Shy

This is the 32"x40" version of "The Sob", created in 2010.

This is based on the photo "T" taken by Rick Day.

The light background of the image required reversing the order of colors: darkest on the bottom, lightest on top.

I'm happy that I was able to bring out details on the model's back that were too small to include on the test version of this cutting.

Like "Therapy" this cutting is made of nine layers - my current maximum.

The off-axis view is below.

Pride

This is Pride, 32"x32" - eight layers done in the vivid blues of my recent work.

The two lightest shades are substantially lighter than the other six so I made sure that they were restricted to use in the background.

This is my best friend being hugged goodbye by his mom, on his first day at college.

Normally I'd have removed any text on his ballcap - but in this piece it felt appropriate to let it remain.

I thoroughly enjoy the way the layers come together to create her wedding band.



The off axis is below.

Exhaustion

This is the final version of the earlier "A Nap a Day" piece, cut in 2012. At 32"x40" it is four times larger than the earlier piece, and completed in the same shades of blue used for "Look" and "Acceptance".

Buttermilk

 Four years ago I cut "Buttermilk in May" done in six layers of shades of blue as a test for the image. In executing that piece I left out a lot of detail.

In completing the full scale version, I decided to add the detail I felt was missing from the earlier piece which I think is successful.

This is my first real cutting done in green.

Hedonist

I follow a lot of fitness models and athletes online for artistic/ aesthetic reasons, and general inspiration. One of them is Joe Delaney of http://www.jd-fitness.com/ - a young English trainer who describes himself as "personal trainer, hedonist, optimist, pancake enthusiast".

I was really fascinated by the downward cast of the face - and that the shadows looked very abstract on an otherwise straightforward body image. Up close it almost appears messed up in a Picasso-like abstraction.

The final piece measures 20"x40" and is composed of six layers. The off-axis shot is below.

Look

The 16"x20" artworks I produce and give away are usually small scale rough drafts. The larger versions incorporate extra layers and more detail.

This is "Look" the 20"x40" final draft of the earlier "Hamm w/ Cheese."

Compared to the earlier piece, two additional layers were used making a total of eight. Details were added to the forehead, nose, and zippers; even individual zipper teeth are visible. The mats used, while still blue, are more vivid.

The off axis detail of the eyes is below.

Acceptance

I'm not going to talk about this one.

Hamm w/ Cheese

Earlier this year I began following an artist on Facebook who it turns out is one of the most beautiful human beings alive... go figure.

He's whimsical, irreverent, intelligent, and he has this uncommon ability to look like he's photobombing his own pics.

One of them, taken with a webcam, and posted last May caught my attention because of the size of his eyes and the shadows of his body... I knew I could do something with it. Here is the result.

The off axis is below.

Heat

A friend of mine attended Gay Days at Walt Disney World last year where a buddy took a pic of him dancing at a concert and sharing some quick love with his boyfriend in the heat of the moment.  The original photo is much larger and out of focus, but cropped down to just these two figures, and with the slight canting of the camera to illustrate the crowd I think the composition gets a lot more interesting.

This is only the second time that the layers of a cutting are composed of different colors as opposed to shades of the same color. It was meant intentionally as a reference to the rainbow flag, but when completed, the finished work has the look of a thermograph - showing different levels of surface temperature. In that case, "Heat" seemed like a natural title.

The varied random cutouts of the heads of the crowd in the background and the performers on stage are some of the most complex and abstract I've ever done.

The off-axis, illustrating those details is below.

The Wine Reduction

A friend of mine remarked on the bottle on the table in "Therapy" and how it looked transparent. I thought this was a quality worth exploring, so here it is again (albeit in a different color), blown up.

I'm not normally a fan of still life, but I think this is ultimately successful in conveying that same transparency, and I like the subtle hint of shadows around it.

I think it might be my most "art-y" piece to date.

Property of a Lady

This cutting was done as a wedding gift for my cousin and her new husband. The off-axis is below.

LoveD

This cutting measures 10"x20", and consists of a six layers, like all of my other blue pieces.

