Folk Art Mary

Raven Steals the Light - Commission Completed in 2017

I don't usually show pictures of my commissioned pieces online because I want the person who has ordered the piece to have the special experience of being the first one to see it. And then, after the person gets the piece and is happy with it, I am on to new projects.

 

Fall of 2016 I got an email where a wife directed me as follows:

"I would like to commission a piece from you for [my husband's] upcoming birthday. Don’t panic — I know you would not be able to finish the piece by then, but I am hoping we could at least have a sketch by then. I could then present him with the sketch (or a copy) so he would know it is coming. This is a surprise for him, but it is something I know he really wants: We have been talking about having you do this for a while. So I am now taking the opportunity to act on it. It is a ‘big’ birthday for him.

  I would like the piece (to be entitled Raven Steals the Light) to reflect imagery from the Northwest American and Canadian Indian folklore of how Raven stole the light and then gave it to the earth... I was thinking the piece would contain a large raven holding the sun in his beak, but with the moon and stars dispersed across the sky - lots of stars. Either copper or the metal ‘studs’ you have been using. Or a combination. Whatever feels right to you. In my mind, I see the Raven in flight, but if you come up with a different idea, go for it. My only other request is that you incorporate our two dogs into the piece - looking up at the Raven? They do not have to be big, just in the imagery. One is a yellow lab - named Hawk- and the other is a black lab - named…you may have guessed this…Raven. Thus, the piece is in part an homage to [my husband's] ‘favorite black dog’. We were both also taken with the tale and imagery when we first heard the story, many years back."

 

I do not take on every commission but this one interested me in that it was about people and animals in nature. The subject matter fit right in with a number of pieces I was already doing or thinking of doing in that vein. Raven is special to me too - since I have made a number of trips to Utah and have been serenaded by ravens for hours throughout my walks there. I most like commissions when they are not an interruption of my natural flow as an artist. Commissions are best when they push me to learn something new about subject matter that is already of interest to me.  And so I took this project on. It became a very major piece, quite large. So large in fact that I had difficulty photographing it in my small studio set up. Instead I had to set up a special area of my house to take these photos. 

 

This is the initial sketch, there were several that followed but this provided the germ of the idea that I proposed.

 

Followed by the final finished piece:

 

 As it turned out, when I delivered the artwork I realized I had made a mistake. One of the dogs was supposed to be a golden lab and the other a black lab. I took the piece back and repainted this small but important detail. Unfortunately the above and below photos do not reflect this change.

 

 

 

other detail shots

 detail shot right to left

 detail show left to right

 

 

Croatia Commission: DONE!

The Croatia carved and painted commission ended up turning out well. It was a challenge particularly as it was done entirely from photographs. I grow from these challenges. So many thanks to Scott and Tricia for giving me the opportunity!

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Croatia Commission- Pictures of Work in Progress

 Below, my first ventures into colors (blues, greens, yellows) with the Croatia Commission piece. 

 

Making the blues and greens richer, adding shading...

 

The picture needs some reds and warmer colors now...

 

Adding dark outlines, shading and more warmth...

 

Close up carved detail of the red roofed houses...

follow me on Instagram:  #folkartmary
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folk art self taught Mary

Croatia Commission - Memories of a Walking Vacation Trip

Last year I was approached by longtime patrons to make a commissioned painted woodcarving that would memorialize their hiking trip to Croatia.  Obviously the piece had to include the place - the red roofs, the ancient town, and its location by the sea. ... But it also had to include the hikers as they made their way down its well trod paths. I made this piece entirely from photographs (see below), definitely a challenge from which I could grow.

 

 

 

Below is the sketch we ended up going with...

 

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folk art mary

Order a Commission for 2016

It's Time to Think about Ordering a Commission for 2016

My 2015 Farmers' Market season has ended and my art activities are now moved indoors into my humble winter studio. December through March you will find me warmly dressed working to complete my winter commissions and preparing new work for the upcoming Ithaca Farmers' Market Season.

If you would like to discuss a special order commissioned piece of carved and painted work, to be completed in the late Spring of 2016, now is the time for you to speak up.

