It’s been a little over a week since the opening of my exhibit “From the Sky” and I’m still in awe of all the support.
I poured so much into this series. There aren’t enough words to express how much gratitude I have for the opportunity and support. Thank you to everyone who has made it out to see the show and to those who have purchased work ❤️The show is up until March 15th @cityarts_orlando
One night stand 🥁
Cherry wood all around, except for the pine drawer bottom. The iron handle is hand-forged. Which matches the nail heads.
The idea to build this came back in spring. Summer was spent building it. Now it’s home with me. And I’m constantly looking at it.
This project was about:
1. wanting a new night stand for our apartment
2. building an original piece of furniture
This build proved to be more challenging than expected. Because there was no reference or guide. It involved lots of problem solving. And that led to many errors. The drawer being one of the bigger challenges. But I can live with the mistakes because they will forever remind me that I can always do better.
One day, when we have the space, I’ll build this stand’s twin. Not bigger but certainly better.
“Redbird”
For this series, I knew I wanted two of the pieces to be complimentary. I chose the blue jay and cardinal to be those works because most people who live in North America have seen both of these birds. They are natural rivals competing for food and often seen in the same habitats. Cardinals often represent loving relationships as well as divine messengers from lost loved ones 🔴
Available for purchase!
“MAKE PRETTY” is the name of a chapter from @lostartpress ’s “The Stick Chair Book” where Chris recommends spending a whole day reviewing your chair build, dialing in every detail before you apply a finish.
I’ve been playing around with lettering in Illustrator lately. This chapter’s title kept coming back to me since I finished building a low workbench and took the time to make it pretty.
Dancing stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’ve been practicing double bevel marquetry. A technique where two stacks of veneer are cut at an angle. The pieces from each layer fit together. I hope to get better so I can bring more visual arts into my furniture forms.
Cultures across history have deemed owls as symbols of wisdom and sentinels of the night. This piece captures the horned owl in a spread-eagled position. Its eyes wide and fixed on you, the viewer.
You can catch this piece in The Audubon Room @theneighborsorl tonight and tomorrow for their Earth Day exhibition! 🦉
“Bluebird”
For this series, I knew I wanted two of the pieces to be complimentary. I chose the blue jay and cardinal to be those works because most people who live in North America have seen both of these birds. They are natural rivals competing for food and often seen in the same habitats. Blue jays are symbols of confidence & protection 🔵
“Desert Runner”
This is the speedy desert predator, the roadrunner. While they can fly they are much more proficient at running, which makes them pretty unique in this line up of birds.
As you can see from my previous posts about this series, I usually start with a rough sketch and then move that drawing into a digital mock-up illustration. This lets me figure my color palette out. With this piece, I only sketched the bird and moved right into painting the final piece. In my head, I knew what I wanted to capture but bypassing that middle step of a digital reference made painting this more challenging than it should’ve been. Despite the hardship, this painting turned out the way I wanted and I got to make a unique frame for it with some beautiful textural surfacing.
This piece is currently on display at @cityarts_orlando through March 15th and is available for purchase. For inquiries, please contact the gallery.
“The Many-Tongued Mimic”
One of the most proficient mimcs, the mockingbird can learn and reproduce over 200 different sounds. You’ll often find these guys perched at an elevated spot so that their call is heard to defend their territory or attract a mate.
This piece was my first time staining wood with oil paint. With this beautiful piece of cherry wood I didn’t want to obscure the grain or hide the hand-carved details. At the time of making this piece I was inspired by the boxes @iwao_mokushitsu was making and wanted to bring that into my work. Hence the box frame and kimono fabric found in the background of this piece. Of all the works in this exhibit, this one feels like the fullest expression of what I set out to achieve. This piece is currently on display at @cityarts_orlando through March 15th.
“The Mallard’s Flight”
One of the most iconic birds of North America is the mallard duck. The male’s plumage is instantly recognizable. When I was developing my lineup of birds for this series I knew the mallard would be on the list because it’s been one of my favorites since I was a kid. Fun fact: the male’s have their distinct feathering to signal to a potential partner that they are healthy and strong.
This piece is currently on display at @cityarts_orlando through March 15th 🦆
“Corvus Call”
This was the second piece I created for this body of work. I have always wanted to make a piece that celebrates crows because they are highly underrated. They are among the most intelligent birds because of their social nature.
To me, this piece captures the feeling of glancing out a window and watching crows call to one another across a yard. The last slide features an original sketch and a digital version of the piece.
This piece is currently on display at @cityarts_orlando through March 15th and is available for purchase. For inquiries, please contact the gallery.
