Sculpture and Barbie

Having grow up in Southern California, I know the cultural power of blonds at the beach.
That makes artist Annette Thas's giant wave of over 3,000 blond Barbie dolls all the more engaging, funny, creepy. It's sculpture that has many interpretations as viewers.

Created for Sculpture by the Sea in Perth, Australia.

Sculpture and Life

Sometimes art (loosely defined) is best functional. And timely.

Friends are expecting their second baby, she's due this Friday. (and arrived a healthy (9 lbs!)

With new baby and family visiting, it makes no sense to have an uncomfortable chair. This old wooden chair with a rock hard plywood seat had potential, once it was re-glued and upholstered.

Now it's welcoming and comfortable place to hold the baby.
It was the best gift I could think of........and wraps up the last of the rug recycle saga.

Had I known starting how difficult this pile rug would be to manipulate around the six points of back and arms, I would have found another material. Patience and pulling and both staples and upholstery tacks got it nailed down. That's life.

Sculpture and Upholstery, the bench #3

I know this isn't fine art, but I define a sculptor as someone who is actively engaged with the physical world. He or she is not afraid to risk changing an object into something different, rearrange spatial relationships and design new environments. 

Believe me, you would have run screaming from the maggot infested rugs. I almost did. Here's the conclusion to the makeover.

This bench has had a long and interesting existence. I discovered that it needed structural repairs
and glued and screwed in new bracing. 

That completed, we're ready to work with the carpet, it was cut to fit the bench with an extra 4 inches all around. Layout is crucial as I only get one chance to get this right. 

I was so focused on getting the job done correctly, I didn't take any photos of the process. Oh well.

Here is the finished reupholstered bench with its companion rug-apocalypse post modern off-set repaired area rug. A little work and a whole new level of comfort, no, LUXURY in the studio.

Sculpture and Upholstery, the bench #2

Upholstery foam is easy to cut if you have the right tools. I use a sharp fish fillet knifes. Draw a line all around the block you want to cut, keep your knife level and keep an even tension on the foam as you cut.

Here are the two knives I use and their cardboard sheaths to protect the edge of the blade.

Here's all the foam laid out for the bench seat.

Sculpture and Upholstery, the bench #1

A most unfortunate series of events can lead to something good.

I'll spare you images of beautiful hand spun and knotted Afgan carpets roiling with wool maggots.  Left too long in someone's garage, it was tragic. I saved what I could. Cutting and exposing the remnants on the griddle of the driveway on a 105 degree day, followed by shampooing and drying in the summer heat. Sheep are tough, so is wool. Now what?

The plan is to use one remnant upholstering this vintage turquoise Greyhound bus bench.

In the studio is an old 8 foot long Greyhound Bus Bench. I love the goofy turquoise color.

This happens when you store upholstery foam in your wood shed during squirrel nesting season.
My goal is to use up all these stored supplies. Use them up OR GET RID OF THEM!

Potential applies to liabilities as well as projects...... 
How do you make the decision about saving materials and supplies?

Sculpture and Blogging

The unexpected benefits of Blogging.....
To share anything with you, I must document and photograph my work and process.
 
That's #1 Benefit.  Documentation helps me think things through.
Is it clear? Is it interesting? What does it offer to you, the reader?
Talking about your art concisely only works if you've thought long and hard about your art.
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I'm making a presentation of my sculpture proposal to the TriMet Committee.
That means packing my models and related artwork efficiently for safe transport and quick display once I'm there.

I practice packing and unpacking. That means I know my material and have it all in order. Nothing left behind, and I know the important things to discuss. Benefit #2.

In making a presentation, assume nothing. The protective box becomes pedestal. (Turns out there was no table space.)



Here's everything unpacked: images of my model and background research images are taped to box.

2nd generation model is on top of the box.

3rd model, a 3D sketch is on the floor, with 4th model of shelter with design sketch of laser cut leaves for metal shelter.

Example of paper cut pattern of crow feathers on easel at far right.

Nice to discover that blogging has calming, real life benefits.

