Manabu Haiku : Studio Images

My second proposal to be accepted by the ReImaging Works committee is Manabu Haiku. It is constructed of five 36"x36" birch panels and will be installed in the New Lebanon branch. One of the five panels arrived shattered, so that will delay the project, but since it is not due until April 2016, I am not a bit worried! Dick Blick has notified me that they will replace the panel and I will get started once it arrives. 

Boo takes a break from Crackle Paste testing. 

Boo confirms the layout and we can begin! 

Painters tape for a clean, straight line. 

Loading up the Crackle Paste with a palette knife. 

It can take up to three days to complete the crackle finish!

Panels coming together. 

After they dry, they go outside to sand the edges and seal the surface with gloss medium. 

I use the back of one of the panels to test out a few more color options for the stripes. 

Seeing them as a group. Tobin inspects the project... 

...and concludes that the white is NOT working.

The white gets lost in the wood background, so I tried yellow. Finally a dark copper brown finish and it all comes together. 

My amazing husband helps with the install and makes sure they are all level!

Portrait of a happy artist! A very different painting style for me, but such a fun project to create! Thank you Reimagining Works!!! Photo by Mark Anderson. 

Photo by Andy Snow. 

Photo by Andy Snow. 

Photo by Andy Snow. 

Marketplace of the Mind : Studio Images

The front entry of the Fairview High School.

School crest. 

This six-by-six foot beast, Marketplace of the Mind, is a commission from the Reimagining Works project, a collaboration between the Dayton Metro Library and the Dayton Art Institute. The Kuosi Elephant Mask and Fairview High School were the inspirations for this playful acrylic on linen painting. View the entire proposal in this POST. 

Final scale drawing. 

Shield leaves will repeat around the border. 

Fairview mascot, the Bulldog, will adorn the corners.  

See the canvas come together in this POST. 

Getting the image transferred was no easy task. See what it took in this POST. 

Concentrating on straight lines. 

Filling in the color. Note: the center of the leaf form will remain raw linen, sealed in clear gesso. 

Surrounding the babies in tiles inspired by the Fairview HS fountain. 

My set-up for creating the time lapse movie. 

Making progress.

So many dog jokes *insert here*. Each dog will have a different look and personality. 

Starting the elephants. His one eye is a bit wonky, so I plan to fix that a bit later. 

Progress as of April 2015.

Finishing up the side patterns. 

The ladder has proved useless and I must work on the canvas upside down to get the upper areas. This is going to get interesting! 

And sideways! Starting the veggie basket and continuing the little boy elephant. He also needs a bit of color. 

Veggie basket finished and a pop of color in the form of a fez. 

Now I need to change some textures to differentiate the materials, such as the little girl elephant's fruit basket. 

Basket weaving completed.

A full view as of December 2015. 

A close-up of the blanket in progress. 

Detail of girl elephant.

Detail of boy elephant.

Detail of Mom's blanket. 

The finished painting. 

Installation Complete at Northwest

On April 22nd, from 1:30-5:30p, the Northwest Library branch (located at the corner of Hillcrest and Philadelphia in Dayton) of the Dayton Metro Library will hold an opening reception for this brand new building filled with brand new art! This event is open to the public.