New salvage piece

I found the wood, the central metal piece (on which I painted the stairs and doorway), and the rusted bangle bracelet in the Minneapolis Mill District near the Soap Factory.

I Don't Think We Thought This Thing Through, by Tracie Thompson. Found objects, oil paint and wax medium, 7.5" h x 3.75" w x 1.5" d.

Stormy portrait session at Old Town Artists

First of all, I'm excited because I made my first little painting at my new studio space with Old Town Artists.  The thistles come from the pasture in Hugo where my horse lives; they are huge, lovely, prickly and fragrant.

 Glass with Wild Thistles by Tracie Thompson. Oil on canvas, 10 x 8".

Last night was full of lightning, a pounding deluge of rain that was worthy of my native southern Florida, some hail, and the obligatory tornado watch.  As a result, only seven artists came out for the portrait session (last week we had thirteen), but we had a lot of fun once we got there.

Don Biehn was back, and created the study above. My tripod couldn't match the height of his easel, thus the perspective distortion in this photo; I like this piece a lot.

Nels Femrite was there, too, keeping the rest of us entertained with his wit while he created the above piece, about 32" wide.  Nels doesn't have anything online for me to link, but perhaps eventually I'll be able to talk him into joining mnartists.org.  For free.

I got made into art last night ...

... because I sat for the portrait modeling session at Old Town Artists.  There were -- if I counted correctly -- thirteen other artists present, all staring at me.  More fun than it sounds, and I took some shots of a few of the resulting images.

Me, drawn in Conte on paper by Alec Smith. Click his name to get to his website.

Two fun drawings by Betty Livingston, long time OTA member.

Don Biehn broke out the watercolors and created this lovely piece.

Matt Linz was still working on this oil painting at the end of the evening; it's To Be Continued next Friday night when I'll be back to do a second session.

Sketch Book Post

Bride at the Como Conservatory, 8 x 10", charcoal and Conté pencils on paper.  I made this quick sketch while she was sitting for the photographer. June 12, 2010.  I was at the Conservatory with WARM, the Womens' Art Registry of Minnesota, for Warm Draw.

This is the statue I was drawing when the bride came in.  Approx. 9 x 6", charcoal pencils and white pastel on brown paper.

Sketch of Carlo, 9 x 9" mixed pencils and white pastel on paper.

Carlo is a Border Collie/Unknown mix I sketched at a local coffeehouse yesterday morning.  Quite the charmer, he was in constant motion and thus a challenging subject, but great fun.

Old Town Artists

So this is the ACVR Warehouse where the Old Town Artists have studio space and figure drawing sessions.  On today's schedule: continue moving into my new little space there!

My 1996 F-150, outside the Warehouse.

The fourth floor is full of artists' studios ...

Including this one!  Photos of my actual space coming soon.

I'll be sitting for the OTA Portraiture session this Friday night, June 18th, from 7 to 9 pm.  If you'd like to attend and draw or paint me, the charge is just $5.  Directions are available on the ACVR Warehouse website.

Soap Factory Sunday

In a couple hours, I'll be at volunteer orientation at the Soap Factory, which is an art space in the old Mill District of Minneapolis. 

I love the building for itself and am intrigued with the things that are happening there, so have decided to get on board.  Volunteering gives me an opportunity to use a large communal studio space over the summer. 

Today it's pleasantly cool out but very rainy and gray.  I'll bring back Mill District photos on a day more conducive to photography.  I may use this day to draw; thinking I'll leave early and make some sketches before orientation begins.

Crooked Little Bayou House

8.5" high; Found objects, oil paint and wax medium.  Available; $65.  This is made from a broken surveyor's stake I found along a highway in Hugo.

Below, for scale, the Bayou House in my hand. 

Here's the lower right part of the roof, where you can see part of a map printed on the aluminum.  I have no idea ow or why the map fragment is there, but it is why I chose to use this piece of metal.  If you look closely (you can click to enlarge the image), you'll see the "BAYOU" on the map.

Shot Star (and Broken Fan)

Shot Star (and Broken Fan).  Found objects, oil paint and wax medium. 26" x 18" x 4.5"

The star -- a battered decorative metal box -- and the crushed fan cage both came from an illegal dump site near my grandmother's house in La Belle, Florida.  The wooden letters were found in the ruins of the little Children's Science Center in Fort Myers.

The "clock hands" piece, I found along the interstate in Tennessee where my truck broke down in July 2008. I was exploring the roadside while waiting for the mechanic to show.

The crow is painted on aluminum salvaged from the ground around a ruined farmhouse in Hugo, Minnesota. I used that same metal to form little sleeves for the screws that hold the letters and the moon in place. I wanted to raise them off the surface, to get the effect of an old sign.

The "w" was broken and I did have others that weren't, but I chose to use it anyway, wiring it directly to the surface like a half-assed repair job.

This piece has been entered in the Advocates Show at the Maple Grove Arts Center, and will be on display there from June 7th through July 23, 2010.

Old Town Artists drawing session

This was Wednesday night, 5/26/10. My first life-drawing session with the Old Town Artists, a group I've now joined.

I am setting up a studio space with Old Town Artists in the ACVR Warehouse at 106 West Water Street, St. Paul. This building is part of the bi-annual St. Paul Art Crawl, and I can't wait to participate in that!

Stay tuned for more news as I get out of the basement here in Robbinsdale and into this fun, thriving little artist community.