Posts Tagged ‘new work’

Am in the final stages of launching Copper Leaf Studios into full-time existence, and have oh so many cool things in the works!? (technically it’s been full time for a week, but I wanted to have a more spectacular entry into entrepreneurialism than my computer blowing up, and need just a peench more time to really get things ready.)? So mark your calendars, July 1st is gonna be the day!? (it’s a nice clean number and all)

By then I will have a new website design, a new artwork database, new wholesale linesheet, and a lot of brand new cool artwork to go along with the shiny new computer and iPod.? (what does an iPod have to do with business you ask? not a darn thing, but I like to listen to it when I exercise.)

Some of the new cool shinies that you’ll soon be seeing more of:

…Lots more to come, stay tuned!

……………………………………love you lots, C.

Okay, so it’s a week (or so) older than new, and I wanted you to be the first to know about it, but you’re the second.? Cause I already posted them in my shop and some lucky person already bought one.? (Now aren’t you sorry you missed the boat?)? BUT, rest assured, they are still the new cool thing on the block, and you can still have one custom-made just for you, and if it makes you feel better, yours will be even better.

…and they are very cool.? They are sleek and clean, made of stacked etched metal.? I wanted to go in a more graphic direction, after making a billion or so maps.? Maps are wonderful, but very much about itty bitty picky detail.? Sometimes you just have to break out of that and cut a smooth, curvy shape.? I haven’t done much with this sort of “clean” graphic feel before, because honestly, I didn’t realize I could cut a straight line..!? It’s harder than you think!? Tape a pen to to the end of a ruler and try signing your name.? Kinda like that.? I practiced on a bunch of random letters to get the hang of it.? Ironically, the only word I can spell from them is “Badass”.

I have a few color combinations available, and will be adding different sizes over the next couple of months as well.? If you want a gift and need one sooner, just email me!? Copper is the 7th anniversary gift, and these would look great in an office… just sayin’…

Red Branch, waiting to be born

This month has been full of incredible projects — many maps, as well as a nice handful of “artistic” commissions.? Maps tend to be more or less straight forward — while there is definitely a lot of problem-solving going on, they eventually have to become something that the buyer recognizes.? But? commissions that are more abstract can really stretch your brain out of its comfy chair shape.

Sometimes all I’m given is a rough size and a color: say, a long, narrow piece around 12″ wide, and I’m thinking… red.? Sometimes the buyer likes a style: what about a landscape, but really wide?? Other times the instructions are very fluid: “He has a nomadic background and mixed heritage and is passionate.”? (Thankfully I figured out that there was an email glitch that cut off the other 95% of the letter before I started that one!)

I don’t get a lot of these inquiries, probably because there is a certain leap of faith that happens when a buyer offers to plunk down good money for a piece they not only can’t see or touch, but can’t imagine, either.? But when I do, I am never the same afterward.? I can only hope the recipient is half as transformed by the finished piece as I am by the process.

To make this less painful, I use Photoshop to create digital sketches of my ideas which the buyer then gets to approve.? There is this waiting period between my design and their official okay that is a little like waiting for your best friend to have a baby.? You can pace all you want, but it’s going to happen when it happens, and you can’t make it go any faster by constantly checking.? I’m learning to breathe through it ; )

So what is waiting in the wings for you?

Mushrooms taste like rubber.? Even if you are a diehard mushroom fan, (which clearly I am not,) deep down inside you know this to be true.? If I cut up a rubber ball and put it on your salad and blindfolded you, you wouldn’t know the difference.? And if I gave your mushroom to the nearest 5 year old, he’d likely throw it on the floor just to see if it bounced.? Truly the only way I got through the “mushroom” portions of my childhood was having them unknowingly diced up and hid them in foods I liked a whole heckofa lot more.

But I digress.? The point is, as artists, what can we learn from this?

Answer: If you want something to be less hideous, you cut it into little pieces and it becomes more palatable.? Maybe even downright good.

In a recent post* I challenged you to rediscover a long lost piece of artwork that got stuck before it ever saw the light of day, and find a way to bring it to completion.? Preferably in a manner that not only takes away the guilt of having ignored it for so long, but even — dare I say — makes you [sniff] proud to call it your own.? Of course I wouldn’t do this without taking up the challenge myself.? So…

here was my starting point:

This piece didn’t come out the way I had hoped.? It lacked inspiration.? The etching came out too detailed and blotchy, and felt harsh.? But I was at a loss as to how to fix it, since once metal is eaten away, it is gone.? So I did what all artists secretly do — I hid in in a drawer and forgot about it.

I rediscovered it recently, and decided to challenge myself to find a way to make it work.? Inspired by mushrooms, (aren’t we all?) I decided the best way to deal with it was to sliver it up a little.? I tried a few different things, but ultimately ended up with a piece I’m quite pleased with:

I cut a jagged line into the metal plate and separated the two pieces slightly to expose a thin copper line.? (When in doubt, taking a hacksaw to a dud of a piece is gratifying, if nothing else.)? I changed the bottom section to a deep emerald green, and it suddenly became a landscape with a glowing horizon.? I love that it has an abstract, yet reminiscent feel… it seems like it wants to remind me of someplace, even if I can’t articulate where.? I debated whether to add small trees along the sky, but in the end I decided I liked it a little more open-ended.

So now I pass the challenge on to you!? Find that long lost piece and rediscover its potential.? Sliver it up a little and you just might create something wonderful : )