I like my law-firm life, and lately, it’s been spilling over into my art life.  A series of work is emerging from expired law books, and it reminds me why I was attracted to law in the first place.

Law is the summation of our society’s philosophy.  It’s how we have defined right from wrong and the procedures for how things “ought” to be done.  Law addresses our human rights . . . and responsibilities.  Law is steady and sure where art is not.

This piece is called, “Water’s Law.”  The face is my own, cast in glass with bits of dichroic that change in the light.   The glass is mounted on stainless steel stand offs I drilled into a California Water Law book I bought at Urban Ore in Berkeley.  Inside are handwritten quotes from friends, family and famous authors relating to water, our most precious resource.  I’m not sure which is my favorite – the list of childhood water holes my mother recalled for me, the quote from A River Runs Through It, or Ben Franklin’s observation that we won’t truly know the value of water until the well runs dry.

It’s interesting to me to see my two separate lives merge into one.  I used to keep them completely separate.   My law firm friends have learned about my flaky artist side that continually seeks beauty.  My artist friends have learned about my serious side that continually seeks perfection and organization.  As for me, I realize I’m a lucky lady to have both of these aspects in my life.

Reproduction, 19 x 28"

This composition is one of my most evolved pieces I have worked on. In this piece I wanted to weave together an entire story. One story, is how Art is created. The other story is how Koi are created using a “reproduction” machine. I achieved this by using over 200 hundred reference photos and employing a stop action animation technique. Stop action was widely used in cartoons and then in old science fiction movies like Clash Of The Titans. You move an object just a little bit at a time from the exact same reference point using a very still camera. When you advance each picture quickly it looks as though the objects are moving.

I started to think of how to tell a story using my Koi fish. I did a rough sketch and then another and another. I came up with this composition. The very old mechanical copying machine is called a Mimeograph and was used to reproduce copies for office use. It has a counter on it so you would know how many copies you were making as you turned the handle.

I cleared out an entire room and used a blind in the window to control my lighting exactly the way I wanted it. I staged everything until I knew it was right. This was quite a long process.

I used a Koi to run the Mimeograph and another in the background to feed colored pencils into the back of it. This is how the Koi get their color. The Koi that is coming out at the bottom is coming off the paper from the Mimeograph and coming to life. Like a birth if you will. All the markings on the Koi are from former grand champions at the all Japan Show held every year in Japan. These are the best of the best as far as markings go. The markings on the Koi running the Mimeograph are from the very first American Koi that won the all Japan Show in 2009. This was the first time that a Koi from the States won that show. It was a huge win from the U.S..

The Koi that is sort of swimming down in front is more of a supervisory position to oversee what is going on. In the background you will see some pencils that are stacked on top of each other to form “WA” that stands for Woodworth Art. I used my Dark Blue for the background and shadows to give the illusion that the Koi are underwater. Are they under water? The lighting suggests otherwise….Would the pencils float away?

By the way, if you’ve read this far, you might be interested to know that this piece can be seen from now until May 5, 2010, at the Grand Theater Center for the Arts, at 715 Central Avenue, Tracy, California.

Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious disappearance of bees, has been widely reported.  I have found many theories why this might be happening, but no concrete answers.  I’m not sure anyone really knows for sure, but we can take some educated guesses.  It’s possible that we have introduced various chemicals and toxins to the landscape are affecting these smallest of creatures.  Remedying the situation is more complicated than it might seem.  “Lost Colony” addresses this complication.

“Lost Colony” is a hive of bees.  The bees were created with pages of the environmental laws that set forth the procedure for cleaning up our toxic waste sites.  These laws are known as “RCRA” and “CERCLA.”  They are so complicated that some attorneys spend their entire careers specializing in litigating and interpreting only small portions of these laws.  The hive in “Lost Colony” is made with pages of Civil Procedure.  These are the laws that govern the way lawsuits move through the court system.

Complicated laws moving through a complicated court system.  Is it any wonder Superfund Cleanup lawsuits flounder in the Court system for decades?  Hopefully, the Bees have that much time.

Process:

This piece is a variation of Verre églomisé, from the French term meaning glass gilded, is a process where the backside of the glass is gilded with gold or metal leaf.  Once the glass has been gilded, designs are engraved and layers of color are added.

