This Moon is Shining Bright!

One early evening, as I was standing on the driveway, I was looking up and noticed the full moon shining brightly. I immediately went inside of a house and grabbed a camera. I then took a shot of the moon with the tall spruce tree on the left, and I thought it was perfect for this month's theme. I made it black and white in the photo editing software, and painted with purple and black acrylics mixed with glaze medium. When I was a kid, I remembered daydreaming about traveling to the moon in the future.



Art and image copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz - all rights reserved.

A Classical View...

I went through my library of photographs taken in many different places, and I have selected the ones that best represent the Greek classical views of the realms of the cosmos. Each one is printed separately, trimmed, and adhered to the pre-gessoed board. The Greek symbols, words, and statement were also cut and glued on top of the pictures. They were also highlighted with acrylic glaze, and the overall surface is coated with polymer medium.

The pictures above were taken at these following locations (going clockwise, starting with upper left corner): Lake Winnepsaukee, NH; Holderness, NH; near Yarnell, AZ; and Bellevue, WA.

Art and image copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz - all rights reserved.

Listening to Vivaldi's...

I sometimes listened to Julie Fischer's violin rendition of Vivaldi's Four Seasons on DVD, and it was the inspiration for this piece. I selected the winter photo of a running brook as the background to show that the images of any other season can be invoked by listening one or more of Vivaldi's concertos. I often find that I enjoyed them the most during wintertime. All of the four color photos (individually cut and adhered) were taken right near my residence in New Jersey: fall - front lawn; winter - pond in the woods; spring - backyard; summer - down in the woods.


Art and image copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz - all rights reserved.

On This Field...

I was in Castle Rock, Wisconsin during the fall of 2007 when I was on my way to a workshop studio out in the country. Ears of corn were already harvested, and the cornstalks were ready to be cut down. At the same time, another green crop was being grown but I could not figure out what it was. It was quite a constrast of rich deep green crop and decaying cornstalks.

Art and image copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz

This Tide is Always...

I was standing on the beach at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, WA when I saw this constant movement of the water. I thought it was perfect for this work, so I took a shot of this location. I then digitally made it black and white with grey shades. Because the digital process removed most of the details from the water, I had to hand-paint and highlight the rocks and foam/bubbles with acrylic paints.

Art and image copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz

This File Cabinet...

Of all themes, this is most challenging one. From seeing them in medieval and modern illustrations as well as in museums and nature centers, I knew what a typical naturalist's cabinet looked like. But I did not have anything that would closely resemble one, and I was trying to figure out what to do. I did have a bunch of specimens that I collected from nature walks - but they're in many boxes and different places.

One day, a thought came to my mind: I could use my file cabinet as a "cabinet of curiosities"! After all, it did have a lot of folders containing images from nature. So, I gathered together various natural forms, microscope, large pine cone, and specimens, and placed them near the file drawer to create this unusual composition.

Art and images copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz

This Lizard Was Placed...

As I was walking through a farmer's market in Seattle last April, the bright green lizard caught my attention. At first, I thought it was alive, but a few minutes later, I discovered that it was not. But I found it to be a neat gimmick for grabbing most visitor's attention because of the color contrast between dark green and bright orange colors.


Art and images copyright 2009 by Andrew Borloz

Ornament from Glenny

I got this ornament today in the mail from Glenny, and I like it a lot because of its simplicity. Right after I took it out of the package, I hung it on the tree which was already decorated with other birds of different colors. Thanks so much, Glenny!

The Chipmunk Was Peeking At Me...

This year, there were a lot of chipmunks running around the yard, and I was taking pictures of the daylily garden. One chipmunk happened to come out of a drainpipe on the concrete wall, and I immediately took a picture of it peeking out to find out what was going on. I am surprised to see that I was able to take several pictures of chipmunks as they were usually hyperactive and do not always sit still. Most times, as soon as they saw me or heard me, they would usually run away.


Art and images copyright 2008 by Andrew Borloz.

I Was Observing and Taking Notes on the Natural Wonders of the Desert...

