09-30-11. Building blocks.

09-29-11. Whirling dervishes by Gulcin Anil.

09-28-11. Space Battleship Yamato.

09-27-11. "Drum Kit" made of cans by Helmut Smits.

The Amber Series

The Amber series is now complete. I learned about seven gemstones: amber, turquoise, peridot, amethyst, citrine, aquamarine, and mother of pearl. The information that I gathered went into making the following artworks. All pieces are available for purchase unless otherwise noted. Some of the artwork has links to previous blog posts which contain additional media related to each piece (such as video) and purchasing information.

amber

"Amber", oil on canvas, 24x24"

turquoise

"Turquoise Parrot", oil on canvas, 18x24"

peridot

"Peridot, AZ" [SOLD]

"Peridot, AZ (West La Bamba)" [SOLD]

"Peridot, AZ (El Taco Drive)", oil on canvas, 16x20" [SOLD]

amethyst

"Lights of Amethyst (Owls)", oil on canvas, 16x20"

citrine

"Citrine Wagtail", oil on canvas, 12x12"

aquamarine

"Aquamarine", oil on canvas, 16x20"

mother of pearl

"Mother of Pearl", oil on canvas, 16x20"

This also concludes an unnamed trio of series. They aren't really tied together by anything, I just do my series in threes. The other two series are 503 Starfish and 94 Grecian Rose.

I've learned a lot while working on these series. I have a better idea of what I want to achieve. I've already gotten started on the first part of my next three series. They should be fun, or at least interesting; I had to bake a cake for the first one. So, stay tuned...

09-26-11. Our chimney.

Mother of Pearl

"Mother of Pearl", for sale on Etsy, $35

This painting is loosely based on a photo of capiz mother-of-pearl that I found on Flickr. In the lower left I've included a tweet that uses the phrase "mother of pearl". The tweet is meant to float up like a distraction, similar to the way that art viewers might text and tweet while they view artwork.

09-25-11. Eyeball candies for Halloween.

09-24-11. Wounded Caribou, 1961 stonecut print by Aqjangajuk Shaa.

09-23-11. "Breaking Plate of Scrambled Eggs", 1967 drawing by Claes Oldenburg.

09-22-11. LOLcat Goes to Teh Leaning Tower of Pisa.

09-21-11. China in Indianapolis @ Szechwan Garden.

09-20-11. Our laser pointer.

09-19-11. "Ugly Duckling", 2004 collage by Wangechi Mutu.

Aquamarine

"Aquamarine", oil on canvas, 16x20"
For sale on Etsy, $80.99

This painting contains a fusion of visual elements that I collected when I searched for the word "aquamarine" on Bing and in Google's shopping section. The various parts have been altered from their original forms to create an ambiguous scene. The chemical formula for the aquamarine gemstone is in the lower left of the painting.

09-18-11. A face full of character.

09-17-11. Mozzarella cheese on tonight's pizza.

09-16-11. Harold's moustache.

09-15-11. A newt.

09-14-11. Peru in Indianapolis @ Machu Picchu.

09-13-11. The chips and dip that I ate while watching Cassavetes' "Gloria".

09-12-11. My toes & the tan lines from my sandals.

Peridot, AZ (El Taco Drive)

Peridot, AZ (El Taco Drive), SOLD

This is the third version of the "peridot" painting for my "AMBER" series. I have sold the first two.
Find more information about the mini-series on my Flickr set.

09-11-11. My box of cereal.

09-10-11.

09-09-11. My knitting needles and a project that I never get around to finishing...

09-08-11. View of Hawaii from the airplane window during our honeymoon last year.

09-07-11. The open/closed sign at A Taste of Philly Pretzel Bakery.

09-06-11. I think it would be hard for me to look good in clogs. My feet are too big :(

09-05-11. Sound waves inspired these colorful bands on an art center in Texas.

Citrine Wagtail

Citrine Wagtail, $95. For sale on Etsy.

Citrine & Nosh on Seventh: A Virtual Trip to Portland, OR

You can see my citrine blog posts here.

09-04-11. "Basic Plan For Spaceship UA II" by Nat Mayer Shapiro.

09-03-11. A sculpture cast from molten lava by Keith Edmier.

09-02-11. "(in) visible marks over spilled milk", 2010, Rodrigo Oliveira.

09-01-11. Waterslide, painted by Craig Stephens in 2008.

citrine: "solid and miraculous in the face of adversity (citrine)" by Anya Gallaccio

This didn't turn out to be a series this time, unless you can call two items a series... I got too busy to do all of these in addition to my normal daily sketch posts. Anyway...


"solid and miraculous in the face of adversity (citrine)" is a cast glass sculpture that was made by Anya Gallaccio in 2005. I'm not sure about the backstory for this piece, I just know that Gallaccio is  a Scottish artist who likes to work with organic materials.