Dry runs are much better than the dry heaves of nervousness.....

Sculpture and Upholstery

What do you do when you're between big projects?
Or discouraged with your work?
Or just plain discouraged?

A project that requires precision but not a great deal of thinking helps fight existential blues.
I re-upholster tired chairs.

Reupholstery is exacting, tedious, and demands all my attention. But it isn't rocket science.

(Or ART.)

It's one simple step after another. There may be surprises but there are no big un-answered questions.

This chair belonged to the grandmother of my friend Richard Brand. He selected the material because was similar to what was on the chair when she was alive.

 Still a link to a loved one, his chair is now both old and new.

And those existential blues? They went away somewhere in the process of working.

Sculpture and Presentation

 Without good presentation sculpture is often dead.

While a good base shows the art well, it is also designed is to protect the art. 

This very quirky Dogon antique wooden puppet suffered from being horizontal.
I offered to make a base for this puppet because I wanted to understand how it was made and used.
When you help restore artwork it feels like you are the second person to really study the art.
 
Parts of the crest were broken, the tip of the bill was damaged from being dropped. The cord string is hand made and fragile. Also fragile is the lower bill because it is mobil, connected to the head by that cording.

I used a dark brown waxed linnen cord to to stabilize the lower bill. Two knots at upper and lower bill on both sides restrict the movement while allowing enough play to give the idea that the bill was made to move and clatter in a dance ceremony.

The art is much more animated now that it's vertical.

To compliment the hand carved textures of the art, I carved the post and smaller base to match. That texture and hand work also hides the fact that I don't have a chop saw and can't make a crips square cut! (Perfection is vastly over-rated.)

The base is a scrap of ipe wood from a deck project. It's heavy which is good for a base, but its rich color was too vibrant so I spray painted it black so it didn't upstage the art. 








Louise Nevelson was right, wood looks great painted black.

Sculpture and Color

It feels so strange to vandalize your own work.

Painting the faux bronze patina on the Bouquet for the City triptych left me with cans of bright blue spay paint in two different shades, each color begging to be used again.
.................That's when I spotted the Nesting Birds relief sculpture.

Here is the finished carving in AAC.

 I'd tried an unsuccessful acid patina on it. The acid color was too dark and blotchy. I'd tried to bring it back with subtle spray paint in neutral colors. Everything I did made it worse.

 I love this carving, it's a two panel cartoon of love and springtime. But to other people it was monochromatic Blah and Bland. Not good. How do I get people to SEE it?

COLOR to the rescue! 

 It felt weird to blast the relief with bright blue spray paint. (Call it my Banksy phase.) Each color asked for the next color. Green, brown, black, ochre, even gold.
After a lifetime in search of and study of the subtle, I'm learning that subtle in my sculpture can be just too damn quiet for it's own good. Time for a shout or two of color!

Sculpture and Franken-shrine 2

Context is everything.

In the studio, Franken-shrine was funny, but looked dirty, broken, and a little haunted.
Installed in the garden, across the path from the sculpture of the monk,  Still Thoughts,
the little shrine now has presence and meaning.

Playing with scale is an important aspect to garden design. The shrine looks as if it's set on the top of an enormous cliff, which is really the concrete pedestal. It's smallness evokes a mythic or mental journey to Japan or Tibet.

Originally I'd installed the shrine deeper into another bed. (above)

It looked ok here, but it was important to me to have it close enough to the path so that anyone might ring the bell. The sound is so clear in the garden's quiet, and adds another way for a visitor to participate in what makes a garden special.

Sculpture and Faux Bronze #1

I was going to call this post Faux Fantasy, but that sounds like a transvestite strip club. 

That would be more exciting.

This is about making concrete look like bronze. But like that fantasy strip club, it's all about putting on a lot of paint for a good show.  It's not for the faint of heart. You have to be willing to go over the top garish to have it work.

It really is theater.

