Wings for Icarus

15"x15", acrylic, tissue paper collage, photo transfer on satin, wax thread and gel pen on paper.
This was easy and fun and rather slow what with being busy with other things this week. I had thought I was going to do more sewing but that didn't happen, I thought I might have many different colors but this grey lavender became important. In the myth Icarus, his father Daedalus fashions wings out of feathers and wax so he and his son might escape. I see the wings as hanging and possibly drying or waiting for the moment to try them on. I believe the gray becomes cover atmosphere for this upcoming flight and we all know that Icarus had so much joy in the act of flying that he forgot his fathers warnings and flew too close to the sun!

I've written recently about the perils of the asteroid fields but will share them when I have a piece with more asteroid shapes.Right now I'm working on a larger piece that is promising with large and small shapes.

New Year just ahead. I counted the pieces I've completed this year and as I promised myself, I reached 40...some I love, some are awful, some need work, some need to be added to the collage pile and some I will frame. Now I'm deeply into my Space series. Usually this time of year I choose a word that best describes what I hope will be a guiding force. I post it in the studio as a reminder of my connection. Nothing yet but I have a few more days. Happy New Year!!
UPDATE:  ACCEPTANCE  Hopefully not a mindless approach but more of a thoughtful acceptance. I have the word boldly placed on my wall above my work table and I'm sure it will catch my eye and I know I will forget about it as well but it is there as a reminder for consideration in a new more careful way....a choice......2012!

First and Second

First: "Early Morning Departure" 22"x26, foamcore, mixed media , corrugated cardboard, collage including paper clocks, Austrian train ticket, bird and assorted dials. Acrylic with soft pastel overlay. This piece was created quite awhile ago and I have fond feelings for it. I was going for a cockpit, dashboard, windshield, morning light space departure.

Second: I recently showed this altered view from playing on Pixlr and franswazz  commented and requested to see both images together to compare changes! The first has the pleasure of texture missing in this altered view but the space bright light and markings on this altered piece is appealing. I might print it out on some very good paper but of course I'm limited to size with my printer. I like them both for different reasons.

Update: I've been enjoying my explorations of the asteroid field and combining those images with writing and with the myth of Icarus. Using photo transfers on silk, sewing, acrylic and glazing....we shall see....right now quite a mess at the work table. Winter Solstice is a great time for me to work as I have fewer distractions (beach & pool).

May this season of light and love bless each and everyone one of you and your families!

Call to Aphrodite/Venus

15"x15" fabric and paper collage, acrylic, oil pastel and random words from 'Hymn to Aphrodite' by Sappho.

I've enjoyed the rich mythology connected to Aphrodite/Venus and have found many connections to the other Gods and planets. In this piece I travelled on Venus to the area named Ishtar Terra where I revealed remnants and found fragments of Aphrodite's  love potion bottles...as if the Goddess had a storage of these mixtures but long forgotten in this northern  region of the planet?! The words  scratched onto the dark surface  represent the Sappho poem which is part poem, prayer , supplication as well as words of admiration.

My earliest encounter with Venus (the goddess) was with the 1948 movie titled "One Touch of Venus" starring  Ava Gardner. I was very young and regularly watched old B&W movies with my sister on TV weekend afternoons. This light comedy begins as an Anatolian Venus sculpture( with arms)  is on display at a department store. One evening a lonely window dresser kisses the cold stone check of Venus and yes, Voila, she comes to life and the real story begins! I was completely impressed with this movie and even to this day I smile at the memory and also smile when I see an interestingly posed mannequin.

For now I'm leaving Venus and skipping past Mars.  It is too crowded for me on Mars with Russians and US expeditions. I'm off to the Asteroid fields between Mars and Jupiter.

