listening pause

New piece this week :)!

Elysium, mixed media collage, 20 x 24," 2015

printed on a slightly darker gray this time and added black, white, and gold ink and pink color pencil.

with no digital adjustments - I heart safety orange!  Each plant has several tones of neon (2 orange, 3 pink, 2 yellow, and light purple and white). Also - I made the little tassels on the gold bow myself :).  The robes are in charcoal - I tried to build the folds off the marbling pattern that was already there. 

It was an intense week, making and photographing this one, then filling out the submission paper work. (Barring unforeseen circumstances) it's headed to the Sylvia Wald + Po Kim art gallery in New York for the 126th Annual Members Exhibition of the National Association of Women Artists in September.

Participating in N.A.W.A. is important to me, and this may be the only time this year my work will be shown in New York City, so I wanted to make something really, really special.

no new blocks, but lots of existing ones.

A little more about the process - it may seem like I made this really fast (5 days), but partly, that's because I didn't carve any new blocks.  It's a different way of using the same figurative and wing blocks from last week, and the plant blocks are from my "archive."

The sleeves and robe are patterned paper. For the sleeves, I masked out the light part then spray painted black (lightly!) over the dark sections to create the illusion of folds and shadows

busting out the spray paint :) 

For the robe, I purchased the marbled paper, and then tried to see the fold pattern in the existing marbling patterns. I added charcoal and color pencil, and also veins of gold ink where I wanted the light to reflect (inspired by Botticelli and one of my favorite paintings, The Birth of Venus, ca. 1485)

For the plants, I didn't have to look very far. I was trying to capture the feeling of looking at the plants in my yard. I used a few different colors of neon (I heart neon!). I sprayed each individual element with a coat of UV- protecting glaze, but even so, the color of the flowers will gradually fade (which I think is sad/beautiful).

For the iconography of the figure, I've been doing research for a different project on images of St. Michael. Some favorites:

Jaume Huguet, St. Michael, ca 1455 - 60

Juan de la Abadía, Saint Michael Weighing Souls, ca. 1480 - 1495

a detail depicting St. Michael, from Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Fall of the Rebel Angels, 1562

 I especially like the gold filigree on black armor in the Spanish versions and the way Bruegel distorted the length of the arm (Mmmmmmm).

On a different note, I also got to see some beautiful Chinese painting locally. I love the use of gold, and the plants and creatures (more visual yum.)

listening pause

And then there were two...

 I tried something new with the attachment. (Actually, I tried a few things...but this was the only one that made it to blog time ;) ).

I tried paper, but it's unwieldy, fragile, and I won't even start on the adhesive issue...finally, I just decided "no" (get it - it's part of the "Magical Land of No" series - haha!)

I tried this instead - it's pet screen - it's just rigid enough. I decided that instead of trying to hide it, I'd try incorporating it into the design.

So, I put fabric over a piece of foamcore, then painted the pet screen, printed on top of it, and layered it over the fabric.

and around the head. I also left the treads sewing the head
to the screen and incorporated them as whisps of hair

I had to fill in any negative spaces with
trompe l'oiel, like the spaces between the
ribs

and the holes between the bones

incorporating the thread into the design and the brads in the hands and feet go through the screen

But it wasn't all weeping angels - also made this piece for Dad :)

no color adjustment
- they really look like that :o

Lots of rainbows this week

a pause for listening

all sewn together :)

I photographed this, but it didn't capture the way it moves - it's like a mobile in the sense that the feet swing back and forth and the wings flutter. So, I decided to try for a blog first and took a video of it:

Now that it's been revealed in all it's kinetic beauty, more about the process getting there this week:

First I carved a new block for the heart, and I think it may be the best heart block yet :)

block

for comparison - left with added drawing on top. right without

Then I drew on the skeleton with white and grey color pencils.


















Next, I sewed the parts together and used  brads to attach the hands an feet.

I like the way the threads from the heart make a fuzzy transition from one element to another

Having lots (and lots) of time to think about this piece while sewing the paper, I got to thinking about older work going back to mid 2013, late 2013 , early 2014. I think I've gotten better with the carving and at integrating the different elements...

 

...still, there's much work left to be done. Now that I've built one, I want to build more (my own personal flock of weeping angels.) So, I marbled lots of paper. Then I printed the wing elements, added a layer of white spray gesso and ink and color pencil

wings, wings, everywhere

 In addition I went to the opening of Vermont Studio Center Showcase at Studio Place Arts in Barre. VT and got to see commedia dell'arte installed together for the first time (thumbs up!)

I had a wonderful time catching up with friends, meeting people, and hanging out with Aunt Helen :).

Aunt Helen beside a stunning installation by Katharena Rentumis

Me, kicking back in a marble recliner

 In addition to the opening in Vermont, one of my pieces, Neon Parrot from the Magical Land of No series is part of the Small Works exhibition at the Woodstock Artists Association & Museum  which opened Saturday.

This piece has also been on my mind because it was the one where I first started combining different color prints of the same block (like I'm doing now with the wings).




In para-art news:

Is this not the most beautiful apple you've ever seen?
I love apples (and even got to talk about the
sonorous joy of eating apples on
Science Friday on NPR, haha)
but I really think this year's Ida Reds are
extra- spectacular!
(This one from Samascott Orchards)

My elegant princess had not been feeling her best, but after
a trip to the vet and some medicine adjustments, she is
doing much better
(whew! Happy kitty = happy cat lady in training)

The chipmunks at Aunt Helen's house are so tame that I was
able to get a pretty clear photo!
(I've been trying for a while, but the ones from the
conservation area show chipmunk shaped blurs
zipping across the frame)

and there were fireworks

and flowers, lots and lots of flowers :)