GOURMET: "K-I-T-C-H-E-N"

Valerie Champagne

Wooden letter blocks, brush markers

For this month's challenge, my original thought was to paint a set of alphabet blocks for my niece and nephew with pictures of food to correspond with each letter.  When I couldn't find any wooden blocks, I bought wooden letters instead and painted foods to match the letters in K-I-T-C-H-E-N.  K=ketchup, I=ice cream, T=tea, C=carrots, H=honey, E=eggplant, and N=nuts.  Now that the letters are hanging in my kitchen, if the stove, refrigerator, and sink aren't a dead giveaway as to which room you're in.... the sign should be.

MACHINE: "MTA Monster!"

"MTA Monster!"

Valerie Champagne

Cardboard, Spray paint, Acrylic paint, Electrical tape

As I was feeding my monthly $104 tribute to a ravenous MTA machine last month, I was struck by how much the machine reminds me of my home shredder - so much goes in, so little comes out.  I was inspired to transform my home shredder into an embodiment of the MTA Machine Monster which haunts the dreams of so many impoverished subway commuters.  The Monster was assembled from recycled cardboard, and there is an opening for money to be fed directly into its mouth.  Yes, the shredder still works!    

MACHINE: "Science + Love = Robots"

"Science + Love = Robots"

dan pinto

Acrylic on Canvas

5 2" x 2"

2011

I tried to get really creative with the "machine" theme. I had several ideas that revolved around different themes. In the end however, I just kept coming back to "robots" as a sort of pinnacle examples of machines. After a failed start at a much more serious piece, I found these small canvases on sale at my art store. I like paintings that are stretched over a few frames and originally started work on a vertical piece. That got scrapped in favor of this idea. I'm a fan of science and I think robotics is a uniquely interesting field. It combines an intense mathematical worldview with a very humane one, as robotics, it seems, are mostly used to help humans accomplish otherwise difficult or impossible tasks. Thus the equation: Science + Love = Robots.

MACHINE: "pump"

"pump"

Watercolor on paper.

6" x 12"

It works pretty hard.

MACHINE:

Sarah Rendon

Acrylic on Wood

I chose to paint a wooden clog I found at a tag sale this summer because when I think of "machine", I think of big and clunky. My mind also brings me to rigidity, angles, and the color palette I chose for this project. The end product show the variety of ideas the this month's theme brings to my mind. I anted to keep a section of the wood intact because i know that the first machine's were made of wood. I thought it would be nice to contrast that with my favorite type of machine -- the Apple machine!

LOST: "And the winner is...:

"And the Winner Is..."

Newspaper, Matte Medium, Acrylic

12" x 18"

Sooooo maybe I've been reading too many detective thrillers.

And have been watching "The Wire"...

I strangely enjoyed mimicking the color and texture of blood and matter and applying

it to the pasted newsprint.My original intention was to include a chalk outlined body

below the splatter. Fortunately, upon removal of the tape ! used to mask the head area,

I found the paint 'bled' in such a way that created eyes and stained lips. Cool.

Do not be alarmed by this painting. I do like puppies and double-rainbows.

But just remember... We all play the game.

DUN DUN DUNNNN.

kelly!

LOST: What now?

Linda Beck

"What Now?"
Watercolour and coloured pencil on cardboard

5.75" x 9.5"

The title "What Now?" implies that the subject has not only lost her way but is also lost in stagnancy. I set the subject of this piece in a vast empty space but wanted the surroundings to feel smothering and oppressive. Even open, empty space can be paralyzing.