Bouquet for the City by Patrick Gracewood © 2012

Bouquet for the City by Patrick Gracewood ©2000

Here's how my relief sculpture, Bouquet for the City, looked in 2000. It was featured in Lake Oswego's outdoor sculpture exhibition, Gallery Without Walls.

I couldn't afford bronze and was exploring cast concrete as a medium for public / outdoor art. I loved the glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC). It's very strong, the walls are an inch and a half thick, not a solid block, so that means it's a reasonable weight for sculpture.

I struggled with how to color it. I never liked the yellow cast of the concrete, but it was what the factory was using that day. It was free.  Can't complain. Concrete stains turned out to be an acrylic product that faded over time. I never reconciled that yellow with the pink.


Worse,  I fell into literalism. Pink flowers, green leaves. Why did I work so hard creating a composition about texture and patterns and space if it was going to be steamrollered with one for one coloring? I faded the green into the background. It just looked dirty.

Having this problematic relief installed right by my studio front door meant CHANGE was necessary.
This week's posts show how I "turned" it into bronze...with just a little "fantasy."

Sculpture and Presentation

See how much easier it is to see the sculpture now?

Finally you can see the art. The sawblade is not junk sitting around, now it's the perfect backdrop.

The dark color of the stone and the quiet forms of the sculpture needed a very quiet background in order to be seen. Pedestal top and shaft were painted a rusty brown.

(I'll probably paint a bit of faux rust patina on the pedestal to break up that expanse of solid color.)

This is the first thing you see as you enter the garden through the little gate. A perfect welcome for next month's open garden and open studio.....


The dual nature of the saw blade / halo makes me laugh. Always a good sound in the garden.

Sculpture and Presentation

"It ain't over till it's over!" 

In the garden, siting sculpture, that means it isn't finished until it's just right.

Sometimes that resolution takes a long time.

Here's the Chinese lohan sculpture installed.
The base needs to be repainted a quieter green, the concrete top stained darker, the Italian cypress will fill in behind....... but the head doesn't stand out enough.

 It should work, but it doesn't. What to do?....................
Ignore it for a while....

Meanwhile this enormous saw blade has been lying about being too cool for the scrap heap but functionless............................ Cleaning the up garden, inspiration struck.

What better backdrop for a Northwestern holy one than to have a halo that can physically cut through illusion and ego?

Thematically, it's a perfect solution. It evokes the flaming halos in Asian art.  Both Eastern and Western art traditions have depicted their enlightened beings surrounded by halos.

Shiva Dancing, India, Guimet Museum

Standing Buddha with a halo, 1st-2nd century AD (or earlier),Gandhara

Saw blade and base are at the welders right now. The right solution is worth waiting for....

Sculpture and the Yard Garden Patio Show

Design by Linda Meyer for Le Confort Francais booth at the Yard Garden Patio Show 2012

Here's an interview with Linda Meyer, the designer of Le Confort Francais.  She talks about the inspiration and contributers to the garden.



If you've ever wondered how these gardens come into being and bloom in the middle of February, here a brief overview of the work that went into setting up the display gardens. Le Confort Francais garden is at the upper right.

Sculpture and Furniture - Before and Afters

Tearing the old and ugly off the chair is the hard work.
The fun is choosing new material to match the era or aesthetic of the chair.

This walnut frame seemed to call out for a jazzy material.

Featured earlier, these left on the road for dead Thonet bent wood chairs found new life with material that playfully evokes a peacock feather, a motif of the art nouveau period.

Before on the left, After on the right. The difference is new material and some love.

FORLFD =Found on road, left for dead.

This chair was comfortable but ugly in dated avocado green vinyl. Mr. D picked this material for it and surprised me. The child-like circus theme of striped tents, monkeys, elephants and crocodiles really gives this chair the center of the spotlight.

If you can stretch a canvas, you can upholster a chair. 

Sculpture and Furniture (after)

Sexy, low slung but damaged mid-century walnut chair meets tired but exotic oriental rug.
Instant chemistry, a bit of craft, and Voila! Ready for a new century of living.

