Posted in California, Sculpture, tagged Bombay Beach, On The Road on March 31, 2020| 1 Comment »
Bored? Tired of the TV with all the Corona virus news?
Bombay Beach TV Time
Just pick up a few old TV’s and paint your own news … This was seen at Bombay Beach on the shore of the Salton Sea (which is 227 feet below sea level).
This is the creative solution to having to shelter-in-place here in California.
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, tagged Bronze Casting, Ray DeCatur, UT Rio Grand Valley on January 15, 2016| 1 Comment »
Meet Ray DeCatur
Ray DeCatur
Ray DeCatur, Sculpting a female face
Head to Foot the human body is a marvel. Sculpting the face, which has 43 muscles, is a challenge that Ray has taken on. Here is his bust of a girl done in clay which will eventually be cast in bronze. Working with clay to achieve the desired expression of a face is a monumental task. Ray, being a meticulous workman, works and re-works the clay in an effort to reach his final goal. The slightest change of how a muscle is shaped produces an entirely different expression on the face of the young woman. Very tricky !!
Best Foot Forward by R. DeCatur
Amazingly, the foot has 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Here is a foot done by Ray.
The art of casting metal sculpture dates back into ancient times but we have few examples since metal was melted down and reused for war and farm implements. In The 1900’s it became popular due to the Industrial Revolution which provided new tools for the foundry ( a workshop for cast metal). It was the rage to immortalize warriors, statesmen and writers with a statue in their honor. Today there are a few foundries still in the United States, one of which is the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where Ray cast his foot in bronze.
Ray Decantur with Sculpture
Sculpture by Ray Decantur
Posted in My Sculptures, Sculpture, tagged New Yorker Magazine, Real Estate Artist, Saw Dust Sculpture, Theaster Gates, Wood Sculpture on April 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »
A fascinating article in The New Yorker, January 20,2014 titled “The Real Estate Artist” inspired my piece showing a block of wood from an old building, a drawing of a wood-boring beetle, and sawdust.
Theater Gates
This is the ultimate irony we have come to in the art world. Read this clever twist on “art” for fun and insight!
Click here to go to New Yorker article.
Posted in Sculpture, Silicon Valley Open Studios, tagged Collage, Julie Nelson-Gal, Printmaking, Sculpture, Silicon Valley Open Studios on May 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Julie Nelson-Gal with Mandala
Collage! Printmaking! Sculpture!
Julie Nelson-Gal 3-D works
Julie has it all displayed on her studio walls.
Julie Nelson-Gal with her Joseph Cornell Curtain
Separating the adjoining studio from hers is a curtain/banner of Joseph Cornell working in his studio. Her work references his.
Julie Nelson-Gal Sculpture
The beautiful. delicate sculpture incorporates the hair of a friend, feathers, and found objects.
Julie Nelson-Gal Collage
Julie Nelson-Gal Collage
Collage and printmaking are combined.
The artist statement Julie has on her website ( www.julienelsongal.com ) talks of her lifelong interest in photography.
Human habits, memories, and how objects communicate their former functions inform her work. Of course, the objects must also have aesthetic potential to be included in her combined collage/printmaking work. A keen intelligence is at work here!
Posted in My Sculptures UTPA MFA, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged 3-D Palms, Mixed Media, Palms, Sculpture, UTPA MFA on March 1, 2012| 1 Comment »
Palms in the wind! Palms with icicles!
Here is the corner of my studio dedicated to the idea of palms … great colors and very sharp spines up and down the stem.
Gingerly is the way to handle the fronds. In the wind they spiral down to clonk you on the head … when they are covered with ice they fall from 30 feet up and impale flowers, dogs, and people. Wear a hat!
In the last four years that I have been in the Rio Grande Valley two years had a couple days of icy weather. We cover all the flowers and shrubs with plastic and cross our fingers. As dawn rises the palms are coated in ice and shine and sparkle. As the sun comes up the ice coating begins to slide off the palms as they are 40 feet in the air and then watch out!! A sliver of ice could be six inches long and sharp as a knife … it simulates the edges of the palm frond. How exhilarating to watch them descend as you hop around to avoid a hit!
Posted in Sculpture, tagged art philosophy, crafts, Sculpture, woodworking on January 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Off in the morning to see a woodworking craft show in Weslaco, Texas.
Bill Killough
Here is Bill Killough with his intricate little house … of course we all see it as a “hobbit house” after being inundated with “Lord of the Rings” and Disney. The interior spiral staircase is a marvel … I am charmed!
Craft is defined as “skill in making things by hand” or “an occupation requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill.” As I turn his carvings in my hands I wonder … what is the difference between art and craft? His attention to detail and perception of space is excellent. Art, per Wikipedia, is “the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often of symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect.”
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says “The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy … (a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics).” Holding the “hobbit house” and feeling the wood, the way the knife has gouged its way in feathered strokes, it appears to me that there is minimal difference between “art” and “craft” … Bill has his own aesthetic.
Bill Killough "Hobbit House"
Looking carefully at his face and his carvings, you can see his Philosophy of Life!
Posted in My Sculptures UTPA MFA, Sculpture, Texas, tagged My UTPA MFA Sculptures, palm fronds, South Texas Museum of History, texas landscape, UTPA MFA, Windmills on December 19, 2011| 1 Comment »
In the last few days an assignment from Dr. Pace to go to the South Texas Museum of History in Edinburg and select an object to base a 3D sculpture on. In front of the Museum is an old windmill of the type used so long in Texas. So I drew it … I photographed it … I tried to see how it was constructed to resist the strong winds in the Texas landscape. It was sturdy.
Mary P Williams "Windmill"
Here it is! Made with dried palm fronds and the acorns from an oak tree … it was a struggle but worth the effort.
"Windmill" closeup
Posted in Artist Interviews, Paintings, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Idalia Gonzales, UTPA MFA on December 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Idalia is a sparkling young woman with many ideas …
Idalia Gonzales
Here we see one of her paintings devoted to horns and trumpets. When asked what she considered a successful piece of art she replied “It is successful when I begin with an idea and make it happen outside of myself.” When asked to describe a successful artist she thought a minute and said “It is someone who can wake up any day and say “I want to create and then DO IT.”
Idalia Gonzales with sculpture
Her desire is to explore the “real art world in terms of being a professional artist … where an artist has a career and earns a living creating their vision of the world.” Idalia remarks that she has been exposed to regional and state galleries and museums and is ready to expand to other states and big art centers … go Idalia! … Grow!
Posted in Artist Interviews, Sculpture, UTPA MFA, tagged Erum Javed, Sculpture, UTPA MFA on December 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Erum arrived from Pakistan in 1993. Her masters graduate show reflects her culture in many ways.
Erum Javed, bowl
Erum Javed, bowl interior
The delicate, white, bowls are inscribed with her native language.
Erum Javed, bowl with collar
Several sculptures incorporate egg-shaped forms wrapped in crocheted filaments.
Erum Javed
Here, in the photo of Erum, she has a collar around her neck. It is constructed from silver thread as are the “collars” around the sculptures. Note the silvery dress which was made from stiff material which holds its form … the dress seems to be a sculpture in the same vein as her porcelain bowls. Bravo!
Erum Javed drawing
Mary P Williams 
Impressions of the 21st Century – July 20th thru August 1st
Posted in Ceramic Tile, Gallery Show, Paintings, Sculpture, tagged Chickaree, Commentary on 21st Century, Found Object Sculpture, Gallery Show, SayaFineArtsGallery, Sierra Nevada Natural History on July 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Impressions of the 21st Century at the SayaFineArtsGallery, 11N. Sierra St #103, Reno, Nevada. Find us on The Riverwalk!
Impressions of the 21st Century at the SayaFineArtsGallery
Impressions of the 21st Century is my reflection on the explosions going on around the world … one after another … it seems to be the century of outrage, frustrations, and random violence.
Explosion – Impressions of the 21st Century
I have also included in the exhibit some glazed, fired, tiles depicting the animals of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
ChicKaree on Ceramic Tile
These are all small, local, animals. We move from macro (the world of explosions) —— to the micro (fauna in our meadow).
Read Full Post »