Zymbelstern Art Works

Percolator

2012-01-12T09:40:00.002-05:00

Percolator

My old percolator, wearing its belt of duct tape. Oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches.

Seton Hill

2012-01-06T16:15:00.000-05:00

Oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches
From a photo I took a few years ago in November

I Like The Way These Guys Talk

2012-01-06T11:02:00.004-05:00

Mezzotint, 2011.

I loved doing mezzotint, tedious or not. This is the first one I've ever done, but I'd like to do more.

New Etsy Listings

2012-01-02T16:10:00.001-05:00

I just posted a whole pile of artworks at my Etsy shop.

Persimmons

2011-12-31T12:13:00.001-05:00

Oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches

Another portrait study

2011-12-30T17:15:00.002-05:00

Recent drawings

2011-11-21T16:18:00.001-05:00

The Rabbit Speaks

Not Weary Them

Quando Corpus Morietur

Like a Rose

Ink and collage on paper.

Self-portrait

2011-11-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Oil on panel, about 11 x 11 inches.

The eye wash station

2011-11-08T21:24:00.008-05:00

A few more quick oil studies

2011-10-25T19:45:00.001-04:00

Studio scenes, oil on panel

Ian working

Studio scene


Looking out the fourth-floor window

Portrait Studies in oil

2011-10-25T19:41:00.003-04:00

These were painted from life, each in about 2 hours.

Two small still lifes from my studio

2011-10-25T19:40:00.001-04:00

Shin-Yeon's cup

Tabouret

Linoleum Print: Four of Cups

2011-09-03T08:14:00.000-04:00

This is a linocut print of the tarot card Four of Cups, with the text at the bottom added digitally. People keep on telling me I ought to make a whole tarot deck, and I enjoyed doing this one so much that I just might consider it.

Tomato!

2011-08-20T14:24:00.001-04:00

I picked a tomato from the garden yesterday and I painted this tiny little acrylic painting of it today, just for fun. The canvas is less than 3 inches square.

The background is copper acrylic paint - it's actually really gorgeous and metallic.

Crows and Persimmons Number 2

2011-08-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

Acrylic on canvas panel, 16 x 12 inches, 2011.

It must be late August. I'm in the mood for some snow again.

Still Life Paintings for Sale

2011-08-19T12:59:00.000-04:00


SOLD

I have decided to make these three still life paintings available for sale. Please click here to visit my etsy page if you're interested: http://meganamossart.etsy.com

Two Eyes

2011-08-07T19:38:00.001-04:00

Sorting through my old photos I found this. I was modeling for my woodcut of One Eye and Three Eyes. I used an ice cream scoop to stand in for the bone.

I shall use ComboFix

2011-08-07T12:52:00.000-04:00

In addition to singing and painting pictures for a living, I also fix computers. My worlds end up colliding quite a bit. Yesterday, for example, I made a ComboFix logo linocut so that I could apply ComboFix to things other than infected Windows computers

ComboFix, incidentally, is a fierce, awe-some, and scary program. Don't run it. I'm even kind of wary of using this stamp on things. Ha!

ComboFix

To find out more about not running ComboFix, look here:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

Still Life with Dwarfs and Poison Apple

2011-07-30T17:36:00.000-04:00

Painting in progress

2011-07-29T09:48:00.000-04:00

Jyoti the Photographer.

Portrait study in oil

2011-07-13T20:10:00.002-04:00

This was painted this afternoon in about an hour and a half from a live portrait model. I started another one that's going better so far, and maybe I'll post that one later if I don't mess it up!

Still Life with Purple Glass Decanter

2011-07-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

Oil on panel, 8 x 10 inches, 2011. Schuler School classwork. I'm all about catching up on blog posting today!

New painting

2011-07-09T11:24:00.001-04:00

I'm calling this one "Prometheus Bringing the Gift of LET ME GOOGLE THAT FOR YOU."

Oil on canvas, 18 x 24

In case you were wondering

2011-07-08T13:42:00.002-04:00

In case you are all wondering why my art blog is called Zymbelstern Art Works:

This is the zymbelstern that I built in 2005 or so. It actually works. There is a motor in the back that turns the wheel. The entire wheel and star assembly in the front goes around, and the little brass bells ring. More about zymbelsterns (or zimbelsterns) here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbelstern

Now you know!

Work in progress: Office-Chair Basketball

2011-07-02T11:15:00.002-04:00

I've worked another sitting or two on this office basketball painting. Still working!

