floating line

Floating Line by Karl Marxhausen.

30 inches in length by 3/4 inch wide, 2014

DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

At my day job,

I created

the illusion

of a floating line.

Notice the door detail

BELOW.

Paper is taped to the door,

with a break, so the door can open

as it should.

I love this illusion

very much.

 

vertical color tab #4

This fourth one
has
shapes
either IN FRONT OF
or BACK BEHIND
the vertical line.
I enjoy
this creation
of space
and
depth. 

 Vertical Color Tab #4 by Karl Marxhausen,

12 inches tall by 5 inches wide, 2014

vertical color tab #3

Vertical Color Tab #3 by Karl Marxhausen,
100 inches tall by 4 inches wide, 2014.
double click on images to enlarge

This third one uses
the letter M for Marxhausen
and a pattern of
same color slashes.
Shapes
are either IN FRONT OF
or BACK BEHIND
the vertical line.
The PLACEMENT
of one color NOTE
and the next ONE
and
the next
BELOW that.

color

notes

to enjoy

from

top to

bottom.

vertical color tab #2

Vertical Color Tab #2 by Karl Marxhausen,

102 inches tall by 4 inches wide, 2014.

DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

 This second one veers right
and curves to the left.
Diagonals
are either IN FRONT OF
or BACK BEHIND
the vertical line.
The PLACEMENT
of one color NOTE
and the next ONE
and
the next
BELOW that.

color

notes

to enjoy

from

top to

bottom.

vertical color tab #1

The students at my day job had been gluing colored construction paper to a shoe box to hold their Valentine cards from fellow classmates. I gathered up the scraps and began to make a vertical collage off one long long long long long long strip of construction paper that went up up up, almost to the ceiling. DOUBLE CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

Vertical Color Tab #1 by Karl Marxhausen,

105 inches tall x 3 inches wide, 2014

color

notes

to enjoy

from

top to

bottom.

movie brings back marker memories

My brother had some old Super 8 films transferred to video. He compressed them on a CD for me. Some were action stories with live actors. Some were stop action animations that were shot on the basement floor an few frames at a time. While watching the animations, I REMEMBERED my LOVE for magic markers.

When I was in junior high and later as a high school freshman I loved to color. Double click on photos to enlarge.

Sixth grade pencil on notebook paper at st.john's lutheran school, seward, nebraska

Full page marker on 11" x 8" cardstock 1969

As a freshman I took index cards and made designs for the birthday of classmates at concordia secondary laboratory school, Seward, Nebraska. The background of the above card gives you an idea of the patterns I used.

So, one thing led to another and this week I have been decorating a dozen manila folders at my day job in Chillicothe. There was cutting of construction paper, glue, and permanent colored markers.

 

One student asked to see a design I was working on. He told me the folder colors needed to be taped up in the room for everyone to see.
That gave me an idea, and I made a poster to encourage the class, below. Double click for closer details.

Then, I made posters to decorate the youth room in Carrollton, below.

 

Contagious. Is it art?
It is what I am doing and it is lots of fun and making new great memories as well.
Last, I remember what Jean Howard of Prairie Village told me about Picasso. How he was doing many styles when creating. This is ME too. LOVING IT, being it.

Thank you teachers for this assignment.

Marxhausen - Working Out The Details- Part Two (Art Talk series)

Being an artist means you have to work out the details. Whether I am working on an outdoor landscape, doing a portrait, or composing a scene for a wall mural. There always is homework involved. The mural I did for the city of Carrollton in 1997 had all kinds of particulars. Split rail fences,choice of garden vegetables, settlers on foot, a covered wagon, a team of oxen,folks building a log cabin, a farmer behind a one mule plow, all of which needed drawings, color studies, transparencies---really a lot of work. The Land Of Opportunity is 37 feet wide and 20 feet tall. It is located one block east of the downtown square, on the NE corner of Virginia and Washington.

Carrollton is located north and east of Kansas City, MO about 80 miles. About an hour's drive west of Columbia. About an hour's drive south of Chillicothe. About an hour's drive north of Sedalia. Go to Hwy 23 at the Concordia exit on Interstate 70. Go North on 23 to Waverly. Turn North on Hwy 65-24 to Carrollton about 10 miles. At Hwy 24 Exit, take a left over via duct, down hill to stop sign, up the hill to downtown stop sign, circle around square one way (counter clockwise). The south side of square is Washington Street. Go one block east of square, look to the left side, Maxine's restaurant has fenced in parking there. The south side of Maxine's has the mural. Stop and take a picture!

In 1996 I was doing research on the western murals in Toppenish, Washington. I checked out all the vacant walls around our city. I came up with a design and even drove to Kansas City to meet with a Bank Midwest representative to ask permission to paint on their bank branch wall in Carrollton. They were more interested in a dominant bank logo. They declined. The idea sat on the shelf for a whole year. One day Don Lock of the Lock Steel Company expressed interest in the project. They agreed to provide the wall and the paint. I did the labor--200 hours of it. The work I poured into that wall landed me a contract with the Chillicothe Industrial Developement Corporation. In 1998 I completed a 100 foot by 60 foot mural in Chillicothe, Missouri and was paid two thousand dollars for supplies and labor.

Chillicothe Business College mural 1998

Ten foot illustrations outlined by brush atop scissors lift.

For the Chillicothe mural I researched the Business College yearbooks at their city library. Every time I drove up it was was a 30 mile commute one way. The CIDC approved large illustrations which depicted classwork offered through the school during the 1800s. Telegraphy and the railroad,
penmanship and bookkeeping, and a chapter of students from every state of the Union and several foreign countries. Ten years after the mural was completed, the CIDC hired a new artist to paint over the entire wall with a new design.

With the help of the computer and the wonderful equipment in the Conference Center at the Carrollton Public Library, I showed a 36 minute
film documenting the making of the Carrollton mural.

The old peeling paint was power washed off with water to preserve the soft red brick. The wall was given two primer coats with a power sprayer (that tended to clog up and needed frequent cleaning). A local man showed me that all the colors couold be hand mixed from red, blue, yellow, white, and black. But there came that moment of truth when that THEORY was tried out---and it did work. I used a glossy oil enamel paint. The color were hand mixed in two liter soda containers and reused milk jugs. To mix green I used black and yellow.

If you have plug-ins added you can view this short video clip. Click on triangle above. This shows where the Marxhausen mural is located in our village.

The sorrel mule comes down the wall towards the viewer. This was a challenge since most photos of mules are either a side view or head on. I looked at Thomas Hart Benton lithographs and numerous sources to solve my problem. Here, you can learn more on painting sorrel mule.

Several outline transparencies were made. One for the mule. One for the farmer. One for the builders on the hill. One for the covered wagon. At night by street light the image was projected on the wall atop a scaffold. I up on a ladder, using a black marker, to drawn the outlines on the prepared brick surface. Angels must have kept the projector from falling over. Answered prayers for sure.

It was cool to be working at night. Teenagers driving by saw me working, pulled in to the parking area, and were asking me what I was doing. What a blast. I loved it.

Left side - garden scene


Middle - plowing scene


Right side - wagon train and building log house


Click triangle to zoom in on mural signature

Following the question and answer time after the movie,
the guest artist from De Witt was introduced.
See next posting.