike on Thu, Jun 17, 2010 11:33 AM

I haven’t posted anything in a month but I didn’t want you to think I’ve given up on “art”, I’ve just been busy with other projects.

My wife and I took a too short vacation in beautiful Sedona, I tried to look at things the way a painter would; the way the sunlight hits the trees, how the rocks make shadows, that the sky is light blue near the horizon and deeper overhead. Then I sat in the shade of a tree with watercolor pencils & a fine point Sharpie and tried to put my observations into practice

I don’t think it will sell in any Sedona gallery but I had a good time :D This was meant to be a learning experience for me so critiques are welcome.

MP has a Haunted Hotrods & Mystery Machines show coming up and he graciously invited me to participate. We have already established that I can’t paint (above) so I made a ceramic entry. I took a very different approach that the other artists, a more literal interpretation of an automobile “ghost” being a rusted out car – inspired by Arlo Guthrie’s “…and the graveyards of the rusted automobiles”. I guess that’s my prerogative as an artist. I just hope I don’t stink up MP’s show (pun intended :wink: )

A 6 piece “mosaic" (10x16 inches) based on a 1931 Chevy 3 window coupe - this rusted “ghost” is all that remains of a once glorious hotrod. It shows the ravages of time; sagging hinges, missing door handle, dents, corroded drip rail, separating fender, etc. This ghost haunts car shows looking for it’s front half, hoping that part of it still lives on as an award winning hotrod.

My daughter and I are on a mission to process some fresh olives. I made a 2 quart crock to do that in. According to the all-knowing internet, the inscription reads “olives” but it’s all Greek to me.


The white disc with the knob is a weight to keep the olives submerged in the brine. The bottom includes a bit of archeologist humor – never buy an antiquity inscribed “BC” :lol:

And one last project was to turn a church stage into a Sailing Ship set complete with ship’s wheel, cannons, gunwales, an 18 foot mast, and half a dozen carved foam seagulls.

Now I’ve got plans for some more Tiki “art” coming soon :)