In “Lost Colony,” copper strips were applied first to the back of the glass to create the structure of the honeycomb.  Next, variegated copper leaf was applied to represent honey.  Some of the gilding was removed to create organic lines contrasting against the structure of the honeycomb.  Next, the bees were applied to the reverse of the glass, each one looking at the next.  Finally, the rest of the honeycomb was finished with pages of procedural law books.

The entire piece was created by combining leafing, collage and reverse painting on glass.

A few fun things are stirring. One of my glass pieces was promoted to the front page of Etsy. Very fun! The pieces above show all the listing my “Blue Crush” was shown with. I love that Birch bracelet!

Also, I’ve been invited by the California Museum to show my glasswork on March 13th as part of their “California Imagination” day. The museum will be hosting several women artisans and will have free admission to the Museum. I’ll post more info soon!

Basket of Sunshine, 20x20x5", by Mira F. Woodworth

I was going to write a post about all of my lofty goals for the new year. It’s 2010 and surely there are at least 2,010 “art” action items on my agenda. And then I realized — hey, who cares about what I want to accomplish. What about what I have accomplished so far?

The BIG first thing we’ve done for 2010 is integrate PencilKen.com and MoltenMira.com. No more are we two separate studios. We have merged our entire online presence, and attitude, about our artwork. All of our efforts now go into one collective endeavor: WoodworthArt. I have no idea why I didn’t think of this concept earlier – I’m already saving time and energy.

This brings me to Etsy. I’ve been on the fence about Etsy for a very long time. I’ve always loved to shop there, and I’ve always loved the “handmade” culture. Certainly, as artists, we fit into that mold. But, I didn’t realize all that Etsy has to offer. Here are eight reasons we’ve integrated Etsy into our overall web presence:

1. A shocking amount of professional artists (artists I read about in glossy magazine articles) have shops on Etsy.
2. Etsy allows me to integrate my shop directly into my web page. This is significant because it allows me to upload the work one place, keeping my web page updated automatically.
3. Etsy handles the credit card and paypal transactions. I don’t have to do anything.
4. Etsy has a major following. It is HUGE!!! Etsy gives our website exposure that we can’t pay for otherwise.
5. Etsy has a feature that allows us to upload our artwork directly in Google Shopping database. Again, more free exposure.
6. Etsians. The people of Etsy are the nicest people you could want to meet online. They are creative, and generous with their time and information. That alone makes the price of admission worthwhile.
7. Etsy allows us to upload multiple images of the same artwork, allowing us to show off details of the work. This is particularly useful in my glass shop.
8. Price. At only 20 cents a listing, you simply cannot beat the price for what you get back. You just can’t.

So for now, I’m busy as can be, photographing, cropping, uploading, and describing on Etsy.  Meanwhile, I’m meeting some really neat people who write lovely letters (okay, they’re emails) about why they like my work, why they bought it and where it’s going.  I can really get used to this!

Oh, and P.S.  here are today’s updates:

River's Edge, 10x7x2"

Pink Cadillac Purse

Ken and Mira in Lodi, CA

I visited the site of Lisa Call, a well-known fiber artist this morning. She did a list of 100 things she finished up in 2009. I did something similar last year at the advice of Alyson Stanfield. But certainly not 100 things. I thought it’d be easy to list out, but it took Ken and I the better part of the morning to get to 100. Thank you Lisa Call for the great idea. I didn’t realize all that we have done.

Here’s our list:

1. We consolidated our studios to become WoodworthArt.

2. Ken became an ArtfulHome artist.

3. Mira continued with ArtfulHome for another year.

4. Mira wrote Koi Story, a children’s story.

5. Ken completed the illustrations for Koi Story.

6. We bought the Adobe suite of software and continue to learn how to use it.

7. Mira formatted Koi Story within Adobe InDesign.

8. We toured Arizona and Nevada for 10 days during the spring.

9. During our tour, we met several gallerists in Scottsdale.

10. We enjoyed two pool-side breakfasts at the Bellagio.

11. We saw Cirque de Soleil in Vegas.

12. Ken walked Mira up to the edge of the Grand Canyon with her eyes closed and then showed her the entire canyon at once.  It was overwhelmingly beautiful.