Below is a lovely piece that was special ordered in summer 2013 and which was completed by the end of winter 2014, It features a well loved multigenerational family property and dock on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. The Rapahannock empties into the Chesapeak bay. The dock, degraded by various floods, was lovingly built over many seasons by the grandfather of the woman who commissioned the piece. As such the dock and its ruins was a sentimental object which called out to be the centerpiece of the commissioned work.

folk art self taught mary

 

My 2015 Farmers' Market season has ended and my art activities are now moved indoors into my humble winter studio. December through March you will find me warmly dressed working to complete my winter commissions and preparing new work for the upcoming Ithaca Farmers' Market Season.

If you would like to discuss a special order commissioned piece of carved and painted work, to be completed in the late Spring of 2016, now is the time for you to speak up.

Below is a lovely piece that was special ordered in summer 2013 and which was completed by the end of winter 2014, It features a well loved multigenerational family property and dock on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. The Rapahannock empties into the Chesapeak bay. The dock, degraded by various floods, was lovingly built over many seasons by the grandfather of the woman who commissioned the piece. As such the dock and its ruins was a sentimental object which called out to be the centerpiece of the commissioned work.

folk art self taught mary

 

My 2015 Farmers' Market season has ended and my art activities are now moved indoors into my humble winter studio. December through March you will find me warmly dressed working to complete my winter commissions and preparing new work for the upcoming Ithaca Farmers' Market Season.

If you would like to discuss a special order commissioned piece of carved and painted work, to be completed in the late Spring of 2016, now is the time for you to speak up.

Below is a lovely piece that was special ordered in summer 2013 and which was completed by the end of winter 2014, It features a well loved multigenerational family property and dock on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. The Rapahannock empties into the Chesapeak bay. The dock, degraded by various floods, was lovingly built over many seasons by the grandfather of the woman who commissioned the piece. As such the dock and its ruins was a sentimental object which called out to be the centerpiece of the commissioned work.

folk art self taught mary

 

It's Time to Think about Ordering a Commission for 2016

My 2015 Farmers' Market season has ended and my art activities are now moved indoors into my humble winter studio. December through March you will find me warmly dressed working to complete my winter commissions and preparing new work for the upcoming Ithaca Farmers' Market Season.

If you would like to discuss a special order commissioned piece of carved and painted work, to be completed in the late Spring of 2016, now is the time for you to speak up.

Below is a lovely piece that was special ordered in summer 2013 and which was completed by the end of winter 2014, It features a well loved multigenerational family property and dock on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. The Rapahannock empties into the Chesapeak bay. The dock, degraded by various floods, was lovingly built over many seasons by the grandfather of the woman who commissioned the piece. As such the dock and its ruins was a sentimental object which called out to be the centerpiece of the commissioned work.

folk art self taught mary

 

My 2015 Farmers' Market season has ended and my art activities are now moved indoors into my humble winter studio. December through March you will find me warmly dressed working to complete my winter commissions and preparing new work for the upcoming Ithaca Farmers' Market Season.

If you would like to discuss a special order commissioned piece of carved and painted work, to be completed in the late Spring of 2016, now is the time for you to speak up.

Below is a lovely piece that was special ordered in summer 2013 and which was completed by the end of winter 2014, It features a well loved multigenerational family property and dock on the Rappahannock River, Virginia. The Rapahannock empties into the Chesapeak bay. The dock, degraded by various floods, was lovingly built over many seasons by the grandfather of the woman who commissioned the piece. As such the dock and its ruins was a sentimental object which called out to be the centerpiece of the commissioned work.

folk art self taught mary

 

Find me at the Ithaca Farmers' Market, Starting April 18

Tomorrow will be my first Saturday Market of the 2015 season. Find me at my usual booth #3 this upcoming Saturday at the Ithaca Farmers' Market.

I have finished my winter commissions and now am on to making more art!

Below see commissions ordered by a loyal patrons and completed over this winter's long cold months.

Scott and Tricia memorialized their hiking trip to Croatia...

