Folk Art Mary

Crows with Seated Guys - Greys and Yellows

I like these brown/grays and yellows. All the crows (except one) are pointing their beaks towards the big mommy or daddy  crow in the middle.

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Crows with Seated Guys

Crows with Seated Guys - here unpainted - is one of the latest of my carved and painted crow pictures.

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Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza - DONE!

A number of paint layers later, Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza is DONE! As you can see, I continued to work on the piece since the last version shown. I  improved the blues, made them softer, like you could just dive in. The front lighter blue wind swirls hug the big boat as well as the small ones. I used copper to make the sun.

Many other times I've tried to capture the joy of sailing, and Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza pretty much does it for me.

Below is a picture of me hard at work on Cayuga Lake, doing hands on research for my next sailing picture...

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Swirls Extravaganza - Reds in Boats

Time to work on the sail boats and sailors. I start with some reds, to make them stand out.

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Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza - Muddier

Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza looks a bit muddier here, but it's on its way to looking good. I'm leaving the sailboat in the center (and the other small sailboats) until last. When the waves and wind swirls around them look good, then I'm ready to paint those boats.

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Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza - Water and Sky

I'm getting my bearings on how Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza wants to be painted. To simplify things, I've painted the water separate from the sky. The big boat in the center, is still to be tackled.

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Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza, First Coat of Paint

Sailing with Swirls Extravaganza is a piece of art that I recently completed. I carved it last summer and finished painting it this winter. Here is a picture of it with its first coat of paint. This one goes heavy on trying to show the wind and wave action I love so much as a sailor.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands- Done!

Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands is done! Birthed at last. Success.

I can stop with this final version of the art work. Thanks for bearing with me as I went step by step through the gestation of Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands. I thought of not posting on this piece since I struggled so much with making it, but then I thought perhaps people might be interested in seeing the difficulties I had and the solutions I came up with. Perhaps I'm too much of a perfectionist, but I just can't stop working until my gut and my emotions say that a particular picture is finished.

I feel most comfortable describing myself as a self taught folk artist, and I certainly learned a lot through the making of this piece.

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Canoing in the Adirondacks - Carving Rock Through the Frame

 In my earlier painted trial to see if it worked to pierce a rock through the frame, I liked how it looked (see below)...

So the next step is to carve the rock and take away the frame, a step that cannot be undone.

 

Looking good... Changing the frame color also helps this one to sing.

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Camping in the Adirondacks - Starting to Cook

Ok, the blue in the frame and the shapes of the rocks at the bottom are working, so I've committed further to the idea by painting still more layers of paint. I decided I needed an extension into the inner frame of the island at the top left. I've made other painting changes, but too many to describe. This piece is starting to cook.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - More Painting in the Frame

I've committed to the idea of adding weight to the bottom and bottom left and right parts of the picture. I decided I need to continue the blue water line into the inner left and right frames. So far I have done no extra carving as I am still trying to feel out whether this new idea works.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands- More Rocks

After trying to visualize it, here is the solution I came up with - adding more rocks to the bottom of the picture. I don't want to commit to more carving before I try it out in paint first. Painting can be painted over. But once I carve wood away I can't put it back.

So first I paint a few rock outlines on the bottom part of the frame...

 

I think the above looks good so I paint some more, including running the water into the left and right parts of the inner frame...

 

Here's what the picture looks like from a distance once I've made these changes.

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Canoing in the Adirondacks - Gold Leaf Doesn't Help

I thought maybe putting on the gold leaf would make the Canoeing in the Adirondacks art work sing for me. But I'm still bothered by the empty space at the bottom, and now I'm even beginning to be bothered by the empty space to the left of the canoe.

 Usually a piece comes together at the end for me, but not so this time. What am I going to do? I've got to think about this for a few days.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - Discouraged

I've painted more but this just isn't working. I'm still bothered by the bottom of the piece -  too much empty space there, it distracts me from looking at the canoe which is where I want to look first.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - Dark Outlines

In this next version, as I look at it, something is starting to not work for me. I've made a number of small color changes including dark outlines around all the major shapes, but I'm starting to get bothered by the large expanse of water that lies between the boat and the bottom of the inner frame. My plan is to keep working with paint to make this piece sing.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - Rusts and Yellows

Adding the rusts and yellow plus some dark grays really helps the Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands piece to take on life. This is starting to become a night time scene. When I first started to paint it I wasn't sure if it would be a day or night time scene.

