The Peace Before Us

The peace before us.The peace before us. This is a 5" by 7" card I designed as part of my "ripped  torn" collage series. I decided to use my own words instead of another's  on this design and hopefully, those yet to follow on my creative journey.
 I remember looking out on the red rocks and noticing how peaceful the image looked to me.Shades of reddish browns, glimmering in the sun; ragged edges of rock formations that tucked into each other; a sense of harmony that nature always seems to offer to me.
This of course becomes the artist's  first challenge. How to convey these impressions in the creation?  I chose a Canson paper with a pattern for the darker shade. The lighter shades was something I had in my paper file.  There is always the element of surprise when one is tearing paper. So there is always the element of going with the flow, a way I like to work.I think the words I chose here came to me this way.
The materials actually help give direction, and then I adapt..Less is more. Empty space actually brings attention to the image before us. The vast, western blue sky sets off the smaller silhouettes of the mountains.Our attention then focuses on what is in that space. 
  I notice when I am out in nature I find it easier to look inward. So, if there is peace in front of my eyes, can I take it inside of me? This is a journey I am still on. 
Your thoughts?

A Time To Every Purpose

" To every thing there is a season, and  a time to every purpose...", so says this quote from Ecclesiastes in the Bible. I found it such an inspiration I used it for this calligraphy piece with the same name. I had these small pieces of paper  I wanted to use, and each of these thoughts seemed to fit nicely in a linear pattern. Start with function, then go to form. Art has many paths. 

We probably know it better as a song we all listened to. But what a great concept,  for thoughts, ideas, meanings. Isn't it true  that every thing does seem have a natural be a time period? It can year in our life; a moment of waiting for that anticipated phone call; word about a job or an acceptance to  a show. Sometimes it can seem to take forever to get out of our grief or pain. Yet that day of pure joy can go away in just a flash. 

There seems to be a natural rhythm to all things. I am looking at a quote from Winston Churchill which says " If you are going through hell, keep going..". In other words,  something will be waiting for you if you just keep going on". I guess we have to trust.

In an artistic sense , we could say our work progresses at a natural rhythm.We can try to rush it along, but the ink will dry when it is ready; the watercolors will bleed into each other when they are too wet;the clay will dry when it is ready; the piece will be finished when it is time.  My, I feel reflective today. 

Any thoughts to share on this?

A long day

I was told by someone that the word size of my blog was a bit  too small, so let's make it easier to read.Now all I have to do is figure out what to write about today.

I just got back from a very long day of work at the gallery, followed by a  non optional meeting.  
Naturally, I had to top it off with a bit of tango. So the hours I was gone from home were long, but the balance of my day was acceptable.. We do what we must. We try to get some pleasure from it.For me it was making a sale of a beautiful turquoise vase similar to the one at the left. I did not even have to try to sell it,  the customer just showed up at the front desk with her trophy clutched in her hands, smiling. 
That's the really fun part about being in the gallery, and seeing  when the art work just speaks to someone and it is " theirs".You can tell how much they like it when they cannot let it go. This is a good thing. Really, it is so much more than just our salary, it is a validation that what we do is  appreciated by another person. Is it our ego? I think that is too simple. It is a meeting of  hearts and minds in regards to our vision.
 Any thoughts you'd care to share about this?

Fantasy

Fantasy, according to the dictionary, means

 " imagination unrestrained by reality; wild fancy". This is one of my masks in the "Spirit Seeker" series. As you can see it is not too much bigger than my hand. I can almost hold my fantasy in my hand. That's an interesting thought, isn't it? Usually it seems  most fantasies are up there in our heads.

 Come on now, don't we all have them? Often they are connected with someone of the opposite sex, being in the straight world as I am. Or they may be about that perfect life we want to be living; the job we desire; the trip not yet taken.It is almost as if we are in dream state with our eyes wide open.

We as artists have a free ticket to get on the fantasy ride. How else can we create except to conjure our concept, our fantasy up in our head? Then comes the real work, how to translate it into a tangible form that we can feel good about. First we create for ourselves. We hope our art is something that connects with a viewer, and they like it so much, they will give us money for it. The ultimate compliment and so we can pay our  electric bill.Utilities will not take art in lieu of money.Can you imagine...?

