High Sign Silhouette

One of several roadside sign silhouette pieces I am working on currently is the High Sign Silhouette.  For the last several years I have had elements of abandoned signs/billboards appear in my work.

In my previous post, I showed off a few examples of some of my ceramic versions of this idea.  I've included just two here to illustrate the relationship between the 2-D and 3-D.

Another potential sign silhouette candidate being propped up on a handy, yet totally unrelated, canvas.

Back to High Sign Silhouette.  First off, that's just its working title.  I'm hoping for something better to present itself as the piece evolves in my studio.  The first step in its evolution is to add some purple areas to break up the monotony of the browns/ochres I initially painted for the base layer.

Once those are in place and dry, I start with the lines for the 1st layer of imagery.

Part of the way into the process.

I had batch of colors mixed up for a different painting, but I found myself wanting to paint the dude in the lower right hand corner -a bit of a procedural non-sequitur, but when you're running around unsupervised, mayhem may ensue.

Time to continue with more colors now that I've added a few bits (black line work) to the overall composition.

Just a few more colors and this layer is done!

The next step is to haze over this layer and prepare for the 2nd layer.

200lbs. of Ceramical Fun

Recently, I have enjoyed the good fortune of some uninterrupted studio time in the ceramics studio at Black Hawk College.  I have tried to make the most of it by doing some explorations (instead of just masks).  Originally, I thought I was going to make a bunch of little cars for a drive-in movie installation idea I had, but I happily let myself get sidetracked...

Here are some of the clay projects I have been working lately.

For lack of a better term (or a more clever/poetic turn of phrase), I'm currently just calling these 'towers'.  They are rooted in the same basic idea as my abandoned roadside billboards/signs pieces.

When I say billboard/sign idea, here are a few examples of how it is manifesting in my works on canvas...

Back to the clay!

A few more.

They are certainly fun to build/fabricate.  Due to their size and shape, I can only fire a few in the kiln per bisque fire, so it is taking a while to get these moved along to the next stage.

I have also squeaked out a few faces/masks along the way!

Next time we'll check in on one or two of those works on canvas that I mentioned earlier...