Village Memories

I've re-posted the photo of the village lino cut from March 15th and now the result of that print is the 11'x11' piece in golds, greys, reds and black. My conversation began with the topic of memories and with the beginning of adding acrylic the print started lifting, floating and smearing while I began dabbing, blotting and wildly brushing. It was a back and forth effort at which point I added linen, plastic netting, photo collage to finish the 'scene'. It feels like a memory...not mine but maybe a memory floating in the cosmos. I'd much rather work in the abstract but this little village was a fun distraction.
The other photo is of a crochet matzos cover I made a few years ago for my holiday table. My crocheting had some major flaws so always the artist, I sewed on leaf applique' to hide the obvious errors and painted the leaves with fabric paint...added beads and a linen backing! Speaking of holidays....Happy Holidays and Spring Joy to each and every one!

Completed Gates

I'm four into my proposed ten pieces of working with acrylic, collage and ink on Yupo. I've decided to change my approach as I cannot keep trying to layer on this 'plastic paper'. The print of the gates 'lifted' as I added layers of color.
This first piece measures 11"x11", acrylic, collage and ink print. The meditation or conversation was about openings, new beginnings and so these gates have a feeling of opening. I added the black netting so as to focus on the center area.
The next image, also 11"x11" has the gates printed over a cloth collage and the meditation was about counting...all the counting I seem to do in a day...I wrote in ink with my left hand the numbers up to 8 and the bottom lines are as marks of time for me.
I like how as an artists we ask ourselves to be inventive, to take risks and all in all I'm playing well but again I'll need to change up my approach to this wonderful opaque paper. I believe I will need to work faster and allow the 'inner conversations' to be quick one word prompts...motivation to move forward with color etc...Wish me luck!

Ole'

Yes, here I am 493 miles later....the Mexican Border, sipping Margaritas and purchasing colorful textiles from street vendors.......METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING!!!!!!!
I've been clocking mileage on my stationery bike and according to Google the miles between Santa Cruz, CA and the Mexican Border are approximately 485! I refuse to tell how long I've been at this but for me it's a celebration. Exercise on this bike most days, tracking the mileage has given me a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. Have I lost weight? no, but this kind of determination gives me confidence to complete some very large artistic goals I have set for myself in the next year. What's next? I'm turning this bike around and will begin pedaling tomorrow morning...yes...that's right, I'm heading for the Canadian Border...metaphorically!!!
Happy Spring Everyone!

Conversations from Within

A couple of examples of my continuing quest with Yupo. I'm working my way through my Yupo tablet. I've cut these down to 11"x11" and "conversations from within" is my guiding statement. Typically I've written some topics to these conversations and then it all changes...the writing, the dreams, meditations and beginning imagery truly determines the direction. I'm dancing a dance and after all these years, I'm finally understanding that it's impossible for me to always lead the way...give and take...! Jo of MYSTORY asked me if I had planned any printmaking on this Yupo. The gate looking image is a relief print using a very thin piece of foam core and the one that resembles an odd looking village is a fragment from a very old lino cut. I have plans to add collage, acrylic and inks so I'm beginning to make marks on these two.

My youngest son has plans to visit this week...hopefully we will have good weather, eat well and maybe shopping too. I hope he will help me rearrange stuff in my storage shed...an ongoing project and perfect for dry sunny days.

Tax Appointment Reward!

Pablo and I had scheduled our tax appointment with our CPA yesterday and rewarded ourselves (we have resistance to the whole tax information gathering process)with a short drive to Moss Landing. A small little area between Santa Cruz and Monterey. It is located on the shore of Monterey
Bay at the mouth of Elkhorn Slough. The wildlife on any given day is amazing...sea otters, sea lions, gulls, pelicans and egrets to name a few. It is also home to Moss Landing Marine Laboratories research facility sponsored by seven CA universities.
We stopped at an eatery called "The Whole Enchilada" for a wonderful meal. Along with my icy/'salty Margarita, I ordered a shrimp and crab Chile Relleno! Spectacular, the best of my whole life! Pablo ordered a Corona Light with lime and shrimp/crab Enchilada combo....also spectacular! The air was sparkly fresh and sunny (today we have clouds and rain) and we were going to walk around looking at the fishing boats and little shops but we were both so full we waddled over to the water and took this photo, did very little shopping...mostly drove home digesting all the way! Next time we may stick with appetizers! ha

On a note of recommendation: Santa Cruz, as most places, is loaded with coffee houses. Ours have beach atmosphere with high and low tide info as well as cozy coffee places tucked into book shops. We have at least 5 Starbucks that do very well. When we stay home in the morning we have been enjoying Starbucks VIA ready brew (instant) and not at all like my mother's Taster's Choice . We buy the Colombia in 12 separate servings...I'm serious it is really good!

"Wings of Home"

38"x38" acrylic, collage and soft pastel. 'Wings of Home' is the last in my series about wings and meditation. So each are related in color and or shapes to a butterfly from my color plate book. These markings are from a butterfly from South America. I approached this many different ways and each time had to begin again. The center area is rich with texture from all the changes. I added polka dot trim as I find butterflies sometimes fanciful.( Here in Santa Cruz we are the winter home for the Monarch butterfly and it is a special treat to find them by the thousands clinging to a tree in some special viewing areas. ) I also added a coat of brown glaze before I added the pastel...it seems to give a muted ancient look as Home to me is a state of mind. I used a thick layer of soft pastel and loved the pure color application but it took hours to clean up all the excess powder in the studio. I'm taking a break from my love- hate connection to pastel and will return later to these beautiful colors.

Last night I took Pablo to a traditional pea soup and pancake dinner at Viking Hall here in town. They served two kinds of pea soup (yellow and green) brown bread, red potatoes and mustard with pancakes, lingonberry and creme for dessert!!! My father and grandparents immigrated to this country from Norway so I was familiar with the culture. Good food, friendly people and three accordion players playing the old songs! Pablo had a good time...had an interesting conversation with a young fellow from Sweden about his country...I enjoyed the pancakes!!

Yupo: TIME

8"x8", Yupo paper, acrylic, collage and ink. I placed this mosaic to better see the progress of this adventure in Yupo. What did I learn? This paper can handle lightweight fabric and paper collage. Glazing worked well or at least I'll try it again.
Below is the 'conversation' that I wrote as I began this piece and referred to as I painted. I'm looking forward to creating nine more and I have topics to consider from 'forgiveness' to' choices' to 'belonging'...nine in total!

I have also finished my last of the three large pastel pieces having to do with wings and my long standing meditation. I had a place in mind to hang these three...a lovely restaurant with smooth concrete walls. I was willing to approach the owner with my photos and I planned on special framing. Alas, the restaurant has closed...sign of the times. So now I will photograph and then carefully store them in a safe place unframed until I see a place that will work.

TIME

In space
Where cares are few
In light
Where all is seen
In circles
Where movement is guaranteed
Counting what has been
Counting on what will be
Black marks making secret wishes
Is there time?
Time enough for me?