Altered "Morning Departure"

22"x24" mixed media....Altered from original using Pixlr.  Ragzedge Arts......Louciao used this site to alter her photograph on her latest post and I was impressed. I decided to visit and play around with the many choices offered for free. This is an older work that I like and in the same theme of space travel so I rather enjoyed the fun of punching up the color, contrast and texture. I was going for a very very outer space feel. It was an amazing experience for me as I have never really worked with all the bells and whistles in imaging. Not sure what to do with it besides sharing but this was a needed playtime... my new Venus piece has been slow going and generally giving me fits.

Venus 460' Celsius

Six views 5"x8" measuring as a whole 15"x15", acrylic, collage, glazing. I began this piece with glazes of yellow to gold as representational of the Venus sulphuric soup atmosphere. I got myself stuck with days of timid applications of color when what I needed to do was make some bold approaches. Finally spent yesterday with applications of color, collage, ripping, gluing and marking until I had two bottles of used brushes to clean and very tired. Venus land temperatures are very high so I have these numbered views created before the (hypothetical) camera would dissolve in the heat. For the fun of playing "Where's Waldo", you might look for the last 'bug' about to be turned to funerary ash as we all know the bugs are the last to go! Stepping back from this piece I can't help but be okay with the final out come....it was a hard journey with so much adding and subtracting but now I rather like it!

First being Last

Mercury III    16"x16" Rives BFK, acrylic, paper collage, heavy molding paste, soft pastel. Actually this is the third in the series of viewing Mercury. Still feeling the role as observer and maybe the photographer of this Mercury surface. I used the red pastel to spotlight and mark the interesting "Degas" crater.   Being so close to the sun, I would imagine sunset would be a calming welcome...wishing the hot searing sun away.

16"x16" Rives BFK, acrylic,molding paste, collage, soft pastel and white ink. Mercury I is my first attempt and it became as a blueprint errr brownprint of the massive craters covering the surface of this planet. I don't know who was in charge of the original mapping but it seems the larger or more interesting craters have been named after our great artists such as Beethoven, Verdi, Homer, Matisse to name a few. I don't get it? Maybe a tie in with impact craters and artists making an impact?? This piece became darker than I had hoped, the white ink places the names here and there along with impact target circles for landing and the red square once again marking a territory or section of Mercury.

More journal pages:
Looked into my personal flight pattern, heading due North with the clear instructions of turning southwest at first sighting of molten Mercury. Sure I'm nervous at the wheel after all this is my maiden voyage to planets unknown. I'm armed to the teeth with resolve and my spine is steel. My heart pounds in solid strokes and my hands grip this uncommon wheel. I'm on my first flight of many. I'm exploring the deepest center of mine and these planets. Take off, landing, navigating practiced at length in my sleep. Now wide awake, stars fly by, backlit space more colorful then I first imagined. Oceans of diamond stars weaving in and out of this tapestry of reflected sky.

Mercury II

The images are coming slowly, not sure about materials so I've been experimenting. Measures 16"x16" Rives BFK, tissue paper collage, both soft and oil pastel, acrylic glazes. The concept of mapping or sighting different terrain came up for me...I've created red squares as surrounding points of interest. Mercury's colors to the human eye would be muted but I have been looking at Messenger's camera views which have exaggerated colors and then I exaggerated more!. I would like to try a few more times with Mercury and then move on to Venus. Below is some writing from my journal as a way of also bringing the mythology and facts of Mercury together to find my true heart of this exploration.

This pock marked surface
White powder pulverized from impacts off the Richter Scale.
Speed of the light-footed has not been the solution.
Unavoidable hits, crossfire pounding debris, dry dusty tears at each shallow crater.
Long days, longer than mine by three
A loneliness prevails and this heavenly messenger is sorrowfully unclear

One noble occupation God Mercury angel of mine, promises to escort souls swiftly to the afterlife.
Passengers placed near gray shadowed rocks, dark, safe, timeless hours seeking the wait station,
the ticket window, the date and arrival and departure chalk board with color pamphlets for free.

Unexpected Gift!

This collage measures 6"x6" and is the creation of Ghislaine Bruno. She was one of the artists that won my postcard send-a-way and she generously sent me this treasure(all the way from France) in response to me sending her my postcard. Am I lucky? Do drop by and visit Ghislaine here...isn't blogland full of surprises!

