Ultimate Robot by Robert Malone

Nando

made in Italy in the 1950s by OPSET

Last week, while doing some robot research over lunch, I stumbled upon this AMAZING book in the library called "Ultimate Robot" by Robert Malone. (It's due Friday and I don't want to return it! Guess I'll have to purchase my own copy.) As I seem to be drawing more and more robots these days, I thought it might be interesting to read about the history of robots, their influence on pop culture and stuff. I couldn't have picked a more fitting book - this one covers it ALL.

Mighty Robot

made in Japan in the late 1960s by Yoshiya

Needless to say, my favorite chapter is "Robot Toys & Collectibles". There are a lot of robots in this section of the book that I hadn't seen before, but out of all the ones that I hadn't seen, Nando (above) is probably my favorite. I love how basic he is, from the 2-color artwork that makes up his face to his simple construction and pressed metal details. Very cool! With the exception of Robot Lilliput and Atomic Man, many of these early tin robots were simple pressed tin; silver in color with very little or no paint or decal details. It's cool to see how the design of these tin toys has progressed over the years. This book illustrates that really well.

Mr. Mercury

made in Japan in 1960 by Marx, Line Marx Co. Inc.

My 2nd favorite chapter in the book is "Robots in Art & Entertainment". Robert Malone does a great job of providing detailed featurettes on robots from various movies, television shows, books and art. But the coolest thing for me, in this chapter, was seeing artwork from Eric Joyner, Clayton Bailey and Lawrence Northey featured in the book. So cool!

For lots of robotic eye candy, a wonderful overview of the history of robots and a glimpse into the future of robotics, check out this book. It is the definitive guide to the world of robots!

All images taken from Ultimate Robot by Robert Malone, © 2004 Dorling Kindersley Limited, ISBN 0-7566-0270-X.

crazy for ROBOTS: robot #45

Robot #5 • Brian Biggs

I've been a long-time admirer of the wonderful artwork of Brian Biggs (aka Mr Biggs). When he started doing these great black and white robots and posting them to flickr, I found myself adding every single one of them to my faves! I really love how simple they are, not just because they're black and white but also because of their simple shapes. I can almost see Robot #5 made up of individual wooden blocks, attached by wooden dowels.

Robot #3 • Brian Biggs

I really love this space alien bot, too. My favorite part is his single eye, encased in a glass dome. His squiggly legs are quite nice too. But don't take my word for it - check them out for yourself! (While you're there, take a gander at the fun car series Mr. Bigg's recently did. Very fun!)

thanks Illustration Friday!

Check it out! The kind folks at Illustration Friday featured one of my robot sketches today! So cool! Thanks a bunch!

And, if you have a bit of time, be sure to check out the great ROBOSHOW over on Drawger hosted by artist/illustrator Carl Wiens. There's a whole bunch of wonderful robot art in the show, including a few pieces by me. I'm not sure how long the show will be up for, but Carl is accepting submissions. "Their prime directive is to serve humankind.... or so they tell us! Let's see your interpretations - good, benign and evil. Contraptions, automatons, gadgets, apparati & visual creations of all shapes and sizes are welcome."

Monkey vs Robot by Brandon Reese

There are so many great pieces, but this one is definitely a fave! Monkey vs Robot!  Ha ha!

bottle cap fever

What OH what is it about a bottlecap that makes me swoon so? So many things, I guess. Take for instance this lovely picture of this beautifully scratched 7 UP cap. What a great texture all those scratches create. The rust adds wonderful color to it, too. And then, to have it offset by the green of the bottle; it just makes my eyes sparkle with happiness!

Maybe that's why I receive so many pictures of bottlecaps from friends of mine. These are two recent pictures that friends have sent me. I just love them! All I know about the top pic is that it's from ffffound.com; the bottom one, no idea. But isn't it cool?! There are a bunch of individual ones in here that I love, but I also love the overall picture. It's a grid, go figure.

cap #300 / 7UP
Lithiated Lemon Soda, "Seven times as good"

Today, I posted my 300th cap, this old 7UP gem, onto my bottlecap set on flickr! Can you believe it? I sure can't! BIG THANKS to all my pals out there who bring me caps from their travels, save them for me, send them to me from afar, and new friends who want to trade (I haven't forgotten about you!). It makes collecting them even MORE FUN! Stay tuned for more... but, for now, hope you enjoy these first 300! Cheers!

partly cloudy, chance of skulls (part two)

the INKubator PRESS
115 West 18th Street • Kansas City, MO • 64108 • 816.471.2629

Back in December, I took a silkscreen class at the Art Incubator's new printmaking studio called the INKuBator PRESS. Although I have never done silkscreen before, I have collected silkscreen prints (also known as serigraphs) for years. I love 'em. The main reason I like them is because of the flat, matte color that typically distinguishes them. They're also generally very affordable to collect. Definitely a plus when you're starting a collection!

my screen, with fresh black ink

So, having never silkscreened I thought I'd take a class so I could understand a little more about the process that goes into making them. Although the class was set up as a Christmas card making class, I asked the instructor if I could just try making a print. Since I already had this skull drawing, I thought I'd do a 2 color version of it and try to make a go of it.