 

Croatia Commission in its new home!

 

As well as other other special order pieces made this winter, see below!

Thank you Stuart

Thank you Lisa!

Thank you Karen!

folk art self taught mary

Commission for Bookcover, Sidewalk Psychotherapist

Late fall 2013 I was commissioned to make a carved and painted picture that was expressly designed to be used as  bookcover art for David Schwartz' book The Sidewalk Psychotherapist. Below find the first rough sketch and germ of an idea.

 

In the end we aimed for an image that captured a feeling of being outside doing therapy at a sidewalk cafe setting. The clock, which is ever present in a therapy session, was moved from being on a wall to being a small tower clock in a row of buildings.

 

 

The carving stages....

 

 

Below, the finished carving prior to taking a photograph that was used expressly for producing the bookcover image.

 

Next, the finished artwork with the title and author text photoshopped onto the photograph of the piece.

 

Two copies of the book lined up side by side.

 

Finally the piece was recarved a little bit so that it would stand on its own as a piece of art. The sky was textured and an inner carved frame was made.

 

 

A top and bottom frame, some gold leaf, repainting and DONE! Ready to hang on the wall.

folk art self taught mary

Rapahannock River Commission: DONE!

I continue to work with the colors of the Rapahannock River Commission, the below version is still too yellow!

 

 

Ah, here we go, starting to work for me!

 

Below, the finished piece! Notice I added an extra round shape at the top of the inner frame that directs your eye around from left to right.

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Rapahannock River Commission: Struggle with Colors

As I wrote in my last blog posting, one goal is to get the two large shapes, the sky and the ground, in balance.

But the colors are still not right. I begin a long struggle of searching out colors that I think will work best. The only way I know this is to paint color changes and see if they look. If they don't it can be very discouraging and I can begin to doubt whether a piece will ever "work".

Below I have made the ground and trees a richer yellow/green.

 

I decide the above version is too yellow/green, so I repaint some of the yellow areas in the frame with a light gray. I tone down the yellow areas in the ground.

 

The above is too green so I repaint going back to more yellows, tans and browns.

The work described above of painting and repainting can go on for several weeks. Each day I come into my studio with fresh eyes. I look at it from a distance try to quickly decide what is working and what is not. Some carvings are more of a struggle than others. But I don't stop until I feel the work is perfect to the best of my abilities.

I know how to carve, but I'm always having to learn through trial an error how to become a better painter.

folk art self taught mary

Rapahannock River Commission: Early Painting Stages

In the early stages of painting this carving, my first aim is to paint a warm first coat that unifies all the shapes.

That done, next I start to define the two large shapes, the first being the sky with its wild wind swirls and second being the earth with its more solid anchoring bands.

Even in this early stage of painting I can see that the struggle for me in this painting will be how to balance these two shapes without weighing down the sky, which left to its own devices wants to fly off.

folk art self taught mary

Traditional Artisan Show this weekend. Rappahannock River Commission Continues

Find me at the Bedminster Traditional Artisan Show this weekend. It'll be good. For those of you who have come to this show in the past, please note it is in a new location!

In continuation of me talking about the making of the Rappahannock River Commission, below are two photos of the work in its carving stages. The swirls in the sky and the ribbons in the ground create much exciting movement and I know this will be a good one! After I finish carving, I can't wait to get to painting. 

 

 

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Benjamin Turns Two, DONE!

Now you know which one of the two sketches shown in the previous blog was chosen by Benjamin's father. The piece is called Benjamin Turns Two.

Winter is the time when I do commissioned work. Speak up soon if you want to run an idea by me.

folk art mary

 

Benjamin Turns Two, Sketches for Commissioned Work

This summer I was approached by someone who wanted me to make a commissioned picture for his son Benjamin, who was turning two in September, 2013. I was given photographs from which to work, most of them of happy family times at the beach! I made a couple of sketches of the family at the beach, only one was chosen - can you guess which one?

sketch #1 above

 

sketch #2 above

Which one would you choose?

