Art Alive
Breathing Life Into Art
A Coffee Table Hardcover & eBook by Tony Mayo; BSc, MA, MFA
Tony Mayo and poet Munia Khan, met through LinkedIn. At Khan’s suggestion, they co-authored Art Alive. They selected 29 of Mayo’s creations which have been ‘breathed to life’ through Khan’s poetry.
Art Alive is a 9” X 11 ¼” (22 ½ cm X 28 ½ cm) glossy cover coffee table book featuring large colour photographs of Mayo’s artwork.
Khan is an internationally recognized poet whose work has been published in twenty languages.
Mayo, an internationally recognized artist, lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. His genres include sculpture, painting, printmaking, graphite drawing, jewelry, blown glass, fused glass and ceramics. Mayo incorporates a wide variety of unusual materials collected during his world travels to 105 countries (so far). The majority of Mayo’s artwork highlights endangered and threatened species and environments with the goal of bringing attention to their plight while advocating for their protection.
In addition to Kahn’s poems, Art Alive dives into Mayo’s mind, his early beginnings in art, his creative process and why he forgoes power tools often creating many of his own tools. Mayo also writes about why the species or environments depicted in his artwork are endangered and what can be done to minimize the threats they face.
Mayo is a Signature Member of Artists for Conservation: artistsforconservation.org
Artists for Conservation is the world’s leading artist group supporting conservation and the environment. Artists for Conservation represents over 500 vetted professional wildlife/naturalist artists from over 30 countries, including many of the world’s most respected and acclaimed nature and wildlife artists.
10% of all proceeds from the sale of Art Alive will be donated to Artists for Conservation.
PURCHASE MY BOOK
Art Alive is available as a hardcover coffee table book or can be downloaded to your computer, smartphone, Android, tablet or eReader. Art Alive can be viewed on an… iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMac, MacPro, MacMini and through iCloud.
Art Alive is available from:
A PORTION FROM PAGES 1 & 2
“An Orca has two layers of eyelids. Both layers on each tiny eye were painstakingly undercut. Also, carefully carved are the roof of the mouth, under the tongue, under the lips, around the gums and deep down the throat. Even the uvula is diligently rendered. The underside of each pectoral flipper is also precisely crafted. Before painting, every detail was carefully sanded with superfine sandpaper. In many places the sanding was done within a space only as wide as the thickness of sandpaper. It was extremely challenging to sand by hand, under the minute eyelids, down the throat and under the tongue, lips and flippers in an attempt to create a flawless surface. To sand those hard to reach areas, I crafted small specially shaped hand tools onto which bits of sandpaper were glued. To do the final shaping of this sculpture, I used the sandpaper like a fine file. As I “filed”, with the lightest touch of my fingertips, I felt the entire surface from every angle and then sanded until the slightest unwanted ridge or bump was sanded off.
After sanding, the orca was sprayed with many coats of Varathane paint. Between each coat, the sculpture was carefully sanded smooth, and the final coat of paint was cut-polished. The white markings are the natural colour of the wood coated with clear Varathane. I took artistic licence and stylized the markings on the belly in the shape of a white dove in flight. Note that the edges between the black paint and natural wood are precise and even. That was not an easy task. To spray-paint something that is completely in the round takes a great deal of skill. Consider that for each coat of paint, inside the mouth, under the tongue and down the throat had to be painted. Every area had to be sprayed at the same time; even, smooth and within 30-seconds. There could be absolutely no runs or drips. That process was repeated multiple times with meticulous sanding between each coat.”
TESTIMONIALS
“My copy of Art Alive arrived yesterday. I spent the day sitting outside reading it cover to cover. A well-done project. The sculptures seem to be so time consuming that it makes me wonder if you ever chose to sell the originals. The book is a lovely way to share them and tell your story of each piece.” – Phillip Mullen, an international recognized artist; and University of South Carolina’s Distinguished Professor Emeritus; Columbia, South Carolina: philipmullen.com
“Congratulations! Your artwork is absolutely exquisite and beautifully presented in Art Alive. I have purchased additional copies to mail to artist friends.” – Mike Byrd, Retired custom fine art framer; Medford, Oregon
“Art Alive exceeded my expectations. Tony Mayo’s artwork is exquisitely detailed and beautiful, and his accompanying explanations of his artistic process and subject matter are very interesting and enlightening. Pairing the artwork with descriptive poetry by Munia Khan is a brilliant collaboration, creatively bringing both art forms to life.” – Jeannette Brown, Victoria, British Columbia