Despite my best efforts, I ended up having a couple of issues with 2 of the screens that I was given to work with. The first one completely disintegrated. The emulsion on the screen wasn't working and was allowing ink to pass through it, which it shouldn't do. Fortunately, another screen was prepared with emulsion so I exposed my image again, sprayed it in the sink and started with my first color: slate blue.

series 01
black ink, slate blue ink and hot pink gel pen on white bristol paper

After pulling just 12 prints, the emulsion on my 2nd screen started to disintegrate just like the last screen. Bleah. Despite my frustration, I decided to start printing my 2nd color: black. So, I printed the black onto the 12 good prints that had the slate blue on them... and then I just kept printing black. In the end, I'd pulled 35 prints: 12 two-color prints and 23 one-color prints. So, what did I do with the 23 one-color prints? Well, I drew back into them of course!

series 02
black ink and orange gel pen on green paper by French

And, it's been a ton of fun! Once I started drawing back into the one-color prints, I realized that I couldn't leave the two-color prints alone! Ha ha! Once I completed drawing back into them, I gave many of them to friends of mine as Christmas gifts. After lots of scanning, they're now available on my online store. Despite their gritty quality, I'm pretty happy with them and I'm kinda glad I had the snags that I did. No two prints are alike and I kinda like that. SO much so, that I'm thinking the next time I silkscreen, I might actually do that on purpose!

Fragmented Fave: Laura Berman

All She Ever Wanted Was Everything
2000+ hand cut intaglio prints, various sizes • 2007-2008 • Laura Berman

Although It's been a while since I've posted any non-robot artwork, I'm very excited to be posting today about the work of friend and artist Laura Berman. Laura sent me an email the other day to tell me about her show, All She Ever Wanted Was Everything, that opens at the Dolphin Gallery here in Kansas City tomorrow night. Wow, to no surprise, Laura has been really busy! In addition to teaching printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute, she was recently interviewed by Kansas City Spaces Magazine (which is featured in this month's issue), has launched a new website and has created a wonderful body of work.

Gridrocks
relief monoprints, series of 21 • 38x29 inches • 2007-2008 • Laura Berman

When Laura sent me this email, I decided to check out her new website and take a look at the work that's going to be featured in the show. I was immediately drawn into the pieces ... and noticed the rocks. I say that because that's one of the first things I noticed when I went to her house last year: her rock collection. I've collected rocks over the years, but not in the same way or anywhere near the scale that she does. Despite that, I can appreciate the wonderful textures and intricacies that they so often have within them. These textures and intricacies come out in the intaglio prints and they're simply beautiful. I also love the color she's used within these pieces and the way they take me back to memories of collecting sea glass from the shores of New Jersey and speckled rocks from Lake Michigan.

Rockpiles I
intaglio relief prints, series of 11 • 22 x 18 inches • 2007 • Laura Berman

But perhaps what draws me in the most is the amount of care, detail and repetition that goes into creating such an installation. It is truly inspiring. I can't wait to see the work in person!

All She Ever Wanted Was Everything will be at the Dolphin Gallery from February 13 - March 21, 2009. The opening reception is tomorrow night, February 13 from 6-10 pm.

DOLPHIN
1600 Liberty St., Kansas City, MO. 64102 816.842.5877
For more information please visit thedolphingallery.com.

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

Robot #41
4X6 inches • watercolor & ink on Arches • Maura Cluthe

I never really know what's going to happen when I do these little robot paintings. I have a lot of fun creating them and when I sell one, it makes me happy to think that someone has found something within them that they enjoy enough to actually want to own one. It's a great feeling.


Last week I received an email from Lanie Zipoy, a producer of a play called UNIVERSAL ROBOTS. The play opens next week, Thursday, February 12, in New York at the Manhattan Theatre Source. As it turns out, Lanie is a friend of a gentleman that bought several robot pieces from me last year. The Manhattan Theatre Source has a gallery that is attached to their theatre. Lanie emailed me to see if I would be interested in showing some of my robot pieces in their gallery for the duration of the play. Although I was pretty excited about the opportunity, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to send him anything. Then I realized not only do I have some pieces I could send, I might even be able to to create a few new ones.

Robot #42
4X6 inches • watercolor and ink on Arches • Maura Cluthe

These two robots are a couple of the new ones that will appear in UNIVERSAL ROBOTS. I had fun creating these and am thrilled to be a small part of the show. The gallery show features two other artists as well; R. Nick Kuszyk and Lex Friedman.