 

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Cows and Barn, Top of the Lake - Focus

Adding darks to Cows and Barn, Top of the Lake have brought the picture more into focus.

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Belize Commission Done!

I am so happy with how the Belize Commission turned out. In this final version you can see a howler monkey tucked into a tree and a partial view of a small person (Scott) walking down the path to the right of the hut. The gold leaf and the brass of the hinge snap the picture up. The bubbles are delicious, and the fish make me laugh. Yellow lemons pull my eye to the center part of the piece. The Belize Commission is done!

 

Anyone have any comments? The comments button is located near the end of the second line of small print at the bottom of this blog posting.

folk art mary

Belize Commission - Bubbles, Whites

It's time to do more work on the details of the side panels, the faces, the bubbles, the fish. In this close to done version I've added more whites, not just to the side panels but also to the center section.

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Belize Commission - Painting the Frame

I have brightened the yellows in all three panels quite a bit in this latest version. Adding a frame color to all three sections further unites the piece.

This main concern I had from the very beginning of taking on this commission was how to have the center panel (with the jungle scene) make visual sense with the side panels (snorkeling scenes). The jungle and snorkeling are two very different themes. But the picture is working for me. The way I know is I look at it and I feel calm.

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Belize Commission - Side Panels

Adding greens and yellows to the side panels of the Belize Commission unite them with the center panel. The swimmers begin to stand out.

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Belize Commission, More Work on Center Panel

This is so much better - adding the tree trunks, darks in the greens and working more on the monkey and the tree.

Every time I begin to paint I'm excited. But I also worry I won't pick the right colors. Then somewhere toward the middle or the end of the process there comes a tipping point where I relax because I know the colors I've chosen will work. I think I've reached this point in the Belize commission.

Each day that I paint, I try to stop at a point where I know what I want to do next to improve the picture. This allows me to come back the next day with a sense of excitement rather than of nervousness. Nervousness, excitement - they're in the same family. But I find an excitement to work more fun.

It seems so silly to get nervous about the painting stage when in the end I always make it work out, but that's what happens for me every time.

Do any artists out there know what I am talking about?

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Belize Commission: Adding Hut, Monkey and Tree

I've started to work more on the center panel, adding tans and dark browns. The monkey still needs work.

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Belize Commission, Tropical Colors

Tropical blue and green colors for a tropical theme. This Belize commission is very different than what I usually do. The side panels are still not hinged. I plan to use a piano hinge that will run the full height of the side panels, and for now I don't want to be bothered by having to keep it paint free.

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Belize Commission, Carved

The light pouring in my studio door called for a picture of the Belize commission. Here the picture is carved but with the two side panels still unhinged to the center main section.

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Belize Commission

Scott and Tricia have been longterm supporters of my work. As do many of the people who buy, they originally came to me through the Ithaca Farmers Market, perhaps 15 years ago. Having once seen my work "in person" we were able to conduct further business via email updates and the internet. We also kept in touch because I am a Bucks County, Pennsylvania native.  I would have a booth at Pennsylvania art and craft shows and Scott/Tricia would visit me there.

Besides early on having bought work outright (always so nice for an artist), several years ago Scott and Tricia began to commissioned me to do painted woodcarvings inspired by their vacation trips. Last year they asked if they could special order a picture of a trip they took to Belize.

The difficult thing for me about this commission was Scott and Tricia wanted to show the whole of their Belize experience. They wanted some water scenes, but they also wanted to show the jungle setting, monkeys and cabin where they stayed. In the beginning I was doubtful, and told them so. I've learned that this does not work so well, trying to put too much into any one piece.

This is a particular problem with commissions, how to winnow the idea down to something that will work for me and my customer.  I wasn't sure that both themes would work in one piece of artwork. So at first we talked of me making two smaller carvings, one with a snorkling theme, another with the jungle theme.

Then I remembered that I used to make hinged triptych carved and painted pictures years ago. This was because my friend Arnold made them, egg tempera triptychs, and at the time (1974ish) I'd thought what a great idea, you can have the carving open on the wall, or you can close up the two wings and carry it quite conveniently.

