Storefronts Auburn 2013

The Storefronts Auburn program is still going and will continue into 2013. Well it looks like a downtown space might open up for me to move into in January 2013. Hoping the stars align and it works out. I have been on a good creative streak with my music and my art lately. The timing seems perfect.
Will update when I know more.

Green River Series study

Looking forward to Auburn's Artrageous tomorrow. Weather looks great and the new venue should be fun. I have been working on my Green River series doing lots of thinking and lots of drawings.I enjoy the process as much if not more than the finished piece. I'm doing a study piece for a larger work and have shared some of the process below.

The mahogany blank. A good looking wood and enjoyable to carve. Takes detail well and very consistent grain. You don't want to carve birdseye maple it will drive you crazy.

The shape is drawn and I remove the background leaving a thin frame around the edge. I freehand a router using a spiral cut straight bit. Strong hands and patience required.

Now the fun part, removing wood with the hand tools. This is where you shape the piece as you want it. I never do "realistic" pieces I don't enjoy that. Like with music I prefer to write my own songs rather than perform in a cover band.

 Flexcut carving tools come pre-sharpened and are easy to maintain. Traditionally carving tools do not come sharpened, only roughly shaped. They assume that as a carver you have a preference for a sharpening angle which would be dependent on what wood you carve and your technique.

 Coffee fuels the process sometimes. I prefer strong black Sumatran coffee from a French press.

 Starting to get the feel I'm after. Working with clay you can add or remove over and over. With woodcarving, once its removed its gone. I tend to slow down a bit after I have a lot of time and effort invested in a piece.

 90 % done! I now need a little time to think about the final details. Thinking about incorporating some cobalt colored glass into the piece. Have to think about that.

Looking forward to participating in this again. Always a great group of artists and interested visitors.
It will be downtown and they are closing the streets. Auburn is really working hard and doing a great job on bringing arts to the city.
http://www.auburnwa.gov/community/arts_entertainment/artrageous.asp

2012 Storefronts Auburn Roster

Wow, what a great line-up. Can't wait to check out some of these artists. I'm in some really great company. For a full list of artists on Storefronts Auburn’s 2012 Roster and a description of projects, peruse the “Artists and Projects” section of the Storefronts Auburn website.

http://storefrontsauburn.com/artists-and-projects/

The first two are :
Celeste Cooning
February 15 – May 15, 2012
Auburn Valley Creative Arts
March 1 – May 31, 2012

Unleash The Artists

Two retail spaces have been secured in downtown Auburn, now we wait to see who gets them. Hoping one of the spaces meets my requirements and I get a call soon. I feel like a baseball player on a farm team waiting for the call up to "the Big Game". 
There are three categories of projects: installations(displays), creative enterprises (art business), and artist residency( a space to create and display). I've been chosen for a residency.
 Looking forward to a space.

Here Comes Storefronts Auburn