Transformation 47

I seem to have amassed quite a bunch of art works that I haven't yet put online. There are several reasons for this, including the lack of a good camera to take photos of art, too much other stuff going on, and frankly, I forgot about some of them. Also, I thought I should wait until I could put them on my new website, for whatever reason. Yeah, I know - blah, blah, blah - it doesn't really matter, does it?

The Transformations series has been ongoing for a long time. I you want to know how it all got started, go here.

Transformation 47

monotype collage with mixed media, 7 x 7 inches

I can't believe I'm at number 49 now, and still going! I will post numbers 48 and 49 soon. I hope you enjoy, and I hope everyone is having a great summer (or winter)!


Since my website is still down, I probably should add that if you're interested in buying this piece, please contact me through the link on my sidebar, or message me on facebook. Thanks!

Trials and Tribulations, and New Work on the Way

I have several pieces that have been laying around my studio that haven't been shared due to the fact that I didn't have a decent, fully functional camera. After much research and thought, I finally bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000. It was more than I really wanted to spend, but I needed something that would take excellent artwork photos, and a DSLR costs that much just for the body; then, in addition, you have to buy various expensive lenses for different purposes. Another point against a DSLR is that I realized that I didn't want to be bothered with lugging around a bunch of lenses, which I would have to be changing all the time, so a high-end fixed-lens camera seemed like the perfect choice.

So now, if the weather cooperates, I will be able to photograph those pieces, along with everything that needs to be re-photographed because I originally used my cell phone, and the photos are seriously lacking in quality. Especially since I'm going to be building a new website, I want the image quality to be as high as it can. I don't really want to upload my current photos, and then have to go back and replace them.

But now I have a new problem; setting up the new camera is somewhat (read: a lot) daunting. I'm afraid it's going to take a while. It has so many features, I'm not even sure what some of them mean! So in the meantime, I'll have to keep using my phone, unless they are flat and can fit on my scanner. Sheesh!

Anyway, I'm finally taking time from my technical studies to make some art! Here are a few sneak peaks of what's happening in the studio. Taken, of course, with my cellphone.

Materials used: vintage book cover, vintage maps, antique engineering drawing, monotype, book pages.  This one has a ways to go, but so far I'm satisfied with it.

I hope you are all having a great weekend, and making some art! Namaste, my friends.

Wind and Water

I had forgotten all about this, the piece that was in the "Think Square" exhibition over a year ago. Going through photos of my work a few minutes ago, I realized I had never shared it here on my blog, or anywhere online. So, anyway, here it is.

Wind and Water

monotype with mixed media, 5 x 5 inches

Happy Thursday, everyone!

"Coversations" exhibit now at University of Kentucky

The "Conversations" printmaking exhibit, previously shown in the Main Gallery at Northern Kentucky University, is currently being exhibited at the University of Kentucky in Lexington until the end of October. I apologize for not getting this information out sooner. This exhibit highlights the work of 31 regional printmakers, showcasing a wide variety of techniques and interpretations of the theme.

"This exhibition will highlight 31 regional printmakers: Mario Barbi, Carola Bell, Joe Bohache, Jesse Byerly, Joline Costello Hartig, Sharmon Davidson, Joan Effertz, Louann Elliot, Mary Farrell, Rick Finn, Sheila Fleischer, Elizabeth Foley, Saad Ghosn, Jay Harriman, Tory Keith, Kurt Mohr, Michelle Lustenberg, Nicci Mechler, Susan Naylor, Kathleen Piercefield, Randel Plowman, Chris Plummer, Jill Ross, Brett Schiezer, Jonpaul Smith, Andy Sohoza, Jan Torrance Thomas,
Carole Winters, David Wischer, Clint Woods, and Mary Woodworth.
A broad range of printmaking techniques are represented including silk screen, etching, chine-collé, lithography, monoprint, collagraph, woodcut and more.
The exhibition was curated by Andrea Knarr, who taught printmaking at Northern Kentucky University for more than 30 years. A retrospective of her work is on display as well." (Tigerlily Press)

I don't have any photos from the NKU show, but I can share some from the UK exhibit, taken by artist David Wischer, who was instrumental in obtaining the space as well as hanging it.

The two pieces on the far left in photo are mine. Here's what they look like close up:

Analogy I, monotype with mixed media

Analogy II, monotype with mixed media

Accompanying text:

                                             I want to tell what the forests                                        

were like.

I will have to speak

in a forgotten language.

                                                                       ~ W. S. Merwin

If you're in or near Lexington, Kentucky, it's well worth checking out the exhibition. It's in the School of Art and Visual Studies:

Art & Visual Studies Building
236 Bolivar Street
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0090
Phone: 859-257-8151

Printing Up a Storm

I'm not really sure what that means, "up a storm", but it's what my grandmother would say when someone was going at something full-force, as in, "When you were a year old, you were just talking up a storm." I wonder where that came from, and is it an idiom?