Birthday Update: Last Tuesday the 25th was my birthday and one of the ways we began the celebration was with a hardy Huevos Rancheros breakfast at a cafe on the beach. To our surprise was a perfect view of 2 Humpback whales feasting on anchovies! What an amazing sight...a wish come true!  Photos of these whales feeding in our bay have been all over the Internet but we got the up close "in person" view!

Migration/Talisman 6

The discs measure approx 2 1/2" and the talismans approx. 3 1/2" in length. air drying clay, acrylic, wire, beads and tissue paper collage. Silver, gold and copper leaf.

This makes a total of eight and I believe will be the end of these migration discs...also the end of the bag of clay! I plan on framing them together in a boxed type frame...worthy  of an artifact! Great fun and challenge working with clay and outside of my comfort zone. This art making reminded me of one of my 'family stories':

The story begins with me (very young) taking a field trip with my Bluebird troop to a local cannery.  Soon after I donned my grandmothers hairnet and set up my very own cannery in the driveway. I used my mothers canning jars and included water and added a mixture of ALL her flowers...fuchsia and azaleas etc...I placed these jars on the fence in a row so the sun would heat these concoctions and I believe I was rather pleased with myself until my mother went into a minor shock! This is one of the stories that seemed to prove I was a bit of a puzzle and here I am full circle 100 + years later creating these artifacts of migration discs that only exist in my imagination. Making these has given me profound joy and with my writing...personal insights.

What is next? I always check my list of pulls and that gives me direction. Right now I have two books on my work table: "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan and "Our Universe" by Roy A. Gallant. I have been regularly saving articles reporting on discoveries of new planets and I am on a waiting list for a book on Myths of the Universe at the library. I've explored this before...planets, stars, moons and now I feel ready to take another look at this Universe and going to the edge of the Milky Way to see some of these "new" planets. I have posted a bit of writing from my last exploration several years ago and I will continue to fill my journal and paint from science and my imagination...my own brand of Raggedy Ann Imagination?!

Loving planets and stars. Sighting the loyal rainbow ringed Neptune and old Pluto so easily forgotten.
Remembering and loving the brave walks on the hills of Jupiter's north side and consciously
Adoring Venus lower regions as much or more than the upper levels and secret locations on
Mars.
Always shy, wary of the Dog Star, turning left at the Y, floating, descending in the clear frost
Of the Milky Way.
I've been space traveling before seasons of written time.
Once riding the arrow of the Huntress and resting under the Scorpion's tail. Now in beginning
Recall, telling my stories in recorded messages and familiar pictographs of the years of loving and
Living among the planets and stars.

Migration discs 2

Air  drying clay, silver leaf, fabric, yarn, glass and charm with acrylic glaze. Approx. 3" diameter and 21/2" diameter.

Completed these two migration discs and working on a few more. Love the idea of the mystery of discovery as in an archaeological find. A homing device of sorts, simple markings, clarifying in code the dream like pull of migration.

We are having warm Autumn days and cool nights and even some of our leaves are turning yellow.It's getting dark earlier and the pumpkins are out on porches.

Delivery to Willow Manor

Willow Manor Ball is the best event in all of cyberspace! Do drop in at Life at Willow Manor on the 12th.!
I am unable to attend this fabulous event due to a crowded calendar (??) so I began searching for a spectacular "Regrets" gift.
I was nearly faint from exhaustion but decided on an enormous selection of Italian sponge cakes for Tess's dessert table! There are wonderful web design and events sites one of which is Weddings Under the Tuscan Sun.
The drivers I've hired are already on the road as it is a 37 hour trip from here. I have given clear instructions: US-33 East, turning right on Mill Ln just past Franklin St. Advising them to look for "Jen's Ice Cream Kitchen" on the corner. At this point I would expect the traffic to be bumper to bumper with other delivery trucks and I'm sure local police will be directing traffic to the Willow Manor. Sure hope the dessert table is a big virtual hit!!

