Art on a misty morning at the Beekman.

Last night, I stayed up watching Disney's Wall-E through the corner of my eye while painting my first goat portrait on a glass vase I'd purchased.  I love playing imaginative movies in the background while I'm working on projects.  Well, that or 80's music - which I do right now.  Both keep my creative vigor rolling. 

I'm pretty pleased with how the vase turned out for a first attempt, especially after John exclaimed, "It looks just like her!"  (Her being Chrissy - one of his girls.)  My heart did a victory leap.  This was what I was hoping for.  (I should have a "Farmer John Approved" label on the packaging of each project that passes.)

Take a look:

John suggested I add her name to the vase too.  I thought that was a good idea.  These glass object paintings will be one-of-a-kind products meaning they won't be mass produced.  They're just individually made and signed.

My other current project, the 3D Custom Frame and Photo, is coming along, too.  It'll take a bit longer though.  In fact, I needed to get a few additional reference photos out in the pasture this morning after I'd finished my chores with John.  And, wow, was it a beautiful misty morning! Just look:

Meanwhile, I've added some of the sculpted elements (the goat in the forefront and the start of the hay pile on the bottom) in Super Sculpey.  Once it's finished (it'll be a day or two), I'll bake the completed sculpture, make a mold of it prior to painting and then cast it.  Not sure what material to use yet though for casting.  I've got a few options.

This project is still in the early stages and you won't see the aluminum foil when it's complete:

And we're still developing the storefront.  I hope (and don't quote me here) that it could be up sometime this weekend.  That would be nice, but we still have a few hoops to jump through.  Also, can't have a store without inventory!  SO... I'd better get back to work!

Thanks for reading!


 

Working on our website's first Art Product...

Well, it's about 5:45 am (yes, farmers do get up early) on a Sunday (yikes).  Today, I woke up a little earlier (about 4:30) out of excitement over this website.  We've received a good response already and it's charged me up. 

But the website is still missing a big component - the Store.  That is my next project.  I'd like to have it up and running this week, but in order to accomplish that... I need inventory.  That means I've gotta stop blogging and start sculpting. 

This is my first project!  It is going to be a "3D Custom Sculpted Photo Frame" for a particular picture I'd taken of Poke-A-Spots and the goats outside the back of the barn. 

This is what the photo looks like:

I particularly liked the soft hues of the sky against the barn, but mostly felt it was a striking shot of Pokey guarding her herd.  It almost seemed like the goats were nervously looking out from the security of the barn, waiting for the "coast was clear" signal from our popular llama (who by the way, has her own Facebook page). 

It's a nice image on it's own, but I have other plans for it.

So I enlarged the photo and had it professionally printed and mounted on backing, behind glass.  Now, it's ready for the next step - the sculpting of the frame over top of the matte to match and extend the photo.



Not sure what I mean?  Don't worry.  I'll show you as I progress with the project.

This process is one of my "inventions" and will be the first of a product line I'll be creating for this website.  I have an example of a finished "3D Custom Sculpted Photo Frame" that I will post in my next entry.  

Till then, I'll be working hard at this and the "Store" page.  Wish me luck! 

Ahhh... the wonderful world of blogging.

Well, here we are.  John and I decided about a week ago that we'd like to have a writing outlet to express his ideas regarding the animals here at the Beekman and for myself to blog about all of the opportunities for creative development relating to life with those animals here on the farm.  A farm, after all, is not only breeding ground for baby animals... it is also for physical labor - labor that needs to be done daily... twice!  And since  "necessity is the mother of invention", the farm turns out to be a breeding ground for innovation too!

And that's where I come in. I'm an "Idea Man" and my goal is to not only help my partner by haying, watering, and sweeping after his herd, but to simplify and streamline his workflow too. 

So this website will be the place to read about what I'm working on now.  It's been a "Multi Bottle Feeder" for the goat kids, an "Egg Condo" for the Beekman hens, a "3 in 1 Hay Feeder" for our buck boys, and even John's "8 Milking Goat Stanchion" that I created for him just recently.  (Photos of all of these are at the bottom of my intro page.) 

But my upcoming projects will not be work related.  The barn is, for now, in great shape.  So my energies are being shifted to more art related farm products.  I will explain more deeply about this in my next post. 

I am extremely excited to be here blogging with you at this stage in my life.  I look forward to when next we meet!