 

 

 

Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - Blues and Tans

Adding the blues and tans helps me to start seeing the shapes.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - First Coat of Paint

Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands sits on my workbench with its first coat of ochre paint.

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - Carving Complete

Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands - now it's completely carved...

Two close up pictures of the carved details....

 

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Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands

The Canoeing in the Adirondacks with Islands sketch was horizontal. It showed geese migrating one way (the direction of their migration changed in later sketches) and two canoes. However, by the time I began to carve this piece it had become a vertical format with the geese heading in the opposite direction and only one canoe. Don't ask me how those decisions were made, they just seemed right at the time. I carved this art piece in June 2011, but it wasn't until this winter (2012) that I began to paint it.

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Canoeing and Camping theme Continues - New Sketch

Canoing in the Adirondacks with Islands is a sketch I drew about a year ago, again it is inspired by my people in nature theme.

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Sheep Icon #16, Unpainted

Sheep Icon #16 is a painted carving that I made towards the end of the 2011 Ithaca Farmers' Market season. Here she is, unpainted.

Here she is unpainted but with a base.

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Spare Set of Hands - Done!

Spare Set of Hands, my joking self portrait, is done. The finishing touch was putting brass tacks on the "spare" hands, as though each one is hanging on its own nail on the shelf in the back of the room. Notice there is one nail without its hand. Does this mean that I have already used up one of my left spares? If so this means that I have to be careful, I only have two left...

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Spare Set of Hands - Further Along

Spare Set of Hands is looking good with its warm earth colors. A little bit too much dark outlining perhaps, but I'll eventually tone that down. I'm still narrowing down on the shapes of this piece. Before I did this blog I never took pictures of my work in progress. Doing so has helped me so much to become a better self-taught artist.

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Spare Set of Hands - Early Painting Stages

Spare Set of Hands now has some paint. This first stage of painting leans strongly towards yellow and tans.

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Spare Set of Hands - Carving Complete

Sometimes life is too busy, and I need a spare set of hands. Summer is when I do a lot of carving at the Farmers' Market. Winter is when I finish off painting and carving work still left undone from last summer and take on commissions.

Last August I showed a sketch of  "Spare Set of Hands" at my blog, saying it would be a while before I had it carved and painted. Now I have completed the piece. Here is a picture of it carved, waiting to be painted.

This piece is what I would call one of my visual jokes. Maybe it's just a little bit disturbing. Last year for the first time I began to have arthritis pain in my thumb joints. I need some protection, where are those guard dogs when I need them? Wouldn't it be nice to just be able to get a spare set of hands? ...

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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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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, Tree Huggers

It's worth some (a little bit out of focus) close ups of these wood spirits. Tree huggers, I guess I'm just one of them.

 

 

 

As an aside, anyone out there have a close up lens for a Pentax that they're ready to let go of? Help, I need a better lens.

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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, Face Details

Besides painting the face details, I've added many more thin coats of paint to make this art work glow.

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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, Starting to Work

This version is a little better. I'm always disturbed until I paint the eye and face details, but that's still to come.

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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, Spirits Stand Out

Adding the flesh tones makes the spirits stand out from the leaves.

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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, First Coat of Paint

Putting the same color paint on the entire carved artwork makes the carving detail appear flat.

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Wood Spirits in Nature #5, Continuing with the People in Nature Theme

After my post on Guard Dog and Guy in Nature #25 and the post on Kevin Paulsen, I felt it would fit into the flow to write about my just completed folk art painted woodcarving Wood Spirits in Nature #5.

As people, we exist in nature but it's easy to forget how dependent we are on nature. These wood spirits are fitting in amongst the leaves, almost an organic part of the natural scene. I call them wood spirits or wood nymphs. Our spirits exist in nature, and when nature is well we are well. My wood spirits are neither female nor male, but are representative of the distilled essence of people. They are part spirit, nymph, elf or fairy.  They nestle among the leaves, and like the trees or rocks surrounding them they are mute but patient, feeling, aware and connected.

Here is the Wood Spirits picture carved, sitting on my work bench.

 

A close up from the side...

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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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Cow Icon #4, Whites and Tans

I"ve added whites and tans to the small Cow Icon #4 piece. The base is still unpainted.

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Cow Icon #4, Still Waiting

After taking a break from carving and painting cows for a few years, I've gotten back to them. My cows are always waiting, so that's why I've added "Still Waiting" to the title. The picture below shows the carving with its first coat of paint. This is a small icon piece, 7.75" tall by 11.5 wide.

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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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