Crusin' through the Summer

What a busy weekend. Mackie was at the Clark County Recycled Fair in Vancouver, and I was at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts. It wasn't enough that we were in two separate shows, but the weather definately did not cooperate. It litterly rained like cats and dogs for two and a half days. Did I say rain.Oh...it poured.

Fortunately, the skys parted and a little blue skys appeared and folks came out in numbers. We ended the weekend on a high note and met a bunch of new friends. All I can say is life is good.

It's pretty unusal for us to get cold rain like this during late June but hey, it's the way that we roll in the Pacific Northwest.

This was our first visit to the Lake Oswego show and I was impressed. The core of volunteers were nothing short of impressive. They are very organized and they are all around the show asking the artists if they need anything, giving breaks, getting food and drink. Wow! Show quality is great with a wide variety of creative works. The folks in Lake Oswego are very fortunate to have a show like this in thier area, and it's certainly one of the best in Oregon.

One weekend off and then we head to Eugene for Art in the Vineyard on July 7 to 9, 2012. We're looking forward to our trip and visiting some new friends. Stop by and see us if your in the area.

2012 Show Update

We're starting to hear more about art shows we're going to be at this summer.  And.  The news is good!  We just got acceptance into the University Street Fair in Seattle, and the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  Both are great shows and we're excited about being selected to participate. 

We'll have lots of exciting new work that's going to incorporate lots of new elements into our current work.  Mackie and I are working hard and look forward to rekindling our friendships this summer.  Please take a look at our Facebook page at Facebook page and click on the "like" button.

See you'all soon,
Joe and Mackie

Tired Dogs

We just finished our second five-day show of the month, and both Mackie and I are ready for a break.  Guess what.  It isn’t happening.  We were swamped in Seattle two weeks ago and Portland showed no mercy.  And, our galleries are calling, “Joe we need ……”.  We are two lucky people.  The number of people that appreciate our work humbles us; I know that I speak of this often, but we both feel that we can never thank our supporters enough!

Fortunately, I believe we don’t have another show until April 7^th and 8^th in Portland, Oregon when we’ll be at the Hardy Plant Society show at the EXPO in Portland, Oregon.  This is more of a garden show and we’ll have more of the critters that we’re known for. However, summer is sneaking up around the corner, and we’ll be heading north, south, east, and west.  Next we’ll be in Seattle May 19^th and 20^th at the University Street Fair; we’ll have our hearts and wall art here.

You’ll be seeing some new changes to our website in the coming weeks to make it more reflective of our work that we’ve been developing during the past 10 years.

Northwest Flower and Garden Show

First, thank you to everyone that stopped and visited with us at this show.  We are constantly humbled by the support and encouragement that we receive from people all across the country.  Thank you!

We just finished a five day run at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle, Washington.  It's five days of show (really six when I count the extra set up day), 48 hours of face-to-face time with about 40,000 people, meeting new friends, and lets not forget the joy of the Seattle Convention Center food.......

The show is at the Seattle Convention Center in downtown Seattle, and the building is amazing for it's maze-like organization that can send the most direction oriented person to leap onto Interstate 5 - the building is built over the Interstate, and the architect did a wonderful job designing a park and gardens that surround the structure.  Also, there's some real amazing art located throughout the structure from ancient Chinese urns to Dale Chihuly's glass.

I met an interesting lady that is an art teacher in the area.  We talked about my designs and work, and she asked if I could draw.  I started laughing because it's the one thing that I'm terrible with and expressed it so.  She said that she thought so and that I had a Dr. Seuss style.  She then told me the story that he could not draw, and that's how the characters turned out in his books.  Wow, to be in such company is pretty cool!

Overall the show was a great experience, and Mackie and I met some great new friends in Mark and Kristen our neighbors.  Incredibly nice people that we'll look forward to spending time with in the future. 

This little guy is a bird bath that Mackie and I collaborated on together.  She made an incredible purple streaked pottery bowl that's removable to clean and store in the winter, and I created the cat and stand from all recycled materials.  He's the People's Choice Award for the best sculpture at the show, and he was adopted by a great family in Graham, Washington.  This was one of the tough ones for me to see go.

