Making Fun Stuff Since 1988!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Snow Queen Props







These are some of the props and set pieces for the San Antonio Metropolitan Ballet's production of the Snow Queen which opens Saturday, November 3rd. Pammy and I were given some of the pre-existing props and set pieces that were used the last time the ballet was performed and cleaned, fixed and generally improved them. We're pretty happy with the results.

The letters needed some repair work. Considering they were made of foam core they held up pretty well but had a few stains and had come apart in some places. They were supposed to look like they were made of ice so I decided they should look like the Icey logo lettering. 

 I used soft foam for the "snow" cutting it with scissors to the desired frosty shape then hot gluing the pieces to each letter. I finished them off by painting the letters in whites and blues for that cold feeling.





 The sleigh was Pammy's baby. She used a combination of fabric, decorative trim and "jewels" to give it that regal look befitting a Snow Queen. Tis a thing of beauty!



Step One- Prime.
The cottage flat underwent a complete make over. It started off looking quite different and ended up looking like this. The challenge was not so much in the repainting of it but making a new roof for it which was somehow not attached to the flat and was lost. The wasn't a budget for a new roof so I had to get creative.

I managed to gather what remained of the foam used to dress up the "love letters" to create the thatched roof then painted it the appropriate colors. 





Step 2- Paint timbers.
Step 3- Paint greenery and flowers.




















Step 4- Finished

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Taking Prisoners at the Alamo


General Castrillon Takes Prisoners. 3'x5' Acrylic on Masonite. Alberto Ramirez Jr., 2002. 


The story of the Battle of the Alamo is a well known story. After a thirteen day siege, the Mexican army of a couple thousand storms the Alamo compound before dawn and wipes out the garrison of 200 or so Texians. 

What is not commonly known is that despite General Santa Anna's order to take no prisoners, there were some Texians that were taken prisoner presumably by General Castrillon. It has been suggested that one of the prisoners may have been Davy Crockett. General Castrillon brought the prisoners before Santa Anna hoping that they would be spared but Santa Anna immediately ordered them killed.

 Though the most recent Alamo movie produced by Ron Howard doesn't depict that exact scene it does have lone survivor ,Davy Crockett, briefly a prisoner but is soon ordered killed.      

Friday, September 28, 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Mole People


The Mole People. 8 1/2''x 11''. Brush and Ink on Paper. 2012. Copyright Alberto Ramirez Jr.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Theater Masks


Troll Mask


Masks made for the St. Phillips production of "Tales From Norway" directed by my wife Pammy which opened in July of 2012. The troll mask was painted with a combination of acrylic paints and black light paints. All the masks made were  based on designs by Pammy and made from papier mache as well, plus fake fur and felt for accents.



Goat Mask


Sheep Mask





Cow Mask


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Art Slam Painting-Star Wars Villains


This is the painting I sold Saturday night for the Art Slam held at the White Rabbit. Sorry for the poor quality of the image. That's five hours of fast, intense painting and I loved it! I'm definitely going to be participating in those more often.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Doc Ed Ammonite Fossil Prop






 Rather than have an actual fossil or fossil replica purchased I thought it would be more interesting for the kids if it was a handmade prop. It looks good and after each show one of the kids will usually ask about it . I'll let them know I made it so they can see how the visual arts and sciences go hand in hand.  Below is the prop as it progressed from styrofoam base to clay to papier mache'. 












If I had a choice I would have kept it the terra cotta color of the clay. Its a very beautiful color.








Saturday, May 5, 2012