The triptych idea solved the problem of two themes being one too many. I would make the jungle scenes in the center large panel. And I would put the swimmers on hinged boards on either side of the main panel.

There was still one remaining problem: how to do a picture of someone swimming, coral reefs, etc.  Having spent some time snorkling as a child I really liked the idea of doing a picture with this theme, but it also scared me. I'd never made a picture people underwater before, and I wasn't sure I could do it well. Again I mined my experiences from the past. I remembered a painted signI once made for a boat. The boat's name was "Bubbles". I'd painted bubbles to go on that boat sign. I thought, those bubbles worked for that sign, so why not for the Belize commission.

Having worked out the problems in my head, now I was ready to do a sketch.

The first rough sketch

 

The finished sketch

 

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Miss Liberty Series

I have made four carved and painted small liberty low relief statues this year. Each one of them features Miss Liberty, inspired by the statue of liberty. Although this art will hang on the wall, each one of them also has a wide base so that they will equally as well sit on a horizontal surface. This is why I call them my tabletop pieces.

Here in order are Miss Liberties number one, two and three, all three sold and gone from my studio. As usual when I work on a series, it is not planned. I don't know in the beginning that I will be making a series. I just do one piece of art that I like and its energy pulls me into doing another piece of art that I like on the same theme. And so on until the ideas stop coming or stop losing their energy. For ease's sake, I simply number each piece in the series rather than giving each one of them an individual name.

Miss Liberty One

 

Miss Liberty Two

 

Miss Liberty Three

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Cow and Milk Icon Number 5 - Painting Stages

Cow and Milk Icon #5 gets its first milky layer of paint...

Starts to develop some three-D space and color...

We're getting close to done, two sleepy dreamy cows and one wide awake one...

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Guard Dogs Number 27

Today I have the entire day to be in my studio, a luxury I haven't had for a while. My plan is to do a lot of painting of half done artwork. I'm going to have to be careful to not allow interruptions or diversions from this plan.

I''m getting ready for two shows I will be doing in December, hoping people might want to buy my artwork as gifts, if not for others then at least for themselves. Sitting in a stack in my workspace lots of  carved artwork waits to be painted. 

Guard Dogs Number 27 is one of my icon pieces, designed to either stand on a shelf or hang on the wall. Below it is pictured at the very beginning of its life.

 

The sketch:

 

The finished wood carving:

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My Own Lake Adventures

Pictures that I carve and paint get infused with my heart when they come from my own life experiences. Below a photo of a kayak adventure, camping with friends summer 2012 on Cayuga Lake.

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Glenora Family Cottage - DONE!

A number of thin coats of paint later, darks and whites to make the picture sing  - and now Glenora Family Cottage is done!

Thanks to Harriet and all others who have trusted me over the years to distill their family details and sentimental memories into a carved and painted picture. It's an honor. And besides that it supports me to keep making art over the winter, the time when I take on commissions or special order work.

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Glenora Family Cottage - Much Later

I got very involved in trying to pull the Glenora Family Cottage carving back from the edge of darkness. So involved that I forgot to take pictures for a few days. But here it is, and it seems to work. Order in the midst of the chaos of my studio. I step back to look at it. I still have details to paint, but here it is, mostly done and mostly to my satisfaction.

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Glenora Family Cottage, Getting Muddy

I like the addition of reds. But the rest of the picture is becoming a little too dark and muddy. Color emergency, I've got to catch it before it goes too far. A stitch in time saves nine. Stick around for my next blog posting and I'll fix the muddiness.

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Glenora Family Cottage, Adding White

I added white to the painting, as well as other painting meant to further bring out the boats, the cottage, the swimmers, and finally the swirls. Those swirls have had me nervous. They're big and kind of bold. I've been aware I need to be very careful in how I paint them so they create a sense of movement without taking over the carved Glennora Family Cottage picture. Notice the sun that has appeared in the sky, I've got to have sun.

