Biscuit Box

Embroidery, first try

2011-11-21T18:24:00.001-08:00

Golden-crowned kinglet

2011-10-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

postcards

2011-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Gifts for my family

2011-01-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Baby orangutan for Olive (wool and a little thread)

the "granddog" (gouache on wood)

Float yer Goat

2010-08-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Materials list: Wood of various types (mostly scrounged except for one special-sized board and some dowels), metal strips for the wheels cut out of some unidentified other metal thing, springs, wood screws and bolts, foam and batting from inside an old futon, an old sweater, heavy gauge wire, two potato-starch spoons, leather scraps, acrylic paint and gloss medium, brown paper sacks, viva paper towels, 1 wooly white rug, an old rug from the Alameda antique market, old harness given to me by Bonnie at Arcata Scrap and Salvage.

Making eyes...

2010-08-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

...for the goat. Two potato-starch spoons, acrylic paint and gloss medium, leather, felted sweater.

in the land by the sea

2010-08-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

The suitcase show goes to Stormship flat. This time with live, improvised soundtrack by Medicine Ball, and audience participation on the voices.

Nene

2010-06-05T22:00:00.001-07:00

A Christmas goose for my folks, made of wool with a piece of wire inside.

mini-Luka

2010-01-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday and dog-uncle present for Andy Warner

making little crabs

2010-01-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

finished mother crab for the suitcase show

the siblings

they are painted with a little guoache kit from Taiwan

paper mache, ready for painting

constructing tiny things from an apple laptop box, newspaper and masking tape

Macaque

2009-11-28T14:36:00.000-08:00

Third attempt at monkey faces - Sculpey III does the trick.
Then add baling wire, a stone, fake fur from Steve, and gouache.
This is the despicable snow macaque character for the suitcase puppet show.

Red Sea pufferfish

2009-11-19T23:17:00.000-08:00

Gouache and colored pencil, for Eques Inc.
Maybe this puffer species doesn't really live in the Red Sea, but oh well. Definitely one lives in the aquarium theater at 826 Valencia, named Otka (secretly it's Otka III at least).

Suitcase show in-progress

2009-09-02T23:01:00.000-07:00

Scenes 3 (top) and 1 on the continuous rolling backdrop for my suitcase puppet show based on the Japanese folktale "The Monkey and the Crabs".
Scene 2 is just sand dunes and clouds, a little more drab since the main event in that scene is the growing of a magical persimmon tree...

Candy-girl box

2009-08-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

for selling patches and whatnot

Bumbly

2009-08-17T16:03:00.001-07:00

Bumble bee puppet for a little show which fits all in a suitcase.
- needle-felted wool, ribbon, string, wire

Orca

2009-04-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to Casey
felty Orca from thrift store woolies

Narwhal

2009-02-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

Casey's Christmas narwhal. I used felted sweaters and, for the tusk, paper mache. The most fun and challenging part of these stuffed animals has been figuring out how to make the patterns - how to translate the three-dimensional shape I envision in my head into fabric reality...quite different than I'm used to when working with clay or paper mache alone. If you have any old wool sweaters I'll gladly take them off your hands. I hope Casey doesn't tire of getting little whales as presents.

2009-01-21T23:50:00.000-08:00

Draw your pet?

2009-01-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is Kodama, drawn as a paid gig for my friend as a gift for her family.
So I'd like to build a little portfolio to show potential pet portrait clients in the future. Next on my list to draw...Luka, Henry, Lewis, Frank, Freckles, the ferrets I live with. First a photo shoot, then choose a medium - lino-cut, pencil, paint?

Lightbox

2008-11-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

This is a home-made light box I just completed.
My materials list:
1 silly box from Ikea
Balsa wood rod, enough to go around the inside of the box
3 Compact Fluorescent light bulbs
3 sockets
1 light switch
1 plug
Wire
10 tiny screws and 8 teeny nails
1 custom cut piece of semi-transparent, white 1/4" plexiglass

Each light bulb has three holes drilled underneath it for ventilation and is held in place with a bit of sticky-backed velcro. The plexiglass rests on the balsa ledge and can be removed to change the bulbs or wiring. It diffuses the light quite evenly.

drawing in progress

2008-11-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a meerkat in progress for Eques Inc.
Sadly, after I finished the meerkat series, I have no new projects until things pick up for my employer in the zoo-gifty market. It seems that the effects of the current global financial crisis have trickled their way down to me...

St. Francis

2008-09-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Somehow Casey, Luka and I ended up in this New York Times web article entitled "36 hours in San Francisco, the Mission District". I had no idea our photo was taken that day!

Leaper

2008-09-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

I've been drawing sifaka lemurs for Eques.
This one is the third in a series showing
how they jump. Drawing white fur is a
challenging task! My first try wasn't quite
right. I decided to re-draw them all -
they turned out better the second time
around.

Mikey's birthday pangolin

2008-08-26T17:29:00.001-07:00

Even before the pangolin illustration job, I had made this one for Mickey Thoms out of cereal boxes. Originally intended to be a pinata, it is hollow and has a little door but Mickey didn't want to destroy it. At least not for a while. We were considering filling it with tiny origami animals and smashing it open on some undetermined appropriately special occasion down the line...

Dreamy job

2008-08-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to my friend Erin Hamilton for connecting me with EquesInc. with whom I am now employed as an illustrator. As they own the final images, I can't publish them here so you'll have to see them in person. I do get to keep the originals for my portfolio - or perhaps someday my artwork will appear in Eques' online image catalog www.equesinc.com
My first assignment was for a gift to a pangolin conservation group in Vietnam. Most of Eques' clients are zoos, aquariums, natural history and science museums all over the nation. I'm grateful for the learning experiences and for the doors that may perhaps open in the future...
Here are a few sketches.

Great Blue Heron

2008-05-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

...another piece for the Farewell Holocene show.

Farewell Holocene

2008-05-09T13:07:00.001-07:00

An artistic tribute to our beloved epoch, and a look forward to our new home in geologic time: The Anthropocene
May 11-18
Space Gallery
1114 Polk St.
San Francisco, CA
Featuring Forest Stearns, Carmen Olson, Casey Cripe, Mickey Thoms, Erin Hamilton, Tyler Cripe, Luke Forsyth and others...
Reception and Anthropocene Kickoff Party
Friday May 16th 8pm till late

Casey's Whale

2008-05-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

For Casey's birthday I made this humpback whale out of felted sweaters.

Get that rock, buddy

2008-03-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

Luka's favorite game and the only thing that will ever cause him to bark (if you do not throw the stone when he would like you to), is chasing stones thrown into water, biting the splash, and moving the stone towards the shallows with his paws. Sticking his nose under water to pick up the stone, he then carries it to shore and adds it to his collection. These are at Canyon Creek lakes in the Trinity Alps and a swimming hole we like to call "Ninja Hideout"...

Happy Birthday Lilly

2008-03-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

After asking Lilly for some of her favorite animals, Casey and I collaborated on this as a birthday present for her. I made the anteater stencil and Casey did the lettering.

Stormship flat

2008-02-01T09:33:00.001-08:00

I think this, dreamiest of studios in Arcata and inhabited
by two rouges I hold most dear, has been named at last.
This image I captured of myself during a secret rehearsal
in the flat for a Tsirkus benefit performance that would
take place downstairs later on. Oh and alas, I'm feeling
nostalgic...

Live art at the Westin St. Francis, New Year's Eve, San Francisco

2008-01-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

Five artists - Tyler Cripe, Casey Cripe, Forest Stearns, Erin Hamilton, and Carmen Olson - surrounded by 3,000 party goers, ice sculptures, fashion show, obnoxious music...Here is what we made in about five hours, collaborating on a plywood panel, 8x8 feet.

Luka the wonder dog

2007-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00