Folk Art Mary

Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, DONE!

Woman sleeping, dogs, trees, stars, and moon. This painted woodcarving is DONE! I've got my answer, these are dogs and not wolves, although they have a bit of the wild in them - all the better to protect!

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Glowing

I've painted the border preparatory to putting on gold leaf. After many layers of paint this piece has a soft glow that tells me from my gut that it is almost done.

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Carved Border

After painting the Woman Asleep carving a bit more, I realise I forgot to carve the area where I will be putting gold leaf. So here you see the piece almost done, except that I have carved a small border into the frame. Do you find it as disturbing as I do, that the dogs still have no eyes or teeth?

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Red Dress

I keep working and working it until Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs looks better. The red in the dress and the white of the dogs really makes the lower part of the picture the first thing that you see.

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Love that Sky!

 Toning down the whites, adding more yellows. Love that sky!

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Getting too Dark

 

I've added more whites, but the rest of the artwork is getting too dark too fast.

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, First Paint Layer

Here is Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs #26, showing the picture after the first few layers of orange, yellow and green acrylic paint.

 

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Carved

Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs #26 is now completely carved. This piece is reminding me of other dog pictures that I have carved and painted. In some of them my guard dogs look more wolf like and possibly threatening. In others the dogs look cuddly. I really don't feel like I'm in charge, what comes out of the wood is something beyond my command. These dog pictures come out of my gut, from emotions that are hard to put into words.

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Woman Asleep with Guard Dogs # 26, Sketch

Here is a sketch for another carving with a "people in nature" theme. The woman is asleep, trusting, dreaming, floating in her own world. The dogs are guarding fiercely- or here's another idea, might these be wolves about to attack? They either have teethy grins or teethy snarls depending on whether they are dog or wolf. What do you think of these doggies, are they friend or foe?

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Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 - DONE!

Many layers of paint after the last version I showed you, Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 is DONE! This piece is a part of my people in nature series - people in relation to the natural world, the struggle between nature and people, the choice of conflict or coexisting with our natural environment.

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Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 - Dark Outlines

Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 is a little further along. The dark outlines help the picture, but still it's mushy. At least now you can see the smaller details - the ax, the firewood and the tent.

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Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 - Mushy Colors

I'm early in the painting of Guard Dog Guy in Nature #25, and the colors are still mushy. I like to keep moving fast through this (not looking good) stage of the piece to not get bogged down by doubts about how it will turn out.

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Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25

This is a compact carving, only 9.5 inches wide, made entirely out of one board, frame included. It's in the guard dog series. I call it Guard Dog and Guy in Nature, #25. The late afternoon light outside my studio really sets off the carved wooden details in this one!

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Feed Us Now Dogs - DONE!

The Feed Us Now Dogs piece is DONE and gold leafed. It really worked best for me to paint the three dogs in the center so that they were mostly white.  That way you look at them right away and you aren't distracted by the dogs in the outer frame. But enough talk, time to feed those dogs now - or else I'll be in trouble!

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Teeth a Gleaming

These dogs have teethy grins, like many of my guard dogs. Their coats have gone through a color change - one slightly orange, one slightly blue, one slightly yellow. This works better for me. You can still see that the dog on the right cuts through the frame, but it's not the first thing that catches your eye. You've got to leave some room for mystery.

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Different Colors in Dogs

This version is a little bit better. The dog to the right is still the same color as the inner frame, a kind of visual joke that I'm doing all I can to leave. The white dog to the left grabs your eye and leads you into the piece. The center dog and the dog on the right - they're out of balance with the dog on the left.

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Adding Dark Outlining

I've added dark outlining and color on the frame. But something still is not working. The colors are too pasty, and nothing grabs your eye as the first place to look.

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Coming to Life

Moving right along, this piece has got some real life. I'm still playing with the dogs being the same yellow color as the inner frame. I had very few directions from the person ordering this piece, other than that 1) the dogs should be different colors and 2) some of the dogs should have pointy ears, others floppy ears. As you see the floppy eared dogs are in the majority.

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Adding the floor

Ah, this feels better adding color to the floor. Now the dogs are anchored...

