Crystal King Chocolate Milk Here are work-in-progress images from the making of a new set of Crystal Kings paintings for Nuit Blanche 2018. This series of art objects is a combination inkjet print on canvas, 24K gold foil, and acrylic gouache on some of the colors and for all of the velvety black. The final paintings are 18 inches wide by 22 inches tall and 3 inches deep. These images highlight the front face of … >> read more
This set of images was generated from an accidental arrangement of shapes in the process of making new Crystal Kings digital images. The goal was to line up a few pixels, but instead all the shapes in the whole image collapsed onto each other. A tweak of the opacity and a few quick deletes to tweak the composition was all that was necessary. After that – zooming and panning and looking for treasures in the … >> read more
Waiting for spring with some forsythia branches blooming on the kitchen table, cuttings brought indoors last week to force the blooms.
Here are some detail shots of one of the embroidered mandalas that were completed last year during our time in Mexico. This mandala has a face of white linen and a crisp yellow and turquoise color palette. This seems just the thing to look at in this very grey day in Toronto – April 15 and there is 2 inches of snow on the ground and a blizzard in full swing as I write this! … >> read more
When we invent the future, the most important thing is to capture is the feeling so that we can make a connection to that time space and then climb up and forward just like a mountain climber who uses safety ropes on a sheer cliff wall. So what is it like to live in the future, in Central Shield? The animated gif cartoon above was created by taking vignettes from one of Marc’s latest panoramic … >> read more
One of my favorite things to photograph with the kaleidoscope filter are cactus because the spines arrange themselves nicely into elaborate mandalas.
The photographs show work in progress on a monochromatic blue embroidery on white linen mandala. This embroidery is destined to be pressed into clay to make a relief pattern for glazes to pool and reveal the slight indentations left by the embroidered pattern. Ceramics are a new medium to both me and Marc and it will be a while before that work is ready to merge with the embroidery. For now, the work proceeds in … >> read more
In one of the early stages of embroidering a mandala I print out a paper pattern to regulate the stitches, sometimes just a plain grid-in-the-round like this one. This mandala is 34.5 cm in diameter (about 13 inches) and the grid had to be printed in pieces that here are joined with fun neon pink tape. In the next stage this pattern will be stitched to the fabric stretched on an embroidery hoop. See more … >> read more
Last week we started private classes in the ceramics studio of a local artist called Alejandro Sanchez. Alejandro’s family is from nearby Cuernavaca and has for generations produced ceramics, focusing primarily on the casting method. Alejandro himself expanded his craft over decades into every different type of ceramic, including with workshops in Japan and the USA and primarily with experimenting. His vast knowledge and gentle demeanor are a delight in the studio. Alejandro’s studio is … >> read more
This pretty, surreal landscape emerged when beads that were collected in a color palette for an embroidery project spilled out onto white linen that was stretched in another embroidery hoop. The hoop was under a strong studio light and the little beads cast dramatic shadows, creating an open landscape. The beads are collected from all over the world and include yellow glass, yellow jade, green jade, pale blue chalcedony, rose quartz, turquoise cylinders, and seedbeads … >> read more
Meet a cereus cactus species with fruit straight out of a Jim Woodring cartoon and very large white flowers that bloom for just one night.
