New Experiences

I often use a blow torch when I work with resin on my toilet seats and bustiers, and now on the tiles for the shrine. But while using it (and enjoying it!) the other day, I began to think about all the new tools and materials I'm using (and will be using) for this project that I've never used for an art piece before. Here's a partial list:

Bisque
Sharpies
Sharpie Paint Pens
Felt
Graph Paper
Calculator
Needle, thread, pins, tape measure, and other sewing tools
Doll's Head (this one happens to have long blond hair - with bangs - and blue eyes... coincidence??? See the photo below)
Styrofoam
Keyhole Saw
Thinset
Grout
Cement
Clay
Astro Turf
Caulking Gun
Wire Brushes
And, oh yes, Pennies!

So what do you think.... could this doll's head represent (a much younger) me? Will it add to the autobiographical nature of the piece?

(Not happy with the beret.... will do it over for sure!)

Laying it out

I am so gratified by the number of people who are participating in this project by donating their pennies, decorating tiles, and expressing interest in building the piece with me!

This weekend, I got out my graph paper (first time since seventh grade!!!!) and laid out the project. See the diagrams below! The measurements were dictated by what would fit in my truck.... as good a criterion as any, I suppose. 

The base will be 3 by 6 feet and the height will be 3 feet at the tallest point. As you can see from the diagram, there will be a four sided structure. Each side will be a 3-piece shrine (one for each of the four main concepts/themes of the Penny Project: Compliments (Admiration), Money, Art, and Community. The center piece of each side will have an arched recess that will hold a 4 inch square bisque tile decorated to symbolize the concept for that side. The rest of the recess will be tiled with the pennies that were collected during the project.The area of the center piece (excluding the recessed area) and the side pieces will be tiled with 2 inch square tiles that have been decorated by members of the community during my shows and open studios. The tiles will then be coated with a resin for shine and durability and then grouted.

To the right of the shrine structure will be a "penny lake" with a "penny fountain." Remember: each penny represents a compliment to the artist. An artist's palette will be "floating" on the "water" and an artist's head (wearing a beret that I am sewing tonight) will be sticking out of the water. the significance will be open to interpretation... is she drowning in compliments? Bathing in compliments? Just taking a break from making art? There will be a tile path around the lake (also tiles created by community members) and in the open areas (which will probably be astro-turfed) will be some 3-dimensional representations of the four major themes... perhaps a piggy bank, a "thumbs up" sculpture, an easel, and some hand-holding doll figures.

Of course nothing is set in stone yet and the design and ideas may yet evolve into something entirely different.

This coming Tuesday I will be meeting with one of my mentors, Sandi Whyman, who creates wonderful shrines. Under her watchful eye, I'll be beginning construction of Side 1 of the shrine. I want to complete Side 1 myself (making copious notes of all the sub-tasks so I can later delegate them to anyone who is interested in participating in the construction of the rest of the project). Keep watching this space for announcements of open studio dates if you want to be part of making this piece of art happen!

Making Progress!

The community response to decorating the tiles for the shrine(s) has been great! I knew the kids would enjoy it, but I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers of teens, adults, and seniors who also participated during my open studio at First Friday a couple of weeks ago. This weekend is Art Detour and I will again be having visitors to my studio participate in this project by decorating a tile if they are so inclined.

The amount of participation was not the only pleasant surprise. Also of note was the quality... there are so many really talented, creative people out there. I, myself, can not draw worth a hoot... so I was very impressed with the artwork on the tiles.

We also got a good start on a list of people who want to come into the studio and help construct this art piece. I will be posting dates and times here and on my facebook page to let people know when to show up.... so keep checking. Or, send me your email address and i will send yo a personal invitation to come out and make art!

A New Way To Participate

Beginning this Friday, visitors to my studio will be able to decorate, with words or pictures, a 2" x 2" bisque tile that will become part of the shrines or the pathways leading up to them. The decoration should address one of the four themes: Compliments, Money, Art, and Community. A tile depicting compliments might, for example, say "Love Your Work", "Good Job," "Beautiful," "Thank You," or something like that. A Money tile might have a Dollar sign on it, or a penny glued to it, or say something like, "Show Me The Money!" An Art tile could have an artist's pallette drawn on, or show a figure standing at an easel, or have a short quote or thought about the nature of art or its function. A Community tile might show people working together or holding hands, or say something like, "Working Together." These are just examples... I want YOUR thoughts! This is a community project so I would love to have the thoughts and pictures of as many people as possible included in the art! Come on out for First Friday and make your tile.