Ombrellino

2011-06-26T14:58:00.005-04:00

It was Corpus Christi day today at Grace and St. Peter's, one of two days when the ombrellino is used. I am in love with the ombrellino.

Also today, I had to sing the Gregorian introit "Cibavit eos," but in English. Here is a lovely version of it:

Painting again

2011-06-23T09:23:00.006-04:00

Since school let out I've begun oil painting again. Here's a work in progress and a portrait that's pretty much finished.

Schuler School Time

2011-06-23T09:17:00.004-04:00

Getting back into cast drawing is difficult! But I persevere. This is Saint Francis again. Drawn at the Schuler School summer school program.

Do I have the accent right?

2011-05-31T15:31:00.002-04:00

(A crow saying "quack!")

Just playing around with some leftover easy-cut. Happy summer!

Intaglio prints

2011-04-22T10:30:00.006-04:00

Ora Labora - polymer print over collage

The Pea Eaters (Figure 1: Species who subsist upon peas, seeds, and crumbs dropped by woodcutters' children in temperate forests) - etching and drypoint with à la poupée

Illustration for Grimm's "The Juniper Tree" - aquatint and etched line. This is possibly the most gruesome, upsetting fairy tale I have ever read. Text can be found here:
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm047.html

Recent schoolwork

2011-04-22T10:27:00.002-04:00

Charcoal and pastel

Oil over acrylic on canvas

Thank you to all my Pet Portrait customers!

2011-03-21T12:12:00.003-04:00

Thank you, everyone, for ordering so many pet portraits from me in the last few weeks! I am very busily working on them all, but it might take me a little longer than usual to get them all done, just because there are so many of them.

The Blind Viol Player

2011-02-02T20:30:00.002-05:00

Be aware of whose forest you're walking in...

2010-12-15T13:38:00.002-05:00

Fox Spirit and friend - they don't like to be surprised! Linocut, about 12 by 6 inches. I like both versions.

One-Eye and Three-Eyes, where is your sister?

2010-12-09T22:46:00.004-05:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

Woodblock print, 48 by 18 inches.

This is definitely a not-so-great photo, but this print is enormous and hard to take pictures of!

One-Eye and Three-Eyes are the two cruel sisters from the Grimms' fairy tale "One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes," which can be read here.

Max Demian and Emil Sinclair

2010-12-09T22:42:00.005-05:00

Oil on canvas, 24 by 30 inches.

This is an illustration of a scene from Hermann Hesse's novel Demian. Sinclair, in the foreground, has just been subjected to blackmail by a local bully. It's cold and rainy outside, and he is miserable. His strange school-mate Demian is walking up to him, just about to speak to him about his troubles.

A nicer version of Rapunzel's Father

2010-12-09T22:40:00.001-05:00

Here's a good print of my Rapunzel's Father linocut:

A still life from September

2010-12-09T22:30:00.002-05:00

Oil on canvas, 24 by 30 inches.

The Fisherman and his Wife: Ilsebill, when she was Pope

2010-11-10T20:44:00.002-05:00

Linoleum print, 10 by 11 inches. The story of the Fisherman's Wife can be found here.

Sunday Morning Series

2010-11-10T20:18:00.005-05:00

This little series of five 8x10 and one 16x20 oil paintings was based on a series of "from the hip" photos, all taken one morning in late summer when I was driving down to Grace and St. Peter's to sing.

Monotypes

2010-10-31T15:39:00.002-04:00

Viking Ship with chine-colle

2010-10-31T15:37:00.002-04:00

Chine-colle is a printmaking technique where bits of colored paper are adhered to the base paper while the paper is going through the press.

Rapunzel's Father

2010-10-31T15:33:00.001-04:00

Linocut, 6x8 inches

Here is the first print in the fairy tale character series: Rapunzel's father. He is in the middle of bringing home the rampion that his wife has demanded from the witch's garden next door. He is very sad - he has just promised the witch that he will give her his child when it is born.

This is a proof - I've printed a nicer one with a chine-colle, but I still need to take a photo of that one.

Witch in a tree

2010-10-31T14:20:00.004-04:00

Aquatint and etched line, 6x8 inches.

The second print in a series of fairy-tale characters. This one is a witch waiting in a tree for unwary passersby. There is such a witch in some versions of the story "The Two Brothers."

