In an English Garden

A big project is finished and ready to deliver this week.  It is a companion piece to a peony and butterfly piece I did a number of years ago.  They are both 44" tall and In an English Garden will be a gorgeous mate.  The first piece is all rose reds and pinks with butterflies zipping through them in shades of yellows, blues, lilacs and whites, and perched on shades of green leaves and sunlit blooms.  This new piece is a rambling garden of a variety of blue and purple iris, peach and cream lilies, deep green hosta with delicate white blooms, some roses peeking out.  Dragonflies are here and there and a few other surprises as well.

I was asked to do this with the utmost trust that I would do something "just right", and I hope these lovely clients will be as pleased as I am.  That is always the thing, with commission work.  Will the expectations be fulfilled?  Will the artist understand the request?  Will the client be so nervous that the artist feels constrained and indecisive about the end design?  It really all is a delicate balance between them, and often hinges on how much each knows of the other.  The artist, being the artist after all, will have a strong vision of the work colored by her style.  If the client isn't very familiar with that style, or if the artist isn't solid in a particular style, the visions can be drastically different - sometimes not even in the same park.  The client may have a strong vision too - perhaps something he seen in a photograph or a place visited, a memory.  But if the client isn't able to tell the artist some particulars about that vision - something beyond a color palette or medium for example - then there's a good chance that a problem may arise.

How do we avoid such a mishap?  Artists need to be certain that the client understands her style and has seen several examples, preferably in the flesh as well as in the portfolio.  And I believe the artist should ask many questions - questions dealing with the more subtle aspects of the request - questions like, what is the angle from which you will view my work?  What other things are in the peripheral view?  What other artwork is near?  What is the overall "feel" you are wanting to create for that space?  Conversation that is more ephemeral perhaps, but the answers may get to a deeper place from which the client may clarify his expectations.  If we take a little extra time to distinguish these things, I think commission work can be exciting and very satisfying for both the artist and the client.

Then, every once in while, some wonderful people will say to you, "Do what you think is best - we love your work!"

Detail

In an English Garden

another view

another view

another view

and another

I can't decide which I like best!

From Start to Finish

Several weeks ago I posted an "in progress" group of pictures on my FB page.  I did finish the piece and here is the chronicle of the project - from start to finish.  It's a long process, doing a sculpted gourd using the natural direction of what nature gives me.  There isn't much sense in making drawings on paper because your plans will invariably go awry and your paper drawings will have been wasted.  I believe one has to "see" what the gourd wants to be, then help it become.

This tall snake gourd bent fairly gracefully in one direction,with a nice gentle swelling at the bottom.  The iris hiding there needed to be set free to blow in the garden breezes, leaves wanted to arch and droop as landing places for dragonflies and butterflies.  

After drawing the images onto the gourd and burning the line work in, the engineering begins - after all, when you cut a leaf or bloom from the center of the gourd, what will hold the remaining top to the bottom?  Leaves and stems must be rebuilt behind the flower which wants to lean outward.  After soaking the "free" parts of the design (blooms and leaves), the gourd walls are soaked in warm water and gradually bent, holding their positions with strings tied to weights or to the table, till the piece is completely dry.  If the parts are very narrow or the stem is all that holds the large bloom, support must be built onto the backside of the gourd wall.  But, careful, don't build so much support in that you can't reach the inside of the design where a butterfly might be resting.  The contraption in the pictures holds the gourd for me in any one of many positions.  I used to have to do the holding in my lap - very precarious!  All of the cut edges and the sculpture material added to make the design more 3-dimensional must be sanded, hence the mask.  The sander is loud - headphones help.  Sander makes talc-fine dust - so I hold the vacuum in my left hand while sanding with my right.  It's definitely a balancing act!

The painting is done in stages - basic colors applied in the beginning so that I don't mistake positive image for negative space.  Lots of layers of transparent acrylics build the nuanced color in each leaf and bloom.  Often something may start out life as magenta and end up as yellow!

Here are several views of the finished piece.  I miss gardening, but I love making one that lasts forever!  I'll be bringing this one to the Celebration of Fine Art, Scottsdale, opening Jan. 15.  Hope you'll get to see it!

The Seven Poppies Question

This piece has been in the entry area of the Celebration of Fine Art for a week or so.  It's an interesting exercise to put a work out of your daily vision for a while and then come back to it.  I have always loved this piece.  It is so close to a perfect interpretation of what was in my head!  To see it afresh amazed me, and with humility, I say that it is still among the best three pieces I have ever done.