I like clay, it is so of the earth, so primal.I like the feel of it under my fingers. But then I want to add more to my image, usually it is feathers,even leather, hair or yarn.

 This wool I picked up off the fields in Iceland. The sheep had shed it, and while others were busy taking pictures, I was gathering up fluffy white stuff I knew would adorn one of my masks. The fantasy was not clear at that moment, but I knew it would be when I was back in my studio.. So let us take our dreams, or fantasies, and make them happen, or simply enjoy having them. 

 Thoughts to share?

Rainbows

Rainbows. What images they bring to our minds. There is the coolness of the rain, which is really appealing now that it is summer here in the desert. The dictionary defines a rainbow as " The arch of prismatic color formed in the sky opposite the sun and caused by refraction, reflection, and the dispersion of light in raindrops falling through the sky." The red rocks of Sedona appear different in this magical light.
Sun, sky, rain...what a series of images they evoke in our minds and souls. 
The  use of color is something we always think about as artists. I use watercolor, or the opaque form called gouache, in my calligraphy. Even one color in all its tones and hues and density can create a  rainbow effect. The  sheer power of which colors we choose to place  near, next to, or touching each other, can evoke a whole other mood or impression. We have to plan these effects. Mother Nature seems to just get it. And in this picture she did it twice!
 I look forward to that  summer rain and the magical first glimpse of those gently rounded shapes of color that peek out from the clouds, just  before it  come out in full rainbow glory. 
  Any thoughts about your personal rainbows?  

More Words

I got some good feed back about the "Power of Words", my last blog.  Here is a picture of me standing next to the finished piece.It is 8 feet long . I Liked the image of the words rolling down to the floor and then some. 
Don't our words usually just roll off our tongue, sometimes without a thought to where they will land?  That is why we like to hang with people who know us, who accept us as we are, and therefore will not judge our words harshly.  We  call these people our friends. We cherish their acceptance of us just as we are. We feel safe with our words around them, knowing we will be heard as we are.  
Words without the actions to back them up, there is a thought someone sent my way. It is easy to say the nice words, but living up to them is the challenge. I guess time is a great method to evaluate if someone's words are their truth. Can we as the listener look behind the verbal and get to what the emotions are behind them? Sometimes we are right on, sometimes I am guessing we tell ourselves a story that that not based on the other person't words at all. Observations are more real. That is my challenge , to observe rather than always interpret. Or ask that person" Is this what you are saying?' save ourselves some grief, perhaps.
In Calligraphy, I use words all the time. Right now I am pondering my next piece for an upcoming show. I will choose my words because of the impact they will impart to my viewer.I will try to draw my viewer into my perspective. From there of course they will give their own meaning to the words. Whenever anyone asks me " What is the meaning of this piece?" I  just say, " whatever you see is what it means to you". 
So it seems to be in life. We always give it our own perspective. Any thoughts you'd like to share about how words affect your life?  

The Power of Words

This is a close up of an 8 foot long wall hanging I created for a show. The title is Words. Since that is the art media I am using  at this very moment while writing my blog, I naturally think  about their impact.
  Words have a lot of power , don't they? They can influence us to have certain feelings. If they are good words, or words of praise , than we feel very happy. If they are words of criticism or anger then we might feel upset or angry also .
When I look at this watercolor, I notice I am using lots of colors to bring in my desired impact to the audience. Certainly colors evoke reactions, or subtle mood alterations, don't they? Isn't red a color  that jumps out, like the oranges and yellows? The greens, purples,  and the blues are more subtle aren't they?   Consider  the contrast of which colors go next to each other. These are certain artistic choices we make when we we are looking at a blank page, a  clean slate, the  tabula rasa.With our color choices,we artists can have an effect on our  audience.  With our words, we can all have a lasting influence on each other.Whether verbal or written, our  words can stay out there in time and space, or on a page, for a very long time.
 Any thoughts on times your words had more impact than you expected?