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
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?
ingredients: vintage book cover, monotype, vintage maps and engineering drawings, other vintage ephemera, metallic ink, found objects, brads, brass wire, acrylic paint, artist pens, feathers
So will I build my
altar in the fields,
And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,
And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields
Shall be the incense I will yield to thee. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak
to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not
preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the
ancient law of life." - Hermann Hesse
Until just a minute ago, that's what this was. For a very long time, started sometime in what seems like the distant past, this post had languished in a dormant state called, "I'm doing too many other things, but I'm planning to do a post at some point, preferably sooner than later." But my brain was so otherwisedly (at least I found time to invent a new adverb - I think) occupied that I had gotten no further than this, and I was stuck there, with no idea at all as to what it should be about. Sometimes if I just begin to begin, inspiration may strike me out of the blue - or maybe not.
I have had this little collage sitting on my press next to the computer desk, but I hadn't scanned it, or thought of a title. So I've decided to call it "Otherwisedly Occupied", which seems to be the best I can do right now, and also allows me to use my newly-invented word.
Otherwisedly Occupied
mixed media collage, 6 x 4 inches
ingredients: vintage book pages and other vintage ephemera, decorative paper, watercolor pencil
I hope you enjoy! Have a great weekend, everyone! xoxo
First of all, I have to apologize for not getting around to reading everyone's blogs, and for not posting anything on my own blog for such a long time. As some of you may know, I've been spending most of my time researching the best ways to sell art online. I have also, after debating for some time, decided to build a new website. There is so much to learn; it can actually be quite overwhelming for someone like me, who didn't grow up in the tech age. But I was determined to do my best to figure it out, so I kept plodding forward.
One thing I discovered is that I wasn't labeling my images correctly for SEO. SEO, which most of you probably already know, is search engine optimization, which basically means making it easier for search engines to find your content and be able to understand what it is. I was surprised to learn that google can't really read images, so this is pretty important. Of course, since I have around a bazillion or so images, re-labeling them took a long time. And that's just one little part of this art business thing. By the way, the best article I've found about SEO for artists is by Tom Dupuis at Online Media Masters.
Here is a comparison chart of print-on-demand sites; here is a good an article about print-on-demand by Christopher Kerry. This article compares and ranks the best website platforms.
I won't go into everything I've learned, because there are lots of people who understand it better than I do, and have written great books and articles, and have made really helpful podcasts and YouTube tutorials that explain things very well. My biggest obstacle is that I wanted to make a new website that combines ecommerce, a blog, and print-on-demand. I had questions like, "Which is the best platform for artist websites?"; "How much technical expertise do you need to be able to use the various platforms?"; "How do I move my domain from my old site?"; "Which ones can have a print-on-demand page embedded in them?"; "How can I use social media to drive traffic?"; "How much does all this stuff cost?", just to name a few. Yikes, right!? And with all this business stuff, will I have time to make art?
I knew I needed to do extensive research, and that there would be a big learning curve. So, here's what I did. First, I was lucky enough to find How to Sell Art Online by Cory Huff of The Abundant Artist. This is the best online art business book I have read; it's clear, concise, and lays out all the basics. He also has podcasts, a blog, classes and videos on just about everything pertaining to art and online business. And no, I don't get anything for saying this (I wish!), I'm just telling you what I think. In fact, I'm about as far from an expert as you can get, which is why I decided to share what information I'm finding helpful with others who, like me, might need a little steering in the right direction.
Then, I started taking all the free webinars and tutorials offered by most of the well-known art business coaches, of which there many: Ann Rea of Artists Who Thrive, sample webinar here); ART2LIFE with Nicholas Wilton; Alyson Stanfield of ArtBizCoach; Make Art That Sellswith Lilla Rogers; Robert Brandl's WebsiteToolTester , which is great for comparing website platforms, types of ecommerce, etc., with lots of good YouTube videos; Gary Bolyer; Brainard Carey's yourartmentor.com, which offers free podcasts and webinars; Jason Horejs's Red Dot Blog with links to his extensive offerings of Art 2 Market YouTube videos, often in conjunction with art print and market expert Barney Davey. There is lots more free help out there, as I'm sure you'll find once you start looking around. Most of them offer free information as a teaser for getting you to take their entire online course, but if you take the free introductory ones and then go and watch their other videos on YouTube, you can find a lot of helpful information. Also, many of them offer free pdf instructions or worksheets that go with the webinars. You can print these out or download them onto your computer.