I will be coating the finished tiles with a shiny epoxy resin and using them to create the shrines and pathways as described in the previous post which laid out the plan for the artwork based on my own ideas and the suggestions of others who got on this blog to share their thoughts.

In addition to making a tile, you are invited to come down to my studio and help with the actual construction of the piece. Construction will take place on various dates so that everyone who would like to participate is able. I will be posting the dates here and on my Facebook page as soon as I know them. Stay tuned!

It's a Plan!

With the pennies collected, the time came to come up with a design. And over the past few weeks I came up with a doozy! Such a doozy, in fact, that I became totally paralyzed and overwhelmed. Needless to say, it was an ambitious plan. Now, after scaling it back a bit, I am ready to talk about it. Nothing is set in stone, so feel free to chime in with your feedback!

My original idea was for an outdoor installation that posed such questions as: where would I build it? How would I get it out the door once it was done? Where would I exhibit it? How would I weatherproof it? How would I move it if it became necessary? And on and on. So now, I'm thinking of an indoor, gallery-appropriate installation that will be constucted in sections that can be put together in multiple ways and rearranged at will in interactive ways.

The piece will be made up of four "shrines." Each shrine will address one theme of the Penny Project: Art, Money, Adoration (compliments), and Community. It will contain images, objects and text relevant to that theme along with decor accents including pennies. There will be paths leading up to each shrine paved with pennies and additional words and images, and flanked by related sculptures or other objects. Beside the shrine will be a pool of pennies with a fountain of pennies erupting from it. A beret covered head will be sticking out of the pool and a single arm holding a palette wil be sticiking out of the water. (An artist drowning in compliments? Drowning in money (or the quest for money)? Drowning in the need to make Art (regardless of money?)? Drowning in the gifts and giving of the community (or lack thereof)? Each shrine will contain a "well" that people can add to and interact with. There will be a place in the Community shrine for people to add their written thoughts, wishes, or prayers. They will be able to add pennies to the Money shrine, and compliments (to the art, the artist, or themselves (who doesn't need a compliment?) to the Adoration shrine. Sketches, poems, or other artistic work can be added to the Art shrine.

My hope is that the Community will come out and help with this project and be an integral part of it. Whether you have artistic talent or not, there are a multitude of ways in which you can participate. I will be posting (here and on Facebook) studio dates open to the public and I really hope to see you! If you can cut, drill, sew, write, glue, draw, paint, polish, trace, or just lend moral support, I want you! Please let me know if you're interested in creating art with me!

Happy New Year! On to Phase 2!

Well, Phase 1 of this project, the collection phase, is over. I've filled three galon jars with pennies and other coins. I've spent a good deal of time thinking about the art piece  I will create from them and who or what I'd like to see benefit from the project. And I've learned a lot:

I've learned that things don't always go as you envisioned they might. I was hoping for, and maybe expecting, a lot more community participation on the blog. I got a lot of buzz initially, but it didn't really go anywhere. People participated by adding their pennies, but were not as interested as I thought they might be in helping to plan the piece.

I've learned that I'm not a very good blogger, or perhaps I've learned that once you've described a project and asked people to participate, there's not much to do or say unless they do.

I've learned that I'd rather throw 100 of my own pennies into the jar than ask 100 strangers for theirs. I've had signs up at all the shows, and I've asked people who I noticed were reading them, but sometimes it was just too crowded, sometimes, I got "move on" vibes from people, and sometimes I just didn't bother.

I've learned that a lot of people don't carry change.

I've learned a lot about patience. At first it was tough not to plan out the whole project, art piece and all, right from the get-go. But I was determined to seek input (if not actually receive it) and to let the ideas percolate for a while without acting upon them, and to not make any decisions until this next phase, the design/construction phase.

