Phase 7 - look for patterns (then do something)

 (kitty thought: “O that crazy human of mine.”) 

More adventures in giant collaging this past week! This is Fortuna (she doesn’t have wings yet - soon ;)) I didn’t have a piece of art paper big enough for the skirt, so I found this map of Georgia in the car. My feline assistant had a great time “helping” move the pieces of paper around the studio. She also enjoyed watching me climb up on a ladder and hold the camera to the ceiling. I’m trying to put it together in a way that matches with what it is – using different pieces of paper for each material and layering them to reflect their positions in space (the bird on top of the glove on top of the sleeve on top of the skin).  

Some Influences for this work:

New York last week

Botticelli, Fortitude,1470

tempera on panel

Uffizi, Florence

Credi, Venusc. ca.1490
tempera on panel
 Uffizi, Florence

I’ve also been giving some thought to the back and how to attach the pieces in the long term. I delivered “Open Hearted” to Limner Gallery this week (J!) for the upcoming show (opening May 18^th). I rephotographed the piece and finalized the back/hanging support. It’s neon with hand-written Gothic script and sits on 4 gold balls in the corners so that the piece floats about 2 inches off the wall and is surrounded by a neon halo. This effect can’t be seen in the photo, but I wanted to give viewers who see the work in person a little something extra – an affect of space, light, and reflection that the digital reproduction can’t offer (a new development in my quest to  understand/contrast/reconcile?  human vs. mechanical reproduction of imagery.)

Front

Back

Another art adventure this past week – I visited Zea Mays Printmaking for the first time. I’ve been researching less toxic and more environmentally friendly printmaking techniques for about a year now (which definitely falls under the heading of “things take longer than I anticipate” ;)). In that research though, I came across this gem of a studio. I’m a visual learner (surprise!), so even though online information is generously provided, I had a feeling that if I could see the techniques demonstrated, ask questions, and participate, the information would “stick” better.  I signed up for a lesson with an expert, director Liz Chalfin. I knew it was the right place immediately - the studio is bright, clean, and smelled pleasantly of food (soy sauce and vegetable oil are used in the process), instead of any chemical associated with a canister, meter, or biohazard label. Love, love, love!  I worked on two etching plates – one based on the parrot experiment and another based on last weeks falcon drawing. Learning the process in two phases (1) plate preparation, ground, drawing (2) etching, inking, proofing, currently, I’m in the drawing stage of phase 1, but will post the results when printed J

On the home front - I did a little gardening (and some cookie baking.) My "garden" is tiny - but colorful, and the cookies were a present for volunteers who helped with collections care at a local museum (baking to help protect and care for art - thumbs up!!) A funny side affect of this time/space management art project on my daily life - I decided to plant an apple tree (beautiful and a good investment because apples would rank very high on an edible "things I like" list). I do not have a van or truck, but after transporting the 9 ft roll of Lacrimae Rerum from Virginia to New York, moving an 8ft tree was a piece-o-(cookie)cake. Evidence of the transformative power of art!