Descending Ashtray

Oil on Canvas

13″ x 21″

I have been working and working this painting and finally had to bring it to a conclusion. So here it is. The cactuses were quite a challenge to paint.

I have recently put together a 5″x 8″, three ring binder to help organize my work notes. (I know it may sound a little nerdy but my memory just has not been the same since my college education). I have broken it up into two sections then there are three sub categories for each.

1. Art Notes:
a.Painting
b.Drawing
c.Sculpture

2. Shop Notes:
a.Woodworking
b.Home Improvement
c.Landscaping/Gardening

Basically I am trying to write down any key tips that have to do with any of these categories. Such as: How to make good canvas stretchers, what gesso I used, or what brushes really work good for different techniques. Or with woodworking, I am always experimenting with different finishes but often forget what I used for a certain piece.

This work notes binder is just a way to keep track of techniques and results that I learn from personal experience. And I can use it to organize magazine articles or internet print outs. This idea is a result from being frustrated when I am doing something that I have not done in a while and have to learn it all over again. So hopefully this journal will help solve that problem by making personal work experiences easier to reference.

Even though my trip to the Southwest was last April. I have finally been able to finish (or get close to finishing) the second in desert landscape painting series that I am working on.

I am fascinated by the desert and its untouched wilderness. The colors and textures are so rich and full of dimension. There was something other worldly about some of the places I past through in Northern Arizona. Vast distances of space full of strange and beautiful rock formations. I was inspired to capture some of that beauty and interpret it in a painting.

It is really close to being done. There are still some details that need some finishing touch’s but overall I feel pretty good about it. The dimensions are 21″ x 34″.

I have been working on this flat file for a while now and it feels good to have it done. The drawers are 35″ x 44″, a fairly good size for plenty of paper and matte board storage. The most challenging thing was getting the drawer slides to work. I built the cabinet first before attaching the top, and had trouble with it staying square. But once the top was screwed on, the slides and the drawes lined up perfectly. I ended up using 16 steel balls for each slide. More balls gives it more support when opening and closing the drawers.

A close up of the homemade slides on the inside of the drawer.

Merry Christmas! This is a chess set that I made for my brother Zeb. When my brother and I were very young, our father made us a similar chess set and taught us how to play. We loved it! We would play for hours. But somehow over time original set was lost. This is a recreation (as close as I can remember) of the set our father made.

Here is a flower that I have been working on. This thing was very time consuming for how simple it looks. I do not think that I have ever used the Dremmel tool as much as I have on this piece. The petal is made up of five different pieces that have been cut and sanded to compound miters. Then as I sanded and shaped the inside surface I would glue them together then sand the outside surface after. To sum it up; it was hard! This was actually the second attempt the first did not survive.