Normal, OK: Signs
December 21, 2007
Philli I. Acrylic on found plywood, 2007
Oklahomans, myself included, spend a lot of time on the road. Route 66 is an integral part of our heritage. Arterial interstates whisk us from state to state. Along the road, an archaeology of advertisement emerges: billboards with missing panels, hand-painted text, and panels rearranged so the ads become illegible. Advertising is supposed to be shiny and bright; signs that are old, awkward, or broken are uniquely endearing.
Los Tres. Mixed media sketch, 2007.
Using copious reference photos taken along Interstate 40, I create mixed-media paintings, allowing the forms and typography to become increasingly abstract. Objects like gas meters, dilapidated sheds, silos, water towers, and corrugated steel warehouses punctuate the sharp horizon. Institutional greens and rusty whitewash clash with the blue expanse of sky. These lonely inhabitants of the landscape creep into my abstract compositions, taking on their own identities. Character follows form follows function.
Normal, OK: Edmond “Mundy” Tulsa
December 20, 2007
Mundy Tulsa, Present Day. Acrylic and collage on found panel, 2007
Edmond Tulsa was born to a man who was hoping for a boy. Everyone calls her Mundy. She is a prodigious baker, and wins many bake-offs and Opteemah County Fair ribbons. Her family’s money went down with Penn State Bank when the bottom dropped out. But Grampa Dewright Tulsa had placed gold and silver coins inside sections of pipe and buried them in the backyard. One day Mundy undertakes to dig a vegetable garden and discovers the coins. This becomes the startup capital for Miz Mundy Cookies, and later Mundy Buns. Mundy Buns grows so successful that Mundy gets a buyout offer from Nabisco. She declines for reasons of personal integrity. Soon after, she strikes a deal with Dobbin Wynn to be the exclusive concessions distributor for the Dobbin & Dixie Family Film Fest. The Mundy Buns plant remains the economic heart of Normal. In 1998, Mundy hires Katie Hennepin to help her branch out into organic baked goods.
Mundy was created using the acrylic gel transfer process detailed here and here. I applied the image transfer to a former cabinet door that I found at Habitat For Humanity’s OKC thrift store, Renovation Station. That shiny knob in the lower right corner is the door handle.
This is the original drawing:
Flavorpill: San Francisco
December 19, 2007
Flavorpill is an online art magazine with editions in several major cities. This year they’ve discovered the largely-untapped wonderment that is Oklahoma, and they have featured several of my colleagues on their mastheads. This week my work is featured in their San Francisco edition.
Here is the original piece:
Let’s Make Some Undies! Acrylic, ink and graphite on masonite, 2004.
I’ve had awfully good luck with this piece. It’s been in my master’s thesis show, a Society of Illustrators student show, an Oklahoma Biennial, and a couple others besides. I learned the hard way that when I submit this piece for a show, I must specify to the jurors that the text is backwards on purpose.
Kid Drawings
December 16, 2007
Picasso famously said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” The last time I drew purely out of my head, I was four years old. My creativity was completely unfettered then. Where did it go?
For more drawings from my childhood, visit my Flickr page.
Normal, OK: Magnolia Black
December 9, 2007
Normal, OK: Magnolia Black
background: acrylic on canvas
figure: Stonehenge paper with acrylic and Prismacolor pencil
This piece is on canvas stretched over a 16 x 17 inch plywood panel. I applied several base coats of acrylic and gesso to the canvas, including the first layers of pink. I sketched the figure on Stonehenge paper, cut it out, and glued it to the canvas with extra-heavy acrylic gel medium. I add several overlapping washes of acrylic to the figure before filling in the details with Prismacolor pencils. With this kind of process I’m reminded that using colored pencils is like painting, but with more control. I feel like a much better colorist when layering pencil as opposed to paint. The Stonehenge paper is an excellent surface for mixed-media work like this.
Magnolia Black is a waitress at Denty’s Diner. She does freelance tattoo work on the side. Now that tattooing is legal in Oklahoma, Magnolia is looking into opening her own shop.
A hearty thank you to Miz Estrella for posing for this picture.
What is Art, Anyway?
December 7, 2007
Wow, I have two printmakers living right in my house!
Thanks to Trent, who in turn thanks Rachel. And let’s thank Aardman for making the durn thing.
Normal, OK: Sketches for Dobbin and Dixie Wynn
December 6, 2007
Normal, OK: Sketches for Dobbin and Dixie Wynn. Ink on paper, 3 December 2007
I am lucky to have friends like Charlie and Annie who’ll let me draw their pictures for my project. These two charming individuals graciously invited me to their home so I could sketch their likeness and listen to their stories. If I live to be their age, and I’m half as happy as they are, I’ll consider my life well lived.
The Self-Help Shelf: A Link Roundup
December 1, 2007
An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau
“John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.”
Gaping Void: How to Be Creative
Caring for your Introvert
“…introverts are people who find other people tiring.”
The Happiness Project
“What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you — and vice versa.”
How to Do What You Love by Paul Graham
Putting In a Window by John Brantingham
“It’s best if you work without thought of the end. If hurried, you end up with crooked door joints and drafty rooms.”
(Scroll down to 15 November 2005)
Bruce Sterling on what to do with your life:
“You can get a hell of a lot done in a popular medium just by knocking it off with the bullshit.”
Alice May Brock: Make it up as you go along. “Garlic makes it good.”