Category Archives: My Art

Three Angels

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

This is a relief sculpture based on a recent drawing, and has been an ambitious and interesting project.

This is a 24″ x 18″ air dry paperclay relief sculpture on board. This is a new process for me, and it was quite a challenge. The board is completely covered with a thin layer of paperclay. I digitally resized the incomplete figures from my drawing, completed them, and used these to cut out the first layer of each figure. The figures were then built up with additional paperclay and textured before adding pastel pigments.

The cradled board is presented for hanging in a simple homemade protective frame, that can be removed and replaced with a professional frame. It is coated with a spray acrylic that protects it from ambient moisture and dirt, so it can be dusted with a feather duster or wiped gently with a soft cloth.

Share

Branching Out

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I am choosing to draw more often at home recently. I find I rarely draw in my studio except as part of a larger project in work. But I enjoy drawing as a meditation, tapping into my subconscious for inspiration. Of course I use the what I see in front of me also, but somewhat indirectly and without any intent to reproduce it. I like the images that emerge.

And we have been watching art videos more in the evening, so the work of these artists is certainly influencing my drawings!

Share

Balance

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

This may seem to be a doodle or a rather silly drawing, but … I am not so sure. As I look at the childlike boats, plane and general feel of this drawing, I am starting to see a theme: balance (or lack thereof). Maybe there is more to this drawing.

Everything here is off-balance, or teetering on the edge, or just in the wrong place! Does this bit of whimsy have a darker message than a quick glance will show? Could this drawing be a reference to mankind’s relationship to nature? Is this a subconscious reflection on climate change?

Share

Abstracted Variations

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I am on Draft Three of this doodle, initially sketched while watching a video by a rather dedicated abstract expressionist/colorist artist. Just decided to riff on something he showed, and my own quick response to it, and to his ideas. I have digital variations of photos of the first two drafts, and have a high resolution scan of draft three, which includes colored pencil in addition to graphite.

This is all just playful to me, with no hidden meanings emerging. But what fun!


Share

Angelic Relief

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I have made good progress on a relief sculpture based on my Three Angels drawing, and have of course taken photos. It is not finished, needing detailing, final texture, perhaps some background shapes or figures, and of course it will eventually be sealed and stained. Meanwhile, some photos will lead to digital variations…

Share

Casting Another

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

Well I want to do a piece with a number of my 3-D babies, no idea what it looks like yet, but I need more babies … and can’t resist experimenting with color and so forth as I go. Tricky stuff, working with clear epoxy and adding color or other materials. Additives can settle out, a little pigment goes a long way, surface colors surprise, and so forth!

The emerald green is pretty ghastly, and the translucency eliminates the facial features and detail in bright light! But I really want to get some light through. It might be good to dust some pigment onto the face… but it will be impossible to really control that in my current mold. Certainly less pigment will be better: this guy may get painted over!

Share

Epoxy Resin

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I am plunging back into the world of mold-making and casting. I am not good at this, and I struggle with being precise and methodical (boring :-))! But I want to create useful molds of a few difficult pieces modeled in oil-based clay. I find this difficult, and would love to have help.

I sprayed the clay model with clear gloss acrylic before making a pourable silicone block mold. The mold is not completely 3-D, as the back is not enclosed. So the resulting resin cast is flat & must “lie down”. Not sure why I chose bright metallic copper powder in the mold; it is rather ghastly.

I had to slit more of the block mold than planned to remove the clay and be able to remove the castings. This first cast was made with old resin, and is fragile, with a rough pitted surface texture. The feet broke off in the mold, and had to be glued on! I hope the next cast, now curing, will be more successful.

Share

Refinement

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I have refined my watercolor collage sketch a bit, rescanning and working with digital variations. Sometimes I spend a long time in my chosen manipulation software in order to make my transformations and enhancements. It is not always easy or quick selecting the desired sections of an artwork, and this especially true with watercolors that may bleed into each other, and on textured paper where shadows create variations our eyes and brains will generally ignore!

So in addition to working the original a bit, I have tried light and dark as the background frame, and applied different digital manipulations on the trees separated from the window and shadows.

Share