(B)right Side | 3/3/2008

Hello. It has been a verrrrry long time since I have posted anything, and I have been reminded by my (two) fans that it would be nice to see something other than the whale for a change.

So, here is something new and exciting - a piece in the current RPM: The Lost Art of LP Covers show at Deluge. The show runs from February 29th-March 15th.

(B)right Side
gouache on paper, painted record
sold

At Deluge

Mistress Bun | 8:01 pm | Leave a comment | (4) Comments

Illustration Friday: Moon | 7/30/2007

Miles to Go Before I Sleep, watercolour

See full image.

I was thinking of Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and of whales, before I saw this week’s topic. Then they just sort of came together in my mind, and I saw the whales swimming around the moon reflected in the sea.

The poem to me, speaks of a journey that is a result of both desire and responsibility:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I was thinking especially of ‘miles to go before I sleep’, and what that means. Feeling that there is so much to do, that at times it seems easier to lie down and rest, to stop. But then there is this unrelenting drive to go on, that there are things you must do, you must try. This is true of my own life, always, and for the whales, it also means something else to me. They are symbolic of nature’s way of constantly pushing for survival; everything desires to survive above all else. Whales are threatened because of climate change and subsequent affects to the ocean environment, overfishing, etc. Still, they keep going, they must go on, keep trying. It is their desire and their instinct and they would not give up, and nor should we in trying our best to change what we can change.

Of course, in this case it’s the sea, and not the woods that are lovely, dark and deep. The whales may or may not be aware of how hard their journey is, but they are peaceful, and they just keep going.

Mistress Bun | 9:08 am | Leave a comment | (15) Comments

Illustration Friday: Poem | 7/26/2007

This is probably the closest I have come to creating a visual poem. The painting is called Measures of Proximity, and it includes mathematical measures of distance, map elements, braille, and personal icons. At the time I was thinking of relationships, and how they change over time, that once you have found someone that you want to spend your life with, your outlook on the relationship changes; your ways of evaluating the relationship change completely. The closeness is more satisfying but can also be more frightening, both in terms of the idea of losing what you have, or moving farther apart rather than closer together, and in terms of the commitment and energy required to sustain it.

Measures of Proximity, acrylic on canvas board

See full image.

Mistress Bun | 7:33 am | Leave a comment | (231) Comments

New paintings | 7/25/2007

Added to the paintings area, but you can see the full version by clicking on the thumbnails below:

Manufactured Landscape 01, acrylic on canvas

Manufactured Landscape 02, acrylic on masonite

Mistress Bun | 10:08 pm | Leave a comment | No comments yet

Illustration Friday: Camouflage | 6/26/2007

I didn’t create this piece with the idea of ‘camouflage’ in mind, but I think/hope it works. Rather than adapting to his environment, the owl is instead being taken over by it, with branches growing from his head.

This was actually created for a printmaking class, the assignment was to create versions of a print by altering it each time; I added to the owl with each successive print. This is part two, my favourite of the three. After taking only one course, I have already grown to love printmaking. The process involved is a huge part of the work, both in the time it takes to create the piece, and in the particular aesthetic qualities of the final image. This piece is drypoint: the image scratched into plexiglass, inked, wiped, and put through a press.

Owl Transformation Part II

Mistress Bun | 7:05 pm | Leave a comment | (11) Comments

Beetle Study: Finished Piece | 6/25/2007

It’s been too long since I’ve posted anything. This piece was completed in November, 2006, created as a commissioned piece (my first!).

I painted the beetles with gouache, cut them out and pasted them to a found piece of wood which I first repainted. I then did another smaller board with several drawings of beetle antennae. To finish it off as if the beetles were actually pinned to the board, I beaded some pins and stuck them into the beetles and each of the small antennae drawings were attached that way as well.

Click to see the whole piece and another detail.

Mistress Bun | 6:47 pm | Leave a comment | (269) Comments

New Wallpaper |

New wallpaper added by request: Brain Collage.

Mistress Bun | 6:21 pm | Leave a comment | No comments yet

F.U.F.U | 3/16/2007

Just found an interesting site full of conflations, amalgamations of two expressions which may mean the same thing but may not, for example: “Look who’s calling the kettle black” can be formed from “Look who’s talking” and “The pot is calling the kettle black.” Another example of mixing two expressions which do not mean the same thing is “a bull in a candy shop”, formed from “a kid in a candy shop” and “a bull in a china shop.”

I especially like F.U.F.U, and it so accurately describes my day today.

Mistress Bun | 9:30 am | Leave a comment | (134) Comments

Bird Linocut | 3/2/2007

I love printmaking. I love that you can take one image and print it in so many different ways. I love the malleable linoleum and the rollers and the press, and my little linocut tool. We had a linocut assignment which I finished last week, and then I made this linocut just for my own pleasure because I’m a keener.

(Slightly larger version here. )

I was inspired to try this image as a lino print, which is similar to this old drawing which is hanging on my wall.

Mistress Bun | 5:22 pm | Leave a comment | (1) Comment

Hello out there… | 2/18/2007

It’s been so long since I’ve posted anything. The time has been going by so fast. I guess I must have been having fun. Just finished a painting today for my painting class, at least, I think it’s finished, for now:

Traffic (Detail) (Full image here.)

Painting of a film still I chose from Kooyanisquatsi.

Mistress Bun | 10:19 pm | Leave a comment | (4) Comments

You should see this | 12/15/2006

–> Tiny little sculptures, carved from crayons

Mistress Bun | 5:39 pm | Leave a comment | (49) Comments

Pomelicious | 12/6/2006

Still life assignment, done in acrylic. No larger version to show because my pictures turned out too blurry. I will get a better photo and then post it.

I am moderately satisfied with this one, though I should have spent more time, and it’s a bit too “pretty”. I need to work on being edgier. Ha ha.

Mistress Bun | 4:17 pm | Leave a comment | (241) Comments