June 11th, 2009 Siobhan
I’ve started work on a new series as I’ve not done any illustrative work in awhile.
I lovelovelove retro- styled pinups, but I noticed that the body types were all exactly the same, with the exception of Coops work. Also the trend seems to be to an overly slick stylistic approach.
I decided that a different body types needed to be looked at as subject matter and that a return to the more painterly pinup needed to happen, at least in my studio. Thus came the “Cheesecake makes you Phat ” series. I think that a direct challenge to the narrow societal parameters of what is beautiful (and imposed on us!) is in order.
Larger women tend to be very body shy and I was worried that I’d have an issue with finding people willing to share reference shots, but the support for the series has been overwhelming! I’ve got models ranging from a size 12 to a size 30 and all of them are fabulous!
I’ve already had interest from spaces willing to show the series and it’s still on the drawing boards! Awesomeness!
The trick is going to be finding the balance of titillating rather than tawdry and provocative rather than pornographic. I’m also throwing in modern twists such as piercings, dreadlocks and tattoos.
There was something rather innocent about the classic cheesecake pose, at least by current standards. I’m hoping to retain some of that charm.
You’ll have to wait to see them when the series is finished and I’ve got prints available.
Just remember that patience is a virtue, but in general I’ve found being virtuous is mostly overrated
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June 6th, 2009 Siobhan
A: The frog probably has a gig to go to.
One problem with playing such a specialized instrument as the didgeridoo is that the gigs available are pretty thin on the ground.
I really believe that that is mostly due to the fact that most didge players out there (at least in America) aren’t very good and so the general consensus is that all a didge can do is a pulsed drone.
NOT SO!!!!!
Didge can be as rhythmically interesting as any drum…perhaps even more so due to the addition on growls, barks,harmonics and other vocalizations.
In the 20 years that I’ve been playing I’ve personally wound didge, both live and recorded, around : Trip-Hop, Flamenco, Celtic,country, standard rock, folk, electronica, dance, hip hop, Balkan , Bellydance and jazz. On the menu to the left there’s a link to my music…check the samples. The influences are as eclectic as I am.
I’m finding that I’m missing playing live with other musicians. I needs a gig!
Have didge, will travel.
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May 20th, 2009 Siobhan
I find that one of the hardest thing for me socially is how to gauge when to stop or start looking at a thing. Somehow there seems to be some sort of unwritten rule somewhere as to just how long that it’s acceptable to actually stare at anything…or more importantly anyone.
I find that I usually either don’t look at people at all or inversely I stare like I’m boring holes in them. The latter usually happens if I find them OR what the light is doing to them interesting. Just how do I explain that I’m bugging out on the series of planes that their face has become?
One thing that I’ll say for photography work is that the camera acts as a social buffer against my unabashed tendency to fall into whatever it is that I’m looking at.
Artism strikes again, much to the detriment of my social calender….
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April 7th, 2009 Siobhan
I have just recently been accepted to The Evergreen State College here in Washington State.
After 20 years of doing just visual art as a mainstay I’ve decided to expand my options and take on finishing my BA, adding a goodly dose of Art History to the mix. Ultimately my goal is to acheive my MA in Museum Science from University of Washington, one of the few in the country that offers that specific degree.
I’ve worked in museums as a day job before and I must say that my own work benefited from the experience. A good museum is more than just a warehouse…it can be a think tank, library,classroom,social hub and multi-media center as well. I found that the daily company of others passionate about art stoked my creative fires.
I truly believe that my experience as a working artist could be of benefit…and no, I’m not planning on stopping my own work. The prime word here is AND.
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January 19th, 2009 Siobhan
I’ve gotten into manual tinting of photographs lately. Why Is this listed as “hand” tinting? Because I’m using the computer rather than an analog approach.
There is a big difference as to how I’m approaching this however, in contrast to the tutorials I’ve seen on the subject. I do NOT use bucket fills. I’m using Corel Painter in watercolor mode, thin ‘wash’ over thin ‘wash’, just as I would in analog. As a result the , well, results are looser and more complex in color.
Time consumptive but great fun none the less.
Recycling Rhapsody
Flotsom and Jetsam 5
Omega
As always I welcome your input and prints are available at my
Imagekind site.
Posted in Northshores, Photography, Prints, Uncategorized, art, new work | 2 Comments » | Viewed 203 Times
October 20th, 2008 Siobhan
I hear a lot of argument on both sides about digital media. Galleries have been slow to accept it as a valid media and many analog purists dismiss it as somehow “cheating”. I’ve actually heard some say that digitally created works of art somehow “don’t count because you can just whip ‘em up”.