Sorry, I'm wandering off course here, or, what my husband would call, "babbling". I do understand where that one came from, and it's a metaphor. I think. I've been working really hard this week, and I guess my brain is a little fried. I seem to be able only to speak in figurative language.

Anyway, I've been making monotypes (or some would say monoprints) for two days, not counting a whole day of preparation, which consisted of rearranging my studio, cleaning off the press and the dog crates and as many surfaces as I could to dry prints on, removing lots of artwork that was stored in boxes, finding my plexiglass plates and other equipment, etc.  That was Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday I printed, without breaks, from about 8:00 in the morning until 5:00 or so in the evening, without sitting down. My back was not at all happy about it.

 My drafting table, which is usually covered with carousels full of colored pencils, pens, and other tools, was pulled away from the wall, cleaned off, and used to hold the plexiglass plate and another piece to roll out and mix ink on. This wasn't nearly enough room to do what I needed to do, but I had to make do with what I had.

 Inks have been rolled out and colors have been mixed...
 

 I used some plants in my prints, just stuff I found in the yard, mostly weeds. It took a while to clean the ink off of everything, which is always the worst part...

My press was used as a press for a change, instead of a table where junk collects...

I don't have a drying rack, so every possible surface was cleared off to be used as space to dry prints...

... including the dog crates and drawers where I keep all kinds of ephemera...


Hopefully I will be showing you some finished products soon!

Drawing Challenge: Blue

For this drawing challenge, I decided to share a couple of older pieces in which blue is prominently featured.  I do tend to favor blue in general, but these are REALLY blue. I never get tired of looking at them (though one was sold). I hope you'll like them too.

 As Above, So Below

 mixed media, 17.75 x 10 inches

Sacred Geometry

monotype with mixed media,  22.5 x 17.5 inches

I feel like I could just drown in this blue, don't you? It's so saturated and rich. I hope the person who bought it is enjoying it as much as I enjoyed making it!



I just couldn't resist sharing Joni Mitchell's Blue; it was playing in my head the whole time I was working on this post. Enjoy!




This drawing challenge is hosted by Patrice of the wonderful Patrice A blog.
Please visit her for links to the other drawing challenge participants. I can't wait to see their blues!

New Piece, But Not Really

The Separation of Heron and Crow II

monotype with mixed media, 9.5 x 8.75 inches

I finished this piece a while back, then totally forgot to post it. This only occurred to me recently (like today). Although I don't like it as well as version I, there are many things I do like about it, and it was lots of fun to do.

In case you're not a long-time reader of my blog, I should probably explain that the 'Heron and Crow' pieces were originally intended to be illustrations for a book I was writing. The writing, however, has proven to be very difficult, and I'm not at all sure that my idea will make a good story in the long run. But I really enjoyed making the original Separation of Heron and Crow, as it's now called, and liked the idea so much I decided to try another one just for fun.


The basic premise of the story was that we need both day and night, dark and light, land and water, etc. - that we need opposites to create a balanced whole. I attempted to express this idea through the overlapping and positive/negative mixing of the black and white birds, who are the main mythical characters in the story.  I thought that one aspect of this piece that lent itself to the theme was the bright background behind the Heron, while the darker background is behind the Crow.

Let me know what you think!

Transformation 46

Transformation 46

The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see ...  No, wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, as vital to our lives as water and good bread.   - Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

It is only when we are aware of the earth and of the earth as poetry that we truly live.  -  Henry Beston, 1935, Herbs and the Earth

Transformation 45

I haven't done any pieces for my long-ongoing "Transformations" series in quite a long while, but was recently inspired to add to it.

Transformation 45

My "Transformations" series is strongly rooted in my deep feelings about the magic of nature, and when I look for words about nature, I often look to one of my heroes and favorite writers, Wendell Berry. I leave you here with some of his wisdom.



“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.”



“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”



“So, friends, every day do something that won't compute...Give your approval to all you cannot understand...Ask the questions that have no answers. Put your faith in two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years...Laugh. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts....Practice resurrection.”

Prayer Flagg VII

Prayer Flag VII

2.5 x 3.5 inches, monotype with mixed media

Another little piece in the Prayer Flag series. Hope you enjoy it!

Seed Stories V and VI

I mentioned before in a couple of posts that my three miniature pieces from a traveling exhibit called Tripletta were sold, and that I was working on pieces to replace them. You would think that making something 2.5 by 3.5 inches would be easy, but apparently it is not, at least for me. I'm having a hard time getting inspired to make more pieces on the Seed Story theme, which my original pieces were based on. I suppose it's not strictly necessary that I continue that theme, so I made some pieces that I call Prayer Flags (here, here, and here), which I may send to the show. But I'm also trying out some Seed Story pieces, just to see which I like best.



