Another piece "Filifera:Ring-Nosed Rhino" for Art Palm Beach with Jane Sauer Gallery in January.

Larger Than Life

This rabbit is almost four feet high, it gives him some presence. He has befriended a small song bird,made from cast iron.



Bakerie Has A New Best Friend
Metal/cloth/wire/ found objects
49" x 12" x 10'

Coral Snake

I just finished what I am calling, Collaris: Pipe Clamp Coral Snake. He is a mixture of different colored bike tires, pipe clamps and painted cloth. He also has a curious assortment of buttons, tools, and screws, washers and odds/ends that he has accumulated during his travels.

Frog Commission

Several months ago my Santa Fe gallery told me that some collectors had come in the gallery, really checked out my work, but they only collect frogs. They asked me to make any type of frog that I wanted to.

It took me a little bit of time to come up with the movements, articulations and type of frog that I wanted to build. But here it is. My interpretation of a leaping frog.








Germainica Goes Out For lunch Every Day
Metal/cloth/redwood/bike tire/reclaimed material
21" x 13" x 18"

3 More Pieces for Aqua Miami Art Fair

As I mentioned earlier, The J Go Gallery, in Park City,UT, is participating in the Aqua Hotel Art Fair in Miami. The show is from December 6th till the 9th. They are setting up a cabinet of curiosity in their room and asked me to make some work for this, which fits perfectly into my vision for my work.

These three pieces are creatures of curiosity.

Aqua Art Fair Miami

The J Go Gallery, in Park City,UT, is participating in the Aqua Hotel Art Fair in Miami. The show is from December 6th till the 9th. They are setting up a cabinet of curiosity in their room and asked me to make some work for this, which fits perfectly into my vision for my work.

I am making a total of six piece. Here are the first three wall mounted pieces, a rabbit, a red fox and an anteater. They will be a part of the installation in Miami.

Rattlesnake

My daughter was recently in the high desert of Northern New Mexico and spotted a small rattlesnake. Her picture of the creature made it look precious and beautiful like a small Turkish rug.

I have not made many snakes, finding them complicated and beyond my imagination but after seeing this one, I made "Gallopavo Unwinding." His body is wrapped in lead, then the diamonds are made up of blue tin, mountain bike tires and screws and bolts. His tongue is a cocktail fork and I used old beads for his eyes along with rusted stuff hanging off of him.

Showing in Chicago

These two new pieces are also heading for Chicago and the SOFA Art Fair at Navy Pier. The large, over sized rabbit is holding an award that he won. The only problem is the award, which is mysterious to say the least. (It looks like some Foreign Legionnaire holding a dislocated arm.)






"ROSEUS FINALLY WINS AN AWARD"
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
47" x 29" x 11"


With a shock of whiskery feathers, this next picture captures a bird showing off his new hair style.



"PARADOXUS POSES"
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
47" x 29" x 11"

Literary Inspirations

I've been thinking about the creative process and where it comes from. For me, one important place where I find inspiration for new pieces is from the books I read.(Of course I have never lacked a vivid imagination.) In fact, my entire art 'career' got started from reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. That first piece, inspired by the book, was in an exhibition at St. John's College, in Santa Fe. Here is the picture of Huck and Jim floating down the Mississippi. They are made from sticks, rags, wax and their 'raft' is an old book cover.



Another book that got my imagination working overtime was The Marsh Arabs by Wilfred Thesiger, one of the last of the great British explorers. He spent quite a bit of time living with a variety of tribes that lived in the marshes in Southern Iraq in the late 1950's. Since then, Saddam Hussein drained and destroyed the marshes, fearing rebels hiding in them. This next photo is my interpretation of two march Arabs in their fishing boat pulling up a net. The piece is made from old canvas, wood, old screening, and lots of reclaimed material and mounted to the wall.



As you can see, the early work was figurative, for the most part. After several years of making figures, I ventured into the animal world. Most of my current work is based from my experiences with the animal Kingdom. Recently I read the book,
The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth by Richard Conniff. There was one anecdote that caught my attenion, about a naturalist who was collecting specimen in the late 17th century for a museum in the Netherlands. He found a fruit bat in the Philippians and sent it back to the museum, but unfortunately he died before he returned and could show them what the bat really looked like. So the curators, thinking the bat was related more to bears than birds, recreated it looking like a friendly teddy bear, not an intense fang-mouthed creature. The final image posted here shows the bat that I made...he looks pretty harmless. His wings are made from an old cloth work apron of mine, with the stains and passage of time still on the fabric, like some old forgotten map. Branches hold together the wings and feet, along with odds and ends accumulated in my studio. An old lock from a painted door acts as the mounting system for the piece.



