What I've been up to

by Geoff Slater

Life has been busy and most of what I've been up to has been posted on Facebook. Have a look at my page to find out what's new. Thanks!

20,000 miles and never touch the ground

by Geoff Slater

It's been a busy, busy, busy number of months with a few of Skype classroom visits with  students in Washington State and Missouri. (If you are interested in having me "visit" your classroom virtually, just contact me.)

I've also been painting some commissions for cruise ship presentations...

And there have been private commissions...

Now, I am finishing up a painting which is heading to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery for an upcoming fundraising exhibit. It's called, "20,000 miles and never touch the ground" It will be for sale beginning November 28, 2012. Can you guess the subject?

~Geoff

Private Mural - 6 (Complete!)

It's finished!

~Geoff

Private Mural - 5

The ship is complete...

 

~Geoff

Private Mural - 4

Another update... the sky and ground are nearing completion...

~Geoff

Private Mural - 3

The sky, water and ground are almost complete. Next I will be adding a ship in the water...

~Geoff

Private Mural - 2

Some more photos of the in-progess private mural.

~Geoff

Private mural

I've put housebuilding on the back burner for a while so I can concentrate on some art-related projects. The first of these is a mural in a private home.

The mural is in on the side wall of a stairwell so I've set up staging to work from.

Here are the first photos with more to follow in the days to come.

~Geoff

Morning at the new house

Sometimes, after a big push, it's nice to just sit back, relax and think... yep, it's all been worth it.

Now - back to work!

~Geoff

Art, Music and the Sounds of Construction

It's been a while since I've posted. Building a house will do that to a guy.

We began construction of our new home in November. Today, just over three and a half months later, we are at the stage where we can almost move in. It's been a marathon with zero hours left in the day for artmaking.

However, over the holidays I was able to take some time off to design an image for the East Tennessee State University Department of Music's Spring Concert Brochure.

Here's how it turned out...

Front Cover

Inside -- Page 9

Inside back cover

The full program will soon be posted online at the ETSU website: http://www.etsu.edu/cas/music/

That's all for now. Short, but sweet.

~Geoff

Big Balls

For a long time I've had the idea to do something sculptural with one of the giant steel buoys that I've seen around from time to time, washed up on the beach. I put the word out to some friends, and it wasn't long before Mike Leblanc (welder, fabricator, all around great guy) had located two of them for use.

I entered a plan for one of them in the National Sculpture Competition at Kingsbrae Gardens, and was picked as an entry. All of a sudden, I had to get this thing done! So, despite the crappy May weather, under tent and tarp, it began to take shape.

These old buoys have a cool history. They were origionally created in WWII to moor convoy ships to, before they carried supplies to Britain. They also held up the submarine nets that protected our harbours. More recently, they were used by the aquaculture industry to anchor cage sites.

I wanted to pay homage to the past, while giving a buoy a new life. So I painted the buoy to look as though it had a big tear in it, and painted my 2 year old daughter inside looking out, holding flowers.

Everyone seems to like it!

The Kingsbrae staff helped wrestle it up to the garden to put in its place for the competition. They placed it in the pond at the bottom of the garden, a spot that I think suits the sculpture well.



 I look forward to the response from the public.

~Geoff

Line Paintings and Getting Away

Well this sure has been the summer for line paintings! I have three left, and there is interest in those ones, as well...

Ryan - The Bike Mechanic

I'm looking forward to things getting a bit quieter in town. Things need to settle down a bit before I can get into a productive working pattern again.

I've started working on the exterior of the house and studio. The house needs some paint touch-up before the winter, and the studio needs some siding replaced, then some painting. It is always better to get on these things while the weather is nice.

Our trip to Holland is only a month and a half away now, and that will come quickly. We are all really looking forward to the break.

I've been daydreaming about buying a 4x4 RV, loading the family up, and becoming gypsies for a couple of years. Funny thing is, everyone is into it! That is a good sign that all of us are hitting the wall.




When we return from Europe, hopefully our heads will all be a little clearer, and we won't feel so burdened.

If not, don't be surprised if the Mulder-Slaters go Walk-A-Bout!

Slats