One week from Tuesday we'll be setting up in Portland, Oregon for the Home and Garden Show so it's back to work for me tomorrow morning in the shop...I can't wait.

Joe

2012 Show Planning and Schedule - Photographs

It's that dreaded time of year when we have to start thinking about what shows we are going to apply to and what we're going to show.  Many people think that it's straight forward but nothing could be farther from the truth.  Many countless hours are spent: scouring scrap yards, creating samples, researching art shows to apply to.  Then we have to take photographs; clean up the photographs; resize the photos depending on how individual shows want them; and finally adding them online or to a compact disc, creating photographs, or even having slides printed (although that is really becoming a thing of the past.

I'm going to focus on the photography aspect for now that I've created a number of samples.  I wrote earlier about different processes with the hearts that we've created for years and really happy with the direction were going.  We're actually going to be showing mostly this new work at shows this year, and we're still doing our other work but it will be limited to about three shows.  We'll add more to our website once we get this sorted out when the "come join us" and/or "rejection" letters start coming in this spring.

Above is a four foot tall heart that is about 12 inches wide and two inches deep.

Mackie and I tag-teamed on taking photos today.  We hung each piece individually, and she took three photos from different angles.  Digital cameras are great because it allows us to instantly see what were doing; this has saved countless hours and developing fees working this way.  I then took the photos and added them to my laptop and began working the next magical steps...Photo editing.  Regardless of what anyone says, there's always something to do.  Pictures don't just magically come from the camera.  Almost but not quite.

I take the image and remove the background and then add a generic background like the one above.  I don't do any re-touching to the photos.  If we don't like the color or exposure, we take it again.  It's so easy with the digital camera and way quicker than using all the fancy photo-editing tools.  In my case I don't have a clue how to use 99.9% of them.

The heart about is created from recycled metal shelving strips of various colors.  Note how I keep it real simple and use the same background for each image.

I've finished editing five photos tonight and still need to work on the booth shot with our new wall art to get ready to apply for shows beginning next week.  Over 70% of 2012's applications are due by January 31st!  That's when the pressure really starts.

The Side Door Heart Opening

Last night Mackie and about 50 fun art loving, food loving, and even barley pop loving friends enjoyed our celebrating our new heart display at the Side Door at 425 SE Washington in Portland, Oregon.  It was great to see everyone and especially nice to see the impact our work makes to people.

We have a great life and great friends, and we're very fortunate to have such a following.  It's humble to recall that this all started because of the metal scrap piles around the West Virginia family farm where I grew up as a teenager; my varied work career from working in machine shops in the Auburn, Washington area; to working with the cable tv, telephone, and power companies; to our friends who seek us out at art shows throughout the country, our art galleries that spend countless hours supporting our work; and, most of all to my amazing wife Mackie who continues to encourage me.

All these factors contribute to the way I look at what others discard.  The hearts in the two photos are made from recycled metal shelving of different sizes and colors.  I love working with metal exactly as I find it.  Of course I add a lot of elbow grease in cleaning up the metal with wire brushes, steel wool and then finishing it off with several coats of wax buffed out to a nice shine.  It's a lot of work but you are worth it.

The left heart with the varying color stripes is about two feet tall by a foot wide and was created from shelving that was about four inches wide.  I had to cut the sides off and grind the sides down before I welded it onto an inch and a half tall frame.  The standing heart in orange with the diamond plate is about 16 inches tall by 12 inches wide.  It's created from the same metal shelves.  Turn the heart around and their is lots of plumbing parts, tools, and copper springs to give it a real industrial look.  The red heart's skin was created from a piece of three foot by eight foot steel shelving that I created three cutouts in and rivited a piece of polished aluminum diamond plate in it.  I like them all but the red one is really special. 

I love feedback.  You can leave a comment here, and I'd love to get back to you and add you to our mailing list so you'll get updates on where we're going to be at.

2011 Overview

2011 has come and gone and now it’s time to look forward to 2012

I’ve never been one to look to much at the past but instead look toward the future.  Part of this is my nature and part is the nature of being an artist.  Artist is an interesting title and one that I’m not always comfortable with, but for many, it’s an important acknowledgement for what we’ve been able to create with our minds and hands.  I’m humbled when someone refers to me as such and work hard to ensure that their complements are justified.