That raises the question of value.  Sure, it has a price tag on it.  But it is a piece that may well remain in my personal collection.  I don't believe in keeping much of my own work.  I think it can be too self-congratulatory and often acts like a kind of glue, sticking you to an idea, an image, an interpretation, when what I want to do is to keep experimenting, move onward, test new ground, push the limits of this humble material, and, of course, the boundaries of my imagination.

So.  Keep it?  Sell it?

The Process - piece by piece...

Sometimes these things are pretty awkward!  And when it's cold it takes a lot longer because the tool cools off
quickly.

New Work

Pushing the medium again, moving more into the sculpture realm - but never leaving the color behind. Looking forward to showing the new work at the Celebration of Fine Art, Scottsdale, this year. http://www.celebrateart.com/

"Seven Poppies"

Here is one view of the finished Poppy piece. It's debut will be at the Loveland Invitational Sculpture Show & Sale, Aug.8-10, Loveland, CO. I hope you'll get a chance to see this breakthrough work. This is, of course, a one of a kind piece. There is no mold of it and it will not be cast in anything. The beauty of working with gourds as material is that they give inspiration by the very nature of what they are. I choose to honor that by valuing each piece for its individuality.

Working on new Poppy Sculpture

Here's a sculpture in progress - poppies. This is very much a additive/subtractive way of working, both with the sculpture medium and the paint process. Messy - and I HATE having messy hands - but it works for me and allows me to create the piece as I go, changing details as well as mass. I'll have it finished for the Loveland Sculpture Invitational Aug. 8-10, so I'd better get back to work. Weather's still great here in NC - heat coming soon, I'm sure.

STUCK IN TUCUMCARI

Thought for sure we'd be rolling into NC by now. Wrong. Stuck in Tucumcari, NM with a bad wheel bearing. Parts are coming. From where I don't know, but no where near here. Motel smells like old spaghetti. Yesterday I managed to work a bit on some small gourd boxes, using my Apoxie Sculpt in the car. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is saving me at the moment. Hoping to get out of here today sometime. On the up side, we have managed to avoid any contact with the big storms hitting OK City and regions north, south and east of there.

Prickly Pear Pics

Finishing touches on a cold day in the tent, and the finished piece - Prickly Pear, carved and painted gourd, approximately 18" diameter, finished in a combination of high gloss (flowers), satin (cactus pads) and matte (shadows).

http://www.celebrateart.com/

http://www.whitneypeckman.com

BlogSpot I Love You

Just changed over to Blogger and it was EZ, even for a dinasaur like myself! Hope this will be easier to respond to....let me know...

The Prickly Pear is finished and on display at the Celebration of Fine Art. Go to my website http://www.whitneypeckman.com/ to see more work and link to the show.

It's actually raining and thundering tonight in Scottsdale....amazing.

Prickly Pear continued
February 14th, 2008
by Whitney
Finished the painting on this piece today. Tomorrow I’ll work on the finishes and it should be complete Sat or Sun. The deep relief carving really is accentuated by the painting, and the thin blossoms are delicate and luminescent…so far, so good.

http://www.celebrateart.com

Frustrations

FRUSTRATIONS!
February 13th, 2008
by Whitney
OK, so now I know how to put a pic up, but can’t figure out how to post all your comments (so far, nothing unpublishable…and that would not be a challenge). So, for now I’ll just be telling you about how the Prickly Pear is coming along. I have the color on and it’s looking very rich and dramatic. Tomorrow I’ll finish the deep shadows and post a pic for a look at the process. There is always a time during the creation of each piece that it looks wretched and I wonder if it’s all going to come together. I passed that point today, and boy, does it feel good! This is a majorly sculptural piece - a direction in which I hope to travel. See ya’!

http://www.celebrateart.com

Early Work

Early work
February 10th, 2008
by Whitney
A great time of the day for me is early on these sunny AZ mornings. The light is wonderful for working outside, which is where I need to be to continue carving on the Prickly Pear. I’m excited about how it’s coming along. Come to the Celebration and check out the process before it’s finished…it’s a beautiful day to go to an art show!

http://www.celebrateart.com

February 10th, 2008

It’s only two weeks of figuring out how to put pics on the blog…if you see Kay…tell her it’s a tough road! Anyway, I’m working hard on this gourd…Prickly Pears. Almost done with the carving…hope to have it finished in a week. The surface is built up with Apoxie Sculpt, then carved back into, with further relief carving into the gourd itself. The epoxy dust is very fine, necessitating serious mask wear. Does anyone make one of these masks to fit a woman’s face? I feel like there are gaps all around mine…I can tell by the sinus headaches I get. Maybe the dust in my head is what causes me to take two weeks to figure out loading the pic!