As someone who has worked on both sides of the aisle on this issue let me start by saying that nothing is “just whipped up” in any working artists studio that I know, my own included.
I’ve been working with digital media off and on for well over 20 years. As of late I’ve been working in combinations of digital and analog mediums. Has the digital experience changed my approach as an artist?
Yes and No.
I work mostly with Corel Painter IX these days. It has a gazillion and fifty two nifty features that I don’t use, opting to work the digital format like an analog medium. Why don’t I just work the analog equivalences you may ask?
My reasons are as follows:
1. Pixels aren’t toxic.
I worked in oils for years, then switched to wax pastels due to toxicity issues. I tend to not pay attention to where my brushes and solvents are and also have an unfortunate propensity when rapt in work to stick my brushes in my mouth when I need a point or to wipe solvent laden brushes on my pants leg. *DOH*
Even though there are other mediums that don’t require toxic solvents I realized that most artists pigments are, in and of themselves, toxic. This includes the pigments in pastels, acrylics,watercolors etc. Cadmium anyone? And then there’s always the issue of toxic fixatives.
2 Pixels are green
No solvents, no minerals, no wasted paper in reworks , no waste in general.
3. Safety of Originals
I had a studio flood on me a few years back. I lost a lot of pieces. I’ve also had pieces meet a number of more unusual demises, some involving housecats.
Back up your files on disc regularly and your originals are safe
3. Space
it takes a whole lot less space to work on a Wacom Tablet than to work on an easel, as well as a drafting table and airbrush booth. That and one doesn’t have to pay for all of that equipment.
4. Versitility
See entry 3.
I tend to approach my digital works the same as my analog work ie with classical layering technique.
I also tend to combine scanned analog and digital, using the best of both worlds.
The only thing I really miss about analog is working with impasto, but then again a girl can’t have everything.
When I was in college , back in the earlier days of computer art, my instructor told me 2 things that have stuck with me throughout my career.
The first is that it doesn’t matter what tools an artist uses to get the effect that they’re going for. They STILL have to come up with the idea for the piece and make every call along the way as far as approach.
The second is that a computer is really nothing more than a fast pencil. You still have to be able to draw and be well grounded in artistic fundamentals in order to make it do what you want.
My challenge to you is this…look around the works posted on this site and My Imagekind Gallery.
I have a whole lot of pieces that are marked mixed media. Can you tell which are purely analog and which are analog/digital?
I’d be interested to hear which you think are which.
Posted in Fine Art, Life in General, Prints, art, new work | No Comments » | Viewed 241 Times
October 6th, 2008 Siobhan
I got a new camera for my birthday! It’s a Canon 40D and I seriously love it. It has a whole lot of features but not so many that it overwhelms me.
While I’m adjusting to the new lenses and stuff I’ve been digging through the piles of raw shots that I had stockpiled and cropping and whatnot as needed. I’ve even managed to find a few keepers in the bunch!
I started 2 series in Alaska, which are very much about life in the North. The first I call “Hidden Support” and looks to the nature of animals in support of people in Alaska, notably the paleolithic. Without fauna, mega and modern, people would never have been able to survive in the Far North. In addition, the modern Northern societies are still supported by animals that lived eons ago in the form of Oil. Agriculture in Alaska is still pretty minimal. So past present and future , Alaska is supported by the bones of animals.
Here’s a few examples from the series:
Ghost Bear 2008
Fossil Spine 2008
Sea Lion Skull 2008
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In addition to the ‘Hidden Support” series I’ve been editing another series all wound around light refracting within and shining through Ice. I think it plays off the bone pieces well not only visually but conceptually as well. The Ice represents the pressures of the environment in living in the Far North. Everything one does is wound around a seasonal deadline that will not be pushed to suit a person. So what we end up with with the 2 series together is Hidden Support and Obvious Pressure.
Ice 3 2008
Ice 4 2008
Even though I’m still getting used to the new camera, sometimes I can still get a good one….this was taken in my best friend’s house. The eyes were not manipulated. All I did was to desaturate the other colors. In addition, the wonderfully creepy dolls eyes in this terracotta sculpture were set looking forward. They do tend to follow one about the room…which I think came through.
Watcher by the Door 2008
As always prints are available on My Imagekind Gallery
And as always I welcome your opinions, comments and critiques!
Posted in Photography, Prints, art, new work | No Comments » | Viewed 321 Times
September 22nd, 2008 Siobhan
As of late I’ve been finding myself more and more interested in what I can do with my camera.
Since my paintings have taken on a somewhat photographic quality over the last few years anyway , why not just skip a step in the process. My photos tend to have a painterly quality to them as well. I’ve actually had a few people ask me if they were pen and inks, paintings or photographs. I guess you can take the girl out of the studio , but… well you know the rest.
Another plus is that photography tends to crack me out of my Aspie studio isolation more. I can’t help but think that this is a good thing.
The next step is going to be figuring out how to combine the 2 mediums and try to create something that is not wholly painting and not wholly photography but is, instead, something that retains the qualities of both and yet is neither completely. It’s going to take some thought.
In the meantime , while I figure this all out here are a few of my most recently finished shots.
Again, as always, I welcome your feedback and opinions of the work and prints are available at my Imagekind Gallery
Portrait of a Eurasian Eagle Owl 2008
Pine 2008
Flotsom & Jetsam 4 2008
Flotsam & Jetsam 3
Frost 4 2008
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September 5th, 2008 Siobhan
Since I’ve moved my art production seems to have slowed a bit. Gee, it couldn’t have a thing to do with the 100 lbs each of fruit and veg that I’ve put up this season could it? 
I’m afraid that living in the state of Agritopia after 6 years in the sub arctic zone has brought out my hoarding instinct. I must confess, however, that the many jars of vividly colored produce appeals to my aesthetic instinct as well. All that and it just flat tastes better than the commercially canned stuff.
I’m working on the GFCF cookbook as well…and I gotta tell ya my DH loves research and development days.
Be that as it may, I have still managed to get a few pieces done and I’ve quite a few more on the drawing boards.
I’ve started digging into the reference shots that I took while living in the Alaska interior and the ones taken on my recent trip through the Yukon and Northern BC.
This is the most recent painting.
Birch Catkins Mixed Media 2008
I’m finding that very loose brushwork used to create a lot of detail is getting to be my most used technique and tends to make said detail a little less stiff to the eye. It also gives my aspie penchant for twiddling with stuff a place to go that is productive. I’ve also been noticing that over the last few years that my work has been moving from and expression of how I feel and more into an example of how I see.
I like the way that this piece moves. It invokes spring breezes even with the main focus being on the botanical aspects. It’s peaceful without being static. It’s also a study in complementary color relationships without getting in your face. Overall I think it works.
Birch Catkins detail
Click on the image for a closer look
I’ve also been getting some of the photos that stand on their own finished.
Spring Anemones 2008
Click on the image for a closer look
I do tend to see the world in macro…these flowers were only 2 inches or so in diameter. They were the first wildflowers that I saw of the season and were bravely blooming next to a motel parking lot in Tok, Ak
As always I welcome your opinions of the work, positive and negative alike. And again as always prints of these pieces are available at my Imagekind gallery
Posted in Fine Art, Photography, Prints, art, autism, new work | No Comments » | Viewed 335 Times
August 14th, 2008 Siobhan
As I’ve been tooling around finding information on the Autism Spectrum I’ve noticed a startling lack of information on Adult AS/Autism. And even less about females who are adult and AS/autistic.
Why is this???? There are certainly adults along the autism spectrum, and the children that everyone seems so very single pointedly focused upon do tend to grow up when ones back is turned. And gee, they become adults. I truly applaud the efforts of parents to help their children and the network of information that has ensued. I guess what I’m grousing about is the dearth of stuff available to many adults that need it….and I know many.
While I understand that statistically speaking there are a whole lot fewer girls than boys that are AS/Autistic, I also understand that it tends to manifest very differently in girls and women than in the male of the species due to gender based neurological differences. Speaking statistically again, girls are far more likely to be misdiagnosed due to these differences in manifestation. I know that was certainly the case in my life.
I’d love to hear from y’all adult spectrum specters. Have you found resources? Diets that work? Coping Mechanisms? And how about the stuff that doesn’t work?
Inquiring minds want to know
On a side note I had my first GFCF dinner party the other night…oh and add VEGAN to that as well.
I did a lasagna that was pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. BUT the crowning achievement of the nite was dessert…rich chocolate layer cake , filled with marion/raspberry filling, coated with a semi-sweet chocolate ganache and decorated with fresh berries. This was served with a very rich bittersweet coconut/chocolate ice cream that I whipped up. It was good by any standard, let alone gfcf.
I’m insufferably pleased with myself at this point.
Posted in Life in General, autism | No Comments » | Viewed 358 Times
