Rabbit Update

I'm officially done with the building of the rabbit sculpture. It has to dry now before it can be put into the kiln to be fired. Once it has been fired, I can begin the painting process. I'm going to use oil paints to paint the clouds and add cherry blossoms and branches across the rabbit. For now, I'm going to play with throwing again and then back to some smaller sculptures I started prior to the rabbit.

Rabbit Zodiac Sign for Chinese New Year Project

A month and a half ago I was selected to be one a over a dozen artists in a collaboration piece to create a totem of the Chinese zodiac symbols for City Hall here in Las Vegas. The work will be on display from November to February. The twelve zodiac signs will be displayed as three totems.

I was chosen to create the symbol of the rabbit. I drew my inspiration for this project from Chinese calligraphy work and fabrics as well as Beth Cavener Stichter's sculptural work. I began by acquainting myself with the anatomy of rabbits by drawing them from every angle. I found myself drawn more towards hares for their strength and musculature.

One of the many phases of the face.

Once I decided to jump into the sculpting of the rabbit it has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. For every thing I have been successful building, I have rebuilt it dozens of times. I have had the whole back end fall off, the legs fall off repeatedly, and have redone the face at least three times for every time I have worked on the sculpture. Whew! Yes, it has been and fight and a struggle. This piece is the largest sculptural work I have ever made. I have learned SO much by building this rabbit! I have definitely been learning how paper clay works. I've also been improving my building and sculpting techniques and processes.  You're constantly having to reevaluate the steps in which to build something of this scale. It has become a wonderful puzzle that has to go together in a specific order to make all the pieces fit.

Adding the cloud to the belly.

I'm currently in the home stretch of the building process and will hopefully be finishing it this week. After that it has to dry for a week or so to be ready for firing. Once it is fired, I'm going to paint it with oil paints.

I fixed the ear after I took this photo, but this pic shows off the upper cloud.

I love the line this ear creates! Finally starting to resemble a rabbit!

Vintage Fountain Pens

This summer I was asked to help my friends go through their mother's craft room. She past away and had two rooms filled with years of art supplies. I was able to fill my small hatchback with all the goodies I helped sort through. Most of the supplies are going to be used in my classroom for future generations to learn from. There were a few choice things I kept for myself such as easels, palettes, and acrylic paints.

Among the those choice things, I found a cigar box filled and with an  assortment of calligraphy pen holders and nibs. Mixed in with these were the fountain pens and ink shown in the photo above. I love fountain pens and have bought myself very inexpensive ones from JetsPens.com over the last few years. I have fallen in love with the smooth lines they create and you can only imagine how excited and giddy I was to find such treasures hidden amongst the supplies. I went to work researching the pens to find that they are lever pull fountain pens from the 1930's. The last of the three lever pulls is a radiograph style fountain pen that has a small wire at the tip that releases the ink as you write. With love and care I spent hours cleaning them and turning my hands black and blue in the process. Needless to say, I was in heaven.

Other treasures I found were the vintage mechanical pencil, on the bottom of the photo, with a tiny cardboard tube of replacement lead. I immediately added these to my father's old drafting tools he passed onto me. At the top of the photo you can see replacement graphite and a red lead holder. I have always wanted one of these and was pleasantly surprised with how nice this one is weighted. It has become one of my favorite writing utensils to draw with and I carry it with me always.

After helping my friends sort through their mother's art supplies I decided I needed to clean and purge my studio too. This was one of the inspirations for the new and improved studio as discussed in the previous post regarding the new light and plants. My hope is when I die that my art and supplies will go to loving homes and to people that will cherish them. So back to work I go, creating as much art as I can, while I can.

Straight from the Springs Preserve and into your House

I have been honored to have been exhibiting my work at the Springs Preserve since February.  I had to pick up my work yesterday which is great news for you! I am slowly taking photos and adding them to my Etsy shop. Some of the work is getting purchased as fast as I can load it. (Very exciting!)