Photograph by David Bales Design

If you can't afford good furniture, you learn how to reupholster and make it yourself.
Finding suitable projects is as easy as walking down the street. I've found many of my favorite chairs on the sidewalk or in a dumpster.

A lot of new furniture is foam and particle board. That means it is heavy and not very strong. Look for older furniture that has good construction (no wobbles!) at estate or yard sales.

Customizing furniture (reupholstery) is an accelerated course in the decorative arts and textiles.
You learn what is a comfortable fit for your body and your lifestyle. This chair is a tad low for 6 foot tall man, but it sits well. The cushions were the perfect shape to use the oriental carpet to upholster. No sewing except to blind stitch the folds.

I love the 3 inch long curved needle.

Photograph by David Bales Design

Life is too short to live with ugly, uncomfortable furniture.

Have you found a treasure in the trash and brought it back to life? Send me photos and your story and I'll post it here....

Sculpture and Furniture (before)

People make a fuss about washing an oriental carpet,  they forget that sheep get wet all the time.

A friend rescued this carpet from an estate sale dumpster. It was filthy but cleaned up nicely. The surface of the carpet was worn in places down to the warp, but the reverse was still brightly colorful, so that's the side I used. 

I"m guessing this is a tribal Baluch,  Afghan. Any one know more? 

I took a deep breath before cutting it up. Even damaged, it is very beautiful.

The warp is wool, it's around 6 feet by 9 feet. Working with the rug, I thought of all the people involved in creating it, the herd boys and their flocks, the many women spinning the yarn by hand, gathering all the plant material and dying the wool, and the countless hours involved in knotting these intricate patterns. I wondered if any of the people who created it were still alive and still making this kind of beauty today.

I feel a part of the life of this carpet is taking it into its next incarnation.  Made a promise to it that I wouldn't waste anything, that it would be beautiful and useful again. Next post the finished project......................

Sculpture and Furniture (before)

It's amazing how badly people treat good furniture.

Near Reed College, this mid-century, beautiful walnut frame chair had been attacked pets and party animals alike. Dumped on the sidewalk, I could see it had once been a thing of beauty. Great lines.

Unfortunately I couldn't tell how comfortable it was because it was so dirty. I took a chance because I've wanted to try upholstering a chair with a carpet for years. I'd seen examples in the house porn magazines, phenomenally expensive.

Broken joints had been crucified with inept nailing. It needed work. A lot of work.

Sculpture and Computer Modeling

 Seldom has bad news looked so good.

An architect friend submitted a proposal for a building redesign incorporating my paper cut designs into safety railing and sun screens. My designs were not chosen, (damn!) but just seeing them computer rendered as architectural elements makes me very happy. Just look at the shadows they make!

Papercut designs by Patrick Gracewood ©2011

I've had this idea for a long time of taking the intricacies of paper into steel for gates and screens that are functional but also beautiful, but lacked the computer skills.

Solution? Find someone who does! Problem solved.
Seeing these renews my commitment to making shadows.

Sculpture and House Painting

What saves our new house colors from being too conservative is a little bit of sparkle.
23 carat gold sparkle.

House Bling: 23 carat gold leaf

Our very capable contractor, Mark Downing, suggested I make a sculpture for the apex of the roof.

I said, "Too fussy. It should be gold." We laughed but then thought, "Why not?"

The small touch of gold leaf is both a funny blessing for the house and an ironic commentary on the cost of stripping the building down to bare wood, priming and repainting it.

The first part of the building to catch the morning sun, glows and bounces the light back to the world.

Antiquarian and restoration expert, John Barrett, braved three stories of scaffolding, carrying all the necessary tools and his supplies in a small bag. He applied the oil varnish in the morning and came back in the late afternoon to apply the 23 carat gold leaf.

Antiquarian and restoration expert John Barrett applies the colored oil varnish base for the gold leaf.

 Does this count as conceptual art?

So with all the painting and gold leaf, and the decision NOT to use sculpture,
where does sculpture come in?
That's for the next post when the scaffolding comes down.