Abstractions+of+Life



http://tpstauffer.blogspot.com/2008/12/mercyhurst-college-high-school.html This is the very beginning to my college adventures, the portfolio process. The portfolio took me several months to compose and get all together, but well worth the work. I received the first place Sister Angelica High School Art Portfolio Scholarship.

** "Circle Through the Seasons" **
The first piece is an abstract glass piece I put together over a 6 week span. There are 12 separate pieces to "Circle through the Seasons", not including the wood to which it is mounted. The piece was inspired by the central piece of the tree with the tire. From there I drew and redrew several ideas of a way to arrange the glass and make the piece eye catching and overall interesting. Each piece was painted in reverse, which led to an interesting experience. Painting in layers is a great success when done well, but doing it in reverse was a completely different task. The paints were a mix between gauche and acrylic paints. The piece is mounted on authentic barn wood, which I used to carry across the idea of seasons, generations, the idea of nature. To add finishing touches, I added barbed wire, which I made from old oxidized wire. I attached it using the wire, running it through the wood and tying it in the back. And for the last pieces, I added sealed fall leaves to carry through the theme of fall as the central theme.

**"Journey Through Space"**
This piece was something I never dreamed of coming up with, but once the idea was there, it all fell into place. I originally came up with the idea after painting 15 umbrella's for our marching band show. The piece however took turns of it's own as I started. The supplies were cheap, but very interesting to work with. I experimented with several different types of paint, and found the acrylic worked best for me. I recreated a miniature painting I had once created for the painting on the umbrella. The theme just made sense. Hanging it from the ceiling, gave a whole new perspective, giving the essence of looking to the night sky. The pieces of fabric that are hanging from it, is my interpretation of the "yellow brick road" sort of speak. It was my way to carry across the idea of a Journey, following the road to where ever it takes you. It made a great installation piece, however, it's to big to hang anywhere for my enjoyment. Over all the piece couldn't have turned out any better. The colors are simple. I used the cool colors to represent forms that could be touched or walked on. The warm colors represent the atmosphere and the distance of the galaxy. Now take you're own interpretation...

**"One of Many Faces"**
This piece was unique not only in its look, but also it's creation, and use. I used 25 lbs of Brooklyn Red Art Clay, and started by rolling it into a cylinder. From there I added the facial features, the eyes, nose, lips, chin if needed, and other basics. After this process I let it stand for about a day, and then started the carving process. I carved areas to added and emphasize the facial features, and to make the piece more visually interesting. I have alcoves, and several different textures among the various areas on the piece. I used tin foil to get the texture that gives a rough look to the piece. The hair like feature was made by taking piece of clay and pinching them raising them away from the main structure adding depth and dimension to the piece. The form was then fired and painted with a high gloss paint that is buffed to give a glow to it. The functionality of the piece is that a candle can fit in the top of the piece, illumination a light that glows above and accents the features on top giving a unique look in the dark.

**Untitled Stilll Life**
When it comes to art, as a student we should be open to trying new ideas and media. This piece was one of my takes as a new medium, Oil Pastels. We were to create anything we wanted, with one stipulation, they had to be realistic in some way, whether subject, or in look through shading and application of color. I used a still life that I found on the Internet, but I altered it greatly, switching some of the subjects in it, and placement of objects. I used the picture more or less for lighting representation. The piece took a total of 3 weeks, after wearing the skin off my finger, and going through several test sheets and color mixing situations. The piece in the end turned out great, and I was very happy with it. It gave me a new perspective in to problem solving and ways in which to use my resources and artistic ability.

**Untitled Pillar Abstract**
After creating a pillar sculpture using 25 lbs. of Brooklyn Red Art Clay, I took another artistic view on it. I transformed it into three abstract drawings, which then were turned into a painting. The painting was experimental in several different ways. I learned a new way of applying a background, using white acrylic and watercolor. The background allowed me to choose colors and patterns to work with. The forms at times went with the background, emphasizing different areas of the background. The forms were painted with watercolor, either straight, raw color, or a little addition of white acrylic paint. The piece was painted with a Dagger brush, roughly a little smaller than a Round 2. To add to the abstraction and complexity of the painting, I placed 4 taped off blocks where I painted into before detailing into the forms. These acted as my beginning pieces from which to work from. Lastly to finish off the piece and to make the eye follow the piece from top to bottom, larger, dark areas were used to weight the painting, and to give the forms an area to sit rather than floating in air.

**"Past Time Game"**
As an artist, again, it is important to try everything around you, using your artistic ability to see what you can do with it as a whole. I became very interested in Photography at a young age, but never pursued it until a few years ago. However, I started to look at it in an artistic way rather than an opportunity to take pictures with friends. This piece was part of a series I was starting. I have an attachment with the past, the objects that can tell their own stories with out a description, rather with an imagination and an open mind. This piece sent me back into the past where one could only imagine what others had done and enjoyed, the memories, successes, and failures of those before me and of those to come. With an open mind, you can make your own interpretation and story behind it's imagery.

**"Secrets that Lie Beyond the Masks"**
This piece was inspired after watching African films in History class. I found several sources for masks along with ideas that could contribute to the final meaning of the piece. Still, I have yet to put a full meaning behind the piece. It was something that I found intriguing, and something worth pondering about. I leave it to the viewer to get a sense of the meaning behind the piece as a whole. The piece was an extremely experimental piece, using several different mediums, and techniques are far as the building and attaching process. The masks are made of Brooklyn Red Art Clay. Each mask was rolled into a slab, and then placed over a cylinder I had found. Afterward, I attached the facial features, and let it stand for a day. Once the piece was leather hard, I carved each piece separately, allowing each piece to form it's self as the process continued. I used an Xacto knife, along with some other carving tools to give texture and uniqueness to each piece. After this process I started to work on what I was going to mount them to. They are mounted on a 68" solid oak door, which I stained after removing the varnish that previously was there. I used a darker color to make the masks stand out and to give an ere look to it. After I stained the door, I painted into it with oil paint, an acacia tree, mostly known to Africa. Once this was done and the masks were glazed and fired, I notched out areas on the door and glued them on, using a double glue method, putting glue on each piece, letting it stand for 10 minutes, and then adding pressure. this piece is one of my favorites, and has a different meaning to it every time I look at it. The overall piece weighs 35 lbs, and took 8 weeks to finish. Now take a look into the eyes of the known and discover the secrets beyond the masks.

**"The Four Traveling Women"**
Continuing the idea of cultures, I started working with a series of abstract Afghan women paintings. The series is one that I still work on today, but at random times, my best ideas typically come when I'm in the middle of a test, go figure. I use the female figure because historically, and still today, they have grace to them no matter how they look or the way they present themselves. Their physical forms are attractive in many ways, and leaves the viewer time to look and take in the meaning or the story behind them. You may not see the four women right away, but keep looking and they will appear. The piece took about 2 weeks to complete from start to finish. The piece is 22" x 24" on Arches watercolor paper, along with Van Gogh watercolors for my medium.

**Still Life Study**
As a class project we were to find something in the room that was unusual, something out of place. We were to use a view finder to find the most interesting composition for the piece and then draw in to scale, 2 times it's actual size. My finding was a fork lying inside a container of paintbrushes. It was visually interesting to me, metal against wood, both functional, however, in two different ways. The fork also left a great experience to the shading aspect of metal, giving it a shine, but without over doing it. The piece is 8" x 15" done on Stonehenge white paper with graphite.

**"Journey Through Time"**
A project that it's meaning speaks for itself, and leave a true meaning behind it to many, young or old. The piece was a blown up replica of a picture I had taken two years prior to the project. The jeep was parked in a driveway on a fall afternoon while driving through a little town on back roads. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, a great subject, that tells a story all on it's own. The difficulty was when drawing it, making sure that meaning was still conveyed in the end. The piece is 12" x 18", done with Prismacolor Pencils on Stonehenge light grey paper. The piece took me 5 weeks to finish and multiple layers to convey it's true and historic meaning.

The portfolio as a whole was a great success and truly tested my skills in many ways from design aspects to technique and efficiency. Take a view and look into my world of art.

Visit my Blog "Abstractions of Life", where I'm displaying my work and talking about the pieces and the artistic process I went through in the creation of the pieces.