Wandering Uterus Flyer

Hope to see you all at the opening!! If you can't make it, stop by to check it out any Sat or Sun. 11-3 through Feb. 28th. Visit MAC650.blogspot.com for more info.

Wandering Uterus in Progress!!

I know it's been a while since I've posted. But I've been VERY busy making artwork for my show coming up in January, the Wandering Uterus!!! So, I figured it was about time to let you have a look at what I've been up to....
So, I've been doing some glass work, which requires molds for shaping the glass. I'm making a few masks related to the fern series I've been doing.
I had a co-worker cover my face in plaster gauze so I could make these plaster casts. Don't they look like me!!! Later they'll be covered in glass and you won't even recognize them.
I also made a mold of my hands. I pushed them into a block of clay one at a time, formed the clay around them and poured plaster in after I pulled them out. Creepy huh? I'm skeptical about this experiment but if it works, this will be part of another glass and mixed media sculpture.
I've also been working on a large scale sculpture. Again, mixed media. I've bribed a couple of my students into helping me. Here I am directing them where to heat as I bend the form in the welding shop at my school. The steel rods have been welded together at the center and bent by heating with an oxy-acetylene torch.
I just started creating the texture today. The photo at the bottom left is of the first section I did as an experiment. It's being done with a plasma cutter on a low setting. I'm making an organic seed pod form out of clay and glass that will sit on top of the steel form. I'll post more pictures as it develops. There's lots more but I think that's enough for now. :)

Are you Serious!?

So, Hostess came out with their 100 calorie snack cake packs today. Seriously? What's the point? Really. So people can feel better about eating junk food? Isn't this almost the same as a regular twinkie anyway? I think this is getting a little ridiculous..... And what's with the apple in the upper right hand corner? Are they implying that the twinkie 100 calorie pack is part of a healthy diet, like the apple!? That's just crazy talk!!!!


This photo has been borrowed from the Hostess website..... Thanks!

Twinkies and Robots opens Friday!!

I was at the Mac650 Gallery on Sunday when a few people I know were hanging their work for the Twinkies and Robots show opening this friday. It looks amazing and you should check it out! That's an order! Joe Dinunzio did a series of sculptures and paintings that absolutely rock! Check out Joe's blog for a small taste of what he put in the show. What I want to know is where he came up with the idea for those snazzy sculpture stands. Ingenious! Jay May has an entire grid of 50 or so robot head paintings on display along with others AND a couple guitars he made. I think he went a little robot crazy a while back. Joe Galluccio has the painting he did for the postcard on display along with several other amazing pieces. I could go on but why bore you. It would be much more interesting to just come to see the show. If you can't make it Friday there's gallery hours on the weekends, but you'll miss the aztec twinkies and robot grease!

Goodbye Darkness

So here's the photo of the sculpture Joe and I did together for the Halloween show. Joe sculpted it out of sculpey. I painted it with Acrylics and found the book to set him into. He'll be at the Mac650 gallery until Oct. 31st. Come check out the show, there's a lot of great work.

Haunted Gallery Opening

Last week was pretty stressful getting ready for the Halloween opening at Mac650. People almost died. The opening was fun though! Friday night about 100 people showed up to see the artwork, listen to music and have a good time. The Middletown Press/New Britain Herald and Metromix photographers were there. This is the story the Herald ran on Sunday. I left out the image on the cover but we did get the cover story and all the images were in color. Woo hoo! They even put a picture of the sculpture I did with Joe! Double woo hoo. I'll post my own photo later. The show is up through the 31st. Come check it out. Gallery hours are Sat. and Sun. 12-5. Go to the Mac650 blog for more info.

Halloween Party/Art Show this Friday!

I've been helping the coop with a new show opening at MAC650. Come down and check it out. The opening is this friday. Come in costume!!!

