March 2017

TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT

I’ve never really understood the “sport” of trophy hunting, particularly when the “trophy” is not something capable of hunting you back. For food or fur, okay, but just for a head to hang on a wall? Having said that, TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT represents my first, and probably last, venture into the art of trophy gathering of endangered species. TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT is a mosaic/mixed media wall hanging composed of glass, hand built paper clay, marbles and MDF. 12”H x 7 ½”W x 10”D

DANCE OF THE PENGUINS: SOLO #11

The DANCE OF THE PENGUINS Series originally started out as part of an exploration into using multiple plates printed simultaneously to create a single image. I was (and am) also exploring expanding the use and presentation of my prints, as for example the woven paper piece LINEAR THOUGHTS: TRYING TO FOCUS. After completing that piece, I was curious about what would happen if I wove the paper before printing on it and DANCE OF THE PENGUINS: SOLO #11 was the result, a hand inked, hand pulled collographic monoprint on hand woven paper. Matted and Framed to 18” x 14”

THE SLITHERTHINGS: BILLIE BOB and SALLIE MAE

BILLIE BOB and SALLIE MAE, a pair of expressive but not particularly scary monstrous creatures, like the others in THE SLITHERTHINGS Series, are not based on anyone or anything in particular, but more the result of free time, idle hands, a small block of clay and a badly warped sense of humor. Hand built and Raku fired paper clay. 5”H x 6 or 7” depending on positioning.

STONEHENGE DECONSTRUCTED: THEORY #1 – WINTER SOLSTICE

The STONEHENGE DECONSTRUCTED Series draws from a number of sources: my interest in prehistoric cultures, my own series CRUCIBLES, CAULDRONS and CALDERAS, the work of Alysse Einbender, a marvelous ceramist, and the metal sculptures of Robert Engman, among others. That so much is still unknown, i.e., theoretical, about Stonehenge and the people who built it gives both a difficulty and a wide latitude to doing a deconstructive piece about it. STONEHENGE DECONSTRUCTED: THEORY #1 – WINTER SOLSTICE, the first in the Series, ignores the difficulty and takes full advantage of the latitude. In this piece, the ground is cold, white and hard, but the movement and coloring of the shapes express the joy of the celebration. l Hand built and raku fired paper clay. 7”W/D x 6 ½”.

Redeye to the Coast

I often find that an early or trial version of one of my prints may contain elements that I like and others that I don’t: or the palette may be off just enough so that the print as a whole doesn’t have the visual strength I’m trying for. In those cases, since I’m frugal, well OK cheap, I’m faced with trying to successfully repurpose the material. Redeye to the Coast is a collage/print which by cutting out, rearranging, and changing the background repurposes two early versions of Contours of Flight #7. The title speaks for itself. Matted and Framed to 16′ x 12″

John Fansmith

Artist