Here is just a taste of what you might find:

Common Buckeye butterfly, dragonfly, and cicada

Hummingbird with Yucca

Gambel's Quail

Kangaroo Rat

So Many Commissions, So Little Time

I've been keeping busy with art commissions, school preparations, and a few knitting projects to help me unwind. I have five hummingbird shadow boxes to make for friends who have put orders in. I also have an order for ten more shadow boxes to be sold at the Springs Preserve in February. Not to mention three portraits I'm in the middle of. The holidays are coming up and I'm not quite sure what I am going to make or much less have time to make for my shop. In addition to all this, I'm also trying to get into some other galleries outside of Las Vegas. So much going on these days!

I wanted to share some 'in progress" shots of my latest projects.

Hummingbird and Hibiscus flowers: color pencil drawings for shadow boxes

Commissioned portrait 1 of 3

Sorry for the Hiatus

Hello again!

Sorry I haven't post in a while. If you ever feel I have fallen off the planet, I post most frequently on my Tumblr and Instagram sites. As to what I have been doing with myself since my last post, well...

After school ended I busied myself with painting a mural in our school's front lobby. This cut into my precious summer vacation by two weeks. Once that was wrapped up, I dove head first into cleansing and purging my house. I couldn't figure out how one person could have filled every inch on storage in the place. I needed to be able to breath again and to have room to grow. I made many a trip to Goodwill and to the dumpster. In essence I took back control of my house and of my life. My solo show, being plagued, and playing catch up effected my being able to properly take take of myself. After all that, I went out of town to visit with my folks. It ended up being the best birthday I've had in years.

Second oil painting ...ever!

I'm back and in the midst of the marathon of art making before I have to be back at school. I have a little less than two weeks left and the days are disappearing before my eyes. I have watched so many artists switching over to oil paints and decided months ago to buy a starter set, but hadn't the time to test it out till recently. The oil paints are Winsor and Newton and water soluble so there is no stinkiness or headaches. I love them! They are so buttery and creamy to work with. Still a lot to learn before perfecting them. I've been having problems with them drying out too fast while I'm painting. Dry summer heat in the desert probably isn't the best atmosphere to be painting anyhow. I've got commissions that I have been slowly working through and more piling up.

Example of a miniature shadow box soon to be available at The Springs Preserve gift shop.

The most recent excitement was art curator of the Springs Preserve touring my studio Monday. I'm honored to say that she has asked me to sell my work in the gift shop and has me in reserve for the next show. I have miniature shadow boxes to complete for January to sell there. So much to do!

All this on top of completing work for galleries and school projects galore!!!

Thank you for your continued support!

The Backyard Wall Signing with Casey Weldon

At The Backyard Wall signing with Casey Weldon. 

Casey Weldon was asked to paint the largest painting he has ever made by a friend. During the signing party following Casey's signing of a smiley face, two people came out and painted over this masterpiece in white. It took 5 days to paint and was gone in a matter of minutes. 

I had the most amazing night celebrating art, making new friends and meeting such amazing artists as Matthew Couper, Mary Beth Heishman and Amy Sol. It was an honor being able to share this amazing night with my friend Su Limbert who is also an incredible artist! I have been floating through a wonderful dream the last few days and still in disbelief this is all a reality.

If you have a chance, please check out the work of these talented artists!

Preview Thursday Sales from Kismet

All these lovelies found new homes last night! Wahoo! Thank you!

Kismet: Artwork of Constance Stotzer Opening Weekend

I want to say thank you to all my friends and family who made it out to see my show and to all of you that have been so supportive of my efforts! I am truly humbled and grateful for all the love and support that you have shown me! Thank you so much for all the encouragement and heart felt messages!!!! Words can not express how much all of this means to me and how much you mean to me!

Thank you for giving me the confidence to continue moving forward and continue living my dream!!!

Warmest regards,

Constance

PS. More pictures to come of the First Friday activities today!

New Look for my Big Cartel Shop

I hope you can stop by and check out the new look for my Big Cartel shop! Very exciting things on the horizon! ACEO sale coming soon! Stay tuned for more information on that!

Updating Portfolio Website

As I am making so much new work that is different from what I have done in the past, I am slowly updating all my websites. The website, Carbonmade.com,  I use to display my portfolio has been seeing some love recently. Please stop by and check it out!

It's Official!

My show was just listed on the Blackbird Studios' web site and calendar! Very exciting!