Arts and Crafts

Dawn of Fate, 18 x 24 inches, acrylic

I started painting in 1967, using a small oil-painting set my cousins gave me for Christmas. I started out painting treatments of color 35mm slides I had taken, then somehow turned to original surrealistic paintings. I don't know what causes surrealism, or that it can be cured, but something caused me to turn to that style of art and photography. Maybe someday I will start a Surrealists Anonymous.

An R-rated Erotic Painting. Please do not view if easily offended.

When I was attending graduate school full-time on a fellowship from work, and simultaneously going through a divorce, I did a number of erotic surrealistic paintings. Some would call them minimalist more that surrealist. All I know is that I have done over 25 of these, all 16 x 20 inches, and all acrylic. I switched to acrylic from oil a couple of years after I graduated from college, oil dried too slowly. I soon learned the difficulty of acrylic drying too quickly. Oh well!

Magritte Clock, 18 x 24 inches, acrylic on masonite

I also did a lot of clocks. My inspiration was a beautiful photographic poster with a clock in the corner. So I started painting clocks in context, such as a still life of a nightstand with a working alarm clock.

A favorite piece of driftwood by McGrath Lake

Much of the photography I have done was done in the mid '70s, after I got a new black Nikon FTN. When I was married, we had two Nikons and a Nikkormat, as well as bunch of lenses. We gave my sister- in-law the Nikkormat FT and the 45mm GN (guide number) Nikkor lens, which made flash photography very simple. In the divorce, my wife got the Nikon F2 and a couple of lenses, I kept my FTN and a few more lenses.

My Grandfather's old Argus C3

I also inherited my grandfather's old Argus C3 and flash, as well as his old Yashica Model C twin-lens reflex camera. Since then I have added to the collection, first with a Minolta 110 Weathermatic. That works so well that I also got the Minolta 110 SLR. Both beat lugging the Nikon around for casual pictures. I also have an old Kodak instant camera, as well as a Polaroid. And now I even have an 8mm camcorder for a new dimension of weirdness.

Ceramics

I took five semesters of ceramics at Ventura College in the late '70s and early '80s. I am not much good with a pottery wheel, but I excel at slab techniques. I have made some fairly large, rather weird ceramic items. Ceramics appears to be in my blood, and I am related to the Hutschenreuther porcelain company in Bavaria.

My relatives

I did some ceramic work while I was teaching at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, for relaxation. And now I teach clay workshops at Mensa gatherings.

Black Wrinkle Tile, 8 x 10, Danish white clay

I even created a black-wrinkle finish by combining an engobe with a simple glaze. This is not what I was expecting, but I was very happy with the results. I was hoping for a matte black finish with gloss brown etching.

Miscellaneous Crafts

I did this model many years ago, back when you could get CHP camaro models.

One of my typical Western shirts

I also took two semesters of sewing at Ventura College, and now own both a basic sewing machine and a serger. I had taken it originally with the thought of doing trapunta,or soft sculpture. I ended up making lots of shirts, including some weird Western shirts, and costumes.

A costume that had to be done

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