Inspirational ENAMELISTS

HARLAN W. BUTT 

[artist Statement]: 

"My influences often come from the flora and fauna of the places I have lived, their colors, textures and shapes. But as human being I also live in a world of relationship, interaction and communication and so imagery, even of nature, can be metaphorical as well as literal.

Earth Beneath Our Feet: Horizon #1

MARIA PHILLIPS

ARTIST STATEMENT: "My obsession with time and the aging process has been a recurring theme in my work for the past decade. This preoccupation has fueled my interest in non-tradtiontional processes and materials in order to further examine the relationship between the natural 

and the man made. i incorporate non-precious metals with natural and found objects as well as elements based on industrial and anatomical forms. Manipulation a

nd subversion of these materials results in forms saturated with tension. Repetition of elements produces mass, an outcome that can be both seductive and cha

otic. Fabrication and electroforming permit the cultivation of new forms, while various surface enhancements influence the concepts of the work. Continual investigation of new processes and mediums are what compel, stimulate and challenge my creative process."

charcoal

I will always have a love for drawing with charcoal. It's been a long time since i got my hands dirty with it but tonight i just couldn't help myself. I'm usually so busy with other things but tonight i treated myself. I felt like nothing was turning out very well but i just kept trying. I think one quick drawing of Bobby came out okay but practice makes... better. 

all natural dye

Red Onion skins:   I've been working in produce at a little, family owned grocery store for about 5 years now off and on, and surprisingly i get a lot art ideas from work. I like the forms, shapes, textures, etc found in nature in produce. When restocking the red onions today, a lot of the loose skins were left in the bottom of the box. I had heard that an older lady used to collect them from us around easter to use them to make dyes. I took a bag of onion skins home (everyone thinks i'm such a weird art girl) to experiment making a dye. 

I boiled them for about 5 minutes and instantly it turned the water brownish red then as it boiled it turned into a nice maroon. I strained it and let it cool. I probably should have let it boil or sit longer but i really wanted to see how it looked on paper. I used it like watercolor paints and gave some paper a red wash. As it dried the dye turned green!? 

Completely dry, the red dye turned into a brownish green...  weird, right? I'm sure if i did some research, there would have been a right way of doing all this but i honestly just wanted to get my hands in it. The green color was actually really nice and i'll still use it but it was just a surprise. 

So, if you'd like a green, all natural dye... boil red onion skins.

inspiration in poems

Bobby and I have been reading a bunch of Stephen Crane poems and a lot of them really get my mind going. I'd love to do some drawings or paintings from them or even some jewelry. I think it would be awesome to etch the poems in a piece. Here's one of my favorites:

Many red devils ran from my heart

and out upon the page,

they were so tiny

the pen could mash them .

And many struggled in the ink.

it was strange to write in this red muck

of things from my heart.

future project ideas

With spring semester fast approaching, i've been thinking about future projects and where my research is going. I have finally established my own style and i think i should go with it instead of trying to come up with completely different ideas like the one i had earlier about researching old medical instruments. I want to some how connect my korean heritage with my american life. I'd really like to make a statement about my experience being a korean adoptee. It's something that makes me different and it's almost a way for me to work out/ heal issues that i've had to deal with. 

Today I was thinking about ancient masks, their meaning, uses, styles, etc. I looked up korean masks but once again i've come across the dilemma of little information out there. No books and most of the info is very vague. The carved wood masks are beautiful in the contours and forms they take. The craftsmanship of the ancient ones are admirable but there are thousands of  cheap replicas out there today made for key chains, magnets, touristy trinkets, etc.

i've also been looking at other examples of masks/ face

 armor/helmets from other cultures and times. It's so interesting how each culture had their own version of masks. I think the greek/roman face armor and helmets are interesting and are always a general  point of interest. There's a lot of images and information out there about them. Also, masquerade masks are always admired for their beauty. I've always had a set of masquerade masks on my bedroom wall that i thought were the prettiest things, i loved them and still have them. People are obsessed with them, i think because they were used to hide identities at balls. There's a playful, sexual mystery and allure about them.

Not really sure where this could go but i was inspired by what i learned in my raising and forging class. Now that i kind of know how metal moves i'd love to try and make something other than a vessel.

late photos

late photos

RING PROJECT: sheet

-pierced out floral pattern (inspired by hanbok designs & part made up)

-20 ga bronze

-nickel silver tube

-sterling silver rivets

-2 finger ring: ring finger + pinky

-not supposed to be truely functional/wearable

blog to check out

thereweretentigers.blogspot.com

there's photos from a miami art fair. 

-some of the work is really interesting!

welcome to technology suzi

I will admit when it comes to the technology race, i'm usually in last place (and happy with it). I will avoid buying the new/hip products as much as possible because... well i'm cheap. I don't see spending tons of money on a product when in a month it will be the old model or broken. I have bought a few really nice electronic items in my life but experience has lead me to believe that they are not supposed to survive a year or two. It seemed like such a waste. I could not stand it. My father loves to to buy semi-nice electronics, so my house has become this electronic graveyard. For example, we probably have 3 or 4 PC laptops and 3 desktops that all slow as hell and/or have something wrong with them. 

This last semester I have come to realize how important technology really is to a student in the design/art field. It's been like pulling teeth with me but i am actually starting to like it. My dell laptop that i got when i started college just didn't have what it took to hold up this semester so i saved and saved for a macbook. I learned to use photoshop and illustrator this semester so i knew i was going to need them sooner or later.  

I got the standard macbook and even passed up the black one because it was $100 more for the same model. I also splurged and got the CS4 design standard. I'm on my new mac right now and am waiting for the software to be delivered as we speak. i'm pretty excited. i just hope the mac will prove my bad attitude wrong and last for years.