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With Mystery Build, everyone starts with the same materials and theme. From there it is up to you and the only thing you can add is paint! This is my creation...



Wandering Wonder by Amy Kollar Anderson for Re-Invent a Work of Art (2013)

Inspiration Piece: "Salome" Inspiration Artist: Alphonse Mucha

Want to see how it was created?

My kit arrives and I get to see what I have to work with on this project.

A nice assortment!

Tobin inspects the materials.

I began the piece by scavenging materials. You can even use the box the supplies come in.

Squirrel away anything you think you might use, cause that is all you get and you never know what complications you will encounter!

Ti thinks I am nuts, but this is my idea of FUN!

Rope offers so many possibilities!

The beginning of her hair.

Taking apart the canvas board, my concept sketch in the back.

Removing the cardboard and soaking the back to reveal the primed canvas.





On the floor, getting into it now!

My work station.

Starting the wire armature.

Holes are drilled to start the harp.

I am one of those sickos that really likes the jewelers saw!

Starting the rings for her hair by wrapping the wire around one of the dowel rods.

I had to change the scale, which meant making a second harp! Argh!

Turning blocks into rocks with a jig saw! Probably not the safest thing to do!

Rocks!

Taking the rope, cutting, covering with glue for shoe laces.

Work it, you sexy wire lady, you!

Starting to paint.

Connecting the rocks with dowel rods.

Building up the figure and the basics go together.

Covering the wire in the Sculpty clay. I did this because I did not think I would have enough of the oil base clay. This was a mistake because after firing the Sculpty hard, it made adjusting the figured later really a pain in the butt!

Just weird.

Building up the oil based clay.

She is starting to take shape.

I liked the idea of her wearing clunky, big red boots!

Painting her skin.

Painting her hair.

Nice butt!

Pulling canvas "strings" for the harp.

Painting her face.

Starting to glue on her hair.

Inserting the shoe laces.

Gluing them in place.

Taming that wild mane!

Harp is coming together. Using Friendly Plastics for the beads.

I also made the decorations on her belt from Friendly Plastics.

Some landscape elements that did not make it to the final piece.

Starting the base of her belt/skirt.

Her belt, hair and chain loops.

That has got to hurt!

More saw action!

Friendly Plastics are not being friendly! I had to abandon this element.

Tracing the background.

Transferring those to the canvas I removed in the beginning.

Background painted and ready for the panels to be cut out.

Panels applied.

Drew dots for the background.

Making paper pulp.

Applying paper pulp strips to her head.

Glued paper strips for her dress, canvas detail, hoop earrings going in.

Using foam blocks to cover the rocks.

Mmmm...mossy!

Final gluing.

Last paint details

FINISHED! PLEASE VOTE HERE! No account to sign up for, just put five stars on #1! You can vote every day until November 20, 2013. Thank you!

October - I Wish I Had 8 Arms - Announcement List

August and September rushed pass me! Lots of last minute finishes for the Ohio University show and lots of web updates! If you want more info about my paintings between Announcement Lists, checkout my Facebook Fan Page or follow me on Instagram.

SOOOO-LO SPECIAL: My series, Wasp in a Wig: Paintings Inspired by the Writings of Lewis Carroll, will be displayed in their entirety one last time. They will be on display at the Ohio University's Eastern Campus Gallery in St. Clairsville, OH. The exhibit will run from October 7 - 31, with an opening at 3:00pm on Monday, October 7th. Several of the pieces have sold and I have created two new ones, It Isn't Manners and Who Are You? Both of the new pieces have time lapse videos!

It Isn't Manners Time Lapse Video

Who Are you? Time Lapse Video

GET MOOOOO-VING: My painting, Respiration, which is one of the Grays (more progress images posted) that will be at UD in January), will be shown in the OH+5 Ohio Border Exhibition at the Dairy Barn in Athens, OH. The exhibit runs from October 4-November 26, with an opening on October 4th.

ME-OOOOW!: I will be one of the artists teaming up with Decoy Art Studio to create one-of-a-kind animal food dishes to be auctioned for SICSA Animal Shelter. The event is open to all, Saturday, October 12 from 1-4pm at 1561 Grange Hall Road, Beavercreek. There will be furry friends there too, so come out and get some love!

My bowls in progress.

FEM-FABULOUS!: I have been interviewed on the Les Femmes Folles blog. There is also rumor of being included in their end of the year review book and calendar!

Thanks for keeping in touch!

Amy Kollar Anderson
www.kollaranderson.com

"Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again." ~ Groucho Marx

"Beware of direct inspiration. It leads too quickly to repetitions of what inspired you." ~ Ernst Haas

"The eye loves repetition, but does not want to be bored. It likes familiarity, but needs surprises." ~ Edith Bergstrom

Announcement List : July

This month's theme is liquid inspiration! Even Nessy has decided to make an appearance!

SHADES OF GRAY: The rains have brought stunning gray days filled with inspirations for my current series. I have begun to document some of the progress of The Grays. They are beginning to come together and take on individual personalities. I am very pleased with the work and really look forward to showing you at ArtStreet in January.

FLUIDITY: Join me TONIGHT from 5-8pm for the Dayton Visual Arts Center's Member's Show, Water, Water Everywhere.

IN ALL FAIRNESS: If you can not wait until January to see The Grays, you can get an eye-full of the first in the series, Respiration, at the Ohio State Fair. Do not be mistaken by the location, this is always a first-class show! Bounce is also in the exhibition!

Amy Kollar Anderson
www.kollaranderson.com

"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy." ~ Fred Allen

"Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake." ~ W. C. Fields

"So many vibrant colors, so many new ideas, so many paintings in my head - intoxicating thoughts and visions..." ~ Eric Frantz

"How little our libraries cost us as compared with our liquor cellars." ~ John Lubbock

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." ~ Henny Youngman

Announcement List : June

Art 101 CHANGE: I will be conducting a workshop on artist statements at the Getting in the Game event this Saturday, June 1st. The location has been CHANGED to the Rosewood Arts Centre at 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering. The event lasts from 1-5:30pm and costs $5.

Work It!: I have four pieces in the works and one I just finished. The new Alice pieces, It Isn't Manners (the image in this header) and Who Are You? will be documented as time lapse videos. I have an abstract series I am working on currently nicknamed "the grays." The first in the series, Respiration, is finished and you can see a few studio shots of it in the Lowdown. I am continuing to make slow progress on my flaming chrysanthemum/tiger piece, but still a long way to go.

Web: We are currently working on a new website! My AMAZING intern, Amanda, is plugging away on the spreadsheet. I will continue to post studio shots, but I will probably hold off on posting new finished pieces until it is up.

ROLL CAMERA: A fabulous video about the Riffe Gallery exhibit, Here's Looking at You: Portraits in Ohio, curated by Kay Koeninger. The exhibit includes the work of 14 Ohio artists who stretch the idea of what a portrait can be. My interview starts at 12:50.

Rag Time: I am thrilled to be a feature in the premier issue of Propulsion Magazine. You can order a digital or print copy through MagCloud.

LOCO LOCAL: I am starting to work on a multi-media interactive installation for the University of Dayton called Identification. The opening will be January 21, 2014. I have some time to pull it together, but if the next six months are anything like the beginning of this year, it will be here before I know it!

Amy Kollar Anderson
www.kollaranderson.com

"What I need is someone who will make me do what I can." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The way you see people is the way you treat them and the way you treat them is the way they become." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What an artist learns matters little. What he himself discovers has a real worth for him, and gives him the necessary incitement to work. (Emil Nolde)

"O painter, take care lest the greed for gain prove a stronger incentive than renown in art, for to gain this renown is a far greater thing than is the renown of riches." ~ Leonardo da Vinci