Something caught my eye while I was watching TV last night, and provoked three sketches, since digitally modified & enhanced. I was thinking of loops of rope and a jar, but this last one just looks like a Teddy Bear stepping out to me… :-)”
Monoprints from this week
Held Safe in Comfort
held in arms
held on lap
such comfort
such safety
enjoy
an illusion
of value
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held in arms |
Drawing Wood
Painting drafts: The Burden
I am struggling with this painting, which is called The Burden. It is surprising imagery for me, and I do generally struggle with paint. I rarely start with paint, or work so primarily in paint. More often I start with a drawing, printmaking, or collage, or other ... Here I started with paint and a plastic card & palette knife. And there is only a bit of "drawing" with pastel & graphite, mostly "painted" over with a wet brush so more like painting.
The imagery I can hardly speak to 🙂 it is so iconic / religious. It may come from recent reading set in traditional Middle Eastern culture, but it has other symbolism as well. We all carry a burden, we try to persist, to accept, and to continue on as best we can.
A Puzzling Painting
Something Rich & Strange
Give a Hand
Further refinement of …
Spirit Boxes
As usual, thinking about what I am doing/making comes after the fact! And usually with input from others.
The sentence from my friend Maureen, used in my current art box, has provided me with a much better name for these creations. In the past I have made assemblies of "artifacts", "shrines", "reliquaries", and "treasure boxes".
Now I have a new name for all of these art pieces: spirit box. 
Here is quote from my own description of work made in about ten years ago:
All of the work I was trying to describe, and several other pieces made since, now seem to me best described as "spirit boxes". The works are absolutely creations designed to feed, repair, revive, or soothe the spirit!
Here is quote from my own description of work made in about ten years ago:
I struggle to find the right words to describe the assemblies I make. Each piece houses a carefully selected collection of items that have a special meaning for me. And in a way that is outside any traditional religion, each work is somehow sacred to me. The terms shrine and reliquary come to mind, however I hope that my creations contain vigor and life, as well as natural and man-made remains.