I am wondering where you find your inspiration for your art work? I'd be interested to hear if anyone else is using literature as a jumping off point? What inspires you? (If possible please include a link to your images.)

Santa Fe Community Gallery Exhibition

The City of Santa Fe Arts Commission Community Gallery announces “Fine Folk of New Mexico” an exhibition celebrating the art of the people, places and culture of New Mexico. Friday, October 26, 2012, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Here is the link Community Gallery.

This piece from a private collector will be in the exhibition.

A Different Perspective

My good friend Jodi Balsamo took some interesting photographs of work from my show at the Jane Sauer Gallery. I really like the way Jodi saw the work through very different eyes!

One Large Rabbit

I just made this four foot Rabbit. He is ready for action!

Working with Lead

Off and on I have used lead as an exterior covering. Amazingly enough, it is very delicate and takes more patience than I am used to, having mainly worked with rusted tin.

But it has several interesting qualities such as being extremely malleable, easy to cut, and produces finishes that range from metallic to ceramic.

Here are two pieces made from lead.

Jane Sauer Essay

Animology
August 2012

Geoffrey Gorman continues on his pilgrimage of bringing life to materials that might otherwise turn up in a garage sale at best or in the town dump at worse. Instead of the local art store, he finds his art supplies at the Habitat for Humanity Restore and as gifts left on the gallery steps from adoring fans. He brings together sticks, rusted screws and other metal scrap, washers, bicycle parts, bailing wire, discarded artist canvas and an array of other strange parts to build his own wilderness area streaming with animal life. Some of the residents are “tricked out” with departed screw drivers, vintage keys, wooden balls and other imagined amulets. As Gorman travels through life he finds inspiration from his various experiences. He absorbs everyday events of life and remasters them into notable reminders of how careless we are with the preciousness of being.

There are 3 distinctive thought processes that drive the inspiration for ANIMOLOGY. All are based on Gorman’s knowledge and close spiritual connection with animals. The first body of work continues a path that has led Gorman’s head and mind for many years. A four foot Rabbit, “Rupicapra,” holding 2 balls leads the pack. His sheer size dominates the space in which he stands. His deep blue body with an orange tail and highlights clearly indicate that he is ready for some fun and attention. Decked out in jewelry made of strange shapes and unrecognizable parts further suggest what might be just ahead. Equally exuberant is “Fodiens Lands Feet First.” Three birds in a time lapse study are approaching a delicious feeder of favorite seed. The feeder is only in the mind of the viewer but clearly there is excitement about to happen given the magnificent wing spread of each bird and jewels made of washers. Gorman causes the viewer to question what exactly is considered jewelry and what constitutes a precious metal. The jewels in this case are hardware tin washers.




FODIENS LANDS FEET FIRST
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
28" x 22" x 11"
$4,200

Gorman describes the next group of works as follows: “In this new body of work, my main inspiration has been the political portraits of Honoré Daumier (French 1808 – 1879). Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century. Other influences have been the steam punk movement, the Broadway play War Horse, the book Watership Down, where animals have been placed into human settings and situations. I have started with animals I have seen in the wild, also ones that might be seen in the southwest, and animals that can be built with wild and funky material, such as river otters, toucans, crows, and rabbits. “For example, in “The Hat Makes the Man: “Vosii & Pavis,” both birds are supposedly fashionably dressed in elegant hats, each wearing sleek black clothing (bike inner tubes). They appear to be challenging each others judgment in fashion. This raises the ridiculous thought of how can a shaped piece of fabric worn on top of the head really be the sum of any animal or man. Gorman continues, “I am also selecting animals that have an affinity or likeness to some of the characters that Daumier created. Just like Daumier capturing the qualities, foibles and vices of man, animals also have those same qualities. I am figuring that just about every animal culture has its hierarchy, just like in the human world, right? I am hoping to capture the humor, humanness, and universal qualities in each of these characters.”






“Vosii & Pavis,”
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
10 1/2" x 11 1/4" x 5 1/4"



When a recent illness sent Gorman to the hospital, an interesting phenomenon happened in his dreams. For about a week, Gorman was visited by a host of animals. This became the start of the third series of works in the exhibition

Every afternoon right at sunset when it was just starting to get dark, a procession of wild animals would flow into Gorman’s hospital room. Gorman calls them ‘wild’ but in fact they were all familiar to him. “All of them were animals that I had seen including raccoons, foxes, squirrels, deer, bobcats, and a moose. Amazingly enough, one night that moose got up on my bed and rubbed his head against me!”