Painting: Things that go on in the desert

2010-09-25T15:39:00.002-04:00

Oil on wood, 10 x 10 inches

Linoleum Print - Viking Ship

2010-09-25T15:38:00.000-04:00

New acrylic study

2010-08-18T10:47:00.003-04:00

A little still-life study I painted yesterday to try out the gold acrylic paint. It's a lovely effect!

Viola da spalla

2010-08-07T19:15:00.007-04:00

I am entranced by this instrument. It was revived in 2003 by Sigiswald Kuijken (director of La Petite Bande) and Dmitry Badiarov (the luthier who's been building them since then), and I cannot get over the way it looks.

The sound is astonishing, too - the way the action of the bow and strings makes the slightly longer-held lower notes make sense.

Thanks to The Intuitive Programmer for introducing me to the viola da spalla (violoncello da spalla, violoncello piccolo da spalla). I have filled up three sketchbook pages with drawings inspired by it so far, and I might make a painting from them.

Day Garden

2010-08-04T17:00:00.000-04:00

Night Garden

2010-08-03T21:42:00.001-04:00

Medicine Buddha and Black-Eyed Susans

2010-08-03T15:15:00.000-04:00

Trailing edge of the cold front

2010-07-30T14:05:00.002-04:00

Still life No. 3: Turnips

2010-07-29T12:30:00.001-04:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

I need to get a decent photograph of this one. The apple is actually green, and the whole picture is a lot less saturated than this appears!

Still Life no. 2

2010-07-21T17:07:00.003-04:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

Still life #2. There is more going on in this one than the previous one, and I only spent the same amount of time, so there are some rough spots. And the whole time I had a classmate looking over my shoulder asking whether I was done yet so she could have the mango for a snack! Still, it turned out ok for a practice picture, and I'm ready to start something new.

Still life

2010-07-20T17:50:00.002-04:00

The Heartbreak of Opera Mouth!

2010-07-17T23:33:00.002-04:00

Acrylic on canvas with paper collage, 8x10 inches.

Easter

2010-07-15T10:01:00.000-04:00

Grisaille study - Barye lion

2010-07-14T18:27:00.001-04:00

Pretty quick, only a few hours.

Three grisaille studies

2010-07-13T18:18:00.002-04:00

I might have to re-photograph these, but for now, here they are. Satyr-head, Eye, and Bun-eye.

Intrepidly carrying on with the cast drawings

2010-07-06T22:45:00.003-04:00

Homer. This took about eight hours!

Two more cast drawings

2010-07-02T08:48:00.001-04:00

Vine charcoal and white chalk pencil. I'm starting to like the white pencil, in spite of the frustration of breaking the lead 1,000,000 times a day.

Charcoal plaster-cast drawings

2010-06-28T20:12:00.004-04:00

These are the two drawings I did in class today at the Schuler School of Fine Arts Summer School program.

The second one is St. Francis. He sure looks worried...

Ariel and Uriel

2010-06-15T19:27:00.006-04:00

The Little Mermaid's Sisters

2010-06-01T09:12:00.004-04:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

Acrylic on wood panel, 4x6"
For Sale

In the original Hans Christian Andersen story, which can be read here, the little mermaid's sisters give their hair to the witch in exchange for a spell to save their sister's life. She declines their offer.

“We have given our hair to the witch,” said they, “to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish’s tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch’s scissors. Kill the prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die.” And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves.

Dog Portrait

2010-05-30T14:18:00.002-04:00

A new pet portrait:

Collage-painting

2010-05-25T10:47:00.001-04:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

Painting from a collage: Judas Iscariot Menaced By An Acrobat. This was a final project for painting class.

Rapunzel's Witch

2010-05-22T09:24:00.003-04:00

© 2010 Megan Amoss

Acrylic on wood, image 4x10".

I was reminded how much fun it is to paint on wood this semester, and this is the first try in a new direction with that idea. The flowers are based on the blooms from some Kale plants I allowed to go to seed in my garden.

Figure sketch

2010-05-05T20:22:00.000-04:00

In-class sketch, done with vine charcoal.

Howard Street Bridge Painting

2010-05-04T08:54:00.003-04:00

(Howard Street Bridge, Acrylic on Canvas, 18x24", 2010)

I donated this painting to the Baltimore Heritage art auction, which will be held on June 11 at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion in Mount Vernon. More information about the event is here:

baltimoreheritage.org/programs/50th-anniversary/

More homework

2010-04-14T23:12:00.002-04:00

This is an oil painting for an assignment whose theme was "Excess."

