For those following the creative Wall... Almost done!

Concentration #3 "Dreaming Veyda"

Below Ive included photos showing the process and a few of the phases this drawing went through.  For all intensive purposes it is complete.  That said I may return to smaller concentrated areas if they call to me for refinement.

Detail of industrial steam punk

Gives a perspective on how large
this drawing is.

Art Capacities: Strengths

Well again, depending on the inspiration motivating the imagery, different strengths are called upon.  So allow me to use Concentration #2 for this response (because again, it is somewhat contextual, the capacities are like tools in a tool box and I pull out the ones I need as I work)

Concentration #2 "Transcendence" was particularly personal and dealt with some situations in my life that have left deep scars and pain.  To work through this piece required various strengths more like at a 10 level.   Developing a "Deep Sense of Purpose" was certainly at the heart of this piece.  Every mark mattered, every image has meaning.  Working on this piece often left me breathless as I surrendered myself to the process and allowed the buried content to find its way through my fingers.

To do this, "Embracing Stillness" was also a strength I called upon for this piece.  It is in stillness that otherwise quiet and buried content might peek out and show itself.  Show itself it did. It takes courage to rest in stillness because the things we hide from (or conversely should celebrate) often reside there.  It the strength I depend upon most of the time.
 

Capacities... better late than never.

   Well. This is an interesting sheet to reflect upon because for me the capacities are contextual.  Although as a general response, I would give myself 2's all the way down (I've been doing this a long time)  there are always exceptions.  I feel its important to never rest in a place which exempts me from struggles.  To do that would likely lock me into one way of doing/experiencing and perceiving  things.  What kind of artist and further teacher, would that make me?
    So, because this is a contextual statement, I shall relate it to my concentration #3.  Over all, if I were to apply the capacities to this drawing, most would be 2's.  However, that said, this drawing is about my younger daughter.  Its is titled "Dreaming Veyda" it is a part of my series of manifestation drawings and it is a vision of her possible futures.  My second daughter is VERY different that the first. (That one the imagery flowed and was graceful in its appearance)  Veyda is so full of varying potentials I have had many an hour of pacing and talking (to myself)and sitting in front of this piece.  ITS BEEN DIFFICULT.  What I like though, is in this difficulty I KNOW there are seeds of potential.  But..... I'm having trouble tolerating the ambiguity of this piece.  That does not happen often, but because this piece is so close to my heart, it really forces me to turn inside and simultaneously step outside myself to allow the image to transform and emerge.
   I find when I struggle, it challenges me to grow.  1's are actually medicine and a growth stimulant....
   Searching for compelling images for this piece has also been a challenge.  I have found talking with Veyda, following her around, RELATING to her, (yet standing back)  it is in these moments, Ive had many "AH HA!" moments.
   SO it is with each process.

Concentration #2 Transcendence

5 ft x 7 ft  Charcoal

Teaching for Studio Thinking: Artist's Statement

       My reality is a tapestry of light and energy woven by ideas, visions and projections embedded in what I believe.  My work is an evolution of internal vision.  That vision anchors my life in the manifestation of events and circumstances.
       I interact with the world as if it were a canvas. Every moment is ripe with choice and possibility.  Present in each moment are threads which when consciously woven together create an intention. When intention is realized as an image its as if I’m composing reality. Weave the experience you wish to live through vision and creation. 

    My work is a series of “manifestation images” which are designed to place attention and focus on creating events in the lives of people around me.  As I work, visionary moments occur in flashes. A mark will guide me to the next mark in an intuitive dance as the composition emerges.

I work primarily with materials which have transformative qualities, fluid and changing.  This is important because the nature of the imagery is never static and often becomes something I had not initially imagined.  My creative process is a dialogue between spirit, emotion and image. .  A synthesis of what is, and what might be is realized as each image is born.

Blogs for week 3/1

3/1

This weeks are short but to the point.  Forgive me, off to NAEA and such. 

Icon

I found it interesting that Bird used 90% of this commentary to associate “icon” with religion.  While I realize this is often the case, to me this is pigeon holing the concept of “icon” and iconography. Really, it is soooo much more than that! For me, it is really about meaning.  Icon is not limited to religious imagery (even if its roots are there).  It is about the meaning one places on an image... (the whole idol thing comes into play here)

Ive gotten into the habit of finding that one sentence in the reading that intrigues or inspires me .  For this chapter it is “icons provided a movable cast of holy presences”.  OMG  the potential of that sentence for  me is huge! In my own work I can imagine a series of images which represent a big idea, developed into a series of icons... And I can see this theme extending into the classroom, in projects with my kids. In fact, it has given me some ideas for assignments around the concept of icon....!!!

Protest:

“in 2003 the tapestry version of Guernica at the United Nations was covered over during a press conference presenting the Bush administration’s case for bombing Iraq.” 

 W    O     W       

  Protest should be followed by censorship. If that action does not speak to the potency of visual art I do not know what is.  Could that have altered the way things went down, if those images had been a back drop for Bush’s plans? (Imagine if an animation artist got a hold of that footage, photo shopped the images back in and then animated them to life as Bush spoke....  Hows that for a revived protest?  )

    Some how, knowing this fact infuriates me.  Be an interesting project to do just that.  Show the speech as was... Then get the tapestry back in there and show it again and have kids (high school) comment of how imagery might change their response to the message,,,,, Or some version of this.... Share Picasso's Guernica, then listen to the speech, THEN tell them this was covered....

Ps. The Guerrilla Girls are cool... Love their motivation and hoe they powerfully confront the male dominated art world....

Personal as Political

“Good bye to the great white Male”  what? Aweiwei would not agree...(even if he isn't technically white)

SO personal as political and protest really go hand in hand (back to the Guerrilla Girls)

      I find interesting that this entry focused mainly on women.  I also find it interesting that there is no reference to other historical events which may have coincided with the issues he is speaking of (like he did with protest).  Commentary remains focused on the art itself, with out larger societal commentary (other than political, which is really the domination of the art world by men in this case)

    I wonder if this is because of projections the author may be making about the role of women in general...

    I am just curious why women were the focus of this topic (sometimes blended with other minority issues, Id love to see the Renee Cox piece)

   AS a younger artist I did identify with issues such as these. While they are valid, I don't often see my own work this way.  That said, I love artists like  Naomi Natale.  If you haven't seen her TED talk (Kathy posted this on her blog)  you should watch!

http://blog.ted.com/2010/03/17/ted_fellow_naom/