I have some work in the Take Aways show at Pajaro Valley Arts Gallery right now—I’ve been participating in this show for a few years, and I do a special series for it each year.

Because all the pieces for this show are under $300, and the artists are expected to replenish pieces as they are sold, my working process is quite different from normal.  I’ve settled into a process that I call “thinking out loud“.  The pieces aren’t exactly sketches, and they aren’t exactly macquettes for something bigger to come.  Instead, they are explorations of some themes in which I find myself currently interested.  I might take it further, or these series may be the end of it.  It’s an enjoyable process and it leads me in new directions.

Because this year’s series followed directly on what I did last year, I’ll explain that one first.  Nothing But Blue Skies was comprised of two components, birds and skies; buyers could mix and match individual pieces as they liked.  But I always envisioned them hanging together as seen here.

The “skies” are small encaustic panel constructions that are framed with a construction material that is stiffened with a specialty paint, and the “birds” are mixed-media with that same paint.

This year, I worked with the same themes and materials but in a different fashion.  Again, there are birds and skies.  Technically these are two series, but, again, they hang together.  Buyers can mix and match pieces or select just one.  The birds are titled North. South. East. West. and the skies are titled A View From the Other Side. I’ve included side-angle shots also to give a better indication of depth and shape.  The series totals eight pieces at the moment: four skies and four birds.  But I think I’ll continue to work on the ideas behind A View From the Other Side.