"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.

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.