Storehouse Counting

12"x21",silkscreen border palms, embroidery and machine stitching, digital prints, gelatin prints, momigami paper, metallic mottled paper and metallic paint, wire, cotton, satin cloth.

This is the second in my sacred cloth series of three. I never thought I'd place so many images but I was trying to show volume in real and ghost images. The jug reminds me of a feminine fertile shape and my research takes me to the ancient storehouses. Once people settle and discontinue desert wandering there is a need for storehouses. Olive oil, wine, vinegar and fish sauce to name a few would be accounted for and held in cool walled spaces. The ancient fish sauce referred to as Garum, was a condiment used on a variety of dishes. Recipes from Greece, Rome and Spain tell of a combination of fatty fish as sardines, fermentation and an addition of herbs. A remnant of this sauce was tested and it seems this fish sauce was high in protein, amino acids, minerals and Vitamin B. Please pass the Garum!! I added markings as inventory or accounting marks of all these valuable containers. The metallic papers used in the border were a gift from friend Deena years ago...never knowing when they would ever be used.
Personally this storehouse reminds me of mine (shed) where I keep stuff., some valuable and some not so much. Boxes of family memories, an accounting of sorts, citizenship papers, passports, birth, death and marriage certificates. One box is full of photos. First generation Americans, Norwegian, Russian, Polish...mostly with stern faces, formal suits, hats and shoes. I know some of the faces but others could be cousins, uncles, friends...who are these people? I'm at the end of my generation and the next will have no connection to these faces...it ends with me!

I had a wonderful visit with my son...the weather was perfect and we had great dinners at the harbor sitting outside watching playful otters and the coming and going of boats, good food and spectacular sunsets. Tuesday  we had a 10 hour blackout which resulted in computer problems and today is my first day back online...very painful indeed! So I'm back well rested and working on my third sacred cloth and enjoying this July!

Thank My Lucky Star!

Sacred Vessel Series

My neighbor and friend (she owns two of my pieces) called the other day to bring over a friend visiting from NY for a studio visit. We had a great time and Richard decided on these two prints. This one on the left is a gelatin print (yes, Knox gelatin) with pencil and acrylic paint and ink. It measures 18"x18" framed and the title is "Baptism of Dreams" The second one, on the right also measures 18"x18" framed and is a gelatin print. It's title is "Faith, Being & Necessity". It has collage, pencil and soft pastel. I shipped it off to him via UPS and he sent me a note to say all went well and he is very happy! I am so awful at marketing, I wish it all could be this easy.

Pablo is out of town and I'm working on new work...what a fine mess I've made...I will clean up late tomorrow. I'm also eating all the foods he doesn't like...eggplant, sundried tomatoes...I'm really putting on the feedbag...I have trouble with limits sometime!ha

A little explaining:" Making Monotypes "Using a Gelatin Plate by Nancy Marculewicz was a book that began this series. I have been a printmaker for years but was looking for a cleaner, less toxic way to make monotypes and the fun of using my cooking talents (boiling gelatin)with art making! The direction of the series Sacred Vessels came about after brain storming with my friend Deena in various coffee houses around town. It was extremely helpful having a direction when working with a short lived element such as gelatin. We worked together one evening making the plate and another evening printing our drawings of vessels. I can tell you, Pablo came home to a floor covered (drying time) in monotypes! We later developed these images at our own studios but it was great fun having one another for the basic production.