Learning how to target your audience is another important thing to learn, and one that I have particular trouble with. Click the image above to read the article.
I realize that this post is getting rather long, and one of the things I've learned through my research is that people don't want to read online. So if you need to know anything more specific and I can point you in the right direction, feel free to comment here or message me on facebook. Oh, I should also say that I've pinned quite a few helpful articles to my Online Biz How-to board on Pinterest, so you might want to check that out.
And lastly, lets not forget the most important part of all this -
Connections II
mixed media collage, 8 x 8 inches
making art!
Addendum: I just found an awesome site that gives you excellent detailed reviews of website builders, how to use them, and tons of really relevant and clear information about anything and everything to do with websites. It's called Website Builder Expert, and it even has a quiz to help you figure out which website builder is best for you. I highly recommend it!
When Tammie of Beauty Flows chose the theme "sticks" for this week's art challenge, I knew I had to jump in! I love sticks - in the woods, on or off of the trees, in art, or laying in a pile in my studio. Here are a few of my favorites.
Snow and ice accumulated on these sticks in my yard to make a lovely black and white abstract...
Sticks with seeds overhanging the Kinniconick Creek...
I used a smooth bleached stick from the creek in this mixed media piece called, "Flight Talismans".
Sticks outlined in the light of the super moon...
Weathered, twisted sticks on the sand dunes at Cumberland Island.
My friend, Mish, trying to hide behind some bamboo sticks. Not working too well.
Indigenous
Years ago, I used to make sculptures from sticks, grapevines, rocks and copper. This was the only example I could find. The background is a topological map of a region in Kentucky that is very important to me, the rocks, which have seeds or flowers of indigenous plants glued onto them, have holes in them and are hanging on - you guessed it - sticks.
Sticks from a tree submerged in the Kinniconick Creek...
Beech sticks still hold onto their leaves in winter...
A redbud tree in bloom...
Do you think that's enough, yet? Thanks for inviting me, Tammie! Go to Beauty Flows to see what the other participants came up with!
Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front (excerpt) By Wendell Berry
Denounce the government and embrace
You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers.
Les Brown
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/answers.htmlDenounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns....
... Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts....
I have no answers, but this, one of my most favorite poems by my favorite Kentucky writer Wendell Berry, makes me feel there may yet be reason to hope...
Here is the finished version of the collage I was working on in the last two posts (here and here):
Broken Girl, mixed media collage on vintage book cover
ingredients: cabinet photo, vintage book pages and torn papers, vintage ephemera, watercolor pencils, stitching
The edges are cropped because it didn't quite fit on the scanner, and it's been way too dark and cold here to take good photos. (I take them outside in open shade.) As you may remember if you're a regular reader, the torn pieces of layered papers on the right side started out as a completely different collage. I wasn't happy with the way it was going, so I incorporated it into a very different type of collage, i.e. one where the composition is more planned out and less abstract. This doesn't usually happen, and I certainly didn't predict this turn of events when I started taking photos for my blog. These aren't the posts I had intended to write, but I thought it might be interesting for people to see what happens when things don't go as planned.
One thing I learned some time ago in my art-making explorations is that there's nothing wrong with tearing one piece up to make another; in fact, that's how I first began playing with collage. I didn't start out to become a collage artist, but as I tried making compositions with pieces of discarded work, I became hooked on the collage process as well as its outcomes. I love taking pieces of old ephemera that would otherwise be thrown out and combining them into something new. They bring with them something of the time they are from and the people who used them, which I think adds depth and meaning to the work.
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Scott Adams Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_art.html
"The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of
making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or
badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the
shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even
a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possible can. You will get an
enormous reward. You will have created something.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-- Scott Adams
“We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
― Bob Ross
I had an old watercolor of a tree that I didn't want any more, so I thought I might recycle it and use it as the base for a collage.
First, I glued some brightly colored pieces of an old museum guide onto it, since I wanted to be able to scrape through to show bits of color.
Then, I covered the entire thing with pieces of vintage paper from old books, drawings, and sheet music.
I immediately added a second layer because it's easier to scrape or rub off when still damp from the glue. (I use matte gel medium as my adhesive.)
