self conscious

Writing on this blog has become a source of  anxiety for me, I constantly find myself going back and forth on what the hell to write. The idea of sharing my artistic approach isn't something I think is too precious to share, it does begin to eat at me when I think about the idea of writing about myself and posting it to a public domain. I have moments of second guessing the point of sharing my thoughts, feelings or artistic process.
To think anyone would want to read this blog or care about the mediocre life I live is quite odd and foreign to me. I'm a middle class white kid who has had a somewhat simple and at times easy life. I'm not consumed with conspiracy theories or troubled by voices in my head telling me what to do. Though I have been told all my life by friends or acquaintances that I'm 'Weird', so that surely must count for something right?
 Tragedy is far more enticing to an audience than a constrained day to day life.
What I mean by this statement is merely the general public expect the artist to be different from the 'normal' person'. It seems we are required  to fall into that mold of  being insane or tormented  individuals. While part of me does see this as a very real part of who I am as a person, I resent that this is looked at as being a requirement.
The real dilemma I suppose is how much I am willing to put out there. Art is in a way the expression of your true self. Now I've got to come to terms with being open about who I am, regardless of whether or not it may offend others.

Math kills creativity

For the past few months I have been taking an online math course, mind you this is the second time I have had to take it. This is a result of me failing the first time around.
Math isn't something I have EVER enjoyed or had an easy time understanding, so for the sake of my fellow creatives out there I'll spare you the nasty details of this drab and tiring  subject.

Im fully aware and accepting of the fact that math in its self is EVERYWHERE and in everything. However this doesn't change the fact that I have fought the subject in school my entire life. even if your not the creative type I think a large majority of people dislike foreign world that mathematics is....
So I've been taking an online class... on the upside, I'm actually kicking ass this time around!
 I'm much more devoted to getting through this stupid subject so that I am one step closer to getting my BFA.
The downside of course is that I'm finding my 'creative drive' is, for a lack of better words, slowly dying.
I'm sure you have had enough talk about math, and let's be honest no one wants to read about it, let

flying machines and the empty hand

Working full time can inhibit my desire to create sometimes. thankfully my day job is a creative environment and as a result gets my mind brain storming on my own projects. 

As I continue to work on these sculptures the progression has been slow but steady. I dream of one day making a living selling my own work. So for now as I work my day job and begin class again soon, I have to keep pushing to complete these pieces. 

I was happy to finally start putting on the clear coats with my flying robot piece. This was the crash test dummy of sorts.While figuring out how to utilize Apoxie Sculpt  as a sculpting medium and jumping back into the 3D art world it was a bumpy road at the beginning. 

We'll enough reflecting about my life and it's mediocrity let's look at some pictures!

I wanted to give this fella a sense of age and neglect, the weathered look in addition to the graffiti and buffed out graffiti was the solution I thought best fit.

Along with giving this piece a proper mount, I'm planning on installing a power source within the main body which will enable me to install three LED's for his optic sensors.

 This next piece I will show you bellow is one that I'm having quite the debate on what exactly to place in the hand of the robot.

While it may involve some 'pill' shaped device , I'm still debating what exactly little blue (possible name) will be holding /dropping. 

I still need to get the arms epoxied into place... I've got a lot of work to do but the finished product is within sight. 

As always thanks for reading.

-C.H.

A bit of a set back

over the past few months I have been working on two new sculptures using an apoxie clay. I tend to wait for the clay to cure before I carve it using a dremmel. As a result of its rigid body, when the clay is cure it is much more resistant to breaking. 

yesterday I was vacuuming out my studio area, the dremmel produces a lot of dust and shavings. In my attempt to get every bit of apoxie particles out of the carpet, I brushed the temporary mount that my flying robot was drying on. Hearing a crash I turned around to see the piece had fallen to the floor....I can't describe how frustrated I was with myself for being so careless as to allow the vacume hose to knock over this piece.

Three arms were damaged in this unfortunate even, all will have sections that require me to resculpt and color match the paint.

overall this project has been a re-introduction to sculpting , so my time spent remembering my skills I use to once have quite refined has been a challenge. With set backs it's hard to stick to this piece getting completed. I mean, I was giving it a first clear coat when it was knocked over in between drying periods. GRRROOAR (it sounds like the appropriate noise to make at this point and time) 

I must press forward! and in my persistence through the creation of this piece I have made improvements. 

90th annual Spring Salon

to my great amazement one of my pieces was accepted into the "Spring Salon" in springville Utah. I' couldn't begin to express the sheer joy this brought me. Here is the piece that was accepted that's currently up at the springville fine art museum up until the end of June I believe. apologies for the blurry pic but I did want to show it up on their wall.

and one of the piece before being framed

lately I have been doing a lot of homework and haven't had any free time to post any updates. With the semester finished I will be posting more often. 

Thanks for stoping by 

Holding hands too much

Lately t seems to be I am more hungry to create when I have other responsibilities. Whether it be writing papers for my English class, or cramming in all my math homework at the last moment.  School has been quite time consuming to say the least.
As I've continued painting and adjusting the sculpture I've started another one to work on while the paint dries in between coats.

This will be the arm design for the robot pictured above. While I was carving it and sanding the finger the hand broke at the wrist and I had to epoxy it back together. I guess he's not the 'hand holding' type. I'm also thinking of having him interacting with an organic or a little robot on the ground bellow.

I threw up a little graff on the flying robot, just for kicks. Although I don't think I will keep this particular mark on it. Maybe just maybe I will tag the hell out of it, giving him a more neglected but colorful back story. (Enjoy that play on words?) I know I did.....sort of

Flying robot update

For the past eight months I worked on my "Digital natives" series and until recently I continued working in 2d. I encountered an interview with a custom toy artist that introduced me to a product called  Apoxie Sculpt. Ever since then I have been working with this medium and have never been more excited about getting back to my roots in sculpting. 

Here is an update on my latest piece, hope you enjoy!

First coat sanded then Primed then sanded again  

Repainted with enamel based paint

Before any painting had been done