When I Was a Bird
collage on multi-media board, 8 x 14 inches
ingredients: vintage book pages and hand-written letters, image transfers, magazine cut-outs, gampi paper, water color crayons and pencils, stitching
This one looks pretty much the same as the last time you saw it; I just added some stitching, the birds, and tweaked a few other things. Trying not to overwork it, as I sometimes tend to do.
You may have noticed that people with wings, angel-like figures, and girls with one wing appear frequently in my work. I tried to get to the bottom of this obsession in a past blog post titled, "Where Wings Come From", which you can read here if you're interested. Someone once said that all of the figures an artist paints are reflections of him/herself, and in some way, I believe this is true.
detail of first spread from my handmade book, Book of Dreams
Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. ~Henry Ward Beecher
a page from Not an Open Book
In trying to find quotes for this post, I came across a very interesting website called Every Pianter Paints Himself: Art's Masterpieces Explained. The home page text states:
Every painter paints himself, a saying first documented in the early Renaissance, has been mentioned by artists ever since. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci used it, as Picasso did too; Lucian Freud and other contemporary artists still cite variations today. Yet despite its great significance to artists, art scholars rarely discuss the saying or its meaning. Those who do seem to have no choice but to deny it: painters don’t really paint themselves, they say, but their sensibility. But why would a phrase that meant so much to great masters, and still does to their followers, require re-phrasing to mean anything? The truth is, as this website demonstrates, it is the images of these visual artists that are veiled, not their words.
Here's an example from the site where they discuss some of Basquiat's paintings in relation to his life. I plan to go back and read what they say about other artists and their work. Just something to think about, you know?
Hi Sharmon
ReplyDeleteI really like the completion of this. The 'other' birds make the main figure become part of or at least have something in common with a larger community. I think this broadens the meaning of your creation. The message of freedom is also apparent to me with the open cage door with nothing inside. As always your elements/mediums used within your creation are so varied and textural which makes your artworks so charming and interesting to study.
Steven
Hi Steven! Thanks for the very kind and thoughtful comment. I so appreciate the feedback from other artists who take the time to think about the pieces I create. I think that all of us benefit from the sense of community this interaction builds. It's great to meet you!
DeletePS:
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I paint myself in my own paintings; however I most certainly know that I paint my sensibilities, desires, visions, obsessions, joys, etc..... Well....maybe I am painting myself....
Steven
Lol... Yes, there's definitely some truth in that "painting yourself" theory, isn't there? I think that, on some level, that's what all artists do, because our "self" is the filter through which we experieince the world, you know?
Deletemais tu es un oiseau!!! :)))
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am, on the inside!
DeleteGreat post, Sharmon, and for me, I see that I am constantly creating myself in my work, and the creatures, butterflies, birds, etc. are all symbols for me and where my thoughts reside at the point of creation.. I think it is pretty normal for women to paint or create wings, a symbol of freedom.. not long ago, we were property, and motherhood can be a prison or a paradise.. thoughtful post... xox
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cat; I'm glad you enjoyed the post! I hear what you're saying about women and freedom - that desire to fly is a part of us, and is, perhaps, a part of just being human...
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