100 little indians in a row

On a friend's recommendation, I made a point of driving down the Great Highway to Ocean Beach on my last AWS Friday. It was a little foggy on the coast, but it didn't take away from the view that day. San Francisco-born artist, Thom Ross, had erected his beautifully painted plywood cutouts along the beach in the same place as a his inspiration, a black and white photo of Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show, was taken back in 1902.


I took a few photos with my iPhone but the photos don't properly capture the scale and the fabulous detail work on all 100 life-sized pieces. I loved the flags, ribbons and feathers that were integrated into the painting as they flapped in the ocean breeze. It was a very enjoyable afternoon distraction. Below is my favorite indian. I was hoping someone would go up and pose while I was here, but alas no takers.

stretching paper

I am branching out, so to speak, and trying something new. I was at a art material expo and was chatting with an artist who had these wonderful watercolor paintings of crystal and glass. She stretches her paintings over wooden stretcher bars and I was inspired to do the same. I boughts some big beefy bars so that there would be some substance to it and perhaps it would look so good I wouldn't have to frame it.

First I started with a big sheet of watercolor paper. I wet it in the tub and after the first couple of times I managed to stop spraying myself. I let it hang a bit so that I wouldn't slop too much on my way to the kitchen table.

I cut the paper about 3 inches over the frame and trimmed it again once I set the stretcher bars over the paper. I tried a bunch of different corner techniques and settled on one that gave me a neat square edge. I was a little worried about the bubbles, but after I stapled the frame using a standard canvas stretching pattern and set it to dry. They came out looking pretty good. I'll be doing some small and some very large paintings on it. I took a varnishing class as well so there are bound to be at least one or two good varnishing stories after I finish up the paintings.

Wacky Twinkie Clay Sculptures

A while back I talked about this idea I had to actually sculpt stuff using twinkies. Well I hemmed, I hawed, I bought some twinkies. Then I bought more. I was cleaning and found the bag of twinkies and decided that something had to be done. So I called Becky and told her that I had a wacky idea and that she was just the accomplice for me. Yep this Sunday was the day.


So I pulled out 8 twinkies for each of us and we started cutting them, separating the yellow cake from the toasted brown bottoms.


Then you mush them up. For a while until they start looking like modeling clay. Modeling clay made from twinkies. At no time did I want a twinkie. I knew they were kinda old and the last time I ate them they were incredibly sweet to my palate. But after they start looking like a mushy ball of yellow and brown clay, you really get over any thoughts of eating it. Although I'm quite sure that it still tastes a bit like twinkies. We let it sit for a bit since they were quite a bit soft. After about 20 minutes it started looking good.

I decided to make a monkey since I was using the anniversary flavored banana creme twinkies. Becky began working on her mermaid. It was a little tricky getting the clay to stick to itself, but it came out looking pretty good. Now we just have to wait for the clay to dry.

Spring 2008 Update

A few new things are happening. A big one is a new web design. Speaking of big, I'm still working in a larger format and This season I'm working BIG. I was a little frustrated by the size limitations of watercolor sheets, 22 x 30 inches. So I bought a huge roll of watercolor paper and have less constraints on my work. They will likely be 30 x 40 inch pieces. No little works this time around. This spring the new work I'm showing is a continuation of the San Francisco close up series. It was fun to pick out a few more places that I hope you will recognize, but perhaps not right away.

Twinkie Goodness

A while back, Cathryn and I met up with an old friend of her. They were having some sort of Girl Scout alumni retreat. The focus was on crafts and relaxation and as we approached the dining hall, we could see two women in massage chairs, working hard at the relaxing part. Since it was still early we took a tour around to see what projects people were working on. One particular activity in the corner caught my eye.

It involved twinkies. Specifically, using twinkies as a modeling clay and sculpting with it. I was horrified and fascinated. I took one of the the instruction sheets, because I will do this. I will sculpt something using only twinkies as the "clay".

Here are the instructions. If you were the person who came up with this idea, please contact me so I can give you proper credit for this.

Twinkies Project

Goal: To sculpt "anything" from 4 packages of TWINKIES

Things you'll need
4 packages of Twinkies - that's 8 cakes total
1 knife
plastic or latex gloves


Step 1: Open 4 pkgs of Twinkies.
Step 2: With a knife, slice off and save the base of each Twinkie.
Note the base is a different color and will provide a contrasting color for whatever you choose to sculpt.
Step 3: Mash all the base pieces together with your hands (this is a great time to put on those gloves) and include as much of the white cream filling that may be stuck to the bases. We will be using every part of the twinkie for this project. Continue kneeding until you have achieved a uniform color and consistency. Set aside in a ball. The stickiness will go away eventually and you will have what resembles "play dough".
Step 4: Do the same with the rest of the bars. This may take a while...persevere.
Step 5: Think of something to SCULPT! Sleeping animal...Christmas tree ornament...pretty much whatever!

Once you've finished sculpting, place on a firm surface to dry. Your finished product will harden and keep FOREVER! It will never rot or mold, but it will always have a bit of that "Twinkie" smell.

If you complete this project one rainy day, please send me a picture so I can post it here.

Fall 2007 Update

Welcome back. This season I'm working BIG. My new work is still watercolor on paper, but I'm working on full-size sheets. While working larger than I'm used to brings on some interesting challenges, I have to say that I'm please with the way the work is coming out. I thought it would be interesting to play with contradictions, so the new work I'm showing are a series of close up paintings of familar San Francisco landmarks.

Spring 2007 Update

I'm back in the studio again. I've made some changes to the space and am pleased with the nice white walls that replaced the dark wood paneling. I'm finishing up a series of Tessellated Paintings just in time for Spring Open Studios at Hunter's Point Shipyard. This series was strongly influenced by the mosaics I saw in Rome last summer. In addition to this busy weekend, you can see my art up in Petaluma at the Aurora Colors Gallery from April 28 - May 26 for their May Day exhibit, showcasing All Things Bright and Beautiful. They are located at 145 Kentucky street in downtown Petaluma.