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Glenora Family Cottage: Swimmers

The swimmers and the sailors, this is what the cottage commission is really about. So I've painted them next. Playing on the dock, jumping into the water, sailing. The cottage, the water and the sky together make up the stage setting, but the swimmers and sailers are the actors. I need to know that they will stand out. I want you to look at them first. Oh yes, and by the way I've painted more blues and greens.

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Glenora Family Cottage, Yellows and Blues

As usual, I edge in on what colors will work. Below I've put yellow in the inner frame and a smidgeon of blue in the sky and waves, gaining confidence as I go. This is a crucial and somewhat scarey time in the painting. If I pick the wrong colors I'll spend too much time committed to the wrong course, and this can take my energy away from a piece. But I think these colors are good.

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Glenora Family Cottage, First Paint Layer

It's time to paint the Glenora Family Cottage picture. Below is a photo of the the first coat of acrylic paint on this  commissioned work. For the first layer I have to scrub paint into all the open pores of the wood. Besides scrubbing the paint in, I have to quickly (acrylic paint dries fast) smooth the paint back out so it goes on in a thin layer and does not obscure the carved detail or grain of the wood. This can take some time and be hard on the hands. I don't take any phone calls or interruptions while I'm doing this, or the paint will dry like a lump on the wood. It's generally a good way to ruin a brush, so I keep my old ones for doing this task.

Generally I try to pick a warm color for the first base coat.

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Glenora Family Cottage - Carving Complete

All details, small and large, have now been carved. Already I'm stirring my paints, getting ready for the next stage. But for a second, I look at the completed carving as it sits on the table outside of my backyard garage studio, and enjoy the moment!

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Glenora Family Cottage - Carving Pictures

With the swirls and sky just about done, I now move down to carving the swimmers and sailboat.

 

Here's a close up of the woman diving into the lake off the dock. I'm particularly fond of this swimmer.

 

Later on,  I've got the water and wave area pretty much done but still have to work on the people on the dock and the boats.

 

Again, the wind swirls, a close up of the wind swirls.I love those wind swirls.

folk art mary

 

 

 

 

Glenora Family Cottage, Starting to Carve

I start to carve the Glenora Family Cottage Commission, beginning with the wind swirls. This will be the hardest part of the piece for me, making these swirls work. So I want to get a sense right away of how the wind swirl shapes will fit into the rest of the piece.  In general I take on the boldest parts of the carving first, leaving the smaller details until last. There's a real reason for this. The small details are always vulnerable to being cut off by mistake as one carves the wood nearby. So it's best to do the big carved shapes first and the smaller ones last.

folk art mary

 

 

Glenora Cottage Commission, Sketch onto Wood

The sketch for Glenora Cottage Commission completed and approved, I set the design onto wood. The wood consists of two pine boards glued end to end. You can see the glue line where the boards meet, about a third of the way up from the bottom.

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Glenora Cottage Commission, Sketch

After a number of versions, this is the final sketch I drew for the Glenora Cottage Commission. I tried to capture the feel of the photos I was given - of the lakeshore, the cottage, the sailboat, the motor boat and swimming/dock activity. I added some swirls to indicate wind sweeping down off the hills that surround Seneca Lake.

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Harriet's Family Commission - Photos

I have never met the person who commissioned the carved and painted artwork (titled Harriet's Family Cottage") of her Glenora, Seneca Lake cottage, nor have I seen the cottage. Instead I worked entirely from photos.

When Harriet sent me more joyous photos in a later email, I knew I just had to do this commission.

 

 

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Long Lost Artist, What has She Been Doing?

I've been away from the computer all summer, spending all the time I can out in the air and sun, sailing on the lake, gardening, soaking up the open air energy.

As I write it is raining in Ithaca, nothing better to do than to sit down at my computer and start my blogs once again.

While I will still be at the Ithaca Farmer's Market for a month or two more (temperature dependant, my hands don't like to carve in the cold), I'm moving back into using my winter studio, taking commissions as I usually do as the dark time of the year comes upon us.

Last year at around this time I was approached by email to do a commission of a summer family house in Glenora, on Seneca Lake. Here is one of the photos I was sent, an out of focus picture of the family cottage that was taken in the 1960s.

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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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