pet portfolios

A Creative Life, fine art, illustration

I’ve updated the “links list” at the bottom of my website www.sueclancy.com. Most notably I’ve put a link to Chris Oatley’s website which has helpful advice for artists/illustrators…this page about artist/illustrator portfolios is particularly helpful http://chrisoatley.com/category/portfolios/

And, now that the topic “portfolios” has been covered here is a pet:

Hair Apparent

Hair Apparent

 

 

Verry Big Party

A Creative Life, books, ebook, fine art, public art, visual story, words and pictures

As mentioned here – my Verrry Big Project artwork (4 feet by 8feet!) has been installed and now we’re waiting for the “unveiling party” on Feb 8th.  But I’ve been told that I can now spill the beans as to who this public art project is for:  The Arthur D. Curtis Children’s Justice Center (CJC) in Vancouver Washington. Here are some links: http://clarkjfc.com/ and https://www.clark.wa.gov/childrens-justice-center

Why it was important to me to do this project:

I have some personal history with dealing with violence in my biological-family home as a child growing up. Not getting into details just now because more will be revealed as publicity about this project unfolds; let it suffice here to say that as a young person I had the great good fortune to meet Dr. Bob Hoke and his wife Penny.  Yes, I mean the Dr. Bob of whom I write about in “Dr. Bob’s Emotional Repair Program First Aid Kit”.  (Access to both a print version and an ebook version is here http://sueclancy.com/this-artist-studio/) That little book contains so much help, solace and artistic inspiration for me – and is the backbone of why I do the kind of artwork that I do.

Epic saga short, Dr. Bob and Penny became “Dad” and “Mom” for me and we’ve remained family for each other for about 30 years now. Over the course of years Dr. Bob Hoke, Penny and I have talked about how “life is a journey” and how stories affect the ways we picture our world and our responses to difficulties encountered on life’s journey. Stories (and non-verbal visual artwork that communicates stories visually) can affect us positively, can be a source of comfort and encouragement…. (and I hope that my artwork for public places is a source of comfort…)

Fast forward a number of years and I’ve relocated from Okla to WA and had the good fortune of marrying the love of my life, Judy, so I wanted to do something for the WA community that had so warmly welcomed us.

Since I’m an artist with a history of creating large public artworks for children’s centers of one sort or another it made sense to look for such an opportunity. Through friends I heard about the CJC and the kind of work they did. So I discussed the CJC’s mission/methods with Dr. Bob and Penny and Judy, we all decided that the CJC would be a good recipient of my artwork – if the CJC agreed.

I met with the CJC director, made my pitch, and set about designing visual artworks that would help the CJC tell their story. That included creating symbols and imagery that would communicate visually the idea that “life is a journey – with many stops along the way, some good, some bad – and occasionally we all need help going places and figuring out how to get there.”  I also did a depiction of one of the “forests” that we all metaphorically journey through…  And you bet I discussed my potential symbols and metaphors with Dr. Bob (a psychiatrist) and his wife Penny (a mental health nurse).

Here are some of the early “mock-ups” of the art that I presented to the CJC, that was discussed in meetings and later with changes made (the changes are not pictured here) approved by the committee at the CJC.  These rough mock-ups are small, about the size of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

I did two sets of large finished artworks for the CJC… each is 4 feet tall by 8 feet wide. Please note that these photos are of the mock-ups and NOT the final artwork with the changes …so there is still to be revealed – at the unveiling party!! (and yes, I’ll post stuff here too for those who can’t make it to the party)

Going Places Getting There

mock up of the Going Places Getting There diptych

Into the Forest

mock up of  the Into the Forest diptych

 

 

 

 

why Humpty Dumpty fell

A Creative Life, fine art, illustration, public art, visual story

As mentioned on my blog here I’m in the middle of a “verry big project” – the art has been installed and now we’re waiting for the unveiling party to happen. In the meantime I’ve begun some new art projects and over lunch today I wondered, as I’m sure you did, about why Humpty Dumpty fell off of a perfectly decent wall. Here’s my illustration of what may have happened:

Why Humpty Dumpty Fell

Why Humpty Dumpty Fell

 

a verrry big day

A Creative Life, fine art, public art

As they say “it takes a village” to put an artist’s artwork out into the world safely. Especially a “Verrry Big Project”. My public art project is 4 feet tall by 8 feet wide. It took a whole community. The top photo is of a few of my “village” people. The ones not pictured are as important – they’re just quieter. All are deeply appreciated!  The the other pictures this post shows us in action…more details and an unveiling party is still to come. Stay tuned!  For more info see also the posts on my blog here and here. (and you get a gold star if you’ve guessed that my verry big project is for a children’s center of some sort…)

AllofUs KevinJudySueDiscussing SueKevinJudyInstalling SueWiping

 

 

sketchbook publishing

A Creative Life, ebook, illustration, sketchbook, travel art and writing, travelog, travelogue, visual story, words and pictures

Tomorrow I’ll be installing my “Verrry Big Project” so while I’m getting ready to deliver the art I’m thinking about my next sketchbook publishing action.  I want to publish my Oregon Coast Sketchbook (some sample pages are in this post and elsewhere on my blog) – but shall I do it as a printed book? an ebook? or both?

I’ve heard that some people have enjoyed my sketchbook that I published as an ebook titled “Coffee Table Book” (link here: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/coffee-table-book) but that had recipes and fine art along with my sketchbook pages – so perhaps that made it interesting to folks?

My Oregon Coast Sketchbook is a travelogue, memoir and culture-study done in (duh!) a sketchbook form. Would you want to look at my Oregon Coast Sketchbook as a printed book or an ebook?  If it was printed only in black-and white ’cause that’s what I can afford – what would you think of that?

Obviously I’m going to be busy the next few days with the “Verry Big Project” – but I  will look forward to seeing your thoughts when I get back. And thanks in advance!

Here are some random non-sequential pages from my Oregon Coast Sketchbook:

7at72

8at72

12at72

10at72

Literary Journal Love

A Creative Life, fine art, illustration, published art

Just got word that 5 of my illustration artworks will be published in the next issue of The Tishman Review http://tishmanreview.com/ ! Color me very happy! In fact here is my “happy dance” illustration – and no, it’s not one of the ones that will be published in the literary journal, (contracts don’tchaknow) – I’m just including it here ’cause it’s happy!

Happy Hour

Happy Hour

sketching while we wait

A Creative Life, illustration, sketchbook, words and pictures

I’m waiting for the varnish to dry on my “verrry big project” (see this post here) and for the org that the Verry Big Project was created for to do the publicity soooooo we’ve changed the blog-conversation to the topic of sketchbooks. Here are some verrry random pages from my sketchbooks:

IrishCoffee DinersDining72 PrayingMantis72 HomeHareCare

Verry big love and sketches

A Creative Life, commonplace book, ebook, public art, sketchbook

As I mentioned in this post here the executive director came to my studio, saw the “Verry Big Project” and approved! “I love it!” the exec said. “Whew!” I said. Then we discussed installation and other nitty-gritty details. The next day I started varnishing the finished (and approved! yippeee!) artwork! The organization will do publicity regarding this public art project at the appropriate time. So for a while we’ll need to talk about something other than my Verry Big Project.

How about those sketchbooks? Have you got one? Is it a “sketchbook”, a “commonplace book” a “writer’s notebook” some combo of the above? I do a combo and jokingly call it a “Commonsketchplacebook”.

Here is a photo of my 2015 sketchbook which I just finished – and my new 2016 sketchbook (the one with the coffee beans on it).

2SketchbooksCoffeePen

And yes, that’s a fountain pen in the photo!

You can see some of my sketchbook pages here on my blog at www.sueclancy.com or collected in my ebooks:

“Coffee, Table, Book” https://store.bookbaby.com/book/coffee-table-book

“Dr. Bob’s Emotional Repair Program First Aid Kit” https://store.bookbaby.com/book/dr-bobs-emotional-repair-program-first-aid-kit