My Little Bro at Boston Center for the Arts

I went up to Boston this weekend to see my little brother Joe at the Boston Tattoo Convention at the Boston Center for the Arts. Here he is inflicting pain on some poor trusting sap that likes his work enough to permanently embed it in his skin. Isn't he cute! Anyway, it was pretty cool. You could hear the guns buzzing when you walked in the building there were so many people getting tattoos. Saw a few artists whose work I really liked. Jess Guercia, a lover of robots. Her illustrations were awesome. Dan Henk does some pretty crazy horror stuff. Canman from Visions Tattoo had some stuff that really reminded me of Alex Grey's work, which I love! And, as a side note, he was my sculpture anatomy teacher in college. Alex Grey, not the Canman. This guy Jason Ackerman from Exceptional Tattoo is amazingly talented as well. If you're looking to get a tattoo I highly recommend checking out their work. I think there were a few others but I can't remember their names off the top of my head. Besides, too much of my memory of the event has been filled with images of the Boston Babydolls. It's a burlesque group, which sounds cool, but the performer that we saw reminded me of my mother. And the last thing I think anyone wants to see is their mom stripping on stage. I took some photos with my film camera so I'll try to remember to post them when I get them developed. For now, I got this video off their website. I'm not so sure it does our experience justice but I'm putting it in anyway because.... how could I not. Just watch with caution....

Greg Simkins Opening was Amazing!!!

So I went to Greg Simkins "It Wanders, East" opening on Saturday at the Joshua Liner Gallery in Chelsea. Me, Joe, Melissa and James jumped in the car and drove down to NYC in the middle of the torrential downpour. But it was so worth it!! This guys stuff is incredible! He works with acrylics but the effects he gets are just like oils. The images don't do it justice, you have to see these in person if you can. He's a real nice guy too, got to talk to him for a bit, took his picture with Joe, very exciting. (I'm sure that photo will show up on the salty slug) Definitely check out Simkins stuff though....

Some Old Work at MAC650

So, I've been a bad blogger..... What can I say, I'm new at this and haven't really felt the need to blog about what I'm doing since I talk to the two people that actually read this on a regular basis. But here I am anyway, dutifully blogging again....
I am showing work at the North End Artists Coop again at 648 Main St in Middletown. Who'd have thought I'd ever step foot in there again! Anyway, the new gallery is called MAC650 and is run by the ridiculously talented Joseph Dinunzio. Paul Gobel, another Coop member, organized a group show for September. I put a few old pieces in. My chair, "Booty Call,"always a hit, a new-ish photograph and a monotype. I know, I still can't decide which direction to go in. Stop by the gallery sometime this month and check out some of the other work. It's a great space and awesome things are going to start happening there. Oh, and check out the gallery blogpot... it's over there... to your right.

I Don't Eat Clams!

I added a slideshow at the bottom of my blog. It's a small sampling of my work at the moment but I'm working on adding more work to it.
I just added a photo of this piece today. It's a tiny little 4"x6" mixed media painting I did for the New Britain Art League's annual fundraiser. My most recent "finished" painting. It's a continuation of my obsession with the sensitive fern. I used celuclay to create a relief on the canvas before painting it with acrylics. The seed pods are made from sculpey mounted on copper wire. The sculpey is painted with acrylics too.
I have no idea where this piece is now. I didn't go to the event because the Art League sucks! Even though I donated artwork they wanted to charge me to attend, something like $40. And it was a clam bake! I don't even eat fish so what would I be paying for? Watching other people eat and bid on artwork is not worth $40.
So I think my little seed pods were auctioned off or there was an art grab type thing. I hope it has a good home.

Kicking and Screaming

So I've joined the ranks of the bloggers. Since I've been dragged into this kicking and screaming I have to thank Joe for pushing me to share my work. I know it's good for me, even if I hate it. For the three people that are actually going to read this, I thought I'd tell you a little story about the title I chose for my blog.
I took a natural history of autumn class last fall and one of the plants that I saw a lot of was the fern in the picture to the left, the Sensitive Fern (Onoclea Sensibilis). It's called the sensitive fern because even though it's invasive, reproducing rapidly and covering large areas, it dies instantly when the first frost hits. Only the stiff brown stems holding the seed pods are left, standing like little soldiers, a memorial to the dead ferns laying at their feet. The cycle and the way the ferns grow, starting with the seed pods opening and in the spring the red fiddleheads uncurling, opening into the fern, reminds me so much of our own growth and the human form.
So, my artwork has taken a turn, exploring that connection. Since I've been so obsessed with it lately I thought Onoclea was appropriate for my blog for obvious reasons but also because it almost sounds like it could be a mysterious part of my own body that I haven't figured out yet. You never know!
I hope that wasn't too cheesy for all of you. I promise not all of my posts will be this serious. BLAH!! Oh yeah, I got these photos on Wikipedia but the one from my header is mine.