THEME FOR MAY 2013

From our lovely contributor, Sarah, comes this month's theme:

"FRESH"

Can't wait to see your posts!

Due May 20th

LION: "lil lion"

"lil lion"

pen, watercolor on paper.

5" x 5"

 a little lion and a little color.

LION: "Dandy"

"Dandy"

Linda Beck
pencil and vintage wallpaper

As I was drawing this lion, I became more and more fixated on the absurdity of his coif.
It seemed only right to give him some form-fitting stockings and a walking stick.
He is a dandy lion indeed.

GOURMET: "Les oeufs et leurs chapeaux" (The eggs and their hats)

One of the first things that comes to mind when I hear or see the word "gourmet" is the chef's hat.  Regardless of the slightly absurd shape of all varieties, the chef's hat is a gourmet staple...  as is the egg.

I think these three brown chicken eggs look quite distinguished in their choices of hats.

"l'oeuf porte la toque grande"
(the egg wears a tall toque)
Linda Beck
paint and ballpoint on old french dictionary paper

"l'oeuf porte la toque souple"
the egg wears a floppy toque
Linda Beck
paint and ballpoint on old french dictionary paper

"l'oeuf porte la résille"
the egg wears a hairnet
Linda Beck
paint and ballpoint on old french dictionary paper

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.