SHSU Day 2
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| Conversing on separate lily pads/scaffolds |
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| Only blue tape here, never red |
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| "Two buckets and two bucket heads" - Saskia |
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| I love this one! |
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| View outside the window |
BLOG
Sam Houston State University- INSTALL!
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First day of the installation for Sam Houston State University in the Woodlands. It's a pleasure to work with Mosaika again. We are reaching great heights on this one. Check out their pictures here.
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| Mike, always welcome as one of the girls. |
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| Saskia, can I buy a vow_l? |
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| First piece! |
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| Emily's magic disappearing pants |
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| Wilson?! From Home Improvement?! |
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| Looking up the wall |
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| Emily fishing... |
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| Kate's voguing |
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| The end of a good day. |
Office Christmas Party
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Last Saturday, Kate and I had our office Christmas party: a night out on the town, walking around Houston touring all the beautiful lights with friends and family. There were a few carols sung, some red noses and even a house with a live Santa in the yard!
~~~HAPPY HOLIDAYS~~~
A Christmas Bunny
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Last week Kate found a rabbit in the yard. She approached it and it sniffed her! Since then Garland and I have both hand fed it and it is currently living under the trailer in the back yard. He doesn't really like celery but he loves carrots! Tops and all!
Sam Houston 3D Tile
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Some more updates on Sam Houston State University's wall: The 3D tiles are in. They look so good! I'm very excited to install this project next month.
Inspired Cake
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I just received an email from TH Rodgers school, where I participated in career week back in October. They made a cake inspired by my work. Yum!!
UPDATE: I got another wonderful email from a TH Rodger student who is kind enough to allow me to post it below. Thank you Ciera!!
UPDATE: I got another wonderful email from a TH Rodger student who is kind enough to allow me to post it below. Thank you Ciera!!
Dear Ms. Gay,
Today in art class we made cakes based on certain artists work. My group chose your peice The Bethnic Zone. The cake took alot of hard work but in the end it turned out fenominal and I would love for you to see it. I havent taken a pictire of it yet for you to see but I will try to take one A.S.A.P. The cake doesnt look exactly like the peice because we didnt have all of the resources to make it exact but I think our hard work paid off. Please write back.
Thank You,
Ciera Montoya
T H Rogers 6th Grade Student
Fall Flowers in the Garden
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Rick Rack Cactus (Selenicereus anthonyanus)
Mexican Butterfly Weed (Asclepias curassavica)
Spicy Jatropha (Jatropha integerrima)
Fairy Duster (Calliandra haematocephala)
Portulaca (Portulaca spp.)
Firespike (Odontonema strictum)
Night Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum)
Gomphrena (Gomphrena globosa)
Peacock Ginger (Kaempferia pulchara)
Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida)
Pink Buttons (Polygonum capitatum)
Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia spp.)
Texas Olive (Cordia boissieri)
Bulbine (Bulbine frutescens)
Cigar Plant (Cuphea ignea)
Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes spp.)
Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana)
Turkscap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii)
Canna (Canna spp.)
Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus)
Sweet Memory Duranta (Duranta erecta)
Shrubby Allamanda (Allamanda schottii)
Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia spp.)
Queen Palm (Syagrus romanzoffiana) with
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
New Sculpture
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Time Shift
In my paintings this year I have been working with emotions on a cellular level. Time Shift is an exploration and expansion of those ideas in a three dimensional space. This has been a great year for playing in the studio.
Happy 30th Orange Show!!!
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Photo by © Michelle Watson/CatchLightGroup.com
Had a marvelous time at the Orange Show's 30th Anniversary Gala! The dress code was come as the star you are. Being a Leo, I came as the sun. My arm candy is a rock-n-roll star.
Check out the article in Houston Culture map here:
Kate and I also helped make the amazing 12ft cake mentioned in the article.
Here is a picture taken while setting it up Saturday morning.
It was a lot of work, as well as a lot of fun.
Good News from Dallas!
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The Dallas Observer has posted a link to a sneak peak of the public art to appear in the New Love Field Airport. Notice the mosaic wildflower wall I proposed for the main entry lobby wall...
I'm really excited about this project and to be part of such a great collection. Checking the website in the next few weeks for images of the design and the beginning of the painting.
Fall in Montreal
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Even with all the work in the studio, we were able to get out and spend some time on the mountain that rises in the center of Montreal. What a glorious fall!