It was very interesting to watch people read the signs and info about the project and to see their reactions. Some averted their eyes and quickly moved away... you'd think I was asking for hundred dollar bills! Some got excited and rummaged around their purses/pockets for pennies to contribute.... and then nudged their friends to contribute also. Some were very excited... especially people from out of state who wanted their (insert state name here) pennies to be incuded in the piece. Some gave dollars (one such person first interrogated me to make sure I would convert the bill to pennies and use it for the project... such is the reputation of starving artists, I guess). Many took the information about the blog, but few ever got on to give their suggestions. Most wished me luck with the project and thought it was a good idea. Some thought it was brilliant.

I've learned that it is comforting, in a way, to have a visual representation of the appreciation people have for your art. I like looking at all those pennies!

I've learned that I enjoy taking on challenges. Most of the ideas I have for the art piece will involve me stretching and growing and learning new art forms and techniques.

I've learned that I have the capacity to stick with a long-term project and stay committed, even when I don't perceive any interest from others. It would have been easy to abandon this idea, but I'm going to see it through. To everyone who contributed: your pennies WILL end up in a work of art. What that work will be? I guess I'm going to have to decide now. Whether the community will want to get involved in helping to create it? I guess we'll soon find out. What will happen to that work of art? I don't know. That may be Phase 3, the displaying/donating/selling phase.

So now I'll be trying to get other artists involved with the design phase, and the community involved with the construction phase. I'll continue to blog as progress occurs. If you are interested in helping with any part of this project, leave a comment here. I look forward to hearing from you!

Making Progress

I know it's been a while since I posted anything... but things have been moving along. I did an Afternoon Salon (art and opera), which exposed this project to a whole new audience. While there, I met a woman who is on the board of Young Arts Arizona which, among other things, partners with local schools to bring art opportunities to children and teenagers. I'll be doing an "artist in residence" gig at a local high school... teaching them about digital art and other work I do. I mention this because this organization might be another worthy group to reap the benefits of the charitable component of this project. More on that as my relationship with them continues. In the meantime, I have an appointment next week with the Shemer Art Center to discuss the same thing with them. I'll keep you updated on both of those possibilities.

I am also attending a meeting next weekend to discuss the future of the artLink organization. artLink sponsor's First Friday, Art Detour and other events in Phoenix. I used to serve on its board as Treasurer (in my previous life as an accountant). If I could interest artLink in participating in this project somehow, it would be a good shot in the arm in terms of expanding interest and participation. We'll see.

I've now filled almost three gallon jugs with pennies! I'm pleased that so many people like my work and want to be part of this. It is a testament to people's appreciation of the arts... and that is what I hoped for.

The Arizona summer is a trying time and I haven't been doing much in the way of exhibitions at my studio, so things are slow. They should pick up in a month or two. But know that even when I'm not posting, I'm always involved with pursuing this project and its progress!

That's it for now....
-Randy

One Thing I've learned...

As I've said in earlier posts, I'm learning a lot about myself as I pursue this project. The most recent revelation: I'm a lousy blogger! "They" say that to have a "successful" blog, one should post daily. I can't do that for a variety of reasons. First of all, I don't have that much new to say... Unless I get comments from the public to respond to, there are only so many times I can describe the project and my vision for it.There are only so many times I can talk about the difficulty I have asking people for pennies, the gratitude I feel when people participate. Since the idea is to wait till the collection process is over at the end of 2011 before making any decision about the piece to be created and to give people a chance to add their suggestions, I can't really post about the idea for the piece taking shape. Second of all, I follow several blogs belonging to friends of mine and I have to admit that after the first couple of posts, I feel more obligated than excited to read them. I don't want to inundate people with new posts, new facebook updates about new posts, emails about new posts. I think it's a turn off sometimes and a display of self-promotion that I'm not all that comfortable with. Third of all, I don't really know what constitutes a successful blog in my case. I do know that popularity is not necessarily an indicator. I care more about participation. According to my stats, people are reading this. According to my ever more full penny jars, people want to see the project completed and want to be part of it, at least in terms of providing the pennies (materials) for the artwork. So I continue to blog when the spirit moves me and hope that is ok with all of you.

