Update: Flipped through my Texas Butterflies book and got stuck in Swallowtails, but no confirming picture. So on to the net. Sites from Texas A&M University and a commercial site to confirm helped. He/She is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, not an Emperor at all. Thus the change and I have my first title for the series. Yea for me! For a friend: Estimated price is over $650. I'll have a confirmation by the time I post a final picture.
Tidy and fingers messy. I spent today helping in the front and back yards as much as I could. The rain, well tornado siren kept me awake last night, left it mushy but nice weather to work in. I felt hydrated instead dry to the touch like in the summer months. After rest and nourishment, I got back to the rhythm of working the spools. I worked it yesterday, but came up dry after a couple attempts and yield few. Today was great. The total is eighteen, including the other five I completed the other day. Finishing was strong and I'm prepped for the build: eye screws, nails, and epoxy ( if I can find it). Everything I need to put the picture in my head to rest. I'm confident it will work and look forward to the second build with the same approach. I want to by Tigertail for that so the structure will be stronger. Tigertail is a jewelry making supply for stringing. Update: Flipped through my Texas Butterflies book and got stuck in Swallowtails, but no confirming picture. So on to the net. Sites from Texas A&M University and a commercial site to confirm helped. He/She is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, not an Emperor at all. Thus the change and I have my first title for the series. Yea for me! For a friend: Estimated price is over $650. I'll have a confirmation by the time I post a final picture. With a little more tweaking maybe I'll become an artist. Right now I'm having too much damn fun playing! Hah! The current panel is bleeding me for life juice. Things are coming outta my mind that I never would have thought. I love it. And it is not at a rate I have to lay down for and suffer through the rapid imagery. Resting is good. I never thought I'd find another pace of life and the day to operate at. Others seem to be adjusting well and that makes me happy. Meanwhile this piece may take another week or two with the hand work to complete. Also I've gotten side tracked in making bindings. It never turns out to be only the amount I need, but another run more. Then and only then will I have enough and it usually works out that way. With a steady and disciplined hand I will get through. Below is from today so far and last night following after the last post. Fixing the timings as we speak... Tired. Started late. Started slowing down during the carving and fighting heavy eyelids. If it was for the neighbor, Luis, I'd never have posted tonight. He's great support while working when I do not play the radio. I'm playing out the bits of daydreams as I go and work with them. I'm also opting not for an easy piece, but highly developed and challenges the viewer. The intricacy is in the steps. a 9 by 9 piece of full involved is where I am headed. I fight with myself the longer piece start to take. I wonder if people will pay and then the adage comes "People pay for great workmanship". In that case I think I am on the road and am stumbling appropriately. It's about extending your attention span and taming your hands to be a reliable tool. I am learning on this what my hands can not do and mentoring my intellect to handle it. I am not a machine. Variation is good. Patience and a companion canvas required. Staring into space. Sorry. Time to go and get a bite before bed maybe. Either way. Sweet dreams and good night. The yield was not as juicy as last years vintage pieces. In turn for that I got some fat quarter batiks in greens and blues. They'll be used for butterflies and moths. Tons from the free table and a few panels for needlework. I'll abstract something and integrate it into large projects I'm sure. Becky, a quilting friend from the Twisted Stitchers Art Quilt Group I'm in, took me back to the table and asked if I noticed something. I said no, where? There it was smack in my face, a quilting hoop with supports. I've been looking for two years and the quilt garage sales to see if maybe it'll fit in my budget. I prayed for it and forgot. It needs new bolt and a few more repairs, but it'll work and I sure do appreciate the efforts of my guardians in whatever form they come. And yes, post lunch today I took the photo. Another will be had eventually. But for now this will do. Enjoy! BTW: I'll have sizes for this one and the first for next week
"Doctor! Doctor! She's not breathing."
"What happened?" "Hurry!" "Can't you see I'm giving her as much resuscitation as she can handle? What is it" "She's lost blood pressure! She's going pale!" "It's precious. He's cracked." "Put that down before you break it. Forceps! Glue! Paper!" Post surgery and I'm trying to make light of it all. During the second row of nails I cracked a seam in the wood along with the grain line. I lost time right then and there. The last time something like this happened was being nailed in the sternum with a baseball while batting for my team. I'm lucky it didn't crack and who's to say it didn't. No pain, forgetfulness and therefore no trip to the hospital. I was in third grade I believe. Anyway, no excavation due to the fact the sides of the repair would deteriorate farther than I have the means to rescue. Clamps are now on the list for my hardware stash. An unwise repair giving wood body and glue a bit of a paper mache feel. The nails are still in place. Last for my rig is staples when he's dry. After jerry rigging I may mount on another piece of wood to keep the portions together. Needless to say she is not for sale till I am satisfied of the durability. I know I know, how durable do you have to be to sit on a wall? On the flip side, I'm willing to explore my lesson a la Luis (next door neighbor) and build structures with cracks and seams exposing the repair lines. Ultimately to use as a base for another piece but integrate the beauty of line with it all. Setting time is over night. If you are interested I may have a shot before mid-afternoon. Ultimately I am pissed because at a juncture, it took my breath away. Just for a moment I felt like a modern primitivist. Alive and in love with cultures of nature. Please excuse the focus. I did not reset the camera for it, diving in for the first shots of the day. You may still be able to make out the materials and tools to follow the narrative. Don't mind me, my mouth still hurts from the dentist and my golden hours to work unimpeded were late this afternoon. Pain meds, scheduled for later. Thanks for letting me share. Below are today's pics and I'm moving into the last stages tonight and tomorrow. I have a few things to prepare and then its discipline definitely to rule the day. Take a gander and I hope you enjoy the journey. I'm in a bit of pain and will be retiring early. The dentist appointment went well and now is the time to heal and deal with the aftermath. With rest I'll be alright, the doctor warned against heavy activity and lifting. You know how intense blogging can get, so I'll keep it short. I've moved on the the second pass and the images are stocking up in my mind. Nary a variation on a theme, but core thoughts made concrete for visual appeal. I'm involved in the pieces, the inception, the process, the finishing. I hope the viewer will find the intricacy, depth and shadow play worth revisiting time and again. I'm happy for the direction I've taken and can't keep but a sliver of a though away form the two dimensional pieces. There is growth and not repetition, so I am thrilled in that regard. I took a few pics and only on in missing. Meaning I did not have the camera when I was working the material. I am speaking of tin can which I drilled holes into. They will become bell forms to attach to the canvas. This is one of the main anchor motifs for the series. The only thing left right now is to remove labels and to abrade the surface a bit to change it from shiny to scoured and many faceted. The process of attachment is where my mind lays and if I have enough hardware to complete the job sans glue. It'll happen, I'm confident. Enjoy the pics and the process, they'll be more on the morrow. And as ever, "Thanks for Reading"! I moved on last night with a sting in the pit of my stomach as to when and how I was going to finish the first canvas. I took a chance on the raffia, stealing moments of thunder in graduate school. All I know is I am starting to remember and my soul is steady at work next to my body. It speaks more if I just shut up. And I will from this point on. Finishing off the back is the next point of detour and I've solved the issue. At some point I'll be building deep shadow boxes, at least 3 to 5 inches deep. The pieces will be set in on a light colored background. I've decided to use the space surrounding to build a bit of a retablo or reliquary feel to expand on the story where these pieces spiritually and ethically dwell. I harvest much from nature and preserve a bit from recycling and second hand purchases. Life cycles and renewal may be an integral issue. I keep coming back to the words elegy and requiem for this and I'm trying not to belittle them. Sensing my grandparents in it all and matching visions, makes me wonder if this will be a series that develops over a longer period of time. Extended documentation of an experience. Hmm. I'm headed for a late nap. I never fall asleep till sun up as it is. Then I'm back to wrapping packages in synthetic deer ligament. Native American research still happens in curious places at the library. I need to return and rethink my connections to the environment and how it plays out in dream space. Stage Four and I'm taking a break to regroup energy and make careful decisions to completion. I'm playing out the fanciful thoughts and bantering with supplies telling myself less is more and everything just might get used in the long run. It does not have to be a single statement, but an elegy that develops itself from climax to final comments in pursuit of the soul. On the light side, I have acorns from a red oak to harvest and prepare. I'm hoping the squirrels won't mind. Maybe I'll get to be included in their ecology as well.
It will get better and easier I chide myself. This is really a prototype and not a reduction. I learned form the larger piece and this, this is a world of difference especially minimizing the take on oil paint. Layers will build and I have an urge for a soft pastel. Thinks to remember and be reminded of: ninkisi. I have an urge to pull out my thesis and see if I am still there working in that vein. Plunging the nails in the midsection had me think of the doll figures, though lacking physical representation. I have an affinity for Amish technique and remember they don't put faces on their dolls. Still this is not cultural appropriation and out right theft. Respect is there even if I don't take to incantation, potions and lotion being a reality I wish to take part in. There is beauty there for me and a resolution of constant motion with my hands and a need to be involved and concentrate. Affectation and adornment. Speaking of which there is a piece I have yet to get to. Armour for a shaman. The piece in the museum said each of the pieces making the armor contained a verse or page from the Koran. I had to think about it in East Africa and all. Amazing to think it through. I wondered if the Bible or my writing that I strongly believe in would be just as powerful. It would have to be a documentary I think. Film the whole process and rationale of why to chosen what verses. Ritual to action. My own process to invent spiritual Kevlar. Debating and holding onto 3:20am drawings like a crack whore and a brimming vial. I try like hell to wait, pace myself and in general enjoy a break. I fight being driven some days an the result is always a train wreck of emotion, a brutalized intellect and overfed geese at the park. Still I'm avoiding there so I can catch up on interpreting sketches to match my current work. Needless to say it isn't happening and I'm starting to splinter again. The geese series is clean and worked for maximum effect with minimal line. They'll render well in woodblock prints. Dare I say I avoid linoleum now so I can try to grow up and graduate into something more difficult to show skill and temperment. So here I am below, taking lines out of wood. Not for block printing, but for carving a relief surface. Hey, I'm bridging on sculpture! The series will be assemblage. I have fourteen canvases cut and sanded. I have a wealth to choose from in building the surfaces and it will reveal itself one by one. I can not seem to wrap my head around effective approaching canvases any other way like I do with the paper pieces. I can finish similar techniques on a long run then move on each time to build the layering. With this, each piece calls for different approaches. Despite all this the cohesion of the series will be present. I'm looking forward to the next six months or so with this. If the methodology works, I'll extend the run to at least twenty. My approach is based on an anchor piece from my M.F.A. show. It is an assemblage called Pink Priapus. The prime layer began with fabric. From there I built wax and paper surface while also integrating carpet. It was one of my favorite breakthrough pieces. If anything speaks of those moments to now. This new endeavor is going to push me to places I have never been. Either way, I'm game. Meanwhile I've got to find other pursuits that don't take up too much room, or basically bite the bullet and invest in storage rental. Meanwhile, you'll find me with 2-d and small assemblage. Ah, yes, the trials of being an artist and what they don't say at University. So here we go again. Process being foremost, I'll share the stages with you. Hope you enjoy. So I'm in the backyard handing the quilt to photograph and I realize the spacing between the poles on the fence will obstruct a good photograph. So I venture inside, get a stool and gather everything up to use the outside of the fence that has no interruptions. As I am fighting the wind and trying not to step on it, I turn and look. A police officer pulls up. I freak on the inside and ask him how can I help you, or some such. He asks what I am doing I tell him I'm setting up to take a photograph, it is ok. I live here. I go back and he says something unintelligible to me. I ask for him to repeat, he says with what. "Digital" I reply. He still seems confused. The camera is in the grass, a small one. I turn again and he is gone. I'm confused, he said he was just wondering. I didn't realize I had the makings for a scene, but I usually go relatively unnoticed when I work in public. Anyway, no citation and a "btw" story for my own notes. Here it lies and I pinned it so much cause the wind was relentless. Still you get to see the body of the quilt and details. I still have to double check the measurements, but I think I am spot on from notes. It'll go in the Etsy shop in a few days. Enjoy the details. Struggling the last few days to find direction. I've been trying to pick up the last vestiges of plans and execute the to the fullest. Though I've lost some drive and ability to make the magic happen in the studio. I try. I try hard sitting in the high back chair next to the window, stringing every fifteen minutes or so. Hoping something greater will manifest in the process like it usually does. I can't help but to think this is where I am after every series finish. Over the hill and coming into the valley. I can rest, but my hands seek something to devour and encompass everyday. I'm distracted watching Brian Williams show covering the Papal resignation. I'll write more later. Meanwhile, this is the wall hanging I am working on. Utility hand quilting. Loving spirals right now. totally. Alms Passive Passerine is a mixed media collage series pairing paper with graphite drawings and acrylic overlays. The base size is 12" x 18", while the images vary with an average size of 8" x 14". Pieces are priced at $215 unframed. This series was completed in March of 2013 Passerine is the classification of a type of perching or song bird. My focus from the category was a Starling. My last year at University I was a the studio late on a Friday and found a limping Starling by my car. I took on the adventure and got it to a specialist some distance away. Having bonded with it early on, the effect lasted through to 2012. While on the way to Wal-mart, where black bird roost en force, I found a dead starling and began photographing its plumage for my files. The graphite and acrylic patterns in most of the collages are based on the plumage. Other symbols such as the sewing tissue overlays and the wood block prints speak too of personal language and understanding passive aggressive behavior and shyness in context of relationships. |
N.A. JonesVisual Artist; Independent Researcher; Librarian; Cook; Amateur Astronomer; Gardener - the hard way, Writer; Explorer Archives
November 2015
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