4 instead of 3!

Couldn't help myself...I picked four names instead of three for this postcard send-a-way. The names are as follows:Ghislaine BRUNO of Papiers Nomades...JoMurray of JoMurray-Art.....Kirsten
Soeballe of Kunstner Vaerket ***....Leslie Avon Miller of textures shapes and color!!!!!Send me your mailing address and I'll send the postcards off Monday! This is a first for me and once again isn't Blogland a great place? These postcards will be sent far off...truly global

Postcard from Me to You!

How about me sending you one of my postcards? These are new cards I had printed up for a mailing in connection with a little local show this month. If I understand the send-a-way rules....I'll take your name when you comment and place it in a hat. Next Friday I'll pick three names and post them so each one of you can email me your address. I like receiving postcards and I hope you feel the same way!

I have no new completed work as it is the week of our High Holidays and there hasn't been time for studio work. 

Migratory disc

Clay disc, plastic charm, fabric and yarn. approx. 3" diameter.

I felt I needed 'send off' pieces to begin my new migration series. It seems to me before snow blowers and air conditioning many of our ancestors  regularly knew, for their very survival, they needed to pack up and move to a better feeding ground, a place to return to each season. Did we have the same migration instincts as geese and other migratory beings? NOTE: please, suspend all logic at this point in post. Could migratory implants, discs be found in the bones of our ancient kinsmen? What would they look like? Would they be heavily marked with information, maybe images or maps? In the name of art making, I have begun creating these images with inherent DNA, using an assortment of materials. In early Oct. BFF Deena and I have scheduled a clay/date but this week I'm exploring the materials at hand. Today I found an unopened bag of DAS pronto clay. The instructions are limited in English so I'll need to experiment. I've wrapped cloth, made marks and embedded things while the clay is still wet. I am hoping when dry the clay will allow me to paint, silver leaf and glue stuff!
Loving the idea of early migratory implants, amulets, discs, or talisman that will represent an ancient time when we noticed the change in light and air and moved on!

Has anyone worked with DAS pronto clay?

Uncovering Treasures

I have spent the week in deep cleaning mode. Rediscovering this Tapies book, a Klee and three other treasures has been a nice reward for such a big cleaning project. I plan on mailing the Klee book to my brother-in-law as he favors Klee and the book contains high quality prints that will be perfect for framing. It was such a pleasure sitting in my pristine space turning pages in this book. Looking over my well ordered space with my big plastic containers with lids gave me such a pause for pride until I realized I had neglected to label the contents? gasp! It will be chaotic around here when I start back to work!

This next week is about framing....not my favorite activity. I'm just about finished with the five pieces for the little showing and because I have all the tools out on the work table, it has  been requested that I frame a couple of posters for my son...actually his suggestion! Will also write an artist statement (my statements rarely make sense?) business cards in holders and deliver a press release...and then back to the studio!

I have changed my subtitle of the blog to "Autumn Migration" in honor of these next months of new work. I looked up migration in the dictionary and connected to words such as to wander, roam, rove, sojourn, changing directions and temporary stay as they reflect my feelings about stepping into new work. I also looked to my well worn list of what pulls me to express and listed there are  sacred vessels/sacred rituals, oasis/ways to find rest, directions and seasons and my love of planets, stars and moons to name a few. Not sure about materials I plan on using (if I can ever find anything in these boxes?) but I know I will begin writing, researching some of the latest discoveries and Hubble photos, rereading the stars and planets mythology I love so much and then migrate to a place of art making! Sounds easy enough? I was telling a friend, my work is my play.

Isn't Autumn a wonderful season...there is beauty in each season but I am partial to fall. Your favorite?

"Hope Deferred"

16"x16", Rives BFK, acrylic, stencil, collograph prints, oil pastel, water based inks.

