Accordion Book

Just for fun and self- encouragement I made this little accordion book, containing some positive sayings along with the images. I used a piece of Rives BFK printmaking paper which already had a bit of paint on it, and added more drawing and collage elements on top of that...

The front (or back, depending on how you look at it)...

 pages 1 - 3 on the other side... image transfers of Avolkitesvara, and my own photo of the forest...

 pages 4 - 6... some collage bits and a little woodblock print, a drawing of a sprouting seed, and some more image transfers of plant parts... (You can't control what happens, only your own reaction to it.)  (Forgive yourself, mistakes are lessons.)

 pages 7 and 8... image transfer of plant parts, a stamped gold frame and cut out of a lily... (Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.)

 pages 9 -11 (the other side)... a combination of acrylic ink painting,drawing, and collage... (You, as much as anyone else, deserve your love and affection.)

pages 12 - 14...acrylic ink painting, collage, woodblock print, drawing, metallic crayon... (What you think, you become.)  (Happiness depends solely on what you think.)

pages 15 and 16... acrylic ink painting, collage, woodblock print, drawing, metallic crayon...




I'm not sure if I'll put covers on it, but probably not, as they would cover up some parts that I really like. Don't know exactly what I'll do with this, but it was fun and therapeutic to make... hope you enjoyed it!

Scary Christmas to Me

Christmas can be a bit scary.  I don't just mean the whole "getting-the-house-cleaned-&-decorated-(omg- where did we put those ornaments?)-&-buying-presents-&-wrapping-presents-&-making-food-&-no-way-will-I-get-all-this-done-in-time" thing.  No.  My Christmas is even scarier than that.

"What could possibly be scarier than that?" you may ask in astonished skepticism. OK. I'll show you.  Be ready to hide your eyes.  It's-

a blank canvas.  This simple white rectangle has struck cold fear into the hearts of artists for centuries, and I am no exception.  The fact that I hadn't done this type of work in- oh, let's see- since I got my BFA in 1993- served to increase the degree of terror by a factor of about- well, a lot.

But I forged ahead, because, you know- it's Christmas.  My baby (my daughter, who, by virtue of being my youngest, will always be my baby) had expressed to me that she wanted a painting of a big, red, 'abstract-ish' flower to set on her living room mantle.  I chose one of my red amaryllis photos, and cropped it to make an interesting (or so I hoped) composition. 

the original photo

I sketched the composition onto the canvas, bought paint, got out the brushes, took a deep breath, and began.

At the end of the second day (sorry, I forgot to photograph the first day), I was surprised at how far I'd progressed, and was feeling pretty pleased with myself.  I guess it's sort of like riding a bike; it all comes back to you...

...or not.  At the end of the third day, it seemed I hadn't gotten much done at all, compared to day two.  What the heck happened?  Well, I was suffering from a respiratory infection, and it could be that I spent more time blowing my nose than painting.  Sure, that must be it, right?

 

The fourth day was a nine hour painting marathon; I could hardly believe it when I finally checked the time and found it was 4:00.  I'd started at 8:00 that morning, and after being surprised by the time, I painted for another hour.  At that point, I felt it was approaching the way I had envisioned it. What bothered me was the first part I had worked on- the big flower at the top left, which now seemed too flat and too orange.  The stamens/anthers were also a problem; I couldn't decide if they needed to be brought out more, moved, or what.  Two days to Christmas and counting.

The next day I resolved most of the issues.  I repainted the left flower almost entirely, including the stamens, which I moved over toward the right.  I repainted the background for at least the twelfth time, and decided to call it finished.  Here is the final version. For whatever reason, the background color looks weird in this photo, but otherwise it's pretty accurate. 

But then, my final, and biggest fear reared its ugly head:  What if she didn't like it?  Of course she would never tell me; she'd just live a tortured life with this horrible thing on her mantle.  What was I thinking?  The painting really wasn't abstract at all- my own personal style had taken over without me even knowing it!

It was Christmas Eve, so I resisted the temptation to re-paint the whole thing (yes, that insane thought did actually cross my mind), and decided to wait for her reaction before freaking out completely. (Yes, I can hear you all laughing right now...) 

She loved it!  She said she liked it because she could tell I painted it- it was my "style".  Do you think she meant it?  Maybe she just didn't want to hurt my feelings...



OK, now for an abrupt change of subject... I hope you've been reading Seth Apter's online collaborative project "The Pulse" on his blog The Altered Page.  Part three, "Master Class", is now underway, and my answer to the question, 'If you could take a class from one artist from anytime in history, including the present, who would it be and why?' is featured on the Christmas day post.  Please click on the link above or the image below to check it out!

Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season to you all, my dear friends.  May you be blessed by true peace and joy.

Kiva Spirits

For Karin- May the Spirits of the Kiva speed your healing.

Transformation 31

I actually finished this piece a couple of weeks ago, but just didn't post it because I wasn't 100 percent totally sure it was finished. Making decisions is not one of my assets as a human being, but let's just not go there... I have a couple more of these in the works, but as I might have mentioned before, I feel like this series has almost run its course, or come to an inevitable conclusion, or is stale and boring (at least to me). I really want to move on to something different, but I'm not sure exactly what. Once again, the old indecision problem has reared its ugly head. If any one has ideas or experiences you can share about how to handle this transition, please let me know.

Gateway

Another new piece- I hope you enjoy it.
Size: 12"x14"
Medium: monotype collage
Price: $295.00

Pathways of Remembrance II

I don't want to get all sappy here, but I have realized lately how much the past is always with us. It comes back to get you when you least expect it- like when you hear an old song and it brings back the exact emotions you were feeling when it was popular. I was walking down the hall yesterday and suddenly a smell- which I couldn't identify in words- took me to a particular place and time. I still couldn't tell you what the smell was- some cologne I wore in high school? The past is there, inside. You can run, but you can't hide.

Pathways of Remembrance

I started thinking about how the past is never really gone; it lives in our memories. But more than that, everything we have experienced has affected us, changed us in some way, made us who we are. No matter how we may try to hide it, or bury it so deep inside that we don't think about it, it has become a part of us.

Transformation 28

Just wanted to post this quickly before going out of town for a few days. Happy Spring!

Seed Mandala 31 (Moth-man Death-Star)

Sometimes I make up funny names for these, based on what they remind me of. For instance, there are a couple that look like uteruses (uteri?), and others that bring to mind native American designs, galaxies, butterflies, or whatever. There was no intention to make them that way; I let chance or spirit or flow have a part in making these. Like seeing shapes in the clouds, people see completely different things in them - often something to meditate on. well, you might not want to meditate on Moth-man death-star...

Seed Mandala 30 (Dancing Earth Goddess)

I haven't posted much on here lately because I wasn't feeling well. So, to sort of make up for the gap I'm posting two paintings today. This one has been through many transformations and permutations, and finally ended up a dancing Earth goddess. Believe it or not, most of these mandala pieces end up in the garbage. Abstract art is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. Blessed be!

Transformation 24

All of the matter and energy in the entire universe was once contained in "a space so small that it would make a proton look enormous." (Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything) This, according to many scientists, was the situation before the Big Bang. Some experts think there may have been untold numbers of universes before this one, constantly expanding and then contracting back to that tiny point of matter. That we exist in this one is, they say, simply a matter of chance. "Although the creation of a universe might be very unlikely, Tryon (of Columbia University) emphasized that no one had counted the failed attempts." What were the other universes like, I wonder?

Transformation 27

I have no idea what else to say about these. What do people want to know? Does anyone really read these? I'm sure no one wants to know about my dull life; I have no stories to tell, unless I make some up. So instead, I'll quote Carl Sagan: "Not all of our ancestors made the same sharp distinction we do between Earth and sky. The grandparents of the Olympian gods were...Uranus, god of the sky, and Gaia, goddess of the Earth. ancient Mesopotamians had the same idea. The chief gods of the Konyak Nagas of India today are called Gawang, "Earth-Sky", and Zangban, "Sky-Earth". That's where we live. That's where we come from. The sky and the Earth are one."

Transformation 26

Last day of February! It's been a very hard month of darkness, both literally and otherwise. Finally, the days are getting noticeably longer. Here's a little winter-spirit to carry us into spring; as she transforms dark into light, we will change with her...

Transformation 23

It was a dark and stormy night... speaking of dark, is February over yet? Okay, seriously. The elements of transformation are, in fact, the elements: air, earth, fire, water, spirit. Science tells us that once the earth was covered in fire, at another time, in water. Intuitively, these are both associated with cleansing, rebirth, etc. It's fitting, then, that these elements play a part in many kinds of transformation.

Transformation 22

In this one, I tried to convey the feeling of morning mist as the sun begins to rise. I really struggled with getting the right colors and sense of light. A lot of people think that making a collage would be pretty simple; I did too, until I started making them. It's very difficult to get various unrelated pieces to look as if they belong together, and then making them fit is yet another whole level of frustration. I can only describe it as attempting to solve some wacky puzzle that doesn't really have a solution, because all the pieces came from different boxes and there's no picture on the lid to look at. I'm not sure if this is a very good analogy, but it's the best I can come up with right now. I hope you like it!

Transformation 25

I really don't like to tell people what my work "means" because I think it means something different to each person. Of course, butterflies have long been symbols of change, since their form itself metamorphoses so drastically. To early humans this must have seemed quite magical, as it still does to me. We all grow and change, both physically and mentally, though much more gradually. Entering a new phase of my life, I'm crossing from familiar terrain into unmapped territory, which is all the more beautiful because of its mystery... Hey, I think I just told you what it means. But don't take my word for it, make up your own story.
As Bob Dylan said, "He who's not busy bein' born is busy dyin'."