The play itself sounds really interesting and I wish I could see it. This little blurb is from the play's website:

First performed in Prague in 1921, Karel Capek's R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) went on to become a seminal work of theater and literature that had a profound impact on science, technology and popular culture. A hugely influential science fiction story – before science fiction was even considered a genre – R.U.R. was inspirational to Isaac Asimov's pivotal writing on artificial intelligence and set the template for any number of robot-revolt stories to follow, from 2001 to The Terminator.

The play tell the story of the titular island factory that makes the artificial workers called "Robots" that were originally devised by the reclusive scientist Rossum. A dark satire on the industrial revolution and humankind's blind faith in technology, R.U.R. builds to an apocalyptic climax before finding a redemptive – and startlingly human – conclusion.

For more information on the play, be sure to check out the UNIVERSAL ROBOT website and/or blog. There's a lot of interesting stuff on there. To see the 6 new robots (#40-#45) I did for the show, check out my flickr page.

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS opens at the Manhattan Theatre Source February 12 and runs through March 6, 2009. Gallery hours are 12pm - 7pm daily. Directions to the gallery can be found here.

Big thanks to John Issendorf and Lanie Zipoy for their support in my work.
Wish I could attend the opening!

chicken soup with ginger

Well, looking back at my recipes, I see that this is the 2nd soup recipe I've posted. I love the Chicken Torilla soup, but this one is just as tastey especially if you're feeling a bit sniffly or achey (or a combo of the two!). I made this the other day and it's very simple, and doesn't take much time to make (two pluses, in my book). Anyway, it calls for powdered (or ground) ginger, but I like to add puréed ginger for a little extra ZING.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
2 TB vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced (sweet onions are yummy to use here)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 - 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp powdered ginger (this is where i add a tsp or more of puréed ginger)
8 cups water
1-2 TB chicken soup base
3/4 lb extra wide egg noodles
2 scallions, chopped

Cut the chicken into 3/4 inch cubes. In a large, heavy pot or soup kettle, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes and add the cayenne pepper and ginger. Adding the full amount of cayenne will make the soup fairly hot; if you're unsure, start with the smaller amount and adjust upward to taste toward the end of cooking. (Next time I make this, I'll probably put 1 tsp in and put Sriracha on the table so folks could make it as hot as they want!) Stir constantly for about a minute for about a minute, and then add the water and chicken soup base. Let everything come to a slow boil and then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Bring a separate pot of water for the noodles to boil, add noodles and cook for 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time on the bag. Drain the noodles and add to the pot of soup, turn off the soup, let stand 5 minutes and serve. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of chopped scallions.

Noodles don't reheat very well. So, if the soup won't be eaten all at once, add some cooked noodles to each bowl, top with soup, let stand a few minutes for the noodles to absorb the chicken flavor, and keep the rest of the noodles in a covered container in the fridge to add to the reheated soup the next day. Or, just cook some more noodles.

This recipe, as is, doesn't have any veggies in it but the next time we make it we thought we'd add some chopped celery and julienned carrots for some extra yum! Thanks to Jake's mom for passing this recipe onto us!

crazy for ROBOTS: robot #44

Toxicity
9.7 X 10 inches • giclée print • Alex Noriega

When my husband and I recently jumped onto Gelaskins looking for a new protective cover for our phones, I came across this fun, colorful piece by Alex Noriega. I've admired Alex's work for a long time, so seeing his work on Gelaskins was a fun surprise. When I saw this piece with the robot flying above the city, I knew this was the one for me. Perusing through his page, I came across some other gems that I think are really cool.

Cubohs
8.9 X 12 inches • giclée print • Alex Noriega

I love these Cubohs! Back when I was making robots, many of my first bots kinda looked like these: simple & blocky. Seeing this print almost makes me want to make some wooden robots again. Lastly is this piece, which has me looking at buildings a bit differently.

City
8.5 X 12 inches • giclée print • Alex Noriega

How cool would it be to design a building that looks like a giant robot in the heart of downtown?! C'mon KC, you know you want to! Hmm... maybe it's just me but I think that would be awesome!

To see more of Alex's wonderful work, check out his sketchblog. All images taken from Gelaskins website.

crazy for ROBOTS: robot #43

Speakerbot
9X12 inches • acrylic, collage and resin on wood • 2008

As I was looking through recent posts by my contacts on flickr, I came across this gem of a piece by David "Netherland" van Alphen. Netherland's pieces have always caught my eye, so when I saw this Speakerbot, I knew I had to post it. I love the great mix of collage in his pieces and this one is no exception. Hmm... we actually have some old speakers in our basement. Maybe I should make our very own 3D Speakerbot. Somehow, I don't think my husband would appreciate me using his old speakers to make a robot. But then again, ya never know.

Be sure to check out the wonderful show that Netherland recently had with McBess at Rotofugi, in Chicago. Although the show is over, the artwork is still available online. Rats! Speakerbot is SOLD!