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Category Archives: Wood

dean lucker & ann wood’s mechanical sculptures are visual poetry

Written on December 13, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Wood

Dean Lucker builds mechanical sculptures and Ann Wood is a mixed media painter. They have never worked as individual artists – Lucker and Wood “share a studio like we share a life.” The husband and wife team have collaborated on art and life for more than 25 years.

I have included a few images of their mechanical pictures (as opposed to their mechanical sculptures), although I could not find any pictures that truly do this work justice. However, the video above, from MN Original, a weekly series that celebrates Minnesota’s creative community, showcases the sculpture and the artists quite beautifully.

Winking Moon, 14″ x 8″ x 1.5″

As you press the handle, the gentleman’s arm raises a flower to his nose as the moon’s eye winks. The moon gently reassures the man of his romantic spirit.

I Will Always Love You, 13″ x 8″ x 2″, closed

I Will Always Love You, open

This mechanical picture has a brass lever that when pressed will cause the girl to open a fan shaped folded card with the message “I Will Always Love You.”

Dean Lucker and Ann Wood’s website

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rachel rotenberg: stories told in wood

Written on November 10, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Wood

Rachel Rotenberg builds cedar lumber sculptures after sketching a form until a complete idea or feeling emerges. Rotenberg cuts, glues, clamps, grinds and sands the wood, finishing each piece with a wash of oil paint to “create a dialogue between the forms.” She expertly weaves vines and stories into the wood as she works and describes her sculptures as stories told in wood.

Erin, wood, oil paint, 61″ x 53″ x 8″

Qatsum, wood, vine, wire, oil paint, 47″ x 36″ x 11″

Untitled 131, wood, wire, oil paint, 13″ x 35″ x 16″

Untitled, wood, oil, paint, 23″ x 30″ x 11″

Rachel Rotenberg’s website

ask daMuse

Tonight I am hosting a FREE one-hour webinar.

Think of it as a mini version of the Artist Online Seminar.

This is a Q & A call – you ask daMuse questions about how you can make your artist website better and I walk you through the answers live!

I’m doing this so you can get a taste of how the seminar works. There will be no hard-sell of the class on the call.

The call is completely unscripted – just me answering your questions.

You don’t have to sign up for the call, you don’t have to give me your email address to get in, you just have to click on the link below and it will bring you directly to the meeting room.

Time: 8:00 pm Eastern Time

Place:

Daily Art Muse Meeting Room

Talk to you soon!

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james grashow’s cardboard sculptures confront impermanence

Written on October 18, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Paper, Wood

Bouquets of cardboard buildings masquerading as flowers, cardboard monkeys swinging from ceilings, cardboard and twist tie birds, a cardboard fountain inspired by Rome’s Trevi Fountain – it’s hard to pick a favorite work from James Grashow’s impressive collection.

Fountain, corrugated cardboard

Fountain, detail

“With each mistake you get closer and closer to the vision of what you are looking for…half of everything is being willing to make a mistake…even more than half. I’m very willing to make a mistake.” James Grashow

Houseplant Brooklyn, detail

Houseplant Atlanta, detail

Houseplant Atlanta, detail

Grashow credits access to a constant supply of cardboard as a child as the gateway to the purposefully impermanent structures he creates today.

Watch this video and see how witnessing the unintended decay of his sculptures changed the way Grashow makes art.

James Grashow’s website. Get ready to say WOW! He is also a well known woodcut artist. Grashow’s words about his relationship to wood had a powerful impact on me – they speak to the way so many artists feel about their materials, inspiration or compulsion to create:

“When I touched my first wood block, something amazing happened. While others found their tools sticking and their wood splintering, my wood yielded and my tools glided over the surface. Somehow I felt biologically connected to the process. I seemed to respond chemically to the feel of the wood and the richness of the line it produced. I fell in love with woodcuts on the spot. They would be part of my life from that moment on.” More here.

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sylvie rosenthal: kinetic sculpture steeped in the impossible

Written on August 26, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Metal, Wood

“The everydayness of the human condition.” This is the subject of Sylvie Rosenthal’s art. “The everydayness of the human condition” – I like it. She expresses this condition in her work by relying on humor, metaphors and meticulous fine craftsmanship to tell the story.

Yes, Yes, Oh No
11″ x 27.5″ x 6.5″, mahogany, steel, plywood, milk paint, mixed media

Escape
30″ x 10.5″w x 6″, mahogany, poplar, steel, paint, mixed media

Cranks, pulleys and an element of surprise are what you get when you move in close to these sculptures. A fine furniture maker and sculptor, Rosenthal thrives on experimentation; she knows how to have fun with her art – and with us. Perhaps the work resonates with me because I am inspired by similar things: “passing cars, hard times, good feelings, dish washers and other angels, tight rope walkers, and feelings that are so deep down that you are not sure if they are yours or if you are supposed to have them all.”

Two Birdies, One Stone
25″ x 13″ x 9″, MDF, oak, steel, mahogany, mixed media

“I invoke birds and beasts as metaphors in this natural history of daily life.” Sylvie Rosenthal

Um Passaro para o Rei Pequeno (A Bird for the Little King)
mahogany, poplar, plywood, steel, milk paint, mixed media

A Confident Perch
33.5 ” x 8″ x 6.5″ deep, poplar, mahogany, paint, steel

“This work deals with transformation from the inside out, the slow and continual evaluation and re-evaluation of life, what is important, and how to get there from here. It is steeped a bit in the impossible. The impossibilities of getting there, a place within oneself that is balanced in a permanent way.

We must always change, evolve, fall, recover, remember and forget. It is our evolutionary heritage. We look for the balance in the imbalance and uncertainty, the ebbs and flows of our own personal gravity. My work approaches these topics with humor and playfulness.” Sylvie Rosenthal

Sylvie Rosenthal’s website – check out all of the galleries in her portfolio – giraffe as lighthouse, rabbits, furniture, snakes and more. Beautiful work.

Thanks to Kay Bonitz for the link.

A Break, A Hurricane, A Reminder

I’m taking a break from posting and will return here after the Labor Day Holiday. During my break I will to continue to work with 35 students in the Artist Online program. I also hope to spend some time sitting on the beach reading, relaxing, letting the ocean’s gifts wash over me, clearing the clutter in my mind as I get ready for the upcoming Fall season. However, if Irene has anything to say about it I’ll be cleaning up after a hurricane first – looks like we won’t escape her wrath on the East Coast. Wherever you are, stay safe, enjoy the last bits of summer and I’ll see you soon.

Out to See
49″ x 13″ x 29″, poplar, white oak, paint, mixed media

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jeff soan’s articulated sculptures

Written on August 23, 2011 by Susan Lomuto in Featured, Recycled, Wood

You’ve probably seen articulated snake toys like these at some time in your life, but I’m fairly certain you haven’t seen what Jeff Soan does with the same articulation technique.

Elephant

Octopus

Soan’s sculptures, which he has been making for more than twenty years, are almost all made from found or reclaimed wood. His ambitious efforts have resulted in an array of creations including an elephant, octopus, camel and seal. Watch a short clip of the seal in action . The sinuous movement is captivating as the seal responds to touch, moving its head when stroked.

Seals

Torching the wood is one of the techniques he uses and enjoys, though he is quick to say that it doesn’t always work in his favor. He lost his entire studio several years ago to a fire that started when he torched a sculpture.

Camel

Border Terrier

Watch a three-part video of Soan creating a crocodile – the video quality isn’t great, but what a treat to watch the artist at work and listen to him explain the process. Here’s part one.

Jeff Soan’s website

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