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Feed Us Now Dogs - First Paint Layer

The dog piece sits on my easle after the first coat of tan paint. Behind it you can see the distracting jumble of my workbench. From here on out I'll crop pictures of this work in progress in order to eliminate background details.

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Mostly Carved

Here's the Feed Us Now Dogs commissioned piece mostly carved. This wood carving was made in the winter of 2011. Like almost all of the pictures I show in this blog, by the time I write about it the piece is long ago finished. As you can imagine, it takes quite a bit of work to keep my pictures organized!

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Feed Us Now Dogs - Drawn onto the Wood

Here is the sketch of Feed Us Now Dogs drawn onto the wood, ready to start carving. This is a simple and bold picture, pleasing to my eye. I like how the four dogs, one at each corner, bracket the main scene, the three hungry dogs in the center of the piece.

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - DONE!

   Another fast forward to Guard Dogs Sleeping Figure # 23, this time to the finished piece. There were hours of painting in between each of the pictures shown of this artwork in progress. Now I still look first at the floppy eared dog, but I don't stay there, instead my eye quickly roams to take in the rest of the picture. Finishing the frames (outer dark frame and inner gold leaf frame) also helps me to know this piece is done, as I don't paint or gold leaf the frames or sign/date the piece until it is nearly complete. When I look at my art and it  has movement along with tranquility, then I know it is DONE!

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - More Paint Layers

Here is the guard dog carving, fast forwarded, a bit more painted and rapidly coming into shape. That big floppy eared dog is really something, I find myself looking right at it first thing.

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - First Coat of Paint

Guard Dog #23 certainly takes on life with its first coat of warm brown to purple acrylic paint.

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - Mostly Carved

Guard Dogs Sleeping Figure #23 is almost completely carved. You can tell the areas that still need more carving by where the dark lines of the drawing are still left on the wood.

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - Partly Carved

Guard Dogs #23 is half way carved. I'm liking all the shapes in this carving even though it's still early in the process. This photo was taken on top of my busy work bench at the Ithaca Farmers Market.

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Guard Dogs, Sleeping Figure #23 - Sketch

Here is a sketch for a new painted woodcarving, Guard Dogs Sleeping Figure #23.  I've got this one done and will have it at the 2011 Traditional Artisan Show next weekend.

 

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Guard Dogs # 22, DONE!

Once more - here are my constant dogs, constantly guarding, constantly protecting. The frame and gold leaf are now complete, colors brightened, darks darkened - DONE! This piece is number 22 in my guard dogs series. I began the series in 2007 and it's been going strong since then!

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Guard Dogs # 22, Making the Color Richer

Still some reds but now I've added more yellows and browns and blues. Watch out, guard doggies are comiing to life!

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Guard Dogs #22, Early in Painting

Early in the painting, these guard dogs are beginning to take on life.

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New! Guard Dogs with Campfire, # 22

I sold all my dogs so I need some more guard dog protection. Here's a sketch of Guard Dogs with Campfire, # 22.

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Dogs and Sleeping Woman #20 with Sleeping Man #19

Here are the two sleeping figures with guard dogs side by side. I'm happy with how they turned out.

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Dogs and Sleeping Woman #20, DONE!

Here she is DONE! I can tell from my feeling of calmness when I look at this finished piece that the painting stage is complete!

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Dogs and Sleeping Woman #20

Below on the right is a new folk art guard dog wood carving. It's meant to be a companion to  Dogs and Sleeping Man #19 that I completed in April 2010.

Here's the new artwork with a first coat of acrylic paint. This is going to look nice when I have it done!
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Sheep Icon #13 with Guard Dog - DONE!

Here's what I thought might be the final version of Sheep Icon #13 with Guard Dog...

The sheep look great. One has eyes open. All the others have eyes closed as though in a dream. But as I looked at it, it seemed the dog was not much of a guard dog with such a big goofy smile, so I added some pearly whites to call it DONE! I hope you, my reader, like this second version better.

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Dogs and Sleeping Man #19, DONE!

On this particular piece I didn't take pictures in stages as I painted, so below you can see the Dogs and Sleeping Man #19 painted woodcarving complete. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I love how the sleeping person is tucked in there so safe and relaxed, with the guard dogs performing protective duty all about.

