Studio Journal

I have been very busy trying to get everything in order for my final thesis project. Here's what I've been working on.

I have 2 done so far. And one more on its way.

Studio Journal

I have recently been spending a large amount of my free time going for walks in the woods. I often sit down and make a sketch of an interesting area of a tree. I have been talking lots of pictures. Researching different species of trees and their bark has also been giving me inspiration.

Pictures like these are very helpful when im working in doors. I do not make any exact replicas, but it helps me greatly to see how natural knots and divides happen throughout a trees life. It is interesting how the growth and bending of branches is random, but there is often a symetry to its design. I would like to be able to capture this in my layout of trees.



This is something I continue to work on a little at a time. I gathered a bunch of pinecones of varying sizes. Some where closed tightly, and others were open to release their seeds. I make a pyramid out of wood and began glueing pine cones pieces to the outside. I use plyers to remove each piece from the pine cones and arrange them on the wood surface in size order. I try to match them up as tightly as possible so there are no gaps. I plan to use this method to the create the bark on atleast one of my trees.

This is another method I have used to create plant life. I sculpt aluminum foil and then paint the surface. When I painted a layer of flat or matte black paint first, and then added matte shades of green, I fixed the problem of the natural reflectiveness of aluminum foil. This method will be utilized down the line for many smaller plants. 

This is the type of bark I have been making molds from. Its the most interesting bark I have found that is still plain enough that a mold wont cause undercuts. This is wut the surface of my larger trees will look like. After lots of walks in the woods I have also decided that I need a good tree stump. Gonna keep lookin. . . 

Studio Journal

I am a few weeks into my attempts to create realistic looking wildlife. I am now using these incredably realistic looking leaves. They come in a bushel. I took them apart and glued them in such a way that they look natural. The next step was to attach them to a branch.

So I began sculpting small branches out of metal. Here are a couple before the plaster is added. At first I tried applying plaster directly to the metal but it slid right through. I was getting impatient waiting for it to thicken. I then began filling the metal mesh with clay so i could immediately apply layers of plaster.

Here it is after several layers of plaster were almost hard. I then smooshed bark on the surface. for a realistic sort of texture.

Here is what I have so far. I've made about 20 so far. I plan to uses all the leaves I have, so I expect to make about 70 of these. I wont paint them until way later so I can easily rehydrate the plaster and work with it. The next step is to attach these small branches to larger ones. That will bring up more issues because I am having trouble making casts of trees. I have a few ideas, and I'm confident I'll work it through.

Studio Journal

So here is my tree stump with paint. Unfortunately, even though it did not say glossy on the can, it was. So this is pretty much ruined, but it is alright because it was really more of an exercise in creating the form of a tree. I feel it is half successful. The wood and metal armature is a good idea, but a smooth plaster surface is not. I am going to try making molds from live trees to create a more realistic surface. I will post pictures of my results.

The tree trunk looks significantly better with flat paint, but its still not rugged enough. I will keep trying.



Here is a full tree in one piece. I narrowed it a great deal to make it small and light enough to carry around. It is actually six feet tall, but this picture is deceiving. The surface and shape of this tree is quite improved from the first one, but still a long way off. I will most likely add my molds of bark to the surface of this one. We'll see. . .

Studio Journal

So this is one of my more current projects. We had to make something abstract out of metal. After tinkering around for several hours I began to create forms thats I found interesting. I bent roundstock to create a stand attached to an unusual spiral shape. It is a combination of round and square bends that I am beginning to like. I think sparay painted the ofjects and covered them with plattered paint in various colors.

Here you can see the steps I took leading up to the painted one. It was a progression of experimenting with the material. I enjoyed the process of creating a series until I find something of interest.

More pictures to follow.

Studio Journal

So here is the beginning of my Thesis project. I would like to make very realistic and life sized trees. The above picture is the untrimmed roots of what will be a tree about six feet high.

This is body of the tree. It fits in place on top of the knarled roots. I have chosen to make the tree in three seperate pieces so it can be more easily work with and transported the tree in a car or through doorways.

Here you can see the seam between the two pices. They fix very well, but I am going to find a way to cover it. It will also look more uniform after it is painted.

Here is another side. This tree is made out of plaster. I first take wire mesh and form it into the shapes I want. Then I take burlap soaked in plaster and wrap it around the metal. I then add layers of thick plaster to the surface, and cover that with a few layers of thin dripping plaster. This creates a nice bark texture.

All this with be painted with a few layers of paint.

More pictures to come

Planet of Slums

This is the first work the viewer sees when entering this exhibition. It made me think of building forts in my living room as a kid. I wanted to crawl in there so badly. Then after viewing it for a few minutes I thought more about the homless forts built out of garbage in New York city.  Interesting how these feelings are on opposite ends.

 These works, by Rob Swainston, are mixed media collages. Both Proposition 40 and Proposition 41 appear to be made of mostly paper in dark and gloomy colors that are folded and crumbled in various ways. They are then put in a deep white frames with glass covering the images. The various marks and patterns are very interesting. they cause the viewer to look very closely. There are deep foldes and marks that create more depth than the objects actually have.

This collage is very impressive as soon as the viewer enters the room. It is 12 ft x 15 ft, and looms over its audience. It is layered and saturated with various figures and images. Black & Whitish, 2007, by Abigail DeVille, is a work that could be observed for quite some time without the viewer seeing every element. It is a mixed media that appears to include pencil, crayon, charcoal, paint, and conte. The images are dark and threatening, and yet there is still a lighthearted playfulness present.