13. Ken completed a sixth semester of auto body at San Joaquin Delta College and then brought his GTO home.

14. We started Detroit Steel Design, a line of jewelry made from reclaimed steel from muscle cars.

15. We spent two days in Yosemite in the fall.

16. We participated in a successful Open Studio Tour.

17. We’re not sure how many drawing Ken completed this year, but we think it’s about 30.

18. Ken’s piece, “Bright Idea,” was juried into and exhibited in the International Colored Pencil Society Show in Atlanta Georgia.

19. Mira’s River Series was carried at Carlyn Gallerie in Dallas, Texas, Chartreuse Muse, in Modesto, California, and Gallery M in Pleasanton, California.

20. Mira’s painting, “Grandpa’s Legacy” was juried into the International Society of Acrylic Painters International Open.

21. We began tweeting and have met/connected with some great artists and art lovers.

22. We combined our two websites into one at WoodworthArt.com.

23. We have picked up additional Photoshop skills.

24. We toured the historical graveyard in Yosemite on Halloween night and learned more about the area in that tour than all of our visits to Yosemite combined.

25. We learned why Etsy is a contender and have started three Etsy shops – one for jewelry, one for glass and one for colored pencil.

26. We have learned how to upload our Etsy listing directly to Google shopping and into our website for automation. Hopefully this will save us some time to create more art in 2010.

27. We have learned what SEO is. ‘nuff said.

28. We went to Grass Valley twice this year.

29. We went to three car shows/swap meets.

30. Mira painted 7 acrylic paintings on board.

31. Mira has begun a new line of glass from reclaimed crushed tempered glass.

32. Ken won an award in the Delicato Vineyards show.

33. Ken won three awards in the Expressions show.

34. Ken won two awards in the Mondavi Winery show.

35. Ken had a month long solo show at Hutchins Street Square.

36. Mira was invited by Jewelry Art Magazine to write a how-to article for their magazine for the Nova Hoop Earring design.

37. Ken continued to sustain and give life to 66 koi fish in two ponds.

38. Ken learned how to weld.

39. We went to Oregon for two nights and enjoyed ourselves while visiting family.

40. While in Oregon, we saw fish climbing a fish latter from underwater.

41. We started and completed the Red Moon Art Salon with a group of local artists based upon Alison Stanfield’s materials (see link to Alison, above.)

42. Mira continued to work full time as a paralegal.

43. We celebrated our grandson’s first birthday.

44. Mira stopped working, arting, and computing for one whole week while her mother was visiting and enjoyed her mom fully.

45. We bought a brand new car. We’ve always bought used, but Obama convinced us.

46. Mira participated in the Hearts to Anna fundraiser put on by the ArtfulHome.

47. Mira wrote 16 blog posts for 2009, which will improve in 2010.

48. We toured the studio of Jeannie Vodden in Jackson, California.

49. We met Martha Esch in Locke, California, an artist who used to travel all over the US in historic bi-planes.

50. Ken built Mira a glass rack and closet to die for.

51. Ken rode his bicycle from Sacramento to Folsom twice.

52. Ken created and built an organizational system for hundreds of colored pencils.

53. We celebrated an abundant Christmas with our daughter and grandson.

54. We reconnected with a family Mira grew up with.

55. We started flickr photo streams of our artwork.

56. We toured an abandoned school on the Delta we have always been curious about.

57. We were taken on a limo ride to tour Christmas lights in the bay area.

58. Ken installed  floor moldings and fixed the roof at his father’s home.

59. Ken figured out how to display Mira’s glass vessels on the wall and welded the bracket.

60. We went ATV’ing in Sedona (Mira’s first time.)

61. Ken won a best of show and first place at the Stockton Art League show.

62. Ken stood on top of a natural land arch in Sedona (and scared the heck out of Mira.)

63. We toured Taliesent West in Arizona. Ken found out he has a lot in common with Frank Lloyd Wright.

64. Mira snuck a seat at Frank Lloyd Wright’s desk chair when no one was looking.

65. We showed our artwork at Vino Piazza with David Jon Foster for a two-day summer show.

66. Learned from Mira’s mom how to blow 10-foot bubbles.

67. Learned from Mira’s mom how to make a flower bouquet out of balloons.

68. Attended a Lalique/Tiffany show at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

69. Learned how to use WordPress.

70. We successfully rode around Lodi on a vintage tandem bicycle that David Jon Foster gave us without killing ourselves or injuring anyone else.

