April is National Poetry Month

 

In honor of National Poetry Month I created some postcards that I left in the Little Free Libraries in my neighborhood. It was my first Free Art Friday activity since moving to Minnesota and it was really fun. Nice that so many libraries are in my area, then I don't have to worry about work getting rained on or blowing away and becoming litter.  I'll be doing this again for sure!

lets talk about teeth

i am noticing that i have some strange thing for teeth... i like teeth... i always think about the teeth of a creature in my artwork, i like going to the dentist for a cleaning...  i like animals with teeth...  so here is a post about teeth--some of my art and toothy photos i've taken..  enjoy!

True Bugs

i'm a fan of stink bugs, assassin bugs, and here in florida we have the leaf footed bug--they're true bugs, not insects and i think they're cute.  a couple of years ago i spotted a leaf footed bug (called that because of the flaring bell bottoms the wear on their back legs) on the fence in my yard.  it reminded me of stink bugs growing up which i was sort of fond of... i liked a lot of crawling things as a kid, roly-poly pill bugs, praying mantis, daddy long legs ... i still do i guess.  i just did a quick search of my image libraries on my computer and found a lot of bug/insect/creepy crawly inspired art so here are a few, enjoy! and if you see a bug don't squash it!*

  

PS also in addition to being a 'bugs are beautiful' post, i think this goes to show that art can be about little things, things that are seemingly insignificant but that really are what make life magical so don't always be so caught up in giant concepts or ideology when nature is right there waiting to inspire you. 

* THE EXCEPTION TO THE NO SQUASHING RULE: Palmetto bugs! if you see one of those i encourage you to squash the snot out of those suckers YUCK!!!!!

Sad but True...

Another news story has inspired me to make some art...   the latest, a story about a young bear that gets hooked on people food...  "Bear falls through skylight, eats cupcakes."  Of course it ends badly for the bear as is often the case when people and wild life cross paths.

Previously (in 2012) I made this piece inspired by another animal tragedy "Alligator bites hand off of tour boat guide" .  The insult to injury in that story is eventually the guide is charged with having fed the gators for the benefit of his business.

 

 I doubt people will ever be satisfied with their urge to sprawl and consume every parcel of land for their own use leaving nowhere for wildlife to be wild. Encroachment and using animals for entertainment are serious concerns.  Maybe someday we'll all learn to coexist. Until then I guess I'll keep immortalizing these stories in images.  Long live Cupcake.

when i see this, i make this

I recently spent a weekend in Palm Beach/West Palm Beach for an art event and was amazed by the hedges and shrubbery walls in use. It gave everything such a green lush yet private feel. And it reminded me of my love of strange topiary.  A good friend lives near a house with one monolithic shrub out front that the owner must pass thru to enter the front door. It seems magical like Edward Scissorhands was there.  If only....

Limited Confusion

As technology advances there is a challenge for printmakers to educate art viewers on what exactly we mean by a print and a limited edition...  now that anyone can easily create a print out on archival paper using a computer and fancy ink jet printer there are a lot of reproduced artworks out there sold as 'prints'.  But that is not the kind of print i make. To me a print requires some elbow grease... ink rolled out on a glass slab, transferred to a block, and pressed by hand onto paper.

Recently at an art event a fellow exhibitor asked me about my process and how many pieces i make in my editions...  because i print by hand and it takes time and incurs error i usually end up with 12 or fewer final images in my limited edition runs. (In fact my latest works are all intentionally unique and one of a kind, but that is another post yet to come).  Fellow exhibitor said his limited editions are 100 pieces.   I have heard of 1000 in an edition.  So what would you rather have for your investment? Something touched by hand that only a handful of people may share or something mass produced?  Not everyone cares about this, but i do.  So if i cant give you the image you want in a different size it isn't because i don't want to it is because that is not my process.  I am analog not digital.  And when you see me explaining passionately the glory of a hand touched piece you'll understand better the method of my madness.

Manifest Your Desires

As an artist and i guess as a human being i do a lot of soul searching.  I have a continual search for meaning (see also my solo show "lost in the wilderness" all about looking for direction and home)

so what is it we want? what place does art hold in our lives? what unknown abilities might we have? how much subconscious power goes untapped? ask these things and then you'll understand a little bit about my recent sigil set(s).  (set of six hand printed sigil cards)

I heard this song "Adventures in Success" on a community radio station late one night when I was living in Nebraska... possibly in high school...  probably in the '80s and it has stayed with me.  I love the idea that anything you think you can do.  You can manifest your desires.  "The fact is, you will become the person you honestly describe. You can't avoid it".  Make it habit, make it happen.  I have played it a million times.

Now I've created a set of images to assist in my personal quest and they're available for anyone to use...  want nothing, find love, success, good health, make art, joy...   basic human truths.  Make it happen.

