A blog about my work and the way it happens. Things I see, hear, feel and find interesting, funny, odd or just plain curious. News about Everything and Anything Art wise, Expected or Unexpected. This blog is an open work diary for myself, and you are very welcome to follow me on my journey...

fredag den 25. juni 2010

G.A.I.N (Guam Animals In Need)

Tomorrow GAIN (Guam Animals in Need) have an adoption event. In the past I have been involved with various pet rescue organizations in the United States, mainly by donating work for fundraisers. By coincidence I got in contact with the good people of GAIN. It is a shelter, caring for homeless and abused cats, rabbits and dogs. They are doing an amazing job, managing to get a lot of pets new homes, as well as educating youth about responsible pet care.


I have agreed to paint a mural for them at a later date, but for now, they have borrowed a few of my portraits of Playdoh (which were newly fix after a damaging move) to decorate the walls for theirAdoption Day this Saturday.


Hopefully the event will be a big success, and a lot of cats and dogs get to move in with a new family. For more information about GAIN, please visit their website:

http://guamanimalsinneed.blogspot.com/

mandag den 21. juni 2010

New Prints Available

This week I took 11 new art prints down to The Chamorro Village. They come in two (matted) sizes, 11 x 14 and 8 x 10, and are available for purchase at the Guam Gallery Of Art

mandag den 14. juni 2010

Done!

Done! Well, almost. At this point I just needed to add the final layer of varnish on the surfaces.


FINALLY. Done. It is such a relief to put this project behind me, mostly because I (ever since noticing the damages) was worried about how they would turn out. If it was even possible for me to really fix the paintings. I didn’t truly know the extend of the damages, until I started working into the surfaces. It did take a few full days work, but luckily the result is quite good. To avoid this happening again, in our next move, I changed my varnish recipe for the surface. It is a lot matter, and not sticky at all, which is very important. I like it, I think it works. So, the portraits are done!

I have promised G.A.I.N (Guam Animals In Need) that they can borrow some of these “reborn” Playdoh Portraits for their opening house event later this month. More on that later...

torsdag den 10. juni 2010

Restoring My Work After The Move


One of my Playdoh portraits before and after. Hopefully after some “surface work” it will soon look more like it did before.

Over a year ago, when we left NJ, we had a moving company pack up our house. For the most part it all went well, except for the packing of my art. The surface of my work is very delicate, and must be wrapped in fabric and not paper. Especially when moving all the way around the world, and therefore will be wrapped for a long time. And on top of that, moving to Guam would mean a dramatic change in temperature as well, which could also be an issue. So, I specifically instructed the movers to please use the provided fabric to cover the art, they all said “all right”, and I thought all was golden. Wrong! When we then in August unpacked all our house goods here on Guam, I realize that 98% of the work was wrapped in paper. I was so angry, frustrated, and really didn’t know if I would be able to save my work. It was mostly my portraits of our Boston Terrier Playdoh that were damaged. We then filed for the damages - and as you can imagine, working with the company, filling in forms, them getting back with us, them needing more proof, back and forth... It took most of a year, but it is now sorted and we accepted their offer. So, this week I have spent getting my old paintings back to normal. Something I have been both excited about and dreaded at the same time.


The surface of all my work is a layer of a varnish-like glue, and if not careful - and with the change in temperature - paper will stick to it. All the paintings had been covered in this thin mover’s paper, and I have tried to take it off, to the best of my abilities. I have spent a whole day going through each piece with a rag and very hot water to dissolve all the traces of paper. Some pieces, turned out not too bad, but others were severely destroyed deeply into the surface layer.


I am a little nervous to get started, but also excited; FINALLY I get to get the work back to normal. It has been frustrating to look at the destroyed pieces for so long, but we needed the settlement from the moving company before I could begin. I cross my fingers, and I will make an update about the final result...

The paintings are now all paper free, patched up here and there, and I am ready to start restoring the work. My biggest concern is being able to mix the exact, right colors. And whether I am able to get the nice, smooth surfaces back.







mandag den 7. juni 2010

Working Away From Home


We just got back from Hawaii this weekend. For three weeks I hung around Honolulu, looking at people, art, traffic and Nature. I took my books and Ipod touch to the beach and just let time pass. I absolutely loved it, and now being back on Guam, I am full of good energy, hoping I can ride on the Hawaii happy wave for at least a while...


I brought my little sketchbook and noted anything I came across and wanted to remember. I have mentioned it before: I thrive on new environments, in new settings. That’s partly the reason each of my studios have had a special significance to me. And it is somewhat refreshing to leave my studio, books, paints, boxes of postcards, and books of magazine cuttings. Just having a notebook and being in a brand new place in the world. It is a way of leaving any (art) baggage at home and starting over. A clean mind sweep so to speak. Being back on Guam is surprisingly great. I am ready to begin again, to start over...

I always bring my little black moleskin notebook. You never know when an idea hit you, a piece of great music, or a book title you want to look up later. My book is a mess of loose notes and quick sketches.