Phase 6 – start with what you know and build from there (or practice, practice, practice), update

with my model heart

O my - lots of snow and lots of art this week. When it comes to snow, I'm like a cat (watching from the window is fine, but I don't like having to touch it;) so, over the weekend, I stayed inside and worked on phase 6.

I've been thinking about the purpose of phase 6 (and Tempus Fugit in general), particularly in terms of forming habits. I just listened (and re-listened) to "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, and "practice" and "habit" seem pretty closely linked to me.  I've been wondering if these year-long projects (starting with Power in Precision) are related to habit-formation, since they are based on repetition through time. From this perspective, Precision could be about establishing the habit of continuous art-making, and the small scale of the the works allowed the project to be less intimidating and more practical. Once the habit of continuous art-making was established, other factors (like the scale or working time) could be expanded. Looked at from that perspective, maybe Tempus Fugit is a way of testing different time/space arrangements in order to reposition the habit of art-making so that it has a more prominent role. Hmmmm.

More specific to phase 6, when it came to "starting with what I know" - the answer was clear - minis! I made this tiny relief print of a heart this week because, while I liked the card I started at craft night last week, I felt like it needed more anatomically correct hearts in the corners and a toned background.

I know some of you have been wondering where the quarter went,
so I thought I'd bring it back for old times sake ;)

Due to my interest in the existence of the soul, I have a "thing" for hearts (and butterflies, and birds, and gold-paint, and ghosts (etc.).) It may also be a little Valentinesdayness creeping in, working with these this week at davistudio, and a request from a friend for an artwork, rhythmic and lyrical, that inspired me to keep going with the theme. I made this piece relating to my favorite topics of the soul and mechanical vs. human repetition

The grid came straight from working on the parrots, which are (finally!) finished. I find this piece very funny and humbling. I probably looked at the parrot live for about 20 minutes, and have since spent hours trying to draw it.  I needed all 9 attempts (practice, practice, practice). There's an especially big jump between parrot 5 (in the middle) and parrot 6 (right of center) - that's where I made the tiny parrot in the mini salon. I admit I was frustrated and disappointed after parrot 5, so I went back to the mini scale (the principle for phase 6 actually works - what-huh!?!) Now that I've practiced, I feel ready to etch the parrot (despite not having the necessary materials or set up - details, details, haha).

I also finished this stage of the piece on wood. As the detail photos show, there are lots and lots of tiny parallel lines in different shades of blue ink between the wood grain, which I emphasized in gold.  There's only one little spot that got smudged - I had some feline assistance with that (ahem).

I'm sure she feels really guilty about it deep down,
deep, deep down...
deep, deep, deep down...
somewhere

On the topic of hearts - though I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day, this year, I decided that it's an excellent excuse to bake, decorate, and give cookies.