Saturday, February 23, 2013

Some Questions, and the Final 'Pulse'


1)   Where have I been?
Well, not here in blogland, obviously. This is the busiest time of the year at work, trying to write new IEP's and get all the paperwork together for my eighth-graders' high school transition meetings.  But I promise, I'll be around to visit everyone's blogs soon. That's all I'm going to say about that; otherwise, you might have to call me a wahmbulance.





2)   Why can't I leave well enough alone?
I think I've addressed this before. If I'm not quite satisfied with a piece, I will sometimes just keep messing with it until I've overworked it into the ground, if you know what I mean.  I hope that's not the case with Don't Forget to Breathe.  While it looked alright before, it was really pretty boring. Nicely boring- but still, boring. After giving it way too much thought, I decided that the problem was "a failure to communicate". Art, at its most fundamental level, is an attempt to visually 'say' something, whether it includes actual written words or not.  To see the earlier version and read the accompanying text, go here. To me, it just didn't 'feel' the way I felt when I made the piece.  I considered a few different possibilities, and decided to add water.


After I did that, I realized the blue of the water was too bright and cheery, so I covered it with mica, and stitching... I'm not exactly sure  how I feel about it now, but I refuse to do anything further.  I do, really...


3)   Can I use raw, un-melted beeswax in artwork - and if so, how?
Sadly, my husband's bees died.  He took the wax out of the frames and threw it away, but I quickly rescued it from the trash, because... there must must something I can do with it, right?




4)   If you change the name of your blog will the search engines be confused? Or is it better to retain the old name for official purposes, but just leave it off the header? I know the url will still go to the same place, but are there any problems I should know about?





I received an email from Seth apter saying that "your response to the question 'what is the one thing that you know now that you would have liked to have known when you first started to create art?' will be highlighted in my blog post on Sunday, February 24th as part of the series Tell All. In case you do not remember, this is part of the series of questions you answered for this project way back in June 2011." Since I don't remember my response, I'm curious to find out what I said.  I hope you're curious, too; just click on the 'Tell All' banner above.



And don't worry- if you're waiting for 'Dressing Up, part 2', I haven't forgotten; it will be posted soon!




18 comments:

  1. pas tout compris.. mais les deux parties du tableau jointes sont très belles..bises e.

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    1. Thanks, Elfi; your words of encouragement are much appreciated. xo

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  2. sharmon, 'don't forget to breathe' seems perfect to me now. really... i *feel* this piece in my chest.

    xoxo

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    1. Thank you, Lynne. I think I have to put it away for a while; right now I can't "see" it. xxoo

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  3. Thank goodness for Seth he's allowed so many of us Mixed Media artists to cacth each other work.

    Change your blog name - I did that. But the URL causes confusion as folks can't work out that yes it does still lead to you. So my advice is change your name AND the URL then tell. tell, tell every one.

    x Joan at Mad Bird Designs UK

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    1. MadBird, Thanks for the advice about the name change. I haven't really decided what I'll do about that yet. And I agree- thank goodness for Seth!

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  4. dear Sharmon, i never used raw bees wax in an artwork so i can't tell you anything about that :(
    i can tell you about my thoughts and feelings looking at your work 'don't forget to breathe'; i like the blue, it feels like an improvement to me , it gives the work more depth, the zipper being a pale blue too it now forms rather a connection between the upper and the lower part but there still is the tension that the zipper is bringing into the work too,
    my eyes go from the lungs to the sea to the river(that delta is great), the zip closed AND stitched to stay closed, that red thread a bit uncertain but clearly there, a common thread...
    so many things to see and feel; bureaucracy, papers have no emotions, people do,
    it's a great work Sharmon, x

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    1. Renilde, I so appreciate your analysis of the piece. It really helps me to hear about specific aspects of the piece and how they're perceived by others. I really think it would be nice to have a critique blog. Hmmmm...

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  5. I cannot answer most of your questions but I love the mica addition on your piece. What if you added a layer of metallic mist to soften the brightness of the blue. Tim Hlotz seems to have a great number of layering design elements...I was just saying you could play with sheerness and transparent elements. Peace and I am so happy you rescued the bees wax but sorry about his loss. Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

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    1. Mary Helen, I will have to check out the metallic mist you're talking about. Thanks for the condolences on the bees; we're pretty sad about this, but will be getting more soon.

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  6. Sharmon, knowing when a piece is done is the hardest thing. such an individual matter of taste and judgement.
    I'll look you up at Seth's. Thanks!

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    1. Gwen, you're right; it's very difficult to know when a piece is finished. If you're a perfectionist like me, you always have this nagging feeling that you could have made it "better".

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  7. Hey, sharmon - i can relate to this post right down to my toes. don't forget to breath seems well-resolved now to me. the red thread across the zipper is an interesting juxtaposition. the wave mark the thread draws reminds me of a heart monitor, the whole piece having medical connotations to my mind, which is often consumed with concern for aging parents health these days. best, sus

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    1. You're right, Sus; the stitching across the zipper is a copy of the medical graph beside the lungs. It shows the breathing of someone while they're trying to thread a needle. Thanks for the encouraging comment!

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  8. I like your words on well earned wisdom at The Altered Page...making mistakes are great pathways!
    This piece is changing and evolving...I like the addition of blue but you can always mute it down if it feels too bright...the zipper works nicely!

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    1. Thanks, Mary Ann. I was pleasantly surprised, myself, at my response- it was so long ago I was afraid it might be- well- goofy. Changing and evolving is generally a good thing, but sometimes I just can't seem to stop!

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  9. <3 that is all I have to say about that- Because I really could use a wambulance. xoxo teri (we could ride together- you know save a bit of gas on the way to the funny farm... good luck with your piece. And don' don't forget to breathe)

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    1. Teri, thanks for making me laugh! I think we'd have so much fun in the funny farm together they'd probably kick us out.
      Still trying to breathe!

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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. I'm happy to reply here, but may not always have time for individual emails.