Second Time Around…

See, you never know…I was surprised, when I had to search my own blog to jog the memory banks, that it was four years ago when the hubcap arrived at my studio door.
If you click on the images below it will take you on the journey which that dear Chevy disc traveled, from side of the road, where the imagination of Ken Marquis picked it, and about a thousand other hubcaps, up…and had an idea, The Landfill Art Project.

Then,

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to the hands of this artist,

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and the whims of the muses,

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to … a MUSEUM ?

Yes, that’s right. That thoughtful, coffee swilling mechanic was tagged to be in select  group of hubcaps, which were chosen to represent the Landfill Project …Over a thousand hubcaps which were painted and welded and sandblasted and otherwise tweaked by hundreds of different artists from around the world.

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is the opening venue for this touring show.
Here’s a link to their website page… Click Here

Second Time Around: The Hubcap as Art will Open this coming weekend, September 7th with an opening party on the 6th.

They have a video  trailer for the exhibition and I’m posting the link here… Hubcap Art Video

As Ted would say… ” that’s sorta fun”
and I’m honored to be included in the launch of this very “green” and groovy project. There are some wild and crazy,  and thought provoking, interpretations on the theme which were well worth putting down the wrench, pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down at the computer for a restful purusal between oil changes.

You just never know.

The Mechanic

OK, so Dick, the original owner of the overhauls as evidenced by his embroidered name over the pocket, was not a traditionally built woman. Let’s just say that I used a lot of artistic license in the rendering of that garment. But the rest of it went very quickly and in one sitting ….voila…

It has to dry for a few days and then I think a coat of varnish would bring it up to the same sheen as the metal.

And yes, I did use a coat of gesso first. I had done a rough sketch and taken some photos of me in the uniform in the mirror and then used the new puppet warp mode in Photoshop 5. That was fun. So I cut out the silhouette and traced it onto the hubcap and gessoed within that outline. It took perfectly and was dry in the time it took me to eat lunch.

Something different for the resume huh.

Now it’s time to baby proof and puppy proof the log cabin…Zoe and her new pal Hamish are arriving later tonight for a Thanksgiving that couldn’t be beat !

Many happy gobbles to you all,

h

Hitting the road…

You may remember that some time back I showed you a photo of a hubcap that had just arrived at the studio door. Well today’s the day that I begin working on that project.

Some months ago I received an email from a fellow by the name of  Ken Marquis inviting me to be a part of a recycling adventure that he had begun…Landfill Art. The basic idea is that he is sending out old hubcaps that have been rusting along our highways and letting artists have their way with them. There is a gallery of the ones returned so far on his website and he plans to publish a book showcasing all 1,041 and then choose 200 for a traveling show.

His selection of artists has an unusual scope as well…

“The goal of this project, is to include at least one professional artist from each of Pennsylvania’s sixty-seven (67) counties, at least one from each of the 50 US States, and to include a number of international artists.

In addition, I have always been a believer inthe 80/20 rule. My goal is to have 80% of the project be completed by professional artists and 20% fulfilled by nontraditional artists. These nontraditional artists are mentally and physically challenged (ie, down syndrome and autistic artists), politically oppressed artists (ie, Cubans), young artists (ie, 25 NYC third grade school children) and incarcerated artists.

So, today it’s my turn. I’ve been pondering this for months now and at first thought I’d do some form of teacup composition…aka roadside diner theme. But after I did a quick sketch I picked the hubcap up and looked more closely…and saw my reflection. Shazam….new idea. Waded through the mounds of leaves to the old studio, now the prop room, and brought down the old gas station mechanic’s uniform that hangs there.

A fun little side trip was discovering the trail of stink bugs that followed me back into the studio….and right back out onto the porch where I dug dozens of them out from each of the many pockets …ugh.

I also found an old cap with a Shell logo on it that I forgot was up there…and an old pair of lock pliers…

So, now I’m thinking of painting the reflection of a mechanic fixing to put this shiny sphere back on the good old chevy.

Not sure if I need to gesso first or just paint right on the metal. That will be today’s adventure…along with trying to fit into the overhauls !

I’ll keep ya posted,

and oh yeah…Finnegan wanted to say hi