From Wikipedia:
A sigil (/ˈsɪdʒəl/; pl. sigilia or sigils; from Latin sigillum "seal") is a symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a type of pictorial signature of a demon or other entity; in modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, it refers to a symbolic representation of the magician's desired outcome.
In modern uses, the concept was mostly popularized by Austin Osman Spare, who published a method by which the words of a statement of intent are reduced into an abstract design; the sigil is then charged with the will of the creator. Spare's technique, now known as sigilization, has become a core element of chaos magic.
The inherently individualistic nature of chaos magic leads most chaos magicians to prepare and cast (or "charge") sigils in unique ways, as the process of sigilization has not been rigorously defined. Sigils are used for spells as well as for the creation of thoughtforms.
Unlike with traditional sigils, whose creators made use of traditional lore passed down from generations or from books, modern users often create sigils entirely themselves and devise individual means of "charging" them with metaphysical power.

then and now... the german printmaking thing persists

I started learning German in college after my first trip to Germany and because of my penpal in Hamburg...and my family heritage... and it just seemed to fit...  at the same time I was learning printmaking which too has ties to Germany...  I made the image on the left "Ich Habe So Oft Von Deutschland Geträumt" (translation: I so often dreamed of Germany) at that time and just have now finished my version of "Rotkäppchen" (Red Riding Hood) shown on the right.   Now German is such a normal part of my life I can't believe I didn't always speak it-not that I'm fluent but I can get by at a party if the opportunity presents itself and it helps that usually people are kind enough to overlook my limited vocabulary and dodgy grammar...   and printmaking likewise is integral to who I've become. 

For fun you can read Red Riding Hood in both English and German simultaneously with this side by side comparison of text and translation: http://germanstories.vcu.edu/grimm/rot_dual.html
Enjoy!

on time and ideas

 

when i travel i take this small sketchbook and doodle on the plane while listening to music. it lets me get away from the tiny space and close proximity to strangers around me and lets me avoid small talk.... but it also makes me a little self-conscious.  like a student hiding answers on their exam i sometimes try to cover my little sketches, sheltering them from eyes and judgement. they're just scribbles not intended to be seen but serve as a place holder for inspiration to come back to.  and then maybe months later i revisit them and i think i should have let them be out there it is nothing to hide.  time and distance let me see them like someone in the next seat might see them and i am curious about who made them but i am still afraid to strike up a conversation with her. i wouldn't know what to say.  meanwhile the person in the next seat is asleep anyway.

now what?

so... after a week away from the studio i have to figure out where i left off and where to begin again...   it is like turning the water back on after leaving a house vacant for a long period of time... it stutters, pipes shake, there are spurts, and the first expelled stuff is kinda icky but then things clear out and you're good to go again.

a mystical take on (folk) art

"...everything which reminds us of the times of amateurish handicraft will awaken primordial impulses in our reptilian brain.  This will virtually automatically liberate the magical power in this section of the brain or awaken it in the first place."  -- excerpt from "Practical Sigil Magic" by Frater U.D.

Upon reading this passage i thought about the appeal of my own art and of folk art in general and the energy conveyed by 'outsider' or 'untrained' artists and the response of viewers to such rustic, primitive images.  Is this the reason we are drawn to such work? Is there a link between the unconscious mind and the raw energy of creation? Certainly folk art conveys a directness that other more 'refined' works do not, in my humble opinion.  i wonder if people are even aware this is happening when they view artwork? do they even notice that surge of energy? they must, that is why we love art right? energy!

another excerpt from the same text:
"Place your trust in your feelings (i.e. your intuition) rather than in rules which other(s)... have set up according to their own subjective biases, disaffections and tempers".

heart art aka my precious

the nice thing about not having any current deadlines for shows is having time to experimenting with different media.  these wooden pieces hang from leather cords and measure approx 12x12 inches.  they have a thin wash of acrylic paint, then screen printed images, then enhanced details with sharpie markers and leather 'thread' stitched with holes drilled thru the wood...

so much of the creative process is playing with "what if" scenarios.  what if i do this, what if i use that color, or combine these images..."what if" is the essence of creating.  the lesson i learned most in pursuit of my BFA is that you have to be willing to take risks in the studio.  many artists especially young 'beginners' have a sense of preciousness about their work and a fear of 'messing up' something they like.  but that fear is what will hold you back from a real break through.  playing it safe isn't always the best thing and it is years of risking and fixing that help develop a mature artist and give you faith to trust your skills that if you do make a change you like less than a previous state you can fix it and work your way out of it.  (although this is easier to do with painting than printmaking i would dare to say you can even in printmaking problem solve to correct a bad creative choice.)

the other thing i have learned is to sleep on a project.  if you aren't sure about what to do next with a piece let it rest.  if you finished a piece and don't care for it, don't white wash it right away, give it time.  sometimes time alters your view of a thing and you'll grow to like it or see a new direction to take it in... and sometimes you realize you've outgrown it entirely.  but no matter what, the experience of having made a piece, even a failed piece, is of value.  similar to how you learn something of value from a broken heart.  it all helps shape your future work.

swamp art or a brief musing on ferns

ferns are an overlap that i have found in mossy forest and oozy swamp and in my own backyard in every state i've lived...  i like their nearly universal knack survival. i've seen them in volcanic craters in hawaii, with sulphur gas coming from nearby cracks, their tendrils creeping up to the surface... in greenhouses they are exotic winter indulgences. they make me a little less uncomfortable in the humid florida air. they are green and tender yet tough and tenacious and threaten to take over their surroundings which isn't an entirely bad thing in my opinion.  here's to ferns. prehistoric and modern. quaint yet potentially sinister. making the best of wherever they are.

they also bring to mind a tale from my creative hero edward gorey, the evil garden.  which if you haven't read it you should.

art is everywhere even in cabbage

we as artists can't improve on nature
we can reflect upon it and be inspired by it and relate our impressions to others and try to communicate our fascination but nature is the source of art.
at least for me.
turning a simple pot of vegetable soup into a study of line, color, texture... i  see pencil drawings or block prints and yummy contrasts and colors.
people have come to manufacture a lot of things, lacy delicate things but they can only imitate a cobweb or a cabbage. look around you, art is waiting already made.
my job is just to point it out so you don't miss it.