Each year, the Good Samaritan Project of Kansas City holds a benefit auction called Corks and Canvas, to which I always contribute a piece of my art, usually a painting.  This year, I’ve decided to donate an organic sculpture and I thought I’d recount the process.  Here’s a photo of the piece to date:

OK, I know it doesn’t look like much, just some sticks stuck in… what?  Yes, it’s just some sticks stuck in concrete.  Let me explain.  My organic sculptures are created from limbs I trim from the the trees and bushes in my back yard.  I combine them with different materials to create the sculptures.  Here are a few photos of other pieces I’ve done.

So, here’s what I’ve done so far on the piece I’m calling Arlene was not convinced that Jeffrey was really the Green Hornet’s cousin:

Step 1 — I collected limbs that looked like they would give me an interesting shape.

Step 2 — I trimmed and sanded any knots.

Step 3 — I tried various configurations of the limbs and when I found the grouping that I liked, I connected them first with wire and then with screws to make a stable, solid structure.

Step 4 — In order to make the piece more stable, I decided to encase the base of the limbs in concrete.  I gathered some chicken wire and other types of wire to strengthen the concrete and bent them in to a rough shape for the base.

Step 5 — Next, I dug a hole a bit larger than the wire base and about two inches deep.

Step 6 — I lined the hole with garbage bags in order give the bottom of the base a smoother surface.

Step 7 — I decided that the concrete base should sit just off the ground (or floor, if the purchaser decided to display the piece inside), so I removed the garbage bags and dug three shallow holes, about 1/2 inch deep to accommodate some rounded rocks I collected.  I replaced the garbage bags, placed the three round rocks in the holes and put the wire mesh in the hole.

Step 8 — I placed the connected limbs in the hole on top of the garbage bags and mixed some QuikCrete (a quick-setting cement mixture that is often used to set fence posts; it usually hardens within about an hour).

Step 9 — When I poured the QuikCrete into the hole with the wire mesh and limbs, I could tell that I had used too much water and that I did not have enough QuikCrete to fill the hole (this is always a trial and error operation).  Having purchased only one bag, I drove to the local hardware store and bought another bag.  Fortunately, the hardware store is only about six blocks away, so the QuikCrete hadn’t hardened and I was able to add enough to fill the hole and take up the rest of the water.

Step 10 — I smoothed the cement and went inside to have cup of coffee, leaving the piece to begin the drying/hardening process.  From start to finish, it had taken four hours to get to this point.

That was all yesterday.  Today, when I checked, the cement had hardened, but I’m going to give it a couple of days before digging it out of the ground.  In the mean time, I’m working on other parts of the project.  I’ll document those in the next few days.

I’ve completed three new pieces for Hello Art.  I showed you the early stages of Water 1; here’s the completed piece.

This piece is called Water 2.  It is 8″ x 10″.

The title of this piece is Horizon.  It is 11″ x 14″

Cafe Trio, on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, is hosting a show of holiday-themed art until the middle of January.  Two of my photos were chosen for the show.  Stop in at Cafe Trio, have a great meal, and see my art.  Here’s a sneak peak.

In addition to the mixed media piece I’ve been chronicling, I’m doing another plaster piece on hardboard and a few canvasses.

Here’s the start of the plaster piece.  I’m thinking of titling it “Face it”.

Here’s the easel piece I’m working on.  It is getting very close to being completed.  Working title is “Seashore” although it’s not technically a landscape painting (at least I don’t think of it that way).

On December 2, I’ll be participating in the Hello Art Holiday Show at Union Station in Kansas City.  Twenty local artists were chosen to be a part of the show.  In addition to the three-dimensional pieces I’m working on, I’m doing a few traditional easel painting of various sizes.  Here are a few things I’ll show.  All of these are small works, 8″ x 10″ or less.

Estelle was sure the Chrysler needed new tires

The River

Water 1
(This piece is not finished; this is just a first pass at the canvas)

Below are a couple of photos of stage two of the project.  I gessoed the piece first and then added plaster to create texture to the flat area.  The plaster has a tendency to crack a bit, so when it dries completely, I’ll fill in the crack with more plaster and then gesso the entire piece again.  At that point, I’ll start painting.

On the upper left is another piece I’m working on.  Same process.  The plaster
on this one is a bit thicker, so it’s taking longer to dry.  I’ll probably be able to
add more plaster tomorrow or Sunday.  Rushing the drying doesn’t work very well.

I’m working on several pieces for the Hello Art Holiday show at Union Station in Kansas City, December 2.  This is the beginning of a visual diary of the project.  I’ll be posting photos of the progress of the piece.

This is the blank of hardboard, with layout lines,
I’ll be working on.

This is the bottom of the piece.  It is elevated
about 1 1/2″ by three wooden balls.

Here, I’ve added pieces of shaped tree limbs
(semi-xyloglyphs) along the layout lines.

Here’s another view of the location of the
semi-xyloglyphs.

Final view of the layout.  The next step is adding
a base coat of paint on the front and back.