This Saturday night: Farm to Fork (to Fabulous!)

Opening reception Saturday, March 16, 7-10pm.

Showing with my friend and fellow artist Alicia Rheal in our From Farm to Fork (to Fabulous!) exhibit. The opening reception is a gala celebration and benefit for the Walls of Wittenberg. More info, and the poster, below. Highlight? Why Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats of course.

This is going to be a really fun (and delicious) opening reception! (Click on poster to enlarge) And, if you drive up early, you can visit Nueske’s Company Store in Wittenberg (Sat. hours: 8-4).

The WowSpace is located at 114 Vinal St – Wittenberg, WI. Easy to find…Just look for the 8ft hanging hog carcasses and the giant pull-toy pig (cuts) in the front windows along the main street of downtown Wittenberg!

And here’s more info about the Walls of Wittenberg ongoing mural project.

One section of the wall installed for now….

Installing…. That’s an 18ft long Hampshire stud boar on right (the model, Pioneer is owned by Monson Show Pigs in Richland Center). And that’s an 8ft pull-toy pig in front window.

New paintings

‘My Work Here is Done’ • oil on panel • 10in x 8in (click to enlarge)

Showing this Friday at Artisan Gallery’s Painting Invitational….

(Opening this Friday, March 1, 5-9pm, Artisan Gallery in Paoli, WI)

If this big white dog–the Great Pyrenees–looks at all familiar, it’s because she’s Betty, our neighbor dog who guards her herd of alpacas. I photographed her in action helping with the birth of that baby alpaca (cria). You can see the photo sequence of ‘Alpaca gives birth’ here. The Mama alpaca is Maggie, and the cria is T-cup. This scene is from Galpaca farm, the place just down the road, to the southeast of us.

‘Getting Close’ • oil on paper • 4in x 6in

Yep, I finally picked up the brushes and started painting with oils again, after a 4-year hiatus, while I went to grad school and learned how to do relief printmaking, then spent last year perfecting the print extravaganza that was the Tunnel of Mortality.

Last month I was invited to take part in Artisan’s Painting invitational, and just figured it’s time to get back to it. It was a little slow going at first, but sort of a relief–just color, you know? And not having to think too much about it–just mixing up hues and values that work immediately. No planning out layers of colors for print.

‘Constant Companion’ • oil on panel • 5in x 7in

Roughed out 4 paintings to work on simultaneously, so I could keep working without stopping and waiting for something to dry…. I started out really small with 3 little oils (before finishing Betty and the gang, at top). Here are 2 of them… above, one of our hogs from last year, ‘getting close’ to that time. And a portrait of Oreo, this great, faithful companion of a farmer on hwy 78. Oreo could often be seen patiently waiting beside the driveway entrance whenever his master went away. And here, in this shot, he lay with a very watchful eye, in the closest spot of shade, while his master worked on one of the farm vehicles.

Quality Control–you know you want it.

The print that is!

Available at our Spring Art Tour site for only $15. See the whole poster, below. Detail of little Squirt at right. (BUY POSTER NOW)

This is a fundraiser for our Spring Art Tour. You can support our nonprofit group MHAAA (Mount Horeb Area Arts Association)–that pays for advertising (to promote the tour), a yearly art scholarship for a local high school student, and basically allows us to hold this Mount Horeb Area Spring Art Tour every year–just by purchasing this scene from a little dairy barn near Blanchardville.

The dog is Squirt, and she IS quality control for this farm. At milking time, she can be found trotting up and down the aisles, keeping all the girls in line while they’re being milked. If anybody’s out of line, she nimbly jumps up and nips them on the nose. All the girls watch her with eagle eyes as she trots by. When milking is over, the farmer goes and opens the door, and Squirt runs around and gets them all moving. She gets the first one to go out, then dances to and fro, herding every last cow out of that barn. The farmer just holds the door open. Don’t you wish your terrier was this well-trained??!! I do.

Quality Control was originally a 6ft x 5ft oil painting, done for a solo show The Lives of Farm Dogs, in 2005. It was easily the most popular painting of this sold-out (well except for Not From Around Here) show. The poster is a standard 16in x 20in size, which will fit into any 16x20in frame you can pick up inexpensively at Hobby Lobby, Lynn’s of Madison, or any of those big box stores that I don’t want to name but that sell everything really cheap.

Go get the Quality Control poster here!

Our Spring Art Tour poster features Quality Control, originally a 6ft x 5ft oil painting on canvas. The poster sells for $15 and measures a handy 16in x 20in. (click poster to see it in detail)

Cow for Graze restaurant

Graze Restaurant asked me to paint a cow for them. Here’s the progression (click any cow to enlarge), most recent progress at top.

If you want to read this from the beginning, starting with the delivery of the cow, just start reading at the bottom of this post and scroll up….