I really like how half of the model's face is in shadow, and the slightly diagonal line created by his head set slightly to the right and his abs set slightly to the left.

The off-axis close-up is below, and at the bottom is a top-view video of the process

     

Therapy

Last year during my volunteer group's weekend away I snapped the picture that would inspire "A Nap a Day". This year one of the other volunteers took this picture of a friend and me enjoying a deep conversation and a bottle of wine. The off-axis is below.

This cutting is larger than most, measuring 31" x 31", and is made up of nine layers, more than any previous. It's also my first self portrait.

Unlike all previous cuttings I recorded the work of the cutting in progress and made a short time lapse video out of it.

Out of the Box Software, Logo

Earlier this year I founded a software company with my best friend. Although we created a viable product that a few clients purchased, it ultimately didn't go anywhere*. All the same, my creativity engine was put to work creating marketing material for the young company.

The first thing I developed was the name. "Out of the Box Software" was the first suggestion I offered. We considered a hundred or so alternatives before returning to this simple phrase. It connoted both that the software (which was cloud based) was a turnkey ready-to-go solution, as well as the company's thinking - outside of the box.

The logo is the box, and the "O" of "out" appears to ring the box, in essence, it is outside the box, literally. I think it's a clever solution, but one that went through a lot of development as outlined below.

*Update: In May of 2018 one of my clients who had been using our software subscription since 2014 talked to me about taking an ownership stake in Out of the Box, and helping to develop Siteline further.

Untitled

This is the 16"x20" test cutting for Louis LaSalle's image. It is composed of eight layers, the two lightest of which are exceptionally light, to emphasize the appearance of over exposure.

I thoroughly enjoyed cutting the detail of the figure's right arm.

The off axis is below.

The Vanity Top

After seeing my concrete casts a good friend asked me if I could cast a piece for his bathroom vanity. I thought it would be a simple cast, an inch or so thick, but he specifically asked it match a none-too-distant kitchen counter that had a 3" apron.

Because it would have been exceptionally heavy to cast the entire piece 3" thick, I had to create a lip to raise it up and this posed a few dilemmas - most critically that I would have to cast it in two pours and this would have created a visible seam.

In order to hide the seam I incised a reveal at the midline, and added the "concrete" seed organic details to it to make it more interesting.

Overall I think the piece is a success but I am disappointed in the piece's non-uniform coloring. Although sealed, I'm concerned that it will stain.

Pocket Cutting

The photographer Louis LaSalle graciously agreed to let me use his iconic photograph of Yvan Cournoyer in a cutting.

I decided to make one of the tests, small enough to carry in my pocket.

What Do You See?

Inspired by a friend's suggestion that my previous cuttings leave too little to the imagination of the viewers, I decided to only use as many layers to build the image as it took to begin to form.

I think there's a delicious balance here between the abstractness and concreteness of this piece.

The off axis version is below.

The Seed - Tabletop

I created this piece for a friend of mine after he put his Parsons Cube Tabletop on a table that it was too small for.  This measures 23.5x23.5"x1.5".

Although it works just fine as a tabletop, the decorative cube-riddled cutouts are deep - too deep for a table top.  I think the pattern looks good, but works much better vertically, just as an art piece - although it would be fun to integrate this pattern into inherently vertical functional elements like headboards and table lamps.

This is a test piece furthing the ideas put forth in "The Inner Workings" and the ultimate result of the work of moldmaking of "The Tease".

I wanted to develop the idea that concrete - so ubiquitous and generic as to be continuously looked over - actually had complex and detailed activity going on just under its surface, like quantum foam..

Another way to take it is as a pod holding multitudes of seeds.  Each one ready to break off and grow into its own building.  Strangely enough, in the demolding - a few pieces did break off.

To create the pattern I cut a series of blocks, square on one face, and multiple heights.

This group was then expanded in a similar though non-repeating pattern.

This field was then covered in casting rubber which produced a negative impression of the original.

 The negative then had material poured over it to produce a rubber positive copy of the original.  This original could then be used to create multiple negatives, which could be cut into any shape and set into other molds like the one shown below to produce the final piece.