BruceHartman.net

You’ve probably noticed some changes going on around here, the most notable being the new layout and the fact that I’ve taken down the archives. There were a few good posts in there that I’ve added back to the database, but the majority of the old content has been filed away. Any of the material at Casa Hartman that wasn’t explicitly house-related has been moved over here.

I’ve been doing a lot of creative work lately and I feel like it deserves its own space.

Hopefully the navel gazing will be kept top a minimum for this latest incarnation of BHN. A side effect of that is posting will likely by less regular than it has been in the past. That’s okay, quality over quantity, right?

I’m pretty happy with the new look. It’s taken a couple solid days of picking apart another theme and bending it to my will. See the about page for details.

In the coming days I’m also going to take down BHD. The content is so out of date it’s not even funny. Even when I’m freelancing, I’m not operating as Bruce Hartman Design, so there’s no point in keeping it up. And it’s not like that site has ever brought me any work. I’ll hold on to the domain, of course, but the material that’s currently there will be merged, in varying degrees, with the content here.

So, sit back and enjoy.

Jane, a long time friend and the tamer of the Hartman mane, came over yesterday afternoon to cut my hair. As soon as she walked in she spotted Norman sitting on the shelf above the TV. She immediately began to beg me to make one for her… and then started offering me money. She said if she’d seen it at a show she would have paid as much as $60 for it. I graciously turned her down: Norman’s not for sale.

That being said, I think I will make one for her. She’s into the Sun & Moon themed stuff, so I’ll make the next one basically the same but add some craters here and there to really push the moon idea. I probably won’t go as far as the mouth this time.

She made a really big deal about me selling my work and I told her I’ve been considering it. Her mother sells wreaths at a show in Mathews County, and said she’d probably be willing to share a space with me. Right now I’m just trying to accumulate some work so I’d even have something to show. On the other hand, I’m not sure that there’s a real market for the kind of stuff I do. In the end, I’m not really doing it with selling in mind to sell, so I if it doesn’t work out that way, I haven’t really lost out.

I’m about to finish another bowl that I think has turned out pretty well. It could probably use another full layer of paper to stiffen it up. Overall I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll post pictures once it’s done.

I’ve noticed that more than a few of my posts lately haven’t really been explicitly about my house (you know, the paper mache stuff, the Truck how to, etc). So, I’ve decided to move those posts to BruceHartman.net where I plan to be posting a bit more regularly.

It’s likely that the posting frequency here will slow down a bit, especially if I keep slacking on putting the ideas into action that I wrote about previously. But even those aren’t really houseblog posts, so I’m not sure how welcome they are at Houseblogs.net (if the mods happen to see this, I’d appreciate you weighing in).

So, to the regulars who like seeing the non-house stuff, be sure to add http://www.brucehartman.net (rss feed here) back to your regular surfing. I’ve added the feed from that site to the sidebar so you can keep an eye on what’s happening from here as well.

All the art stuff I’ve been doing will be featured at BHN along with a consolidation of my portfolio material from BruceHartmanDesign.com.

My friend Kathy Manzella has started a new site to showcase her exquisite mosaic work.

She’s super talented and if you’re in the market for something wonderful to hang on your wall, you really need to check her out.

I really liked the shape of the crescent vase, but the more I looked at it, the more it started to resemble an elf shoe or something. After dinner I went back to work on the piece and I finally began to see something else.

I expanded the flourish around the top opening and then added the nose for starters. Right now I’m ruminating on the eyes and contemplating whether or not I’m going to add a mouth (as of this moment I’m thinking no on the mouth).

They eyes, I think, are going to be closed as if he’s sleeping… mostly because the image I see in my head has the guy sleeping, but partly because eyes are incredibly difficult to do right and this is only my second attempt at this sort of thing.