71. We watched our grandson learn to walk.

72. Ken taught our grandson to ride a tricycle.

73. Mira wrote three articles for Ezine articles.

74. Ken drew a commissioned portrait of a parrot for a client.

75. Ken donated a commissioned portrait of a dog in need of a home for a local pet rescue, Pals.

76. Mira got to draw on a mural being painted by Tony Segale in the Japanese quarter of town.

77. Learned that our town has a Japanese quarter.

78. Mira discovered that bisque tiles make great (and inexpensive) kiln furniture.

79. Ken donated a basketball rim to a local park and put up new nets.

80. We both worked on a portrait of a young girl who was killed in a train accident and gave the portrait to her parents.

81. We bought the art journal of a would-be artist from the early 90’s and tracked down where he is now over the internet.

82. We made rock sculptures along the river at the fish hatchery.

83. We did 5-minute thumbnail sketches on our walks at Lodi Lake.

84. We had dessert at a Russian gallery in Scottsdale and received a private lesson from the gallerist in Russian art.

85. We discovered Tappas.

86. We re-pointed 300 linear feet of brick foundation.

87. Ken hung 20 vintage bicycles in his shop.

88. We took many Sunday drives in Jackson, Sutter Creek, Angels Camp and Sonora.

89. Mira discovered how to infuse glass with pigment after it has been fired.

90. Mira studied reverse glass techniques.

91. Mira started a series incorporating expired Jury Instructions and law books left over at work.

92. Ken made his GTO, aka “The Beast” driveable again.

93. Ken took Mira’s mom to Locke and did donuts in his Chevelle.

94. Mira sketched a portrait of a friend’s son for his graduation party.

95. Mira used Ken’s artwork to create a custom Tee shirt for him.

96. Mira’s glasswork was sent all over the country.

97. Mira was contacted by Artsource LA and invited to have her glasswork added to their online catalog for clients.

98. When Mira’s article was published in Jewelry Art magazine, her jewelry Etsy site was featured in another article they did on online marketing.

99. Ken built numerous frames and cut mats for all of our art pieces.

100. Ken developed a new technique for creating his reference material that incorporates stop action animation.

Grandpa's Legacy

“Grandpa’s Legacy” was juried into the International Society of Acrylic Painter’s online show.

I previously posted the painting and it is still one of my favorites.  The work is acrylic on wood panel and is sold.  It’s an honor that it is included in the show.

Lodi Open Studio Tour
Lodi Open Studio Tour

Get ‘LOST’, October 17 & 18, a self guided art adventure, and the third annual ‘Lodi Open Studio Tour’.

Don’t miss this… Every artist has donated a piece of art for a raffle, and a special $1200 passport purchaser award will go to one lucky individual who meets every artist.

You can purchase a $10 passport, which admits two art adventure seekers, at Hutchins Street Square, Lodi Art Center Gallery, Knowlton Gallery and Pret in Downtown Lodi, or by calling the Lodi Art Center at (209) 333-3855, or Tony Segale Fine Art & Gold Leaf at (209) 368-7461. In Stockton, the passports are available at the Goodwin Gallery, Serventi’s With Flair, Tidewater Gallery, and With Garden Flair. The passport also provides information for each artist and an easy to read map for all ‘LOST’ tourists.

Passports will also be available at any artist’s studio throughtout the weekend of the tour.

Feel free to send an email to answer any questions to tonysegale@comcast.net, or call 209.368.7461.

Sixteen artists will be demonstrating their techniques in eight studios, over the two day weekend, from 10am to 5pm.

Participating artists are Richard L. Allen, Samuel Bassett & Pepe Pool, Catherine Erickson, David Jon Foster, Wendy Gage, Lisa A. Goldman, Caroline Henry, Jean Justeau, Earline Lund, Jerrod Mays, Suzanne Rawlins, Glenn Robison, Tony Segale, Patti Wallace, Mira Woodworth and Ken Woodworth.