The Heron

The Aztecs held artisans in high regard. Many of them became wealthy earning a living producing jewelry, feathered headdresses, fine costumes and ornaments. Many Aztec artisans were often called “Toltecas” in reference to the ancient Toltecs whom the Aztecs revered.

This particular mask started from a cigar box. The cigar box was uniquely colored bright orange. It looked Aztec from the very beginning. The face was built up from paper and given a final coat of Tobacco leaves. The beard is yarn. The hair is dyed chicken feathers and dyed deer hair.

The mask will be donated to the Zonta Organization. The art auction will take place on Oct. 21 at the Lenawee Country Club.

This is my first attempt at a multiple block linoleum cut print. I modified my cutting jig yesterday by installing two 1/4″ wood dowels for registration. I started a series of these prints around 7 this morning and finished about 12 hours later. That does include time to watch the Detroit Lions lose their home opener. Anyway, the first block was a reduction cut, starting with blue, then yellow, then green. The second block was simply the tree. I ended up with 24 prints, but I think I’ll take out the faint prints and sell them as a series of 20. I’m going to frame this tomorrow night and get it ready to display at the Croswell Opera House Gallery. It will be on display during the month of September.

“Tobacco Fix”, Tobacco & cigar boxes, 20″x20″
Donated to Chaloners Cigar and Tobacco, Adrian, MI

Cheoah Bald, Watercolor, NFS

The 4th Annual LCVA Box Show Auction will be held on September 30th, 2006.Spanish Fly Box, Acrylic (sold)Fly Box, Acrylic (sold)

I currently have two pieces at The Boulevard Market in Tecumseh, MI. Please contact me for purchasing information.

Peppers, Watercolor (Original NFS, Prints Available $40)

Olives and Peppers, Acrylic

The Davincis Coffee House and Gallery just opened last week. I have three paintings there that I thought I would post here. Please contact The Davincis Gallery for purchasing information.

Thistles, Watercolor, 7″x13″ unframed, 14″ x 20″ framed, (sold)

Split Rock (Joshua Tree NP), Watercolor, 15″x15″ framed, $150

Silers Bald, Watercolor, 22″ x 28″ framed (sold)

“Caja de Mosca” is my first attempt at a lino cut print. This isn’t the first time I have worked with the fly box theme. I painted “Spanish Fly Box” and “Fly Box” in acrylic last year for the LCVA Box Show. And, I’ve done a few watercolors depicting streamer flies. I’m somewhat pleased with how this turned out. It wasn’t as difficult to cut the linoleum as I thought it would be. That might have more to do with just having brand new sharp cutting tools. I decided to go with the representational look of a fly as opposed to trying to cut them realistically. One of the reasons for that is my influence from studying Aztec imagery. But, when I finished the final design I thought it looked more like Native American art from the Pacific Northwest. As for the obvious cutmarks on the print, those were intentional. I wanted it to look like a lino cut. I looked at several relief prints before I started and liked the style of leaving cut marks. I think it gives it more of a human touch. If I didn’t leave cut marks one might ask why I just didn’t create it in Photoshop? Or, one might just assume it was done in Photoshop. I wanted to leave some evidence that it was done by hand, or could have been done by hand. One of the beauties of cutting block in my opinion is that anyone can do it. It seems these days that you have to fork over a lot of money to get your work reproduced, which is why I rarely reproduce any of my work. And, that’s a subject for another blog. Anyway, these “Caja de Mosca” prints will be auctioned off at the LCVA’s 4th Annual Box Show. A few of them will also be auctioned off for the Zonta Organization to help advance the status of women worldwide.