Sam Houston continued...
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Working hard this week in Montreal... it's coming together nicely. Check it out!
Final Placement- This the the bottom 6 feet or so of the mosaic.
The brown and white tiles have not been glazed yet.
Sam Houston Progress
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I'm in Montreal Canada this week working with Mosaika on the finishing touches to the 3 story mosaic for Sam Houston State University satellite campus in the Woodlands, TX. I'm working to place the handmade tiles Kate and I made in the studio this summer. The tiles are a variety of shapes and textures from frogs, spiders and lily pads to microscopic pollen, seeds and pond life. We are also recycling left over tiles made for Strata which was completed in 2009! I'm placing all the textural handmade tiles at hand and eye level so they can be viewed and accessed easily as people move up and down the staircase.
The whole mosaic is looking great and I'm excited to see it installed. The installation date is set for January 2012.
Special thanks to the whole Mosaika team! It would not look as good without your hard work and goods eyes. To see the team in action check out their studio blog. To see the original painting and a rendering of the mosaic click here.
The whole mosaic is looking great and I'm excited to see it installed. The installation date is set for January 2012.
Special thanks to the whole Mosaika team! It would not look as good without your hard work and goods eyes. To see the team in action check out their studio blog. To see the original painting and a rendering of the mosaic click here.
placing handmade tiles
recycled Strata tiles
HeLa Retablo
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It's Retablo time!!! Every year, Lawndale has a retablo exhibition to honor and celebrate Dia de los Muertos. The retablos are sold for fundraising at a silent auction gala. I've been making a retablo for Lawndale for many years and really look forward to the whole event every year. For this year's retablo, I took inspiration from the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot which told the story of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells.
For more information about all the Dia de Los Muertos festivites and tickets to the gala at Lawndale click here. Hope to see you all that gala!
METRO North Line designs at MFAH
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Come see the final designs for the Metro expansion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The work I did for both Burnett and Boundary stations are on display in the hallway in the lower level of the Beck building. Also check out the great article in Houston Culture Map here.
To see images of the designs check out Metro on my Current Projects page.
Thank you to Sara Kellner at Kellner Consultants and Arts in Transit for putting on such a lovely opening reception.
Backyard Beehive Adventures
/We had a very adventurous day at the studio Monday! Jennifer the Bee Wrangler came over to help move a bee hive that was living in a tree in the yard. The tree has been dropping limbs and badly needs to be trimmed but the tree guys will not go near it until the bees are gone. I have been interested in bee keeping for a while and really wanted to keep the hive. I've even been making honey comb like sculptures, subconsciously inviting bees into my life. Miraculously, a friend pointed me to Jennifer, a local Houston bee wrangler, who will come and take the bees, allowing them 2 months to regenerate their hive and then bring them back to install in a new box hive in my yard. Check out Jennifer's site and blog at www.thebeewrangler.com. The images below to give a glimpse of the amazing process she uses to get the bees out of the hive. Here's a hint: it involves a shop-vac!
subconscious sculpture
Step 1: making smoke to calm the bees
Step 2: Cutting off the honeycombs
Step 3: The vacuum
Step 4: Cutting the hole bigger
Step 5: Searching for the queen and pulling out more honeycombs from inside the hole
Step 6: Making sure the queen did not fall out!
Step 7: Checking out the honeycombs
Looks like the queen is in there!
Hive relocation SUCCESS!! Thank you Jennifer!!
Lewis Elementary School Complete
/Last week I completed the Lewis Elementary School lion mural. Lewis Elementary is a brand new HISD elementary school just north of Hobby Airport on Rockhill. Anyone in Houston should go check it out in person. The school will be open to the public in August 2011.
The whole mural went up in jigsaw pieces cut roughly 14" x 14".
This was Kate and my favorite jigsaw piece.
The last piece goes in!
Many thanks to the installation team, myself, Kate and Carlos.
The whole project would not have been possible without the hard work of Mary Walker and Noe Almaguer of Molina Walker Architects and Justin Jordan and Spencer Bennett of Drymalla Construction. Spencer was a bit allusive and missed picture time... Thanks to all of you!
One more job completed!
Lewis Elementary School, Day 3
/End of 3rd day
Lewis Elementary School, Left side
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Left side with details
Lewis Elementary School, Right Side
/The right side, installed before lunch.
