Amy Haney Art

Bat Skull

You may have picked up that I have a thing for skulls. I just think that they're so amazing, not scary but beautiful. This is just a little watercolor study, I'm sure there will be more to come. 

Off to Marrakesh

Pretty excited to be leaving today for a trip to Marrakesh. I'm going with one of my bestest friends, so more than anything I'm excited to see her. I'm hoping to have a stack of great polaroids to share with you when I come back. 

Dreams

In most of my drawing classes we do a Surrealist exercise, we look at works by: Salvador Dali, Remedios Varo, and Yves Tanguy. I usually recommend that students try to illustrate a song, a dream, or a collection of both in a drawing. This was my example from last semester, I had some dream about a beautiful garden in my backyard and eventually the garden was taking over the house. When I was at Prescott a couple weeks ago I attended a presentation on "Dream Tending" by a magical lady named JoHanna McNamee. She helps people understand their dreams and looks closer at peoples life paths as well. It was very interesting to me and my mom. I wonder what she would have thought of my intrusive garden dream. 

Back to School

Just wanted to share that I have returned to school. For years I've been trying to figure out "what to do next", in my life. Then I stumbled upon Prescott College last spring, applied, and was accepted this past fall. I was at oreintation and a 'residency' last weekend and got to see the campus and meet my new instructors and classmates. I have designed my thesis to be based on the "History (or Evolution) of Printmaking". I'm so very excited about this. 

Feather

Feather etching, the first plate for a multiple plate etching. You'll see the color combo soon!

The Creature

Ahhhh he's so cute. I've combined a few animals/insects to make my own creatures, here is the first one. This is a lobster, orangutan, fox and he was so fun to work on. He's about 16"x20" and is for sale, if you're interested. 

Handsome Bat

Doesn't he look so stoic and handsome? All of my bats have seemed to have some personality, but I think this guy takes the cake. 

Solarland

Over the summer, my mom and I were experimenting with images to be printed using the solar plate method. We had tons of test plates going and were starting to really get the hang of it, until the weather changed and it began to get chilly outside. This print was one of the firsts to work after the change of weather. If you can see the little houses on the hill, then it's easier to realize that those are massive clouds hovering above. I think this is such a cool image, I only printed this, I did not take the original photo. 

Protozoa

I wanted to try something abstract and basic for this woodcut. I like the subtle light blue with the gray. This print has made me want to explore some sculptural ideas, especially with my friend Heather. 

Bat (Harold)

This was a drawing I did for an exquisite corpse show. Had to do a bat head!! Doesn't he look so soft and snuggly? I was calling him 'Banta" because he looks like a batty santa. I thought that was a little too obscure so it didn't stick. Yes, I know you love him. 

Bat (Frankie)

He just turned out looking like Frankenstein, don't you think? I was trying to make him look cutesy with his square head and fuzzy neck, now he just looks like a Frank to me. This is about a 4"x5" etching, the last bat I did was a drypoint, I think this one turned out better. 

Damselfly

Every summer, at my parents cabin there are hundreds of damselflies. Their blue color is so intense and beautiful. The best thing about them is when you're sitting around outside, they will just land on you and hang out for a while. When they're on my arm or hand, I can pull them closer for inspection. I love their big eyes and the tiny lines on their wings. (By the way, this one is waaaay out of proportion. I wanted it to look as big as a dragonfly!)

Drawings

Sometimes I get to draw with my students in class, and sometimes I even get to finish those drawings. We have some pretty cool objects in the still life closets. This is a spine from some creature and I just couldn't resist drawing it. We were working with contour lines this day. 

We've also had to practice drawing hands holding objects to work with shading and proportion. I know, not the most exciting images. I think they turned out good and were worth sharing! 

not nirvana

So....everytime I look at this drawing I think of the Nirvana "Nevermind" album cover. I know it's different, but the floating baby seems to be similar for some reason. This was another India ink study I did with my students. I surprised myself (alot) with this one. It started off looking really crappy, but now that I look at it, it's not too bad. Right? 

drawing with ink

I was working on some India ink drawings with my students a while back and got really excited about the ink effects. I love the greys and blurred edges the ink can create. 

Here's a fish in a soda can. He's giving you the cold stare down. 

Bat

Another bat I did in drypoint. Tricky little guy. So, I've been thinking that bats are so very misunderstood. They're not so terrible, they eat bugs for us. This one, he just wants some candy or something. Check out his pointy teeth!

Heavy Metal

I've been excitedly working with one of my friends on some metal. Heather Kita is one of the most amazing jewelry makers I know. This is a piece from one of her displays that she's working on, we decided it would be fun to goof around with it and do some inkless embossing. We're scheming some pretty sweet things, so stay tuned, there's more to come!

Beetle

Awww look at the cute lil guy nibbling on a leaf. Don't you just want to snuggle up to him?? Just a little watercolor study for you. 

Henna Hand

A woodcut from a drawing I did last year. I like how the brown sits inside the palm...what do you think? 

Nautilus

You thought I was finished doing seashells..ha! This is just a little guy, around 4"x4". I couldn't resist. I had plans for this one to be part of a bigger piece, hopefully I can still fulfill that vision sometime. 

The Wing

This is my first drypoint etching that I had done in a while. The plate is 9"x24" and it took me a few months to work through this bad boy. A drypoint, in case you don't know, is a drawing on a metal plate with a metal tool. I started working on this months ago, and thought I could have it finished fairly quickly. Oh...how silly I was. After doing the first small rows of feathers I realized that if I continued at that pace I would have severe arthritis. I had to slow it down and eventually took a month off to give my hand and arm a break. But I endured, and am so glad I did. I truely love this print. 

Cosmic Wish

I really really really like this one. When I was working on it, I was being playful. I wasn't so determined to make it just right or a certain way. There are many layers of acrylic decals and silkscreen prints. Sometimes art can just be 'pretty' right? It doesn't have to mean anything or 'say' anything...it just looks..good. Well, I think this one is good. 

Beaks

I love this piece and all the layers that went into it. A ton of acrylic paint, acrylic decals, and tidbits of silkscreen coral...can you see them all? I was stuck on this reddish purple for a while, not sure if I have shaken it off yet. It's pretty, just accept it. 

Uffizi

 My first (successful) chine colle, done at Anderson Ranch. The image is a solar plate print from a photograph I took outside the Uffizi. A profile of a lions head, a man standing between pillars holding a severed head along with an "Industry and Resources" map of Italy. I was so very excited when this image was pulled from the press. 

Duck Stage

This was the first solar plate that I had made since undergrad. It looks so weird because I think it was overexposed. If you look back in my blog history, you'll find a watercolor painting of a duck in an empty space. That is where this guy came from, and the negative space was a texture I found in one of my moms books. This is the beginning of my new solar plate adventure. There will be more to come.