SCULPTURE

TORSO SERIES


Currently, I am working on a series of almost life-sized, apprx. 10"X18", ceramic and some mixed media, wall hangings of female torsos.








My pieces are finished in a variety of ways, usually by glazing, painting or staining them. When it comes to materials, I am not a purist. I enjoy mixing media and believe an artist should feel free to do "whatever works".

After the gray torso (above) was glazed fired, the thorns were overglazed in Mother of Pearl and fired a third time. The pearlized thorns give a seashell quality to the surface.

The blue "patriotic" torso is painted with bisque stain. For depth, I have applied a wood backing to the clay, which is painted in Florescent red. The edges of the cut out stars are outlined with glow-in-the-dark paint giving the piece a feeling of twilight.

The last torso is painted reflective silver and penetrated with orange weedeater wire which transmits light like optic fibers. When lit from behind, she glows!

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I tend to create with an obsessive and myopic view which is resolved by working in series. I exhaust ideas by submitting them to theme and variation. If an idea is good, it should last through more than one transformation. When all possibilities seem exhausted, I sometimes push my idea into another medium. For example, I photographed my sculpture and used the photos to create a new series of prints.

I don't get bored with an idea easily, so I find myself working on the same one for several years. Hopefully we evolve together.

SMALL WORKS

For the shops, I have small wall hangings 3"X6", called Hotties. They started out as studies for the large torsos and then took on a life of their own. You can hang them anywhere on a push pin.

These and other smaller works have been shown in Museum shops and galleries in Dallas, Fort Worth and Galveston as well as Grapevine and Salina, Colorado.

SOME PREVIOUS WORKS

Easy Annie, a mixed media soft sculpture, is life size with reflective sunglasses and a siver lame' face. She is hand stitched leather with zippers from head to toe and rides a wooden motorcycle with real Harley headlights and a Banana seat. May she Rest In Peace.

From the Continuing Herself Series, 1972, Master's Thesis, University of Dallas. Life sized, Herself Wed is mixed media, mostly hand sewn cloth, with a clay face. Note the pink hearts on her cheeks. The Bride's bones were created with a metal and wood armature and her individual muscles, pads of cotton and muslim, were hand sewn onto the armature to build up the necessary volume. Her body and clothes are stitched similar to a quilt and a heart theme is carried throughout. She is holding a bouquet of pink felt hearts, surrounded by lace and she sits dreamily on a church pew.

Abberated Annie, is a life sized soft sculpture, with a fiberglas head. She is holding a"human doll". A juxtaposition that I enjoy.

Proud to be a Stew, was also part of the Continuing Herself Series. This life sized piece is in relief, stuffed and mounted on a plywood board, not unlike taxidermy. She has a permanent, exaggerated painted on smile which was issued with the job, and she is "all front" with nothing to back her up. I suggest that this stewardess had been taught to be a phony.

Chick, 12" X 12" X 41" was first sculpted in clay and then cast in a waste mold in hydrostone. She had an attitude in 1968 and her bellbottoms and tank top are as popular now as they were then.

Frigid-Aire 16" X 16" 16", is primarily clay but has some mixed media. Note the photo of a New Mexico ranch on the back wall, and the wooden mop handle. The oversized clay cowboy hat, left on the fridge, suggests she is waiting for her man.

The Seated Cowgirl, 19 1/2" L X 9"W X 12"H, and Standing Cowgirl with the much smaller Sunbather, were part of my Cowgirl Series. These sculptures are oil painted with a special technique to create flesh tones. I use primarily rich browns on my figures because it gives them a seriousness that brighter colors might not.






Notice that even the small Garden Nymph, sitting in the sand, has a cowboy hat.

CONSTRUCTIONS

Drive Inn, mixed media, 12" x 9" x 7 1/2"H. Abandoned with wrecked cars yet a glowing screen, ready for the movie. One of the largest sculptures in the bed series.






Lassiter Lodge, 12" x 12" 7" H, airbrushed clay with a glazed and grouted ceramic base mounted on wood. My personal memory of Thistle Hill, the Winfield Scott mansion in Fort Worth.








The Dream Bed series range in size from 4" X 6" to these larger ones that are approx. 10"L X 7"W X 8" H each. It was interesting using the bed as a format to re-create snap shots of my life.

Toby's Memorial 101/2" L X 5"W X 7"H was a highly personal piece about special memories of a beloved dog.

Longhorn Pie, 6"L X 11" W X 3" H was a part of the Pie In The Sky Series. It shows the diversity of landscape in the Lone Star State.



American Pie










Buttermilk Pie




Padre Pie

BIOGRAPHIES ETC:

http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/1998-07-16/calendar3.html http://members.tripod.com/~oldnco/mavicans/williamsj.html
http://www.forttours.com/pages/dallas.asp More Texas Artists

PRINTS
I photograph many of my sculptures as subjects for my digital prints. The prints are self-matting and are in white 8 1/2" X 11" front loading contemporary frames.
Water Bed is among those placed in a fantasy environment.












Three Amigos

Boy's Bed

Ghost Writer









Freudian Slip

Four Play

My white 4" x 6"ceramic envelopes were made to carry a message of love. They doubled as subject matter for a number of prints about matters of the heart.






Love's a Beach









Oceans of Love












Pot O' Gold












Still Water