“The other unique attribute that these animals all had was their color, or absence of it - they were off-white, almost grey. There were no details, just the animal in its outline and shape. As they flowed into the room, they would all sit bunched together on shelves. The groupings were like still lives--but of vibrant, living animals.”





"CERIS WAITS"
Geoffrey Gorman
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
21" x 21" x 12"


Gorman has created the animals that visited him. He refers to these pieces as “Spectral Visitor Series.” Each work is the essence of the creature, without a great deal of detail, or ornamentation. “Ceris Waits,” a white fox, appears to have an intense steady stare.Within the gesture is a sense of gentle calling and a face filled with kindness. Knowing Gorman’s past work, “Ceris” appears naked. “Lotor Looking for Crayfish,” a raccoon, has a front leg raised as if in a beckoning motion. He presents in a ghost like body of white with a few lines defining his body and tail. His expression also is one of empathy. Gorman states “I am hoping to capture that purity and spirit of these spectral visitors that was fortunate enough to witness for a brief period of time.”

To followers of Gorman’s work, the materials and fresh ideas are not surprising. His mind is always moving full tilt, even when he is ill. He is a voracious reader in a wide spectrum of subjects. Life is fed by unending curiosity and enthusiasm. All paths lead to the art he creates. For Gorman Art is Life and Life is Art.

Animal Portraits

These two pieces are headed to the Paul Scott Gallery, in Bend, Oregon.

The Spaniards

Pavia points to his ear,"Do you think they will notice I was just in a duel? It barely hurts."

Another piece for my show in August at the Jane Sauer Gallery.



"LOTOR LOOKING FOR CRAYFISH" (RACCOON)
Wood, cloth, metal, found objects
17" x 23" x 15"

The Hat Makes The Man

Another piece that relates to Damier, the interaction of couples and how they dress.

Spectral Visitors

While a recent illness sent me to the hospital, an interesting phenomenon happened. For about a week, I was visited by a host of animals.

It happened every afternoon right at sunset when it was just starting to get dark. Into my room would flow a menagerie of wild animals. I say ‘wild’ but in fact they were all familiar to me. All of them were animals that I had seen including raccoons, foxes, squirrels, deer, bobcats, and a moose. Amazingly enough, one night that moose got up on my bed and rubbed his head against me!

The other unique attribute that these animals all had was their color, or absence of it -- they were an off-white, almost grey. There were no details, just the animal in its outline and shape. As they flowed into the room, they would all sit bunched together on shelves. The groupings were like still lives--but of vibrant, living animals.

In this new series based on this experience, I have created some of the animals that visited me, but they are just the essence of the creature, without great detail or ornamentation. I am hoping to capture that purity and spirit of these spectral visitors that I was fortunate enough to witness for a brief period of time.

Duck Priests

Two more pieces for my show At Jane Sauer Gallery on August 17th. "ALLENI ON HER WATCH" Wood, cloth, metal, found objects 14" x 10" x 10" "ADERSI DISCUSSES THE BIG QUESTION WITH AFER" Wood, cloth, metal, found objects 14" x 13" x 6"

Two more pieces from my new series.

Face Book Influence on New Series

Portraits Animaux, August 17 - September 11, Jane Sauer Gallery, Recently on face book, a woman tagged one of my pictures FOUR times, telling me how much she loved the image. I did not know the woman; the image was of a head shot of one of the earliest rabbits I had made. Here is the image from face book. I kept looking at the image, trying to figure out why she was so insistent on pointing it out, again and again -then it hit me- the photo reminded me of something, and that was the expressive portraits and caricatures that Honoré Daumier (French-1808 –1879) created in Paris. This is the new piece based on that earlier rabbit. (I had seen the amazing grouping of politicians that the Musée d'Orsay had on exhibit in Paris when I was younger, and obviously the images have stayed with me ever since.) In this new body of work, my main inspiration has been the political portraits that Daumier became so well know for. Other influences have been the steam punk movement, the Broadway play War Horse, the book Watership Down, where animals have been placed into human settings and situations. I have started with animals I have seen in the wild, also ones that might be seen in the southwest, and animals that can be build with wild and funky material, such as river otters, toucans, crows, and rabbits. I am also selecting animals that have an affinity or likeness to some of the characters that Daumier created. Just like Daumier capturing the qualities, foibles and vices of man, animals too have those same qualities. I am figuring that just about every animal culture has its hierarchy, just like in the human world, right? I am hoping to capture the humor, humanness, and universal qualities in each of these characters.

Award Winner

Lanigera
Mixed media/found objects
19" x 32" x 9"