Plop Plop Fizz Fizz Oh What A Relief It Is

11 x 14 in. Ink on poster board.

I got to wondering about my enjoyment doing octopi and ocean floor scenes. I remembered reading all of the Ocean books in my H.S. library (Shawnee Heights, Tecumseh, Kansas) had this wild notion to join up with Jacques Cousteau my hero, the crazy part about it… I was afraid of water or at least water that I couldn’t see the bottom of.  Then I started liking architecture, especially Frank Lloyd Wright , even though i had a fear of heights over 20 or 30 feet.  Despite my fear architecture won out. I figured I could stay with cool looking western one story high ranch style houses with that low lean look…oh and only be 10 to 15 feet high…lol. At any rate after 2 years and an associate degree in architecture, I knew it wasn’t for me…so off to be an art teacher,  something that I always loved, seemed to be good at,  and had only a couple of fears… furnaces (ceramics, casting metal and glass blowing) and speaking in front of people ! Surely college could cure those issues…right, right?

This piece above was something I kept on my bulletin board during my years at Ottawa University, Kansas… adding things every so often to its landscape. The title? well remember the Alka–Seltzer commercials, the bathysphere started out as a tablet fizzing and bubbling. Octopi? If you look hard enough you will find at least one octopi and several squid…this was something that I could often look at during long study hours and feel a sense of ease…took me to a place I thought at one time was my future dream…notice how far you can see in my ocean…pure fantasy 😉

Oh by the way,  manufacturing cured my fears of speaking in front of people and using and being around furnaces…but even with a degree in ART I never quite got to being a professional teacher of art…a small regret, but I like what I see in the mirror…so it is all good.

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Yes I Know How To Spell Aluminum

20×24 in. mixed media. I be done! I’ve noticed the larger I work the longer I take to call a piece done, I mean much longer…not sure I could paint a wall. This piece was started in 1975 for my Senior Show at Ottawa University, now I can use it as a true SENIOR PIECE. I remember having a theme with education in mind, but for the life of me can’t remember what else I was going to do with it back then…what is the saying, I have slept a few times since then. What I have ended up with is a fun piece with interesting elements and good techiques. No real deep meaning or hidden message, just colorful abstract art…by the way the shadow people to the right were inspired by yearbook pictures…and yes my floating head is deep in thought and not about getting a Dr. Pepper.
PS the word was going to be ALUMNI

Working towards finish

Well a lot added since I showed last…at this point I am letting the piece simmer a bit and see how it feels in the next couple of days. I am really enjoying the thought process (pun intended 😉
Stay tuned….later WOW 101 posts, been doing this longer than I thought, time zips by when you are enjoying yourself.

Work in process 2

Got some great feedback both online and in person. As you can see I have made some changes, I am feeling better about it…still not there I have to pull the slack in yet and do some more fine tuning…but it’s close.

Work in process

20×24 in. mixed media. Don’t usually do this but people have asked before and I am at a stall with this piece, for the moment. Education is a big part of the theme, in case no one noticed 🙂 Just airing this out for general impression or feedback…maybe a light will come on and I will finish before the next post.