So here are a couple of new Seed Story pieces. See what you think:

Seed Story V

Seed Story VI

All of these pieces are monotypes with mixed media, by the way. So, what do you think? Do you like these better than the Prayer Flags? Thanks in advance for your opinion/help!

In Tara's Garden

In Tara's Garden

9.5 x 15.75 inches

ingredients: vintage book cover, image transfers, acrylic ink, Derwent watercolor pencils, cut-outs, metallic pens, Pitt artist pens, monotype, woodblock prints, found objects, brads

Tara is known primarily as the Tibetan Buddhist bodhisattva (enlightened being) of compassion and action.  According to Wikipedia, "Tārā came to be seen as an expression of the compassion of perfected wisdom... Tārā is also known as a saviouress, as a heavenly deity who hears the cries of beings experiencing misery in sansara (the cycle of suffering, death, and re-birth)."

Tara is one of the earliest known dieties; her origins are not entirely clear, but some scholars believe she may come from pre-Buddhist animist religions in Tibet. She has many different forms or aspects, of which Green Tara is one of the most popular. Green Tara (Khadiravani) is usually associated with protection from fear.

According to wildmind Buddhist meditation, "Green Tara is a forest goddess, and in one story is shown as being clad in leaves. Her Pure Land, in distinction to others that are composed of precious gems, is said to be lush and verdant:

Covered with manifold trees and creepers, resounding with the sound of many birds,
And with murmur of waterfalls, thronged with wild beasts of many kinds;
Many species of flowers grow everywhere.

She is therefore a female form of the "Green Man" figure who is found carved in many European churches and cathedrals, and who is found in the Islamic traditions as the figure Al-Khidr."

Around the World Blog Hop

The very talented Maya Matthew has tagged me to participate in the"Around the World Blog Hop"!

Each participant must share their answers to these questions: 

1. What am I working on? 

I'm working on a couple of different things right now. If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I had three miniature pieces in a traveling exhibit called Tripletta.  All three of my pieces sold recently, so I now have to replace them. The pieces  that sold were called Seed Story I, II, and III; you can see them if you follow the Tripletta link. So,  I'm working on some more Seed Story pieces to replace them in the exhibit. Here are two that are not yet finished:

I'm also working on another piece in the Heron and Crow series, which are actually illustrations for what will hopefully be a children's book:

Heron and Crow II, monotype with mixed media, 9.75 x 9 inches

 It's about 90% finished, but still needs some tweaking here and there. 

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

The mixed media genre is pretty wide open and eclectic, so I chose to answer this question in regard to monotype. Traditionally, monotype is usually done by coating the plate (I use a sheet of plexiglass) in one color of ink, then wiping the ink away to create the image. In contrast, my working is made by building up layers of transparent inks. Essentially, my method is almost the direct opposite of  the way most monotypes are made.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?  

The images I make are formed from the vocabulary of symbols that I’ve developed as I sought to express the theme that lies at the foundation of it all: a deep belief in the unity and connectedness of everything in the universe.  Related to this is my conviction that every part of the earth is sacred, including the myriad beings that ride it through space.  At the most basic level, we are made of the same stuff as the stars, the trees, the air, the ocean.  Having come from the same source, we are all connected in the most intricate ways, both visible and invisible.  This belief is expressed by the transposition of objects, the overlapping of transparent images, and by forms that seem to transform into something else.  I'm constantly searching for more effective methods of revealing this mystery, and it is the basis of my artistic practice.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

My process for these mixed media pieces usually begins with a monotype base layer, to which I add further layers of color.  The monotype itself consists of many layers of oil-based lithographic ink, thinned to transparency in order to allow the colors of previous layers to show through.  In this way, I believe the mixing of colors to be richer and more varied than if I pre-mixed the inks in advance.  Normally there are at least four to six passes through the press, with leaves and other plant materials included in at least some of the pressings.  All of these pieces are done on a substrate of Rives BFK 100% cotton printmaking paper; inks and other materials are as archival and lightfast as possible.  

After the monotype is dry, layers of watercolor, colored pencil, and other (mainly transparent) media are added.  Collage elements may also be added; these are usually pieces of discarded monotypes.  With this layering process, I hope to achieve a certain luminosity and brilliance, as well as a blending and unity of images. This unity is an objective in conveying the content of my work.  The process I use in creating these pieces is one that I developed myself through trial and error, in an effort to achieve the result I desired.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone interested in continuing the blog hop, so I guess the hop stops here. If you'd like to join in, please let me know, and I'll send you the details.