Here's a close-up view. I have to apologize for the poor photo quality, as it's been very dark and dreary here, and there's not really enough light to get a good photo with my phone.
Here it is after I scraped some of the papers off to reveal the colored paper underneath. I call this the "Glaaaaaaah!!!" stage - when a piece gets to the point where I'm either going to throw it away or cover it up again; in other words, I hate it. Could I make a decent composition out of it? Probably, but right now I'm not seeing it.
My studio and materials were also in a complete state of "glaaaah!", but I still couldn't leave well enough alone...
I glued some more papers on, then rubbed some more off (lather, rinse, repeat) .... and this is how I left it for the night.
Tune in tomorrow to find out what happens to our poor, pitiful collage. Will it live to see another day? I'm not so sure...
I haven't been keeping up with my weekly quick collage series, since I've been so busy doing other things. I'm unsure whether I'll go back to it or not; I'll just have to see how it goes. In the meantime, here's a little piece I did recently. I know it's out of season, but at this time of year it can be nice to remind ourselves that Spring will come, eventually.
ingredients: vintage book cover; vintage book parts, ephemera, and sheet music; found objects (antique optical lens), stitching
This one is definitely a maximalist piece. The spell check informs me that this not a real word, but it is because I just made it up! To me, it is the opposite of minimalism; in other words, did I go too far? Everything but the kitchen sink, right? For some reason, however, I think it works. Everything, after all is under the stars.
This piece is available for purchase on my website, here, along with several different-sized prints of the piece. Happy Monday, everyone!
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/heart.html
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/heart.html
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/heart.html
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the
heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the
eye.”
―
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince
“The heart has its reasons which reason knows not.”
― Blaise Pascal
“What should I do about the wild and the tame? The wild heart that wants
to be free, and the tame heart that wants to come home. I want to be
held. I don't want you to come too close. I want you to scoop me up and
bring me home at nights. I don't want to tell you where I am. I want to
keep a place among the rocks where no one can find me. I want to be with
you.”
― Jeanette Winterson
"The circle symbol meaning is universal, sacred and divine. It represents the infinite nature of energy, and the inclusivity of the universe.
Our ancient kin observed a circular aspect to the cycles of time, specifically in the movements of the seasons. In waltzing rhythms of time,
and with the revolutions of the earth 'round the sun, we can feel the
same kind of evolution in annual time and seasons - just as our
forefathers and mothers did."
~ Avia Venefica, What's-Your-Sign.com
The symbolism of the circle is as endless as the circle itself, and is considered, as far as I can tell, to be a sacred symbol by almost every known culture on Earth: "The circle is the most common and universal sign, found in all cultures. It is the symbol of the sun in its limitless or boundless aspect. It has no beginning and no end, and no divisions, making it the perfect symbol of completeness, eternity, and the soul. The circle is also the symbol of boundary and enclosure, of completion, and returning cycles." (SymbolDictionary.net)
"The circle is a universal symbol with extensive meaning. It represents the
notions of totality, wholeness, original perfection, the Self, the infinite,
eternity, timelessness, all cyclic movement, God ('God is a circle whose center
is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." (Hermes Trismegistus)).(University of Michigan Symbolism Project)
I found this quote from Black Elk on a wonderful post about circles by Margaret Bremner on her blog, Enthusiastic Artist:
Black Elk,
a medicine man and visionary
of the Oglala Sioux, said, “Everything the
Power of the World does, is done in a circle. The sky
is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball,
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as
ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The
moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form
a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to
where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to
childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves
Our tipis were round like the nests of birds, and these
were always set in a circle; the nation’s hoop, a
nest of many nests where the Great Spirit
meant for us to hatch our
children.”
Because of the circle's profound spiritual symbolism, humans throughout history
have built the circle's sacred form into not only religious rituals, but also physical constructions. From the spiral on an ancient Norman church in Cornwall...
...to Strasbourg Cathedral's Rose Window...
...to Stonehenge, where the circles line up with the sun and stars...
...to a women's circle dance in bronze age rock art from Zerovschan Tajikistan...
...to the beautiful tile mosaic in a mosque...
...sacred circles are everywhere,
...even in the creatures that inhabit this planet and the structures which form it...
I've had so much fun learning about circles, and of course had to choose only a few to share with you here, so I have decided to post a circle every day on facebook. Follow my art business page if you want to learn along with me.
There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes
