My Shadow in My Art
Maybe it is due to the lovely summer weather, or the madness of the current politics, or the isolation and oddness of the pandemic, but there is a shadow on my art; I struggle to create new durable art. After all it just piles up in my studio and yard. So I fill my time with walking, taking photographs, and reaching out to neighbors for “safe” outdoor socializing. My art time recently is mostly manipulating, and I hope enhancing, my photographs. Often I photograph my shadow, as my preferred form of self-portraiture. I love the digital effects I can apply to my shadow in my art.
In my indoor and outdoor studio spaces, I struggle with mess, and sometimes I just pick up parts & pieces I will save for future projects, then put them back down. I have no good filing system for my mixed media “treasures”, but I have to make room to work. The mess is building up in my outside work spaces also: being a mixed media artist is a mixed blessing! So I turn to my computer, and to digital art. And to shadows!
The mess in my studio is a shadow on my art, but I love shadows in my digital art. Shadows are a premium material when I have my camera in hand. Self portraits are a time honored tradition, and very convenient: but I never want straight up realism. So my shadow is much more appealing than a direct photograph.
My shadow in my art can represent any and every woman. Of course my shadow is with me everywhere, as long as there is sufficient light. Digital enhancement of shadow portraits can be so beautiful; the trick is find a way to add meaning, a bit of soul, to create a more enduring artwork.
Yard Art in a Friend’s Photos
A friend and fellow artist, Kathy Panks, visited my yard & photographed my yard art. This is not a time for indoor studio visits, but summer lets us enjoy safely distanced outdoor visits! Kathy has shared her fabulous photos with me, and your can enjoy some of them here:
Yard art, by my definition, is a special, very playful and loose category of Art. Here there is no judgement, just fun in the moment! This stuff need not meet size, quality, durability or really meet any standard other than my own amusement. It can be messy, scruffy, colorful (or not), sharp & rough edged, and something that will deteriorate quickly; all of this is OK! I do display some of my more durable, considered work in my yard, artwork created with much more care, thought, & effort. And I love it when I can make my more considered, “serious” artwork suitable for outside display. But most of the art in my yard is “yard art” by my personal definition. I do not create this art to be sold, donated, or given away; I create this art entirely for my own amusement.
Although I certainly find that my yard amuses others! Friends, and the odd stranger, visit to see what is new in my yard. My messy, lively yard scares off those who prefer tidy, well-groomed gardens and admire only perfectly crafted paintings & sculpture. But my yard is a haven for me, and it attracts all of us with a wilder and looser appreciation of the world! Yard art is playful, experimental, and energetic: it feeds me, and it leads me to new places in my more durable works.
It is wonderful to have appreciative visitors, and friends who enjoy my yard art. Thank you! Kathy, for the visit and the photos!
Digital Nonsense
Forest Angel Box Drawer
This Forest Angel has a hand over her heart in a moonlit forest. Is this forest in jeopardy? It may be dead or dying; can an angel save it?
Under the angel, under the forest, we see a display of a few mysterious items. These represent a tiny glimpse of the complex web to be found in the earth beneath our feet.
I have completed the lighting framework and cover, and you can see the general effect now. There are still a few details that I will have to decide before I can complete this piece.
I will mount the roll of LED rice lights so that these can be easily replaced in case of failure. I cut three holes at the top to make light wells and painted them black to match the box color. There is “glitter tape” in the center light well, added to test the effect. Not sure that I like the conspicuous golden glow (bling!). I could extend a few of the LED’s down to light the bottom layer, but I don’t know how best to do it! It is relatively easy to make a hole in the back, and bring a few “bare bulb” rice lights through it. It would be more difficult to create diffused light without the individual LED’s showing.
Almost Finished & New Mockup
Everything is attached, and very possibly finished, except the upper part above the box. Should I include LED lights? should this be discreet & flat, or will I add some more noticeable features? TBD!
And above I display the photo of a new arrangement which may or may not become an actual finished work. I quite like it today, but already I don’t love it, so will it stand the test of time? It may just not be enough: too insignificant to be worth the trouble! Or I may just need to do more work. Time will tell, yes it will, really!
At right I display my arrangement after digital pixel dust! I desaturated & modified the digital foil applied to my photo.
Forest Angel: “Drawer” in Work
This pale apparition is a variation of my “assertive angel” sculpture. My angel defends a wintery scene in a moonlit forest. The lower, underground level shows evidence of man, and the metal instrument coils reference mankind’s fascination with mining for mineral wealth.
I will let this piece sit for further consideration, before I decide it is finished. I may extend the background imagery to wrap around the sides, or swap out one of the items in the lower level. And I plan either to add clear acrylic at the top to close off the three openings, or to install glass pieces. I may include lighting in these openings.
This “drawer” is really a three bottle wine display giftbox, stripped of the acrylic front. I repurposed two of these for art projects! So thank you, gift giver, for these!
Finishing, Futzing and Foiling!
Cleaning up the Studio = Finishing & Futzing!
My studio gets messy! I experiment, and there failures! I work by trying more than by planning, and in the heat of creation I try, set aside, and try something else. Parts, scraps, and more just pile up. Something that does not work in one piece may look extremely promising for another concept! Or may just look so interesting where I set it down that I have to take a few photos!
And then there is my household business in one corner, file folders out of the cabinet to be sorted and “archived”, etc. along with remnants of family history, old drawings of my own or by children, and more.
And the time comes when this must be dealt with, in order to allow new work, and some peace and sanity! It seems to be that time again now.
The above pieces were deemed incomplete, and therefore were somewhat annoying to me. The “incomplete” flat file is huge, and not yet full, but … it should never be allowed to fill up! So now maybe these are as complete as they will ever be. Not great works, but OK!