Garden

2010-04-08T19:21:00.003-04:00

I'm beyond delighted to have a garden again. It's been a long time. And now I have sunlight to grow vegetables and herbs and roses.

Recent homework

2010-03-11T08:09:00.001-05:00

Blue head

2010-02-07T13:58:00.003-05:00

Terra-cotta air-dry clay with acrylic colors.

Back in business

2010-01-14T14:11:00.002-05:00

I'm accepting Pet Portrait commissions again - please visit my Etsy Shop to order or just to check out my work.

Also, my Baba Yaga painting is now available for sale. The photos don't do it justice - the texture of the canvas doesn't seem to agree with my scanner!

Study: Pius V, after El Greco

2010-01-06T22:12:00.003-05:00

I can finally post this, now that the person whose Christmas present it was has come back from vacation! :)

Baba Yaga Painting

2010-01-04T20:02:00.002-05:00

Impression: Grace & St. Peter's Church, Baltimore

2010-01-04T20:00:00.002-05:00

Some recent pet portraits

2010-01-04T19:46:00.004-05:00

Tatiana, Percy, Nuggett, and Chloe! All 8x10 acrylic on canvas panel.

Head Study

2009-12-11T11:51:00.002-05:00

My clay head study has been fired and is home from the display case at the school. I might decorate it, but I want to think about it carefully before I do anything to it.

The semester is almost over. I've really enjoyed all the courses I've been taking, and I will miss them. Next semester: life drawing and painting. I'm looking forward to it. :)

Busy!

2009-12-04T12:34:00.002-05:00

Big thanks to everyone who placed orders for pet portraits for the holidays!! I am booked up and have temporarily taken down my pet portrait listings from Etsy.

More Prints on the way

2009-11-21T12:47:00.001-05:00

I've just ordered some prints of my "Can't Get That Song Out Of My Head" picture!

Stay tuned - I'll list them on Etsy when they arrive.

Still alive!

2009-11-17T20:22:00.004-05:00

Hello! I'm still alive, though quiet. I've been moving to a nicer apartment (yay!), and combined with work and school, I haven't had much time to post anything.

Here is the latest homework from my Figure class: Head of Clay. This afternoon I bravely cut it off the head peg, hollowed it out, and created a base for it. I wish it good luck in the drying and firing process.

The picture is pretty lousy because I had to use the little webcam in my EeePC. Must buy new camera batteries soon.

I've actually been pretty busy making stuff. I'll probably have more posts to make as soon as my camera is working again.

Little Owl prints

2009-10-22T11:12:00.004-04:00

These little owl prints turned out well. Very cute! They were one of the first blocks I carved when I started working with block printing. I have a bunch of them for sale in my Etsy shop.

I've been very busy lately, but I'm back and about ready to post some more art. Stay tuned. :)

Demon Mask

2009-10-08T23:22:00.005-04:00

© 2009 Megan Amoss

I just finished this mask this afternoon. It's the owner of the paper ear I posted a while ago.

It's been a while since I last made a mask - maybe three or four years! I refined my technique a little bit this time. Usually I use "Tacky Glue" as the medium for sticking the paper bits together; this time I used Mod Podge. It smells worse, but it seems to make a nicer finish. I used a different eye and mouth modeling method from the one I've used before.

Also, this is the first time I've painted a mask with acrylics. I painted over the Mod Podge with some mid-gray gesso and let it dry for a few days. Then today I painted it - I layer the paint to build up an interesting-looking surface, so there are probably about three layers of acrylic on there. I used gold acrylic around the eyelids and on the forehead, and I'm very pleased with the way the gold turned out.

And now, on to the next project! I have something in mind that involves plenty of masks...

Two more paintings available on Etsy

2009-10-08T22:03:00.004-04:00

© 2009 Megan Amoss. Acrylic on canvas panel, 12x16" [SOLD]

© 2009 Megan Amoss. Acrylic on canvas panel, 8x10".

I've listed two more paintings on Etsy! The first one is called "Rainy Day Breakfast Dishes." The second one is RGB: "Red Poppies, Blue Vase, Green Mala." Both were painted this summer.

My Etsy Shop

Prints are in!

2009-10-03T20:09:00.003-04:00

The prints of the Blue Piano are in, and they look good! I've listed them on my Etsy page.

