Bob Marley - Aceo

This ACEO is a reproduction of a marker drawing I did of Bob Marley. It's available for purchase at my Etsy Shop



art, blog, weblog, original artwork, wwao, aceo, marker drawing, reggae, rasta, marley, rastafari, Jamaica, Bob Marley, music, singer,Linda Watson

Dreamscape 17

"Dreamscape 17" is the title of this original 12 x 12 acrylic painting by Linda Watson.

Painted on gallery wrap canvas, it can be framed or because the sides are painted black, hung as is.


Dreamscape 17

This piece is available at my Etsy Shop



art, blog, weblog, original artwork,wwao, abstract art, landscape paintings, acrylic paintings, dream, abstract, Linda Watson

Ceramic Magnets & Pushpins

Many thanks to WagerWitch for being a blog fan as well as reminding and encouraging me to do my blog work.

Pictured here are some ceramic clay magnets and pushpins listed at my Etsy Shop.

These glazed ceramic clay magnets and pushpins are modeled to resemble seashells and sea skeletons. I collected the shells used to create these pieces.

The shells are made of cone 06 clay and glazed with cone 04 glazes. Typically, I make these clay pieces to use in my mosaics, but I thought I'd use them to make refrigerator magnets since they seem to be so popular.



Spicy Banana

Blue-Green

art,blog,weblog,original artwork,wwao,clay,glaze,tile, mosaic,magnet, seashell

In Remembrance

Thomas Michael Kelly, 41, of Wyckoff, NJ died on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center in New York City.

I never met Tom. His name was given to me after I went to 2,996, a site to honor and remember those fallen on 9/11. Neither was I searching for such a site. I happened upon it while surfing blogs on blogexplosion. Interestingly and quite fittingly, Tom was a horse lover like me. I am honored to remember him, may he rest in peace. And may his family and friends find peace as well.

The following is a short bio from Euro Brokers and also included are two photos of 9/11 quilt pieces honoring Tom from United In Memory

For Tom Kelly, Euro Brokers was more than just the place he worked. It was also where he met the woman he would marry.

Tom, 41, was born and raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn and started his career on Wall Street working as a trader. He joined Euro Brokers in 1992 as a broker of Sovereign Debt. In 1999, he became the manager of the Emerging Market Debt desk.

Outgoing and friendly, Tom had many friends at work with whom he liked to socialize, play golf, or go out for a good steak dinner. A year after joining Euro Brokers, he befriended a fellow broker named Anne Blauvelt. She moved to London for a year, but upon her return in 1996, the two started dating. Their relationship blossomed into a real romance, and they were married in 1998. Soon after, they moved to a new home in Wyckoff, New Jersey.

Tom had a gift for keeping in touch, and he maintained many close friendships from his childhood as well as his adult working life. He was also very close to his mother and his older sister, who live in Brooklyn. His father passed away several years ago.

Tom loved going to the horse races and particularly enjoyed annual visits with Anne to Saratoga during the summer racing season. He dreamed of one day buying his own racehorse.

Devoted to Anne, who had left Euro Brokers after getting married, Tom would have been proud to see her return to Euro Brokers after September 11 to help the company rebuild.

Thomas is survived by his wife, Anne.

In memory of Tom, contributions can be made to the UFA Widow and Children's Fund c/o the Uniformed Firefighters Association, 204 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010.

911,wtc, World Trade Center, Thomas Michael Kelly

The Kiln Ritual

Because I don't yet have my own kiln, it is necessary to use someone else's. This is not only inconvenient, but time consuming as well. I have to pack pieces in boxes, load them in my car, unload them from my car, unload them from the boxes and then load into the kiln. After firing, they must be re-packed in boxes, loaded in the car, unloaded from the car and finally unloaded from the boxes.

What am I complaining about? My friend is very generous in allowing me to use her kiln...for free. I went through the above ritual today for about 180 clay pieces modeled to resemble seashells and skeletons to make into magnets and pushpins for my Etsy shop.

Glazing is the next step and I look forward to this phase most of all. I love to experiment with glazes, layering one on top of another to create new color combinations. Following glazing, I will once again engage in the kiln ritual.

art,blog,weblog,original artwork,wwao,magnets,clay,glaze,kiln,skeleton,seashells,Linda Watson

Zuni Soul Jar

If you're looking for a great place to have your aceo's reproduced, artcardswanted.com is great. The prints are great and the prices are reasonable. Once again, I'm very pleased.







This 2-1/2"x3-1/2" ACEO is reproduced from an original acrylic, juried painting, "Zuni Soul Jar."

An egret, tarantula, and Native American shaman are superimposed over the image of a clay Zuni soul jar.

The medicine man or shaman places the soul that needs cleansing in the jar. Spinning within the jar, the good and evil parts of the soul separate with the cleansed soul rising from the mouth of the jar while the dirty part spills from the hole near the bottom.

This aceo is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop

art, blog, weblog, original artwork, wwao, aceo, acrylic paintings, Native American, Zuni, Southwest, clay, bird, tarantula, shaman, egret, Linda Watson

Primary Floral

My original oil painting, Primary Floral is now available as a giclee print in my Etsy Shop




  



June 23rd it will also be available at ArtByUs


art, blog, weblog, original artwork, wwao, florals, oil paintings, giclee, Linda Watson

New Art Card in my Etsy Shop

When I returned from visiting my family in Northern California, a package from artcardswanted was waiting for me. This is the first time I've ordered from them and I'm pleased with the results.



  






"Magic, An American Mustang" can be viewed and purchased at my Etsy Shop.

art, blog, wwao, aceo, mustang, horse, miniatures, animal art, Linda Watson, watercolor, Etsy Shop

Clear Black

My newest favorite glaze color is clear black, an Envision Glaze by Duncan (IN 1627). Clear black makes red richer, blues deeper, greens glorious. Alone, clear black fires to Prussian blue.

Although, most of the tiles for my bird mosaic are finished, I'm considering redoing many of them with clear black.

art, blog, glaze, Prussian, bird, red blue, tile, mosaic, Duncan

Ranting at the Post Office

It was distressing to hear from a collector that artwork arrived damaged. I packed it as if it was going to the Moon and back. I even stood in the post office and watched the postal clerk stamp 'Fragile' more than a dozen times on the box. I believed in good faith the various postal workers that handled my parcel would heed the message and take care with the 40 pound wood box containing a wall mosaic.

Now I believe, that on the contrary, the temptation to destroy was greater than any responsibility they may have felt, not only to a customer, but to their employer as well.

I'll be exploring other options for delivery, although I seriously doubt other carriers will care one whit more considering the tone of current society.

art, blog, wwao, usps, clay, mosaic

The Process Can Be Tedious

Busy glazing today. Little pieces of clay. Each measuring about 2" x 1/2" or smaller. I've only glazed 260 pieces with one coat and have about 200 more to go. These small bits of fired clay are the finishing pieces for the edge of the horse mosaic and bird mosaic that I'm currently working on. After these pieces are fired and added, I then have to consider the grout I'll be using. It's weird with mosaics because the background goes in last. Why don't I make this color decision in the beginning? Because, I don't always know exactly which tiles I'll be using especially when it comes to the smaller ones that I suppose one could call middle ground.

And, for those of you, who have never seen one of my mosaics, they're not the broken tile, shattered plate or little squares of color that are commonly seen. Nor are they like a shape puzzle or stained glass window. I make my own tiles in a variety of shapes. Some resemble broken ceramic pieces, some are shaped like birds, fish, flowers, horses, plants and whatever else strikes my fancy. Then I add plenty of other stuff like faux pearls, stones, shells, jewelry, etc.

And that's all I have to say today as I no longer care to write. Tedious as the process of making art may be sometimes, it's all about the tactile.

art, blog, glaze, horse, wwao, bird, grout, tile, mosaic

Horses, Horses, Horses

The things I care most about in life are family, friends, art and horses. Horses are the core of my art. I paint, sculpt, create mosaics & prints and write about horses. One magazine article I wrote about horses garnered me a first place in a tri-state journalism competition and a profile of a rodeo barrel racer earned me first place in a Southern California competition.

Several of my equine artworks have been juried as well. A portion of my living is derived from working with horses. I could fill a book with the life lessons I have learned from horses and perhaps someday I will. For now, I will say that horses have provided me a direct connection to nature unlike anything else I've experienced.

What I want to write about today is the Pierce College Mounted Drill Team's performance at the annual Farm Walk yesterday. We had eight scheduled practices for Friday nights, but the weather didn't cooperate and we had to double up our hours, practice on Wednesdays, Sundays and whenever. It was challenging. Mind you, the horses we ride are part of a herd used in the summer for week long mountain trips in the Eastern Sierras and wild horse areas of Nevada. Most are quarterhorse draft crosses and some are Mustangs. In other words, large, rough and tumble kind of guys. Nothing refined about these bad boys.

From September to May they come to Pierce College to work as lesson horses for the horse science and pre-vet program. Yes, horses have to earn a living. Expensive animals to keep, they must earn their way.

Anyway, all year-long they have misbehaved during practice. Pinning their ears, biting and kicking at each other, bucking and resisting commands. Totally terrorizing some of the inexperienced riders.

The day before Farm Walk is bath day. This is their first cue that something is up. This herd does not get bathed very often nor should they. Shampooing, detangler in the manes and tails, trimming uneven hair, bluing for the horses that have white on them and polish on the hooves are the finishing touches for this spa treatment. The second cue is when they are put in separate stalls rather than in the paddock where they will very quickly destroy our day-long grooming work by rolling in manure. Not pleased with being so confined we tell them how cute and what good boys they are, followed by lots of carrots, of course.

Sunday arrives, another grooming, saddling and dress rehearsal. They're still acting out, but not quite so badly as before. Finally, it's time for the first of four performances. We mount, our drill captain introduces each of us as we trot single file into the arena to a cheering and clapping audience. All ears are perked, they respond to the whistle, no biting, no threats. Suddenly they are perfect gentlemen and we have four perfect performances to the delight of all in attendance and most of all 10 grateful riders.

art, blog, journalism, rodeo, horse, Eastern Sierras, Nevada, Mustang, Farm Walk, grooming, saddle, mounted drill team Los Angeles Pierce College

Can you believe this?!?

Check this out... I go to the post office with my 40 lb box measuring 28x28x6 on a hand truck. A clerk looks at me and yells "Too big! Too big! We no take! You take someplace else!"

Say whaaat? I immediately start sweating bullets and am torn between jumping the counter to throttle her and say something insulting about using complete sentences, but I need their services. My 'baby' is leaving my hands for a trip into limbo before arriving at her new home. You know what I'm talkin' about.

"It measures less than 108 inches," I tell her. "No! You wrong! Too big!" she insists.

The clerk next to her motions me to come forward and asks can I lift it on the counter. My adrenalin is so high I can lift the entire post office by now. The first clerk is still ranting "Too big! She go!" on and on and on.

Thankfully, my clerk refuses to engage her and gets her measuring tape, measures it (I'm freaking... did I make a mistake in my calculations, did I misread the instructions for large parcels?) writes some figures, measures again, writes more figures. All the while, the ranting is still going on. Everyone in the post office is
dead still watching this mini drama.

My clerk turns to the nut case and says "We can take it." Whew! Finally the rant stopped, I finished my business and walked out feeling quite surreal.

art, blog, truck, wwao, limbo, usps, drama, mosaic, surreal, charity art, under the sea

Packing heavy art piece

I sold Under the Sea on auction at artbyus which made me very happy. I would have liked more for it, but I'm pleased nonetheless.



  


Now, the bigger challenge is packing it securely to ship to it's new home in Tennessee. My son-in-law built a wooden box and I purchased a variety of packing materials. By itself, the mosaic weighs 15 pounds, the box weighs more, at 25 pounds.

First, I wrapped the mosaic in two layers of bubble wrap and laid it in the box on a sheet of styrofoam. Then I partially filled the box with packing p-nuts and sprayed some insulating foam into the corners. Once the foam expanded and hardened, the piece was immovable. I then put a bead of Liquid Nails on the box edge and placed the top on partially securing the screws.

There was a narrow space between the top and the box. Through this space I inserted the nozzle for the foam can and filled in the spaces around the bubble wrap and p-nuts. This done, I finished screwing in the screws.

It's fairly difficult for someone my size to shake a box measuring 28x28x6 and weighing 40 pounds, but I did manage to tip it on all sides and nothing moved inside. Thank goodness.


art, artbyus, original artwork, wwao,under the sea, mosaic, charity art, Tennessee, packing materials

WWAO Brainstorm

Today I've been brainstorming with members of WWAO (Worldwide Women Artists Organization) about how to get more notice for our artwork both online and off, and more sales. So far, we are in the seminal stages of working together as a group to accomplish this. I'll post the best ideas as they come up.

art, blog, original artwork, wwao, charity art

Under The Sea

I have a new piece listed at Art By Us. You can see it here: http://www.artbyus.com/auctions.php?a=2&b=54325

Thanks. Until next time...

art, blog, original artwork, wwao, charity art, mosaic, ocean, under the sea

I love art. I love looking at art, reading about art, talking about art and writing about art. But, most of all, I love making art.

As soon as I get this blog thing figured out, I'll be listing images of my work as well as where you can obtain my art if so desired.

Thanks. See you soon.

art, blog, wwao