What about those hopes, wishes, wants and prayers unanswered? Deferred, I believe. So many times I have expected results according to my timetable...Kronos time measured in hours and minutes. I've come to realize the really important  wishes and wants evolve from Kairos time. The time of meditation, the gentle flow allowing us to be in the moment much like art making, reading something wonderful...unhurried, unaware of a ticking clock. I have placed these vessels in clock towers and in catacombs of sorts. Letting them stay in place, far from disappointment and regret but rather undisturbed and in a deferred place.

This piece ends my 'pull' into Sacred Vessels...6 pieces at this time and I'm sure I'll return to creating  more  vessels as they are  an inexhaustible resource for me. Beginning now in September I'll be framing and preparing for a small local showing. My other challenge for Sept will be a deep cleaning and reorganizing of the studio.I don't know how I will sort through my collage boxes...maybe just buy bigger boxes?

As my New Year begins here in the autumn, my focus is on the year behind and the year ahead...a rich and beautiful place...Autumn Migration.

"Hope Realized"

18"18" Rives BFK, molding paste, stencil, collograph, water based inks, acrylic, oil pastel and collage.

"Hope Realized" is about the countless sacred hopes, wishes, wants, desires and prayers. How many times have I whispered a hope from simple to complex? A question came up in my journal...Do we have a lifetime allotment of wishes and if so is there a catalog, a tracking system? A daunting task by an unseen force? I've thought about my hopes realized and easily believe I have received a generous blessing of answered wishes and prayers. In this piece I used these awkward shaped collographed bottles in a row and added a rather large one below...filled to the brim and tightly sealed. Also noticing the space and time and energy between speaking, thinking, wanting and even forgetting. How the energy returns in beautiful ways...a phone call, a wrong turn, perfect information read, heard or overheard. Ways are found, doors are opened, roads leading directly and indirectly but one thing for sure...I believe hopes are powerful and are heard!
Next effort will be  "Hope Deferred".

Nights Remembered

UPDATE: The questionable feather fell off and I took it as my direction!

18"x24", collage, monotype, hand cut stamps, rubber washers, painted cloth, watercolor ink and acrylic.

This is my sacred night vessel and began with a flash of recalling babies crying in the night, worries, fears, storms inside and out. Those awful creaks and noises in the darkest night. A deep breath and the mood changes to night music, passion and safe sweet sleep. These last memories far outweigh the darker ones. Again out of 24, 455 nights most have been blessed and almost all safe. Safe, as compared to others who walk in the night in fear and sleep with hunger.

This piece was a challenge and became darker than I had hoped...I added mediums and glazes and unexpectedly the moons in the vessel took on a gold color. I added (Sweetwood) SW-8591 which was our  first phone number, it represents to me all those nights the phone rang with good news and even bad. Question: Let go of the bird feather or keep it? I was remembering the night songbirds but I think the feather might be a distraction? I have a collograph planned for the next two.

Sacred Days Lived

20"x20" Rives BFK, handmade rubber stamp, assorted rubber washers, acrylic ink, stencil, collage, acrylic paint.

On my birthday this October, I have calculated I will have lived 24,455days give or take a few considering leap years. I know I've slept through a few of those days and also know I was numb for many more then I care to count. All in all they have been beyond wonderful...a gift...each day a blessing adding up to such an amazing abundance. So many were allotted so few days and here I sit with this sacred number. I have placed them in vessels of varied sizes and shapes. The two larger ones I was seeking a glass jar appearance with the sun stamps reflecting like fireflies captured in my heart and memory.

If interested my sidebar has a slideshow of my 2005 Sacred Vessels...they began as gelatin prints, measure about 18"x18" framed. Each one changed with addition of mixed media, such as pastel, collage and graphite.. Most have sold but it is nice to revisit them and I really enjoyed the gelatin print process.

Now I'm onto 24, 455 sacred nights!

Mirroring Images

19"x20" Rives BFK, print from a collagraph plate which includes screen, netting and cut matt board, acrylic ink, old cloth with crochet (my mother's handwork) my bird stencil, graphite and acrylic glazing

Placing the two prints side by side began a dialogue in my journal.of all the images and all the judgements  good and bad while looking into the mirror. The vessel shape resembles a bottle of perfume my grandmother kept on her mirrored vanity...cut amber glass with little legs. This is my second in the Sacred Vessel Series and becomes a container for all the needless appraisals of mirror images and a reminder not to get caught up in the song of appearances but rather in the acceptance of a sturdy body available for life to be lived.

Unearthing the Sacred

This is my first piece in my return to the series "Sacred Vessels" that I explored around 2005. I've been writing in my journal and coming to terms with memories, events and circumstances in my past...one of the perks of being older is that I have plenty of history to draw upon!

This particular piece began by building with my favorite netting and then I tried some silver leaf? Things took a turn and I cut out the vessel from its background. Still not okay and feeling it was one of those failed pieces...I began ripping parts so as to save for future collage. Somewhere in this process, I liked the shapes and stopped to stitch the vessel back together again with a few pieces lost (brown paper backing). I rather like it now and realize it speaks to the memories I've been holding/letting go. In a true sense it was like unearthing sacred parts of my life...go figure?

It now measures 15"x 17", Rives BFK, collage, netting, silver leaf, molding paste, stencil, acrylic and wax thread.

Leaving Alhambra

These past several weeks have been rich in both research and art making. The Citadel/Oasis theme is a strong one for me and I have revisited it many times. I see it as an opportunity to explore a time of protection, respite, repose, comfort...a true time out. Dreaming of another place and time is a way of opening to new imagery, colors and textures. I began with eight first starts on 20"x20" paper and I'm showing four truly completed pieces in a small show in October. The other four are in a place of incomplete and unresolved. I might return to these four but for now I am on a new road. It's summertime and I'm anxious to play with another of my favorite subjects...the sacred vessel. Gathering materials, writing and feeling the excitement of a new challenge! How many this time? I'd like to try for 8 again as it is one of my favorite numbers.  I'm still working on creating 40 new pieces this year and if I were counting I'd say I have 21 completed since I began last autumn.

The first photo is of the Citadel and the other of a more interior view of Alhambra... taking in the beautiful ornately carved arches and sunlit fountains.This was a wonderful stopping off place for me and I will always remember these beautiful images...it was as if I was really there! The four finished pieces are under the title of Citadel in my sidebar.

Interiors

The question arises of the sought after peace and protection of the Citadel. Rooms enclosed by ornately carved window coverings...dark except for the filtered light and shadows cast by the sun and moon...living by natural light.
"Interiors" for me, reflects both the physical light and the value of a quiet mind. The purposeful awkward lines and shapes denotes the years of standing as a sacred oasis. I have so loved the research of the Alhambra and how today we are still influenced by it's art and design. 20"x20" Rives BFK, acrylic, collage, crayon, molding paste, fabric and stencil.

Tapestries & Carpets

One of my fondest memories was lying on my grandmother's carpet and tracing with my fingers the intricate design as well as looking closely at her hanging tapestry...finding and following all the color changes. Everything seemed old and mysterious and I was entertained for the longest time. These particular memories came to mind when I was considering the beauty of the Alhambra. Do you have first memories of connecting to art or design?

Tapestry 0170-8, 20"x20" Rives BFK, acrylic, collage, sepia crayons, tissue paper and wax thread.

Unsettled Dreams

Did you ever wake from an unsettling dream to find the room still dark but also faint light at the window? Knowing morning is more than a couple hours away, you convince yourself to return to sleep and hopefully dream a sweeter dream. I began this piece with fragments of Alhambra fountains and the  palette  reflecting a cool dark pre-dawn. I had an interesting free hand drawing and enjoyed researching the longitude and latitude of the Citadel (those times you awake and can't remember where you are?) This is just a piece of the whole as I've been unable to resolve it. I'll put it aside and maybe I can return with a fresh outlook. Fragment measures 8"x9" out of a 20"x20" piece, acrylic, stencil, graphite, charcoal pencil and oil pastel.

"Nightfall at the Citadel"

Before large cities and their grids that electrify the night there were nights with different views of the sky. Alive with colors opaque or as thin as smoke, planets and stars shining like precious colored stones. "Nightfall at the Citadel" surprised me as I had a very different beginning approach but as I collaged this, painted that, everything became walls and windows. To me, reflecting ethereal dreams or fading shadows.The silence of night, hardly a sound but an occasional angel song or faint footsteps on the staircase between many worlds...imagination runs wild in the dark  The fragrance sweet in the still night air. Rest at the Citadel would be imperative, the deafening silence, the comfort of silk and wool rugs and pillows. A perfect darkness and healing time for every tired bone. 20"x20" Rives BFK, collage, acrylic, graphite, glazes, molding paste.

Our neighborhood pool association is having a holiday BBQ and is taking the menu a step up....grilled salmon. We just refinished the concrete surrounding our pool and will be upgrading the bathrooms and showers in the adjoining cabana. With gas prices so high, I think my neighborhood pool will be my new staycation! I'm staying home and staying happy.  Have a great holiday!

Silent Alcove

This piece began with my admiration of this vase in the center. I couldn't help admire such a beautiful shape, the calligraphy and the still strong color. The name of the artisan is forgotten as his hands and eyes...all turned to dust but yet this vase remains. The citadel,for me, must have places of silence, maybe secret spaces....alcoves, tiled walls, and silk fabrics.
20"x20" Rives BFK, acrylic, stencils, collage, fabric, silk and lace, graphite and glazes.

Starts and Stops

It's been a very busy Spring here at the beach and my studio time has been catch as I can. I've posted this first piece of the new Citadel/Oasis series. I don't believe it is truly finished but the paper has taken all it can of my paint/glazing and if I add too much more it is sure to shred itself before my eyes. I began with molding paste, stencils, spray paint, lace, grid and paint and more paint.I can see places to possibly lighten or darken but mostly feel it's time to move on to the next one. I have also posted the piece at its beginning when I first began with basic shapes and a loose idea of a garden. The gardens of Alhambra are serene, warm with fragrant trees and shrubs and always water...a purposeful place, a garden of peace and tranquil thoughts.

I will be ready for my critique Friday with this one above almost finished piece and seven beginning pieces.

What is my Narrative?

This is yet one more of my "beginnings" that has now totaled 8...I'm so ready to go back to these pieces and take them to the next level.
Beyond art making skills, shapes, lines, form, texture etc. and far beyond tools and materials all of which I love to love is the narrative to me. The story that needs to be expressed, the secret revealed, the communication, the language of art making. I made a list recently of my personal 'pulls'...subjects that call me to explore and study time after time. One is 'Oasis" the ancient abstract dream place...the sanctuary. (I believe a 4star spa complete with cotton robe is our modern day oasis any upstanding ancient Roman would envy.) The Oasis for me in making art is a simple place of comfort, pleasure, safety and peace. I'm most called to this narrative when 'real' life is chaotic or the worlds chaos has become overwhelming to me. I've recently returned to the oasis in my art making and at this time choosing a place of exquisite gardens and architectural beauty...Alhambra. I've explored the beauty of this heavenly place through books, videos and waking dreams. I'm not sure how many attempts I'll need to tell my story. I'll be posting in the weeks ahead. What are your 'pulls', what subjects pull you?

Beginning, Starting, Developing

I had my last of the 4 birthday critiques with local artist Lisa. From the beginning we hit it off and as I've said before her critique style has been good thought provoking questions and interesting proposals. I had been complaining recently of great beginnings and the losses in the process of returning, reworking and finishing a piece. She understands my need to begin with a strong narrative and the frustrations about losing the 'light'. She challenged me to ONLY begin my work. One after another, yet another, each time one session in the studio...not going back, not clarifying or redeveloping intuitively or in a planned way.The photo reflects four pieces on paper that I've begun...some work more refined than others given how much studio time that one particular day. In some ways the pressure is off...In other ways there is desire to go back in and complete the story?! I'll attempt a few more and then give her a call...I'll need a 5th critique!

Pick a Card..Any Card

 UPDATE:  Thank you so much for this positive response to my new cards. I have all but given them away this past week but with that I was offered an opportunity to show my pieces locally. A good business card is always important!! I just know that each of you that go with Moo will not be disappointed. Let me know. FYI: the cards are printed on recycled paper.


My new business cards from Moo.com.  I like that I was able to place my art all over the surface and the back side carries name, number, website, blog etc. I ordered only 50 because I wanted to see the quality first and I can say I am well pleased. The card stock is sturdy and the colors true...the delivery time was fast so I'll be happy to re-order and also will have postcards printed too.

Rain and more Rain

1. I'm re posting this clip...turn up the volume and enjoy the full flavor of RAIN. Our storms are stacked up out in the Pacific and coming in each day minus the thunder. These rainy days are good studio days. The light isn't all that great but no distractions. Staying in, putting on soup and mixing color....a description of one of my perfect days. Right now I have a yellow/purple composition and a blue/ochre piece. Both are in the beginning place and I'm sure will change dramatically. Monday will be my last critique (4 in total) and I'm looking forward to yet another connection  about where and how the work is flowing.. Lisa asks good questions and always has fresh ideas and approaches.

Wait Station 011

20"x20", Rives BFK, acrylic stained fabric, wax thread, watercolor crayon, light molding paste and clear tar gel.

This is the second piece created from a recent fascination with the announced discovery of a large planet in and around our solar system. I believe the report said the location was in shadow near the cloud Oort. The details don't interest me but the names and ideas set me off in my own thoughts and imaginings. Below are a few lines from my journal on this subject which became fodder for at least two pieces. I'm easily moved by mythologies, antiquities, astronomy.

Remnants of the Wait Station
Long ago bearing the winds and sand storms which having left mere threads, bits of cloth
holding on to the rare jewel of the promised rest
Accommodations sparse, food and drink measured
Love ever available in this dark shadow of the Cloud called Oort.

My Winter Solstice is coming to an end and I will be posting more often. This time has been good for me...gotten me back on a tighter studio schedule and helped me to "see to" art related goals. I have never really left blogland as most mornings with a cup of coffee, I take a tour of all of your sites!

Love Code 2

UPDATE: March 3rd. Posted too soon, needed to take this one back to the easel and reconnect, re-engage, adding and taking away, glazing, stitching and now (maybe) it feels done!

20"x20" Rives BFK, acrylic soaked fabric squares, hand cut print block, light molding paste and water color crayon. Still finding Quinacridone Magenta a fun color especially mixed with latex color testers.
Spring is snapping at my heels and I'm getting pretty excited about the changes. Plenty of days of rain and cold wind but buds are showing up and the sun peeks through long enough to start the search for sunglasses.
Studio work is in full swing...taking a look at what 'pulls me' at the deepest level. I have put together my collection of Muses in a slide show in the sidebar. The next thing on my list is to freshen up my business cards...I am going with moo.com

Walking with Ruth

20"x20" Rives BFK, acrylic,paint stained fabric collage, cardboard, watercolor crayon and wax thread. A pattern has been emerging, a composition that I'm sinking into and will explore. The square shape represents (to me) the table top (helicopter view), in a grid, fragments, mosaic of memories in the grand collective. The four (legs) in the Byzantine view finder which also appeals to me. This particular piece has a quote from the Book of Ruth, a story I find beautiful and universal and ongoing in my art making.

One of my goals for this winter's hibernation was to get my website up and running with a link here on the blog. The site still begs me for tweaking but if you would click on my name M.Lehrer-Plansky in the sidebar, you might visit and look about. It feels so good to cross off a goal ... now forty + days until Spring... my really big studio goal!

"Keeping to the Middle Road"

20"x20" Rives BFK, collage, acrylic, molding paste, graphite and stencils.
Slow pace here in the studio....winter sunshine a pleasant break in rainy weather. A return to my treasured compass image.