Pheasant Series of 3

I worked up a series depicting Pheasant behaviour on the prairie during the spring.  The work is mixed-media...using a method for transferring images similar to developing film.  The chemicals involved and techniques are from Dass...and the results are amazing.  I use Arches 88 paper for the substrate...my photography...and then I enhance the whole picture using Golden acrylic products.
The first in the series is "The Stand-off"
The second is the dance "Cock-fight"
The third is "Stands Alone"

The colors for their feathers is amazing this time of year.

I have them offered on Etsy.

They would make an awesome addition to any Hunting Lodge...or any decor for that matter..or be perfect for Fathers day.

New Window Display

I have 3 windows (right now) for displaying in.  One is an old entry from when this building was originally build as the Chevy Dealership I think (but need to learn) in the early 1900's.
I hung "Wild Angel"  and placed a displaying table in front of her, hanging from the ceiling are blown glass orbs.

I listed on Etsy today "The Standoff"  two pheasants sizing each other up getting ready to fight.  It is 1 of 3 for a series. http://www.etsy.com/shop/maryhuntstudio?ref=pr_shop

Images of TX

I have been snapping pictures of just about everything I find down here in Texas
there is still a lot of critters indicative to both SD and TX...that being the case a lot of what I am getting pictures of will find their way into future artwork.

Some for paintings be it either canvas or glass and I have a few murals planned for the new store. Here is a shy longhorn calf peeking around momma.


And I KNOW these are bad critters when they grow up
wild pigs get to be 600 and upwards of over 1000 pounds as an adult
and they are destructive and MEAN they WILL kill you
but aren't they cutest little critters as babies.

they stood by the road for the longest time
well until i got the camera ready then they toooook off
and they are FAST too!

I do not know where momma was but i guarantee if i had gotten out of the truck she would have made her presence known!

The BIG Lamp Reveal

Here are the final results of the lampshade and the story I hope to portray.
As you saw in the last post the paint is fired onto the lamp from the inside. This means there is NOTHING painted on the outside of the lamp. You gaze at the image when the lamp is lit. Unlit it just appears as shadows. Lamps are incredibly hard to photograph...and then I went through a gazillion images until I decided on these.
The first image shows life on the trail for the homesteader pioneering west to their piece of land...indicated with a Homestead Ticket..which is shown in the next image.

Along the way many didn't make it...indicated with the memory of a grave marker. Other places on the lamp are snippets of journals, as many pioneers documented their journey.
The grass was tall in these times usually 6 ft!

If you look at the left portion of this image and the right portion of the next image you get a sense of the 4th side..."the sod family" which is being featured in a guest post with Anne Gaal. Until then I promised to show that side (in its entirety)



In the meantime here is side 3 the journey made with the wagon, that often was home a bit longer after they made their destination.

Life as a pioneer was extreme.
Extreme bouts of weather
Extreme losses
Extreme dangers

I live in relative comfort in SD and I can admit I would not have fared well as "pioneer stock"
I probably would have made it some how...but I would have complained a LOT!

Reverse Shade Continued

okay well it has been so long!! I reversed the top and bottom image
the line image is the shade after it has been fired from the matte step and I am now ready to begin adding color

i know it has been forever!
getting to know the new camera has been a challenge for me
that coupled with the Internet issues here in Texas
i have suffered quite the patience curve
we bought a booster antenna and that has helped
some

the color palette is fairly limited that i work with
these low firing paints are extremely expensive
so i chose colors that could be mixed and thus i have a fair palette to work with....

these were the colors i used
the green, pink, orange, white, red and blue
all mix well with squeegee oil that makes a paint like elixir
fired onto the crystal



and you get the top picture
not this one
the painted side fired and ready to look at through the other side!

well I have since finished the lamp
so look for that blog post

i learned that with a slow connection
a person MUST change the size on their pictures

i am spoiled, apparently, in SD to high speed internet
I didn't know

but I have missed y'all and hope you have a good new beginning to another year
:)

Reverse Lampshading Process...

I like the shape of a crystal lampshade, so I purchase them, which this is...lets walk through the process of reverse painting with glass on glass in traditional techniques for museum quality. Using a special mix of paint with fine ground glass and an added amount of flux so the kiln can embed these elixirs at a lower temperature keeping my shades shape, we begin with what is called the line drawing. This is painted on the inside of the shade in the reverse pattern of your intended drawing.

I am showing just 2 sides of the shade. The fist one is a pioneer family in front of their sod house...the second image is on the trail setting up camp for supper...

this becomes the first kiln firing..

Next I totally black matte the inside of the shade.

This shows the inside totally black...then with scrub brushes and picks I gently remove the matted paint to give details to the images.

This takes hours depending on how much detail you wish to portray...I am keeping it simple since the images are not going to have a lot of designs on clothes and that sort of thing they used homespun fabrics and basic basic living utensils

The letters Yous view are portraying a homestead certified ticket which would give the homesteader their location to stop...also a portion of journal recording the trip...here you can see how the scrubbed areas respond to the matte being removed...this is the same portion above "on the trail stopping for supper"

and the pioneer family in front of their sod house...

tomorrow this fires in the kiln and sets the matte process into the glass..next is color!

Favorite Piece

What was my favorite piece of artwork....
that would be this piece
Hannah
done in acrylics
I don't do portaits as much as I used to and Hannah's piece was a limbering exercise...

enjoy the weekend
:>)

AEDM day 19

the bi-plane is finished if you look at yesterday you can see the subtle difference

mainly in the sundog

I mounted it to this composite sheet of mixed media board

and I may, after the medium dries,

add something to it if it doesn't dry clear enough to not look a mess

if it does then it is done and ready to frame

hope the day went well for you!

AEDM day 18

this is as far as i have gotten today with this painting

a crop dusting bi-plane i captured when he was spraying our fields
at dusk

a cool sundog came up and i am painting it in



here we are beginning the painting this morning



layers and layers later and more to go..







here is the original photo

the painting is on canvas 8.5 x 11.5