P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell

Poem Response

Posted on July 5, 2017 by ptartistJanuary 6, 2018

When requested to come up with some visual imagery, my response today was verbal:

My Thread is a Rope

The thread I hold is a rope.

My thread is not a delicate silken floss,

Bright with color.

The thread that I hold onto is a rope:

Strong, dull, dun colored,

Dirty, encrusted with the juices of sixty-two years.

Years of living, struggling, crying

Laughing, making, and holding hands.

Tarred by many more years of history,

Family stories, memories not my own.

Some strands of this rope are loose,

Unraveled, untidy, adhering to people and things

Left along the way.

But the rope is strong: I can

Pull, and lean, and even hang limp

From this rope.

— Sandra

The original request came with a poem by William Stafford:

AN OPEN EXPERIMENT for anyone interested:

“The Thread

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.

~ William Stafford ~”

…………………………………………

What color do you envision your thread?
What does the matrix to which it is attached look like? How big? What is inside of it? Does it have color?
Can you draw what you see in your mind’s eye of this matrix?
How is the thread connected to you…… in your hand? or imbued thoroughly in your whole body and spirit. What color is the you holding the thread?
Would you mind doing some drawings of these images and bringing them next Wednesday? I am going to try it myself and ask others to try embodying in art form these images, too.

Another

Posted on July 4, 2017 by ptartistJuly 4, 2017

This is the result of yet another procrastination prior to tackling my studio cleanup (see the previous few posts). I added some ink to bring out the contrast and detail on this older print, and then started foiling the digital scan:

And these are foils of two prints from a foil covered collograph plate :-):

Clear work tables

Posted on July 3, 2017 by ptartistJuly 3, 2017

At last I have actually completely cleared the two big work tables in my studio.

The computer corner looks pretty good, due to the need to install a new larger sturdy standup desk with my larger tablet. And even my lounging corner is tidy now.

The sewing table is not clear, but it is presentable.

There is still a ghastly but small pile of “stuff” on the floor, with several items that need to be returned to the loft, the RV, or Goodwill.

There are only two unwieldy & problematic piles of papers, art, etc. that I have not sorted through, and they are smaller than they were! This is fairly amazing progress!

Tricking Myself

Posted on July 1, 2017 by ptartistJuly 1, 2017

Cleaning up / organizing the studio is always difficult, and particularly so in summer sunshine. Usually June in the PNW is a fine time for indoor cleaning (i.e. cool and gray outside), but not this year. And making things for various family & friend events has contributed extra projects this year: from sewing to printing photos, and more… so for whatever reason, the stuff in my studio has become a foot deep on every surface, and is piling up on the floor! Unacceptable!

I finally have time to myself, and I have managed to catch up in the yard and in the house, but I found myself still postponing the studio cleanup! So I manufactured an art project crisis: I needed a particular tool (the need was not manufactured) to scrape and clean an uncured plaster cast just out of the mold. And I could not find it!

It is a recently acquired tool, for which I have not settled on a permanent storage spot: does it go in the general shallow tool drawer? in the small drawer of specialized carving knives and rotarty cutter and ___? Or does go in a cup with a pair of scissors, along with a few sharpies & pencils? Or does it go on a carry case for art class and art while traveling?

So many places to look for this, and it was not in the first several locations. So I thought chances are it lying on one of three work surfaces, just buried under the piles of “stuff”! Or even on the floor behind one work area, where all kinds of paper, foil, cloth etc. gets pushed aside, then off the table!

Now the studio is much cleaner! I can see the work surface between the remaining items on my tables, and even the floor is looking a bit clearer.

And I did find the tool. Not hidden under all that stuff I put away or through out, but safely tucked into that art travel box that I take with me each week to Wednesday evening Art! I postponed looking there until I managed to put in almost two hours clearing away that “stuff”. My studio is still a mess, but it is much much better now!

Here is the fruit of my most recent procrastination, which is also the project that initiated the cleanup (when I really needed that small Blick snap-off knife). This is a clay sculpture created by Michael, and cast & reproduced by me.

Creative Avoidance

Posted on July 1, 2017 by ptartistJune 30, 2017

My current avoidance: my studio is a mess and I really need to clear space on my work surfaces. It may even be time to get rid of some of the wonderful “stuff” that never quite seems to work out in my art projects. Not to mention that fimo clay and pasta maker that I really do not plan to ever use again!

But … when I start to tidy/organize/clean my studio, I quickly run across such tempting incomplete projects that call for my immediate attention!

Here I added a delicate touch of color to a three plate black ink print “Three Flowers” that is from 2015.

Another distraction yesterday & today was to make molds and cast a clay “doodle” made by my partner, Michael.

I like this small sculptural doodle very much, and a friend who visited admired it also. It is a fairly simple shape to mold & cast (vs. the complex and so far intractable problem of casting my oil based clay baby). No idea yet how I will manage that! So for practice and to get quick satisfaction (I hope), I made a construction silicone inner mold with a 2-part plaster mother mold, sealed it with shellac, and just poured lightly tinted plaster just now. Call it casual casting 🙂

This was much more fun than clearing the studio, and it will be even more fun to open up the mold tomorrow morning, if I can wait that long…

And now it is 6pm on Friday: half past a beer, and I think we have chips & dip handy, so … that will certainly take care of cleaning for today!