First Art Show - in a decade!

I haven't displayed my own artwork since I graduated from undergrad at The Ohio State University.  A friend suggested The Chocolate & Art Show in Los Angeles, I had a few pieces complete, so I submitted them.

I submitted 6 pieces:
Vortex - mixed media on plexiglass (light box - glass stain, acrylic paint, sand, gold flakes, inks, resin)
Diana - "Moon" mixed media on wood (glass stain, acrylic paint, ink, steel piping, resin)
Apollo - "Sun" mixed media on wood (glass stain, acrylic paint, ink, copper piping, resin)
Magmatic - mixed media on wood (glass stain, acrylic paint, ink, sand, resin)
Absinthe - mixed media on wood (glass stain, acrylic paint, ink, resin)
Chimera - portrait - mixed media on wood (glass stain, acrylic paint, ink, resin, charcoal, pastels)

Business cards!

I have an artshow coming up where I'll be displaying my own work for the first time in a decade!  Better figure out business cards!

I also figured out a signature for myself - my initials MKF

Magmatic and Absinthe

These are two of my pieces where I used inks, glass stains, acrylic paints, and resin on a piece of wood. 

The red piece - Magmatic (this one also has sand)

The green piece - Absinthe

Light Comparisons

When I began creating these pieces on plexiglass, it was with the intention of having backlighting, but I wanted the pieces to also be able to go without backlighting and still be eye-catching.

I built box frames for the plexiglass pieces where the art sits inside, the frame is 4 inches deep in order to hold the LED light strips and battery pack.

Here are the comparisons of various lighting setups: only front lighting, front and backlighting, and only backlighting.

Let it be Lit

When I started working with plexiglass, glass stains, and other mediums for painting, the idea was to ultimately light the pieces from behind, as well as from the front, but to have the added dimension of back lighting.  I've been thinking about how to accomplish this for a while...what types of lighting to use, what kind of frame to create to house the lighting mechanisms, and I wanted it to be battery operated because I don't like the aesthetic of having a cord come from the back of a piece, down a wall and into a socket.

So I created a black wooden frame that was 4 inches deep to act as a ledge for all the components, with the painted plexiglass piece towards the front end of the box.  I went with LED strips, searched for ways to make it battery operated, switches (may go with a remote control for power), eventually found all the components (though I'm still testing things out to see how well it all works and for how long).

Here's the result so far:

Vortex
mixed media
2013

Putting Myself into my Work

After creating a handful of strictly abstract pieces, I wanted to create a few that incorporated other elements.  I decided to sketch images of myself as parts of my new pieces and these were the results:

Charcoal, pastels, glass leading, glass stains, acrylics, inks, and resin on wood that I cut with a jigsaw.
The purple haired piece is entitled Chimera, the blue haired is Siren.

Creating the Sun and the Moon

I call these pieces Apollo and Diana.

Glass stains, acrylic paints, sand, inks, resin, and piping (copper and steel), on wood.

Getting Back to Analog Art

It's been quite a long time since I created artwork without a computer, so that's what I've been spending the last few months doing.  I've been working with new mediums such as glass stains, calligraphy inks, and resins.  I've bought a few powertools and returned to cutting things up and building things.  It feels wonderful to step away from a computer screen and make messes while creating.

A few of my initial creations:

These are a combination of inks, acrylics, glass stains, wire, sand, and resin on pieces of plexiglas.  I made each wooden black box to fit the individual pieces with the intention of backlighting the pieces.  I like them lit from the front, but am intrigued by a little bit of light coming from behind (possibly a slowly pulsing light to add a bit of character).

Here are a few pieces not quite so complete: