New Website New Email

My new Web Presence is at www.ryegrady.net
also my new email address is ryegrady@gmail.com

-Rye

Here it comes: A whole lot of work

The work is almost done guys.
And when I say almost, I mean Im not scared about the 7 main pieces. Three arent hear, but 5 are done total, one has about two hours worth of woodburning left and another an hour left of woodburning.
There is actually an inprogress one mixed in there as well. Its the one with Ciao Ciao San coming out of the cacoon. Give me advice for a title for this piece inspired by Madame Butterfly!
So Im going to do that right now. =D
But I wanted everyone to see what I was working on. =D

To break a perpuetual hiatus

I apologize for not posting in so long. But its actually agood thing. I have three pieces done, and have been so buried in my work that I havent been concentrating on anything else. This is also bad, because Im suppose to maintain ajournal for other classes...So I should have three blogs, when I have such difficulty maintaing one.
On another note, Ive had several complications since my last post. My cutter, bethany, burned her hands so I had to learn how to do my cut outs myself. Yay Dremel tool! Also, my woodburner broke, and I had to order yet another one. But things are moving smoothly.
I have three pieces done! yay! I need to have 5 done by critique next week, which would be easy, except Im losing the weekend and also I have to do my critique a couple of days early. Hopefully that will be taken into account.
Expect to see many blog posts this week.
-Ry.E

Some more in progress

I think Im going to call this one "The Mating Ritual of Female Swans" or "Mating Ritual of Lady Swans" something like that.
This one is by far my favorite so far. Thats why at 2 o clock in the morning I had to post in progress pictures.

4 more days until critique!
-Ry.E

Give me your Opinion

Quick post:
Do you think this looks like pattern barf?
I just kept on adding and adding!



Let me know what you think
-Ry.E

Frames? You frame!

Hello Everyone!
Please post a picture of yourself framed. It can be a picture of you frame, you holding up a frame, you surrounding yourself with bunnies, because then your being framed by bunnies. Try to think about what frames you in life, and what a frame is, and be creative! But just post a picture of you in a frame!

-Ry.E

Some in Progress

Hi everyone
Ive actually made a LOT of progress since I took this picture, but I figure Ill make that post either sunday or after the big critique on Feb 26th. Wish me luck!



This swan is from my first edition o swan lake. I wanted everyone to just take a moment to look at my swan's glory. XD I just adore swans because I feel like they just are the epitome of everything that is attractive in both genders. They are curvy and elegant and feminine and show masculine features as well. I mean check it out.




These are dipections of Leda and the swan. In this greek myth Zues falls in love with the mortal Leda and transforms into a swan and rapes her. Dont ask me whats with Zues and bestiality, but I have to say, swans are as visually stunning as the females they are entralled with.





This is giselle in progress. The working title is "The Fruits of Myrta" Myrta is queen of the Wilis and is trying to turn Giselle into a bitter spirit.

More soon I promise!

-Ry.E

Look at me, working in my studio like an Artist or something

Considering this peice is being woodburned, and my pictures are low quality, Im more than behind on my posting of my process and progression. Part of this is due to the pressure of posting high quality images, and images in general on my blog posts. I feel like, because were such a visual culture, visuals are necessary to catch attention. But what I love about blogging is a chance to use my words, with a kind of honesty that I dont feel exists under the pressures of conversation. So I am declaring, that Sometimes my images will be low quality, and often I will have nothing but text posts. But I will be posting some pictures today, with minimal text. =D

Here is how I usually go after working on a one of my frames.
Step One: Make a sketch
Step two: Build a frame, and glue and clamp to the back
Step three: Turn sketch into Carbon paper


I do this by applying graphite to the back with a graphic stick, and rubbing it with a paper towel. Simple process.



Step Four: I transfer the sketch onto the wooden frame, by drawing on top of the sketch with a ball point pen. Sometimes I draw directly on the wood and avoid the sketch-steps. Drawing directly on the wood strengthens the drawing's relationship to the material. Unfortunately, I like to alter, and erase, and draw crazy sketch lines, which can be difficult ot erase on the wood. I have enough trouble as it is, getting rid of transfered graphite after I'm done woodburning.



Step Five: The Woodburning starts. here I am woodburning the plywood edges around the frame. The plywood has this ugly...well...ply that shows up around the edges. So I am woodburning the ply to hide the undesirable edge (look at me using A.F. Language!) Then Ill incorperate a design or use a stain on the edges, because leaving your edges untreated is VERY UNPROFESSIONAL! Paint your sides people.

AND the next step.

Youll see next time. =D

Watch this video!

Some Process decisions

I have come to an interesting dilemma in my art making.

I have now got on of my frames cut and backed. I have let the drawing determine the shape of the window that I cut out for the frame. This causes the cut out to be more organic, and less "frame" like.
This wouldn't be a problem, except that the idea that they are a frames for conceptual reasons. They make the audience part of the narrative. So should I make the shapes less determined by the drawing and more frame like?
Ill post pictures soon, so you have a better understanding of what I am talking about.

But I wanted to ask, what makes a frame a frame? Post comments, and lets have a conversation!

-Ry.E

Posting Days

My schedule has changed since a first declared the days that I would be posting. My snow boarding class runs from 6 to 10 on tuesdays making it exceptionally difficult to post on those days. Even when I can get a post out, I limit so much of what I want to post, because after a mandatory night on the slopes it is just down right difficult to communicate. Friday is a good day, and isnt very problematic, but until I can figure out a better day (monday and thrusday might be the answer) I will simply be posting twice a week at times that fit in best with my schedule. We can work this out. =D
Talk to you soon
-Ry.E

Beautiful Illustration Artists!

Often my friends will posts links on my wall about artists they think I would be interested in.
I am suppose to post tomarrow, but I thought I would provide an small extra post this week, due to the fact that my previous was posted so late.



This illustrator is Yu Cheng Hong. I love his cyber punk/fantasy art style. He uses detail for characterization, and is more about the figure than creating a scene. Thats something i really appreciate. But it always makes me sad that when I find an artist that draws seductive, sexualized women that its almost always a man. What do you call the male gaze if its done by a woman?

To see more from this artist go to : http://www.lifelounge.com/Yu-Cheng-Hong-and-some-outer_space-fantasy-girls.aspx


Another Artist that a friend shared with me is Birgit Amadori.



She makes the cloth drawings/collages that focus on pattern and silhouette. Ive thought of doing something similar with decorative papers but havent gotten around to dedicating myself to it yet. To me this is a cross between Art Nouveau, Kara Walker, and Japanese Noh Theatre.

For more of this artist go to : http://www.amadori.org/

I hope you enjoy these artists as much as I do!

-Ry.E

What about Giselle?

If you google Giselle you will find hundreds of pictures of the Victoria Secret Model by the same name, along with articles about a possible pregnancy. If you add "ballet" to the end of your search, youll find a mournful spirit, scorned by her lover, and fighting not to succumb to both her desires for him and her desires for revenge.

Giselle was a beautiful peasant girl who fell in love with a noble in disquise (Lord Albrecht). She discovered that he was already betrothed to another noble, Lady Bathilde. When Giselle found out she killed herself with Albrecht's sword (or died from a broken heart, depending on the version being performed). She becomes a spirit, summoned by Wilis (Wilis are spirits of young women who were robbed of their wedding take, taking their revenge out on men by dancing with them to death). The Wilis want Giselle to be one of them and try to kill Albrecht. Giselle forgives him of his sins, and protects him with her love, saving Albrecht and also herself from becoming a Wilis.

"Swan Lake" is my favorite ballet but Giselle is my favorite Romantic character. (By the way, the joke I was making in the last post about big Rs and little rs; Romantic refers to the style and time period, romantic refers to courting and love what you would normally think of when using the term). What I find so interesting about her as a female figure, is that she has a complete oppertunity for revenge, but she chooses not to take advantage of it. Despite the great pain that Albrecht has caused her, her love for him is greater than her desire for revenge. Because of that she does not become an evil spirit and finds some salvation. This very attribute that I admire about Giselle is something that she is criticized for by critics. Giselle often takes heat from gender studies writers because of 1) Like most romantic ballet it is a typical display of heterogeneous love 2) Giselle acts as a selfless woman instead of a empowered woman, making her an unacceptable role model.
Being Selfless is a valuable virtue, even if it often leaves a person heart broke. Giselle isn't selfless because shes a woman. Her defense of Albrecht is not a womanly act. Giselle's motivation is her heart, and her love for Albrecht. She is the opposite of Medea, who chooses to kill her own children so she can have some sort of control over Jason. The cost of Power is greater than the cost of love.

What I want to capture about Giselle is her struggle between her love for Albrecht, and the pressure from the Wilis for her take revenge. Like many Romantic Ballets, Giselle is a supernatural woman, adding sexual appeal to the males in audience because she is something dangerous. Why is that relevant? It makes it difficult for me to alter her as I translate her character into my woodburnings. For the other characters, I am altering their state into something surreal. But Giselle is already there as a spirit, making my visual decisions more difficult. But I have a few ideas in mind =D. I have some sketches as well, but they are large scale and dont photograph well. I try to get them up as soon as I can figure out how what is the best way to photograph them. But until then, since we are a visual culture lets have some visual stimulus
.




Dont you think the dandelion seeds look like dancers? Their fibers look like tutus and the tips look like pointe shows. I think the light whimsical natures of them is spirit-like and a good match for Giselle. Though the spirit Giselle is not exactly light hearted.
Hopefully I can figure out how to get my sketches photographed since they are way too big to scan, so you can see more of what I am talking about!

Images found using google image search.

See you Friday!

-Ry.E

Fine Art Wood-burning? Some Past Works

No matter the twists and turns I have made in my artistic career (from sculpture, to fibers etc) I have always considered drawing to be my main media. Because of that I have always thought about different ways to create a line from embroidery, to carving, and now woodburning.
Wood-burning is traditionally a craft (another word for it is Pyrography). I'm sure many of you have seen it at craft shows, in form of a horse or deer burned onto a plaque to hang in your den or lodge. Its aesthetic is antique, like an old rocking chair or tea set. Woodburning allows you to make a line on wood, while taking advantage of the woods natural surface. Its not like paint or graphite where it sits on top of the surface, but actually digs into the wood.
I was inspired to wood burn by my best friend and classmate, who makes woodburned boxes with celtic knots and patterns. I found the sepia toned boxes to be elegant and textural. Later I decided that they complimented my art style perfectly. My work is inspired by the decorative arts and I would call it romantic (with a little R).
I felt that the antique quality and history in the decorative arts related to the Romantic (with the big R) Ballets and Melodramas that Ive been so interested in. Which has lead me to use it as my drawing medium (I do considered my wood burning to be drawings) for my BFA work.
The past semester, before combining ballet and woodburning, I played with using the medium with some of the other concepts I was working with at the time.
Here are some images!



These peices are part of my hair series. Hair is an identification tool, and can tell use so much about a person's intentions, personality, and business of the day. This piece is called "Saturday Night Hair". One of the things I was experimenting with was combining color and other media to the woodburning. I used a variety of media, washes of acrylic paint, india ink, wood stains (both oil and water based), and tints of oil paint. To be honest I hated all of them (though I tried marker on one piece, and loved the translucent color it created. Unfortunately, Markers aren't archival and the wood grain tears up the felt on my prismacolors). In this piece I used wood stains, and I feel its the most successful with color. My 'frames' will contain almost no color taking advantage of the sepia of the wood. Any color that exists will be small details to add some punch. I am going to experiment with having a finishing like lacquer or polyurethane to really making the wood grain and indention of the burned line pop.



In this peice ( "Sunday Morning Hair')I used a base layer of india ink and used wood stains on top of it. I used india ink because I thought it would imitate the color of markers. It came out matte and I didnt understand why. After staring at an earlier peice over break, where I used marker on wood, I realized what made the wood grain and color so lush wasnt the marker it self, but the gloss acrylic coating on top of it. Coatings make surfaces look wet bringing out all the details and layers. If I decide to go back on these I will put a coating on them, so you can see all the layers of media I played with and its relationship to the wood grain




This lovely "Pitcher Plant" This is part of a series that compares women to carnivorous plants. Despite its issues with negative space, I am rather fond of it. I love characterizations, and I focus on that when I draw my figures. This involves emphasize on 'costuming' hair styles etc. Also, one of the things Im doing with my 'frames' is combining my characters with other elements to give a greater insight to their psychology. My pitcher plant is a good example of combining a human with another element to tell more about the individual.


I hope this gives everyone better insight to what I am trying to acomplish.
Tuesday, I will be talking about Giselle, so I am going to leave you with a link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnflXfNH-mU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpXVzvFzEjg

-Ry.E

Welcome to my Blog

Hello to my followers and viewers!

I am Ryan E. Grady, a studio art major at Appalachian State in Boone, NC. I am currently working on my Senior Body of working, for my Senior Show at the Beginning of May 2010.

My body of work will consists of woodburned frames with imagery from the narratives of romantics ballets and melodramas.

And that is my mission in a single sentence.

This blog will document my creative process as my making my art work. The blog is not so much an academic documentation but a digital sketchbook that allows for commentary and creative exchange.

In other words, Ill be posting images of my work, visual references, research I am doing and any other information that is relevant to my process. I will be making posts twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

If your interested in fine art, design, craft, wood-burning, ballet, the performing arts, you will enjoy my blog.

If your not interested in any of these things you will still enjoy my blog, and I encourage everyone to follow and engage in conversation through comments.

Enjoy

Ry.E