When I saw that the theme for the month of October is 'Field Notes', I immediately thought about the small notebook that I used to sketch the incredible forms and textures of the cactuses and succulents at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
The sketches were done on October 6, 2006 at the same time I was attending the weekend visual journaling workshop in Tempe, AZ. Each time when I went to Phoenix, I made a point of visiting that botanical garden. I had to content with taking pictures early in the morning, as it can get very hot later during the summer days. But because I was there during the cooler month of October, I was able to stay there longer and do the sketches right on the spot.
The photographs of the cactus were taken last summer of 2008, and I converted them into black and white. I later colored them with a mixture of acrylics and glaze medium. The "trees" at the top of the board are duplicated three times from one sketch that I did on the other page in the small book. These trees are not palm trees but I believe they're Joshua trees.

Art and image copyrighted 2008 by &rew Borloz

Under the Canopy of Leaves

I like to take a daily stroll through a small park at the end of the street where I live. Sometimes I would stop in the middle of a group of trees and look up. This piece below shows what it is like to walk through the woods and enjoy the intricate patterns formed by the trees' leaves and branches.
Every time when I walked through this suburban park, I often felt like I was deep in the mountains or large forest. While many people would find it to be intimidating or too isolated, I enjoy going through the larger forests as I often find them to be peaceful or uplifting.

Art and image copyrighted 2008 by &rew Borloz

Nature Gathering

On Friday, October 3rd, seven members from the Nature Gathered Art Challenge shared a few brief moments face to face. It was an INCREDIBLE experience!

What started out as a somewhat daunting task to come together for such an early morning meeting, turned out to be a wonderful occasion, and a fond memory.

Jan and I appreciate those members that were able to make it, and truly missed those individuals that could not attend.

We want the entire group to please keep in mind that we will be having our art show at the 6th Street Gallery in August of 2009. There will be an artist reception, and it would be SUPER if we could all be together!

Below are a few photos that were taken while we enjoyed coffee, and each other's friendship.

This Mosquito Was Caught...

When I was a college student during early 1970s, I had a summer job at Bergen County Mosquito Commission in Paramus, NJ. Sometimes I had to collect live mosquitos out in the meadowlands during early evenings and put them in the freezer. I did ten (10) detailed drawings of the mosquitoes selected from the collection by the supervisor for training purpose, and I kept one of them for my portfolio. A couple of weeks ago, I pulled that colored pencil drawing out of the portfolio case and decided that I would use the image for this artwork.
When I did the colored pencil drawing, I had to use a microscope to examine this mosquito in detail and for color reference. I think that I used Spectracolor pencils on heavy vellum. For the background, I took a photo of the stagnant part of a pond in the woods. This part is a perfect breeding place for mosquitos, and little fishes feed on them. The mosquito above is one of the most common species. There are over 1000 species of mosquitos in this world, and I believe that about 60 species exist in New Jersey if I remembered correctly. And only the females bite.

Art and image copyrighted 2008 by &rew Borloz

I Saw the Bird Lying on the Ground...

One afternoon, I was walking through the woods, and happened to notice something on the ground. I could not help being fascinated by the sight of the bird on the ground, and it created quite bit of curiosity in me as to what caused its demise. I was very intrigued by the shape and form of the bird itself.
So, I took a picture of it, and I was not sure as to how to treat it with respect in my artwork. I decided that I would leave the bird as it is without making it more macabre or watering down its lifelessness.
I am not sure as to why I chose to do this type of art, but at this point, I believe that it accurately depicts exactly how I felt when I first saw it on the ground.

Art and image copyrighted 2008 by &rew Borloz

A Question

Hi Tracie,

I understand that we are to use 8x8 canvas or wood board, and I am wondering if the substrate above (Gessobord from Ampersand Art Supply) is acceptable. I like it very much because it's 2 inches deep, and the board surface is smoother and stiffer than canvas. Do please send me an email to let me know.

Thanks!

&rew

P.S. Photo of the back is shown below: