from within

You can run after satisfaction, but satisfaction must come from within.

late night sketch

prints, prints and more prints. I need to do something with them all.

wickiup sketch, something to dwell on.

Wickiup and wilderness shelters

Wickiup: domed room dwelling, used by Native American tribes. Sketching these into my web of continual ideas. This shelter could also be called a wigwam.

Believe it or not I am inspired by these shelters, especially when they are hidden away in a forest that very few know about. I will post a few of my sketch book entrys when they are ready.

a quick look

A few quick shots of the new wall sculptures, the lighting was not the best but it gives you an idea of what they are like. One more to finish and then I am going to move on to the next project. This would be my first part of the new work for this year, lots more to experiment with, ideas to brainstorm and objects to find. Off to a fair start though.

bird heads

That took a long time making the molds, pouring the plaster and finally dried out enough that I can continue the wall sculptures. The final plaster bird heads turned out nice, the beaks could of turned out a little better in my opinion, but I am probably just a little picky. I've actually finished one of the wall sculptures, wax and all and it is currently hanging in my studio. However, I am still not sure how pleased I am with the piece. It did turn out the way I thought, but sometimes it takes a few days or even weeks before I can be perfectly happy with what I created.

Now I have two sculptures left to finish and in the end I will have a series of four, and it would be great if someone wanted the series for their home, studio or workplace. As much as like my work and like having my stuff on the walls of the studio, art is always best shared with others. Send me a note if you are interested and like always we can work something out.

Not too sure what is up next after the wall sculptures, I do have a couple ideas lingering and I am sure they will be explored soon. Oh ya, the hemlock dye didn't really turn out like I thought so that will be an ongoing project. Maybe the paper didn't take the dye like it should have. Does anyone have any ideas on paper that would soak up dye nicely???

another wall sculpture and hemlock

You might be wondering where the heck did I find the bluejay feathers, well that is it I found them. I am thinking a cat had a chance at the jay and the bird lost a few feathers. I kept the feathers until I had the right materials to use them, together I have a piece of found wood and I am in the middle of making a couple molds of a bird. My friend Vince let me use a bird head mold that he made a little while ago and I had also found a little bird statue at the Bible For Missions op shop. To make my new molds I am using a liquid latex rubber (Burma Rubber) and once that is complete I can pour plaster into them to make my bird heads. Sounds strange, or hard to picture so I will try to post a few more photos of the process and hopefully that would give a good idea on how everything is made.

I've posted a photo of my Hemlock bark, boiling, seeping and turning itself into a dye. I have no idea how this will turn out, but if all is good I can finally dye some paper or use the dye as an ink, paint or stain. It is a bit of an experiment, that is what makes this type of work fun.

I will make another post this week and or weekend to show my progress in the sculptures and the dye so make sure to visit my art blog again. Thanks and enjoy.

fish bones

Here is my first post of the new year, I really do need to get back into the routine of posting my work. I've had these objects for a little while now, but have not had the chance to use them yet. So here you go, another rabbit sculpture using found wood, fish bone, fish lure, buttons and maybe a hawk feather. This one will be a little more challenging to piece together, however I am sure something interesting will happen with the piece when I am finished. There are also a couple photos of a new but old suitcase that I am going to start to change, and all that Hemlock that I collected while at the Wolfden that I still need to boil in order to dye paper.

There are so many ideas that I have for this years series of art so please keep visiting my art blog. I will be posting as often as I can and remember if there is anything you see that you like, everything is for sale. Unless is has already been sold of course.

cheers, earlie

a place of peace

The Wolfden in Dwight, about 10kms from Algonquin Park is my place of peace in Ontario. I was there helping my friend Ben about a week ago and he took me out to find some Hemlock. Which I believe is one of Canada's oldest living trees. Well the Hemlock tree has this inner bark that is deep red or burgandy and if you search particular spots of a forest you will most likely find a blown down tree. We found a few trees that day and took some bark so that we can boil the natural dye out from the bark. I think and make sure to read more about it first, you can make tea from the bark that be a medicine of some sort.

Anyhow, I will be trying to dye some paper and fabric with that deep colour from the Hemlock. I will most likely make a small series of prints with the dyed paper, and from all the inspiration of being in the forests up north I might have an idea for a new series of work. Something to do with shelters, naturally built in the woods, survival type things. A mix of what I have been working on over the past year or so combined with forest art and these shelters might offer some interesting creations.


http://www.wolfdenbunkhouse.com

The Harris Collective

Hi Folks, I have some great news. I applied to be apart of an art collective that is held at the Elora Center For the Art and I got in. Below is a link to the main page of the collective and you can see the other artist that are part of the gallery.

http://www.eloracentreforthearts.ca/index.cfm?page=gallery_goodQuestion


Roisin Gormley-Young is the Education Programme Coordinator at the center and helped me choose the work that I have submitted to the Harris Collective. I would just like to thank her for the help that she offered me.

My work will show with the collective for approx a year and I will also volunteer at the center during that time. This is very exciting for me and hopefully I will be able to gain more exposure as an artiest.

Konbit Shelter Project in Haiti

Below is from the project website http://konbitshelter.org/, it is a great project and totally cool. I love this type of construction for homes and the artists and volunteers are making a positive different and change for the people of Haiti. Need I say more, please check out the link and support this project even though the project is at its completion.

Konbit Shelter is a sustainable building project with the objective of sharing knowledge and resources through the creation of homes and community spaces in post earthquake Haiti. We are a group of artists, builders, architects, and engineers, who, after the January 2010 earthquake, asked ourselves how we could use our skills and resources to directly assist another community in a time of crisis.

http://konbitshelter.org/fundraiserart

the studios i've had

I have had so many studios during my path as an artist. Everything from forest floors to sharing a beautiful space in an old building in Guelph. My homes have always offered great space as well, in the basements mind you but at least I had a space that allowed me explore my style and create new things. Now I find myself waiting to go on a trip to Hawaii, the big island, and volunteering and create art at a yoga center. The art shed is a place that will let me make new things during a new adventure.

more from this summer

here are a few more from this summer.

summer exposure

i thought i would bring back some images of what i did this summer. this year has brought new exposure for my work and i've made some interesting pieces. so during the next few posts i am going to dig through the many photos that i have taken to show some of the progress that i have had this year.

artists can cook...

i am not posting this because i have run out of material, i just thought it would be a little peek of what else i like doing as an artist. COOK. i went to the streetsville farmers market this weekend with uncle luciano and we picked out some goodies. some corn, squash, garlic and a bit of maple syurp i was all ready to make a dish using all local produce. even the garlic!

i roasted everything and then made a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, maple syrup, ground cummin, corriander and paprika and seasoned with salt and pepper. i must say it turned out really great, really sweet from the corn squash mixed in with the lime and maple, but it also had a nice smokey taste from the barbeque.

after i filled my belly with yummy goodness i went back to the drawing table and worked on my prints. so far a good days work.