Paper ear

2009-10-03T12:26:00.002-04:00

The right ear of something I'm working on right now...

Coming Soon: Blue Piano Prints

2009-09-26T16:01:00.002-04:00

By popular demand, I'm having some prints made of my Blue Piano picture! Stay tuned - I'll make an announcement when they're ready.

Persistence of Turnip

2009-09-26T13:42:00.004-04:00

© 2009 Megan Amoss
5x7 inches, acrylic on canvas panel.

A new painting, for sale at my Etsy shop! This is a painting of a turnip that hung around the kitchen long enough to grow some pretty lush foliage.

Hand of clay

2009-09-26T12:28:00.003-04:00

My clay model of my hand. This was very challenging! Especially the fingers - the clay was very soft at first and didn't want to hold its shape.

Blue Poppy Collage

2009-09-12T11:41:00.003-04:00

I often stock up on picture frames when I find them on sale somewhere. I think this bright gold frame was crying out for something sky-blue to make it shine even more.

Collage is therapeutic. I have tons of flower catalogs lying around, and there's always plenty of colorful material to cut out. This time I included some cutouts from jewelry catalogs, too.

New pet portrait: Buster the Boston Terrier

2009-09-12T11:25:00.004-04:00

© 2009 Megan Amoss

Buster was a lot of fun to paint! He's apparently quite the character, and I think it shows. :)

I'm still offering free shipping on all pet portraits. Check it out!

Feet of clay

2009-09-09T22:31:00.004-04:00

This is from a partially-complete assignment for "Human Figure" class: model your own foot in clay. I think I'm in love with clay right now. I was working on this all afternoon and evening and forgot to eat supper.

Besides that, I have a busy week ahead. Lots of freelance work to do, and a pet portrait to finish up and mail out. I sure hope the sun comes out a little bit tomorrow - painting in the dark isn't much fun!

Thane the collie

2009-08-27T13:12:00.003-04:00

Cunningham Falls State Park

2009-08-25T21:59:00.003-04:00

Vacation day today. We took a day trip to Cunningham Falls State Park in Thurmont.

We had a great time! Hiking, canoeing, taking pictures. The weather was gorgeous - mostly sunny and only about 83 degrees. Click the picture to see lots more photos at my Flickr.

Hand re-bound planner book

2009-08-24T18:51:00.006-04:00

New school year, new academic planner time! I usually spend (relatively) big bucks on one at the office store, but this year I happened upon a box of them at the dollar store and I picked one up, vague ideas forming in my mind.

The cover and pages in this planner are craptastic. The paper is thin and absorbent, and the plastic cover is flimsy, loose, wrinkly, and sticky from where the giant "2009-2010 Academic Planner!!!1" sticker was.

Here's a picture of the cover after I cut it off. It was a plastic slipcover-type affair that the two cardboard covers slid into. This is a spiral-bound book, by the way.

So after that, I cut out two sturdier cardboard cover panels and glued them onto the flimsy ones. Then I cut out a piece of cardboard for the spine. I'm not sure I made it the right size - I'm working from a half-remembered tutorial I read almost a year ago.

After all the cardboard pieces were cut out, I selected some pretty paper from my paper collection for the covers, the spine, and the end papers. I cut out the paper - two covers, a spine wrapper thing, and two end papers, and then I glued them onto the cardboard in that order.

It's pretty, even if it might fall apart due to improperly sized spine cardboard. And it was way cheaper than the office store planners. :)

New website

2009-08-23T17:09:00.004-04:00

My new website is (pretty much) ready!

meganamoss.com

There are still some 'Under Construction' type things going on there, but the structure of the site is done.

One of the coolest things about it is the "rotating" header images. Every time a page is loaded, the header image is randomly chosen from a folder I've set up.

Yay!

P. S. Comments and critiques, broken links, etc.? Let me know.

Stay Tuned

2009-08-22T20:47:00.002-04:00

I'm working on an overhaul - a *complete* overhaul - for my website. The existing one was put together in a hurry about a year ago, and I've been itching to redo it practically since day 1.

I'll make an announcement here when the time comes. I can't wait. :)

New pet portrait commission

2009-08-19T17:24:00.003-04:00

© 2009 Megan Amoss

This is a portrait in memory of Dakota the Sheltie.

If you'd like to commission a portrait from me, you can do it here.

More autumn thoughts...

2009-08-18T16:37:00.003-04:00