I do have a few items to report. My studio mate, Elise, is an art teacher. Her students just sent me over 800 pennies that they collected. I am very grateful to them and look forward to hearing from them on this blog. I'm sure they'll have something to say about how I use the pennies. Also, I spoke yesterday withe the director of the Shemer Art Center and Museum in Phoenix. I am hoping to meet with her again to discuss the possibility of Shemer being the recipient of the charitable component of this project. I want to explore the possibilities of donating the piece to their sculpture garden, or auctioning it for their benefit at some sort of event to be held there. I think this fulfills my wish that the project benefit the community and especially the arts in the community. I will keep you all posted of any progress in that area. I've also fleshed out a little more of my vision of the piece. I'll keep this to myself for now since I won't necessarily be making my vision of the piece. There is still plenty of time for members of the community to add their ideas and I'm not making any decisions yet. But if I don't get the input and have to rely on my own ideas, I want to have something in mind. Of course, as is the norm with my art, the final product may not even resemble what I have in my mind when I begin. That's the fun part of the creative process... seeing ideas come to life and then take on a life of their own that could be very different from what was first imagined. I love seeing art develop into what it was meant to be and knowing how small a role the artist sometimes plays in that process!

Emotions and Progress

This project is turning out to be about emotions and ideas: Gratitude. Appreciation. Admiration. Community. Sharing. Participation. Creativity. Expression. Symbolism. Financial Concerns vs. Art For Art's Sake (a big dilemma for artists). Giving Back. Individual Taste. Merging Input.

And specifically for me it's about:  Staying Open. Being Patient. Allowing Things to Develop At Their Own Pace. Putting Myself "Out There." Separating Myself From My Art. Accepting That I Might Fail (and very publicly, at that). Being Flexible. Weathering Disappointment and Disillusionment (at times). Keeping Focus. Persevering. Facing Apathy. Risking Rejection. Feeling (sometimes) Over-Committed and Under Qualified. Needing Help. Creating Buzz. Second Guessing Myself. Listening. Personal Growth. Stretching Beyond My Comfort Zone.

The year is 1/4th over... 3/4ths to go. I have jars full of pennies, bunches of ideas about what to create, several suggestions for a charitable component. The project is moving along. An art teacher friend of mine has her class participating by collecting pennies and will be having them get on this blog to contribute their ideas. Other people have expressed excitement and a desire to be involved. I have other artists lined up to help with the actual creation (as a digital artist and maker of decoupage toilet seats and painted bark bustiers, I don't have much experience with sculpture or installations - actually, I don't have any (and that's the fun part)! I've received some good publicity about the project. I'm still psyched about it and am giving it constant thought and attention... So much so that it's probably taking most of my creative energy and my "real," or "other," or "old" media and art forms (the digital, the toilet seats, and the bustiers) are suffering a little from lack of attention and interest. But I love working on something new. Learning new skills and techniques and ways of expressing myself, ways of communicating thoughts, ideas, values, and emotions. I have no definite idea of what the final product will be... I only hope I can convey all of these wonderful (and not so wonderful) feelings. Certainly a year gives me lots of time to live with these emotions and let them percolate and congeal into something less ambiguous than the hazy sensations of comfort and discomfort that one generally feels. Once that happens, I think the final design for the project will become clear!

I played hookey...

... from April's First Friday so I don't have much progress to report re the penny collection. But... I have been thinking more about what to make from all the pennies and how to incorporate all the suggestions I've received. At these times I have to remind myself that the idea is to collect the pennies (and the input) for a whole year before making any decisions. I may have mentioned before that patience is not my strong suit. This whole project is a lesson in letting things percolate and develop on their own and in their own time. I'm learning (hopefully) not to force anything, not to allow my preconceived ideas to shape any particular outcome. It is an incredible lesson to learn. And a difficult one.

Things have been up in the air at my studio lately. I thought that I would have to move at the end of March, but things worked out so that I'm able to stay put, at least for the time being. So continue to drop by (with pockets full of pennies) the MonOrchid at 214 E. Roosevelt in Phoenix.

I've completely redone my website and launched it just two weeks ago. You can view it at http://www.virtualconceptions.com/. If you see any images you like there, remember to bring or send me a penny! Your pennies are the materials and inspiration from which art will be made!