Finished!

She Contemplates Lucien Freud (in Italian) [Is Ecstasy Possible?]
15” x 22” Paper Dim; 12” x 12” Plate Dim
Combined Media Print on BFK/Rives Paper

Dirtbag in a Glassine Envelope
15” x 22” Paper Dim; 12” x 12” Plate Dim
Combined Media Print on BFK/Rives Paper

The art for the May show is done! Whew - just in time. I hang it on Sunday afternoon. I still have to buy some hardware, but all the framed pieces are in nice shadow box frames and everything is priced, titled, and clean and ready to go over to the shop.

You can see the images here in the Picasa web album.

Please come to the show sometime between May 3 and July 30, and really try to make the Artist Reception on Sunday, June 2oth from 3-5 pm. There will be butter tarts!

Flesh of My Flesh
May 3 - July 30, 2010

bamboo Hair + Body
799 Main Street
Half Moon Bay CA 94019
650.712.8200

Private showings upon request.

Artist Reception
Sunday June 20th 3-5 pm

Inspired by Flesh of My Flesh by Kaja Silverman, this show explores the relationship we have with ourselves and to others through inevitable, self-inflicted comparison.
So painful, and so necessary in 
establishing who we know ourselves as in the world.

Laura McHugh
Combined Media Artist

Piece No. 2

Standing on Buttons to Keep My Head Above H2O

22” x 30” Paper Dim 11” x 17” Plate Dim
Combined Media Print on BFK/Rives Paper

Eleven Pieces for Upcoming Show - First One Done!

I Gemelli - Who Am I in Relation to Others?
22” x 22” Paper Dim; 12” x 12” Plate Dim
Combined Media Print on BFK/Rives Paper

This piece is complete. Two color print with graphite and chine colle. Stay posted for the next 10...I'll be hanging the show on 5/2 and getting the information out for the reception on 6/20.

Here's Another

Wow - So Happy with My Chine Colle

These two prints, chine colle of paper images, are spectacular. Not a bubble or a ripple in them. SO so happy with how my press and I performed together today, especially since I STRUGGLED with chine colle in my printmaking classes forever. More to do on top of them, possibly. I will have to "sit" with them a bit, find out what they are asking for.

The plain one asked for buttons to be painted in around her. The other is asking for washers (the machine kind, not the appliance).

More Art Today

I went to my friend Debbie's house and she taught me about fabric painting. It's way cool. I did some things to go into my art. Tomorrow, more time in the studio.

Photojojo#179 - Baby Doll

My youngest daughter Claire is now Jojo-ing with me. She is a fantastic photographer and has been for many many years, even though she is a young 15.

I remember photos she took of the Altamont Pass in 2003, so seven years ago, that were awesome. I did a whole series of paintings from them.

Anyway, here's a photo she took of the doll, paired up with some art I made in the art class I'm teaching.

Enjoy!

Hot Off the Press

My press isn't hot, in the thermal sense. But it's starting to warm up with this new series of art. Here's the first of 15 pieces I'll be creating for a show in May to pair up with some photojojos.

The plate (tree) is from a 1780 encyclopedia I just bought on French Agriculture (CAA through CRE) paired up with my little paper doll. It turned out just as I wanted it to. Swell. On to a few more this afternoon.

Starting to Put it All Together

I made some good progress on art making today, despite several interruptions. Some good like a visit from a friend, and some not so good like the server computer (iMac 24) starting to overheat and doing some weird screen stuff.

I got it cooled down enough to get SMC Fan Control installed, and that let me up the cooling fan RPMs enough to keep it at a nice 75-9oF, which should do the trick for awhile. A new 27" iMac is way expensive, though also way cool.

Here's a shot of some of the art making - I'm ready to start making prints tomorrow.

Art Class #2 - Making Textured Backgrounds

Oh what fun we had today making five textured backgrounds upon which to place our ephemera. We used hair dryers to move along the drying process, paint, plastic wrap, masking tape, gel medium, and pages from the phone book to create the grounds for the first 90 minutes. Then, it got really, really quiet while everyone worked on putting images onto the grounds.

Success: the canvas paper worked well for today's lesson and having each student use the same paint for all five of their pieces allowed them to see how each different technique varied.

Learning: give students a second brush to keep with the matte medium so it doesn't get tainted with paint from their painting brush.

Solojojo #178

Sour Photojojo #177

I'm in a sour mood today. Have been all day. Not sure why. Got plenty of rest last night - too much? Actually, I've been in a sour mood for days now. Since Friday of last week.

I was all ready for one set of things to happen, but then another set of things happened instead and it turns out, when it comes to those things, I'm not as flexible as I thought. I like to think of myself as someone totally willing to always go with the flow, but clearly, that is not always the case.

I had my mind and heart set on getting work-work done on Friday so I could do art on Sunday. I had my schedule set so that I could go to a family event on Saturday, then be all prime to get the art done on Sunday. But life intervened. Children needed help, and I wasn't at all helpful. I was quite rude and grumpy and in the process, alienated them, and hurt their feelings and got myself into a frame of mind that wasn't at all conducive to producing any art.

That feeling lingers today, and I continue to be less helpful than desired. I'm tired but can't nap. I'm hungry but don't feel like cooking. I just feel obliterated. This too shall pass, but in the meantime (no pun intended...) I need to be more kind to the children.

Here's today's photojojo too; my sunshine and birds with my partner's dark music club shot.

Mixed Media/Collage Workshop

Here's my piece from yesterday's class. It started out kinda plain and I wasn't very happy with it. Then, I worked with others in the class, giving tips and tricks, and came back to it. That's when I realized I had some lovely dark brown mulberry paper (tissue paper) that was the same color as her hair, so I gave her "extensions" and added the skirt. Voila!

Next week - background treatments.

Learning this week - canvas paper doesn't work so well for this class. It stays too wet and floppy and things buckle and bubble too much. Pam doesn't like the bubbles so we'll work on that.

Photojojo #176 - Looking Up

I'm back! Been busy getting ready for and teaching a 6-week art class. Here's today's jojo - my partner's tree and my look up at a power pole. I'm fascinated by power poles.

Happy Friday!

Photojojo #175! Guest jojos!

Here is the 3/4 way mark to 200 jojos, and a confession. I didn't take either of these photos. The top one is from my partner - a croc at the home garden show last month, and a photo of a headstone in the local cemetery, taken by my daughter #3 - Claire Bear.

Happy Easter - Four Photojojos (171, 172, 173 and 174)

Can you guess which ones are mine?

Photojojo #170 - Curly and Straight

Today's photojojo is curly stuff (mine) and the underside of the pier (theirs).

Photojojo #169 - Circles and Lines

Here's my partner's lines (bottles) and my labyrinth (circle).