January through March

We'd been getting a number of photos from folks of sculptures that they've adopted from us over the years, and we decided to add an adopted page to our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com/adopted.htm .  This latest submission is from William Woods of a planter he gave to his daughter.  We're humbled by the ongoing support and photos that everyone sends in.  Thank you.

Florida shows were in full swing during January through March.  I spent most weekends doing two-day weekend shows, and when I wasn’t there, I was at the St. Petersburg Saturday Market displaying my latest creations.  I was awarded the first place ribbon along with a check at the Orlando Art and Living Festival in Orlando, Florida.  This was  quite a surprise and honor and one that I will cherish my entire life.

The weather was great and we have many fans, but it’s tough to be a recycled artist when there isn’t very many sources for recycled metal; that was definitely the largest challenge about working that far south.  I had to travel as far north as Alabama and Tennessee to continue to find material, and that made it very difficult to have time to work and both due shows. 

Mackie and I love the weather during this time.  Sunny and 75 were pretty much the standard seven days a week with very little humidity.  The biggest challenge are insects nearly the size of the bugs from Starship Troopers! 

April Through June

I did four shows in Ohio and Michigan in May and June.  Two trips up and back each totaling about 3,000 miles round trip, but I did enjoy spending time with my brother and his family between and at these shows.  Weather has been one of our biggest challenges in doing eastern US shows versus the western states.  Every east coast show had some significant weather this year, and we were fortunate to not see the worst like in Pittsburgh, where an entire block of booths were ravaged in the wind.  This photos was our booth in Delaware, Ohio where my brother and two nephews came to help out.  Incredible driving rain but the crowds kept coming in between the cloud bursts.

My good friend, Bill Woods, caught up with me in Atlanta, Georgia, and we traveled across country for the second year in a row.  This has been a great time for both of us to spend talking about our lives and seeing our country from a different perspective.

We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee the next morning and went to the American Artisan Festival in Centennial Park. I love going to different art shows around the country and see the different work that’s available.  It’s always amazing to see things available in the south that one doesn’t see in the northwest, or the work that I saw in Ohio but have never seen in California.  This is Bill with his friend Superman in Metropolis, Illinois on our stop from Nashville to St. Louis.

The next morning we went through to Gates Barbeque in Kansas City.  The Food Network once did a special on barbeque around the country and this place got rave reviews.  It was ok and I think that says it all.  We headed west and spent the evening just east of Denver; it was an evening of great thunder and lightning storms.

I did the Vancouver Recycled Arts Show during the last week of June and started getting ready for the July art show crush.

July through September

July is our busiest month each year.  There’s usually several trips to California, a show in Oregon, and our annual Bellevue Art Show to keep us focused.  Everything was pretty routine and then I caught the shuttle back to Florida and my lovely wife.

Mackie and I spent August enjoying the Florida sunshine and deciding our next steps for the remainder of 2011.  We decided to head back to our Vancouver home and spend the winter west, and this was my second trip driving across the United States in 2011.  Below is a photo after the drive that I took of Mackie with our kids, Sophie and Sherman, and our dear friend Judy next to our truck and camper in Lafayette, California.

The Love Art Gallery contacted us and started selling our work.  Ruby and family are wonderful people and have done an incredible job in marketing our creations.  This has got me looking at galleries in a whole new light.  Several groups have contacted us and we'll be adding some new galleries this spring in the Portland-to-Seattle metro areas; I'll keep our website posted with the new locations.

October through December

We did a number of events through year’s end, and we picked up two additional art galleries.  It’s been busy and I’ve been able to create a number of new works.  I’m looking forward to 2012 and the new opportunities that await us.  We have two shows already booked in February in Seattle and Portland, and we'll be working like crazy over the next six weeks.  We have a lot of new creations that we've been working on this winter, and January is going to be here and gone before we know it. 

Our show schedule is updated on our website at www.cliftonmetalworks.com , and we’ll keep it updated and we hear from shows as we’re accepted into them.