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Dogs and Sleeping Figure, #19 - first coat of paint

Here's the Dogs and Sleeping Figure #19 piece with its first coat of paint. This one is going to be good!

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Dogs and Sleeping Figure, #19 - all carved

Here is a picture of the piece all carved, minus its top and bottom frames. It's a little bit hard to see, but you get the idea...

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Dogs and Sleeping Figure, #19

Here's the start of a new one, I call it Dogs and Sleeping Figure #19.  It's the 19th in my dog series. Below is the sketch:

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Brief Video, Carving the Guard Dogs

One last blog on the Guard Dog piece. Check out this link to a YouTube video featuring the Guard Dog #17 (seventeenth in the Dog series) piece on my workbench. You can also see this dog art piece at my website "Dreams" portfolio page.

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Guard Dog Carving 9, DONE!

Colors and shading were enriched and changed a bit more. Gold leaf border put on around the frame. Copper sheet cut out and tacked onto the moon. Date corrected. It's DONE!

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Guard Dog Carving 8

It's almost done. The background colors are so much richer, the dogs' eyes and teeth complete. There's one major mistake, I don't know whether you've noticed it. No, don't get confused, it isn't 2012, I don't know what got into me... I didn't notice the mistake until after I'd taken the photograph. It'll be corrected by my next blog's posting.

 

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Guard Dog Carving 7

Here I've added some blues in the sky-arches behind the dogs, more white on the dogs, and more dark brown outlining to make the dogs stand out and to make the carving look more dimensional.

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Guard Dog Carving 5

Continuing to paint, the dogs now stand out from the background. The dogs are pasty, the artwork is not yet "lively". I keep going until it is finished. Still lots more to do.

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Guard Dog Carving 4, Starting to Paint

Here's a picture of the piece on my easel with the first coat of paint. This picture is not color accurate, actually the base color was olive gray rather than a brown. The first coat of paint has to be scrubbed into the open pores of the wood. I use only my oldest paint brushes. I try to make sure there are no "gobs" of paint left sitting on the surface. Instead I want you to be able to see the underlying texture of the wood.

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Guard Dog Carving 3, Signature Stamp

In my last blog I pointed out the letters "MMS" stamped onto the piece in the lower right. These were done with a stamp that my father made for me by hand filing my initials into a plug of metal. One of the last things I do before I paint a piece is I hold this homemade stamp against the wood at the lower right of the piece and, with a few taps of my hammer, create a slight indent of my three initials "MMS" into the wood of the carving. Later, when I paint the piece, that's where I'll do my signature. Below is a picture of the name stamp held in my hand.

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Guard Dog Carving, 2

Here's the piece from a different angle. This photo does an even better job of showing the carved wooden detail. Notice that now the carving has a (stand up) base put on. You can see the letters "MMS" stamped onto the piece in the lower right.

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New Guard Dog Carving, Start to Finish

Back to my own work, this one I call Three Guard Dogs, #17, meaning it's the seventeenth piece in my guard dog series. This is a picture of the piece sitting on my work bench, completely carved but minus its base. To the left of the piece you can see my carver's mallet, well used and showing signs of wear from 30 plus years of tap tapping away to make my art.

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Art Layaway Purchase Shipped to Buyer

Back to writing about how I make my work and my life as an artist...

When you make art that takes hours and hours to complete, the amount you charge has to take that into account. I want anyone who wants my work to be able to buy it. So sometimes buyers of my work purchase over time, on layaway. They send me payments and I send them receipts - until the purchase is complete, at which point I ship the piece off.

Congradulations JJ - you've made fourteen payments, it's taken one and a half years, and now you are the owner of two carved and painted guard dog pieces of art. They're on their way to you at this very moment via UPS. Think of them packed face to face, cardboard and bubblewraped up the wazoo, suspended in time, making their way from Ithaca, NY to Lawrenceville, NJ., bouncing along highways and the backroads of America.  They'll be there monday, and they can't wait to hop out of their space capsule and onto your wall.

They are a part of my guard dog series that I've written about at my website and mentioned once at the very first entry of this folk art blog.  Farewell my guard dogs. Take good care of your new person.

Guard Dogs #8, Copper Bird.

Guard Dogs #9, Snoozing Figure, Wall of Trees.