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Post #3

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My search for Acceptance

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when did the world's idea of art cease being about beautiful works.

SCENES: Our next foray was into scenery. This effort leaned toward finding a way into being accepted as an artist rather than a craftsperson more than an actual desire to do scenery or landscapes.

“Sunrise at Surfside and Lake”

This piece was stimulated by a photograph I took in Rehoboth Beach, DE one day. (We live 15 minutes from the resort town of Rehoboth Beach in a quaint little village called Milton - named for the English poet John Milton.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton,_Delaware

“Sunrise” is the beginning of our use of a technique I hadn't heard of before trying it. I use oil-pastels to tint and shade just prior to applying the first seal coat of finish. The orange in the sunrise is oil-pastel as is the dark shading of clouds at the horizon and also the suggestion of calm wavelets in the ocean. Everything else in this very large piece (35”h x 46”w) is the natural color of the various woods. Yes the fence is individual pieces of dyed Harewood and the seagrass is from both Walnut and Brazilian Rosewood. The sandy area is several different shades of Myrtle, the ocean is bleached Harewood and the sky is figured Maple. The inside of the window frames are Koa, the matte and exterior frame is White Ash. Everything in this piece is in one single plane (it is flat!)

While an extraordinary attention getter in 2 shows it didn't sell until the third show. Interestingly it sold to a repeat customer.

HOMAGES: As you will be guessing, these steps weren't necessarily in the order stated in our last post. Indeed, this next piece is the first and previous purchase of the patron that bought “Sunrise.”

“Birches #1” subtitled Homage to Ansel Adams.

“Birches #1” is the first in a series. It crosses the boundaries you might perceive between Scenes, Homages and Whimsy. Birches sold in its very first showing and attracted a huge amount of attention.

Interesting aside: It might seem that we have had extraordinary initial success selling our pieces, given the number of times I have already written the phrase “sold in its first showing.” Indeed, after our very first show in 2012 at the RAL Members Outdoor Craft show we were thrilled and convinced we were super talented and our work would in future sell like the proverbial “hotcakes.”

Wrong.

The reason this blog is partially subtitled “My Search for Acceptance” is that we had the misfortune of taking 18 pieces to that show and selling 11 of them. Misfortune because you can (and we did) become overconfident when that kind of instant success happens. It wouldn't be much of a search if it was that easy, and it isn't. I admit to thinking I could make anything and it would sell. Wrong again. Voice makes a difference. But, I hadn't learned that yet.

Another complication of the real world is that we are in our (almost) mid 70's and working almost as hard on our venture as we did before we retired. No sympathy required or desired. We decided to do this and we enjoy it. Our search is for the rewards we believe our work deserves, not monetary but rather acknowledging them for their quality and yes, I suppose, for our creativity.

Another interesting aside is this: you might be wondering why I switch back and forth from we to I so often. Not as hard to grasp as you might think. My wife Suzanne and I are a team. I know how to make these things and I'm an experienced designer. Suzanne on the other hand was born with extraordinary good taste, an innate design sense and an infallible eye for color. It took me a while to acknowledge fully her contribution to my work but finally I have reached the point where I understand it is frequently OUR work, not just mine. Her contribution varies all the way from first discovery of a composition to simply pushing me to make a piece better due to her instinct to believe something isn't quite right or maybe something is missing. She frequently says she doesn't know how to fix those noticed shortcomings but she is quite sure they are shortcomings. After years of doubting and believing (alternately) I mostly trust her ability these days. I have no issue whatsoever with acknowledging my work is made better by her contributions.

Back to “Birches.” You can see the influence of the frame in “Anxious Boatmen” on this piece. An aside about this piece is that I got sidetracked by a talented and well meaning artist who will remain nameless. On seeing this piece partially completed (frameless) that artist suggested it needed leaves to complete it. Partially due to my respect for the talent of that artist, I wasted several days attempting to add a leaf area after the fact. Well, you can see the piece sold as illustrated here without those leaves but with an added top “frieze” like detail to give it termination. You see, he was right if it had been his piece. It is right as it is because it is our piece. I learned that very lesson many many years ago while becoming a design/build cabinetmaker but the lesson that is permanent is an extraordinary lesson indeed. My lesson not so permanently learned? “To thine own self be true” - Shakespeare's Polonius (Good one Willie!)

And again, back to “Birches”

As this blog progresses I will probably continue to apologize for the likes of this just completed “side track.” Anybody who knows me personally, knows that sidetracking is a characteristic of mine. But in the words of my hero Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction “I'm Trying, Ringo.”

Where were we? Oh yes “Birches.” The entire series of 4 pieces carrying the primary title of “Birches” make use of a curious figure found only in Finnish Birch trees. Sometimes called Birch Burl it is actually an unusual figure that pops up unexpectedly when veneer is being peeled off of a Birch log. The trade name has become Karelian Birch Burl. Karelia is a region of Finland and the Finnish government literally controls the output of this rare figure. True burl is literally a cancerous growth on a tree. True burls look like a VERY large scale replica of human cancer cells as they would look under a microscope. It goes without saying that there is zero connection between a tree burl and human cancers. It is possible of course that someday it will be learned that human cancer cells are created by an irritation just like tree burls are created by an irritation. If however you take that to a scientist don't suggest you got the thought from me. I'm just supposin' ya know?

This is Karelian Birch Veneer before I make use of it:

By cutting this veneer into strips and adding oil pastel “branch scars” typical of birch trees, this veneer makes a fairly realistic facsimile of birch bark. It is the single characteristic of the pieces in this series that attracts the most attention. Birches # 2 and #3 are complete but un-photographed as of this writing. Birches #4 is still in the beginnings of design. 2 and 3 will be available on my website as soon as they are photographed.

All of the foregoing pieces had the ability to help us discover “In Celebration of Wood” but we didn't; not yet.