Done! Finished varnishing last week. Whew!

Wanted to get this uploaded before 2013, so here you go:

We all breathe a sigh of relief at the completion and varnishing of the cow.

Detail

Side 2.

Side 2, detail.

Pretty much done…

Side two almost done (gotta soften the pasture-to-black transition on the right side of the state, soften the udder-to-white-fur transition, and clean up the blacks and whites…)

A closer look…

Side one details corrected. Done.

November–almost December–Aaaack!

What a nightmare this has been. Should be easy-squeezy, but with the other deadlines in October/November…. Oh well. Working away on side two now–getting there! Here’s side one, pretty much finished (below):

Side one pretty much done

You can see that face is getting there–pretty much done.

Final (Side One) State of Wisconsin with products

Wisconsin products modified (got rid of those white outlines around each object–just wasn’t working).

Side One almost done

Side one almost done…still needs some rearrangement of black spots…

You can see the horns painted now (over the texture added in the step below). Face pretty much done. Eyes still need some work, but close…. Hooves made to look more realistic/3-d with painting in the shadows to create depth.

Adding texture to the horns

To build up the texture in the horns, I glob on various acrylic gel mediums. This one is a mix of Golden’s molding paste and soft gel.

October 1 progress:

Some of the locally-sourced, Wisconsin(!) products that Graze uses in it’s cooking. Products blocked in, painting in progress.

September 23 progress:

Black and white Holstein colors blocked in (with my little helpers, for scale of course).

September, 2012

Blocking in the distinctly Wisconsin Holstein fur pattern.

Underpainting begun on forehead–trully a Wisconsin Holstein….

First thing is getting the white out. A layer of orange as the colored ground to make subsequent layers on top glow…

Some info from an earlier post:
Aug. 20
Graze restaurant has commissioned me to paint a cow for their patio.

The design will be a holstein (modeled after one of the dairy cows milked at Sassy Cow Creamery, where Graze gets much of their dairy products). Incorporated onto the black/white holstein pattern, will be painted the specific, locally sourced products–produce, Highland beef, trout, etc (that Graze buys from local farmers in the area)–from which Executive Chef Tory Miller and the Graze team create the dishes on their menu.

It just arrived today…

Unwrapping

Yep, it’s a girl!

For you dog AND cat people…

Cat-friend vs. Dog-friend

Laugh-snort…’nuf said.

The Amazing Dancing Dog!

Dexter does it again. Isn’t he just AMAZING!?!!?? More so with all caps, right?

Dexter did it again. Pose that is.

Another folio exchange, this one with the theme “Circus, Circus” so of course I had to do this little circus dog, and then modeled it after old circus posters somewhat. Circus World in Baraboo (and those fantastic old posters) remains an inspiration to me, since childhood. I got over my fear of clowns doing this one–looking at just tons of old clown photos till they didn’t look scary anymore–yeah! Happy day!! I think this clown still looks somewhat ominous, but it had to be dark and simply-rendered to show off my little star in the foreground.

The photo shoot was pretty funny–Dexter did a lot of “dancing” for cheese…. I bet he thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

The Amazing Dancing Dog
- Reduction woodcut on Arches cover
- 23in x 8 1/2in

This was for sale at Artisan Gallery, but it (along with other ones I took for the Small Works show earlier this month) sold rather quickly. I will frame up another at some point soon, and get it to Artisan, but have to get that cow finished first!

NOTE: No animals were harmed in the posing/making of this print. Spoiled, yes; hurt, no.

“Quality Control” poster available this weekend!

Posted JAN 14, 2013: Poster now available online at the Mount Horeb Spring Art Tour site. BUY NOW

Available this weekend at the Mount Horeb Fall Festival, the new Mount Horeb Spring Art Tour benefit poster, featuring Quality Control.

16in x 20in poster, above, features: ‘Quality Control’, oil on canvas, 72in x 60in, © S.V. Medaris (click image to enlarge)

Stop by Saturday, Oct. 6, 9-5 or Sunday, Oct. 7, 10-4 and pick up one of these beautiful posters for only $15!! You’ll be benefiting our non-profit Spring Art Tour event held every June (2013 tour will be June 7-9, 2013: Fri-Sun, 10am-5pm daily).

And guess what?! We’ll be at booth #216 in the street in front of Olson’s Christmas House (near the corner of Main St & Third St.), which is right next to–get this–SJOLINDS CHOCOLATE HOUSE!!!

If you want your poster signed by the artist, I’ll be there. So come visit us (and Sjolinds of course), support The Mount Horeb Area Arts Association (that’s us Spring Art Tour artists), and get some awesome art for only $15!!

The Tunnel of Mortality

The Tunnel of Mortality, a life-size tunnel-book installation at Artisan Gallery, has been extended to September 9th, 2012! The next reception is Friday, July 27, 2012, 5-9pm at Artisan Gallery.

Here’s some shots (click any image to enlarge):

“Come in.” said the spider to the fly….

Once you step in the door, you are in a floor-to-ceiling, darkly wallpapered, little anteroom, about 8ft x 8ft.

Back wall and right corner of anteroom

Chairs are upholstered in the same, matching, printed fabric as the walls.

The richly detailed wallpaper is actually a 10in x 10in linocut pattern printed black onto burgundy duckcloth. About 480 times. If you look closely at one of the “tiles” you will see the underlying theme of the show:

If you look behind you to your right, the outside light looks blinding compared to the dramatic low lighting surrounding you.

Taxidermy chicken NOT for sale.

As you step through the door, into the anteroom, The Tunnel of Mortality is that big framed piece on the right-hand wall. It looks like any other of the framed woodcuts, except as you walk towards or by it, it changes (since it’s a 3-dimensional space, not a flat piece). If you’re not paying attention though, it doesn’t “read” as an interior space, but rather a mirror…or something. A number of visitors were looking behind and above them to figure out where the projector was. Most think it’s a mirror, but can’t figure out how come they don’t see their reflection.

Matching tablecloth and upholstery! This is really the only time I’ve gotten into “interior decorating” (in our real house, nothing matches. I mean, who has time when it takes this long to make pretend rooms?).

Walk into the center of the room, turn to your right, and there’s the tunnel.

The Tunnel of Mortality, framed.

I’m not going to try to explain how this looks in real life, since you really have to go experience it to get it. Suffice it to say, that it’s confusing at first since you can’t quite tell what you’re looking at. Some have said it feels like a mirror.

And here’s a cropped panorama of the center section:

All woodcut or linocut prints on fabric or Tyvek.

Reception is this Friday, 5-9pm at Artisan Gallery (directions).
And the show is up through September 9th.

So, come check it out!
Experience the tunnel!
Sign the camouflaged guestbook!
Read some of the entries in the guestbook here.

Last light on the longest day of the year

Almost perfect ending to the longest day of the year (June 20, 2012). Almost? Because those awesome rain clouds in background just missed us, and we NEED rain! (NOTE: click any image to enlarge)

Perfect in every other way

Great Shandy–better than the others (local and not) I’ve tried. Click to enlarge photo.

(those of you not in this area should know we have been without rain for a long time now).

Hey, what’s the awesome beer you’re drinking (you ask)? Well, it’s the best shandy I’ve tasted yet (already mixed shandy that is, since you already know–Mom–that the best shandies are made with “regular” beer and real lemonade that you physically mix together yourself). It’s Potosi‘s Steamboat Shandy. Not only does it taste great, but I just noticed on the label that it says All Profits to Charity. That’s awesome! Wait, all?!? Is that even possible??! I think this calls for a trip and tour of Potosi Brewery to find out, sometime soon

Where’s the boy(s) you ask? Right here. Chillin’…

Chillin’…

…and guardin’:

Dex is on high alert watchin’ for coyotes. So far, he’s always the first to spot them coming from the west.

Favorite place in the world to be…

…at home with the family–relaxing after a run, and AFTER several weeks/months of hard-core production on The Tunnel of Mortality (currently at Artisan Gallery, Paoli, WI), with the install behind me…

Here’s my girl (at right), sort of on the lookout too. She’s better at seeing small bugs, microscopic critters and possibly invisible beings.

And the fireflies came out before the light disappeared completely:

Pretty perfect evening.

Ivan and the Wily Coyotes

This scene usually happens at dusk or at night. In fact the most breathtaking chase that I witnessed took place on a moonless night in pitch blackness, save for my gazillion candlelight flashlight I used to watch the chase. As always, the coyote seemed to just taunt Ivan. This one night, there was only one (they almost always work in pairs or more) the scrawny thing didn’t even start running till Ivan–a 120 lb puffing and snorting and bellowing freight train–was practically bearing down on him.

When being chased, the coyotes always look back to see how close Ivan is, and they will actually slow down so they don’t get too far away. It really looks as if they are toying with him–teasing him enough to get him to jump the fence and start chasing them, and then they just mess with him. Ivan will chase them off the property–past the barbed wire–then come chugging back up the ridge to the house. Often, the coyotes will reappear on the crest of the hill that Ivan just chased them over, and they’ll bark and bark at him. I swear it sounds like they’re hurling insults at him “Your mama wears combat boots, sucka….” Wily coyotes indeed.

‘Ivan and the Wily Coyotes’ • 3-color reduction linocut on Rives BFK cream • 6in x 24in • (click image to enlarge)

And the print after color #1 (blue, at bottom), carving (linoleum, at top) for color #2, which will be orange: