Abstract...Say What?!

Assignment #1...Remake

This is serious people, assignment #1 grad school-style...remake a work that you've made in the past. Remake it in any way that you see fit. Go! Above you will see the original work on the right hand side. (The frame encountered some traveling damage). It is a pastel, charcoal, and gouache work of a secretary bird that is covered in resin. Part of my whole "drainting" experimental series. On the left hand side is the remake. (I scrapped the Dodo sketch).

A long convoluted story goes along with it of course and I will spare you the details but the jist is that I was wicked frustrated, did not have the proper supplies, no mode of transport to get to said supplies and no funds to purchase them. In hindsight it would not have been a big deal knowing the information I know now - they don't have the same supplies that I am used to in this country anyways...make due. Well, make due I did. I used what was in my skid row digs - scotch tape, magazine bits, and a McDonald's bag. I ripped up pieces of mag pages to match the color and ratio of color used in the painting. BAM! Remake.

Assignment #2...Remake the Remake

For the 2nd assignment I drew a secretary bird on the above piece of wood (landscape orientation) then placed globular/molecular/circular things on top. I used some of the colors of the bird to fill in the circles and decided to cover up the bird all together. It made total sense at the time.

Experiment One

Got a fantastic book at the library on aerial shots of landscapes around the world. Work with me and believe that the above three experimental pieces are based on those landscapes.

The Sparrow Experiment

So I think it's pretty funny that I came all the way across the globe to see indigenous birds of New Zealand and because I have yet to leave the city, I have seen nothing but sparrows, seagulls, and starlings. All of which I'm very familiar with. So what ever shall I do? Make art out of the irony. Above is actually based on a zoomed in photograph of a sparrow. Today I began the practice oil painting of this work. When I feel I'm trodding on more solid ground with this experiment I have 5 delightfully delicious 12"x12" wooden panels to continue with.